A short reflection on community

Veletsianos (2016) touches upon the idea of community in education and the importance of designers considering this when creating learning environments. For me, the community is not just those within the education system; it includes the environment around them, the public spaces, the student’s families and other community members. Reading about the importance of this aspect reminded me of the time during my internships when I was tasked with creating a unit plan that involved the community in three tiers: within the school, within the home and the student’s surroundings.

This unit plan allowed me to reflect upon how a lesson might work within those three tiers. I figured out how to encourage the students to take part in learning with the help of the community and, at the same time, have the community participate in the lessons. I must confess it was not the easiest of tasks to complete, but in the end, it showed me how vital the community is to students, especially primary-age students. This unit lets the students create connections with the environment outside of the classroom, and they are better for it as they gain a better understanding of who is a part of their world outside of school.

Thus, I tip my hat to educational designers, who need to consider many different aspects of education. I continue to grow my understanding of creating lessons and look forward to better understanding the design process.

References

Veletsianos, G. (2016). Digital learning environments. In N. Rushby & D. Surry (Eds), Handbook of Learning Technologies (pp. 242-260). UK: John Wiley & Sons.