MLS Jan 2018 Local Attachment MLS local report final | Page 51

5.
Conclusion
Reflections after our gallery walk
The time constraint we faced while preparing for our gallery walk was a
limitation but, with technology and team effort, we turned it into strength.
Google drive and WhatsApp became our key modes of communication,
where discussion and exchange and development of ideas took place.
Scoping the content for our presentation and gallery walk was rather
challenging for us as we visited a local educational industry and a SPED
school. We were mindful of our local audience and wanted to only present
ideas which would enrich their learning from another local perspective.
Hence, using design thinking, we put ourselves in the shoes of our listeners
and asked ourselves critically what they would like to know.
On the day of gallery walk, we felt proud to be representing Singapore --
our country. It was indeed a suitable opportunity for us to consolidate our
learning about aspects of education that are less explored by most
educators and beyond our mainstream classrooms, and to share our key
takeaways with our fellow MLS coursemates.
In particular, during our gallery walk, the question about how our students
with special needs Live and Work beyond the school gates came up a
couple of times. Fellow MLS participants had asked about whether there is
system that keeps track of how the graduated students are doing beyond
18 years of age. To us, the intent of this question underlines our innate
teacher’s heartbeat within each of us - to hope that each of our students
will continue to flourish well even after school. At the same time, it struck
us that, we can do as much as we can to help our students learn and grow in
their time with us in school; however, the education fraternity cannot do
this alone as the learning to grow into a contributive individual is a
continuous journey that extends beyond formal education, and, truly, it is
various sectors of the society, such as family, National Council of Social
Services (NCSS), voluntary welfare organisations (VWOs), and even small
and large businesses that can adjust their human resource plans to readily
welcome the employment and value of individuals with special needs
inclusively. For our future, all of us will need to give a hand to help one
another move forward as a nation.
We would like to thank MOE and NIE for providing us with this opportunity
to travel as local educators with different lenses -- to know Singapore
beyond a teacher in class; a middle manager in school.
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