Rachel's Reflections

Rachel's Reflections 

One of the main take-away for the trail was insights that I had about making history engaging and fun, and seeing how kids connect with the past. As seen in many of the photos that we had took, I had brought my 10 year old sister along for the trail (which was totally uncalled for but I had no other choice). Initially at the back of my mind I was worried that it was a hassle and I would inconvenience my other group mates, but to my surprise she was very keen in many of the landmarks we had seen and was the one pulling the team to places on the map. 

I think an important aspect of making history engaging is to encourage spaces for children to conduct their own exploration, which I had witnessed, that would then allow them to create their own learning experience. Although my sister had only scant knowledge about Sang Nila Utama from her social studies classes, it did not stop her from being curious about the many things we saw in the museums or the statues and monuments. She had become more interested in Chinese history in Singapore, and the living conditions she had seen in the museum had made her question why people were living like that in that time and that was when people become interested in history. 

As a whole, the addition of this unofficial 5th member in our team had given us something more to think about when we conducted the trail, and that is our roles as teachers of history and how exactly can we arouse interest and questions, and construct understanding in young minds. 

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