began, the trail on Palau Ubin existed only informally as described in the laminated guidebooks made by the students. Now the SAVE mem- bers, along with a high school Global Issues class, began developing a proposal for perma- nent interpretive signs in English and Braille. I was able to provide some insight into this, gained though previous experience with Ele- phant Rocks State Park Braille Trail in my home state of Missouri. In addition, the Nature Society and SAVH provided mentors for the students, who conducted research and then composed text and illustrations for the signs. Visually handicapped consultants and expert natural- ists helped the students choose stations, species and points of interest for the proposed trails. The National Parks Board accepted the students’ proposal
West meets East on the trail.
to make the Pulau Ubin trail permanent with Braille–English signs, and through corporate donations and individual gifts the SAVE club raised enough money in 1999 to cover the cost of constructing and installing the signs. During the 1999–2000 school year, the final trail route was set. The National Parks Board had planted a new sensory garden, and the text for the interpretive signs had been edited several times. Braille signs were piloted and evaluated, and then produced by visually handicapped experts. The date of April 15, 2000, was set for the official launch, and the U.S. ambassador agreed to oversee the ceremony. The SAVE club of the Singapore Amer- ican School and the Singapore Association for the Visually Handicapped “adopted” the trail, agreeing to work as partners to maintain accessibility and trail conditions for use.
A community-based learning success
story My participation in this project, both professional and per- sonal, has led me to reflect on environmental education that involves students in the local community. I have spent much of my professional life overseas, teaching science in schools that serve expatriate families. In all cultures, adolescence is a poignant stage of life fraught with questions of personal identity. For expatriate children, identity within the local community is particularly vexing because of their ambigu- ous connections to it. I have tried to address this through an educational ideology that emphasizes firsthand experience and inquiry and brings students into direct contact with the local environment. When community is the context for school and the boundary between community and school is blurred, then all education can become environmental education. From a teacher’s viewpoint, the sensory trail project was an excellent example of authentic education. The project
did not fit in any cur- ricular categories, nor did it develop from any core curriculum based on achiev- ing school-defined results or preconceived standards. Rather, it evolved through the concerns of a diverse group of people. The students knew from the beginning that their efforts were greatly appreciated. They also discovered, as is often the case in volunteer activities, that they received more than
they gave. All parties returned from project activities feeling invigorated and enriched by their efforts, even if unforeseen challenges threatened delay or derailment. Students who took on major roles in organizing trips, training volunteers, working with mentors in designing the permanent trail and signs, raising funds, and coordinating with other clubs and agencies experienced a real-world education that surpassed any encountered in typical school courses. Much current discussion focuses on the importance of
diversity in educational settings. The sensory trail project brought together a diverse group of people in a context of mutual aspiration and appreciation. All parties benefited, gaining newfound respect, admiration and affection for each other and for the natural world. Through this diversity, unexpected partnerships evolved. The Singapore Asso- ciation for the Visually Handicapped is building on its commendable efforts to ensure that the visually impaired become full participants in their society. Their work and consultation with the National Parks Board shows how responsibility can be shared between a government agency and a nongovernmental service organization. The associa- tion and friendship that developed between SAVH and the Singapore American School remains strong because participants have worked toward specific goals together. The most important beneficiary of the project is the
ecosystem of Pulau Ubin. The permanent trail substantiates the innate value of the island as a precious remnant of Singapore’s natural heritage. The sensory trail makes nature more accessible to all citizens in Singapore and highlights the essential role of wild places in the soul of a world that is rapidly losing them.
Richard Frazier is an Associate Professor in the Depart- ment of Curriculum and Instruction at University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg. He grew up in Missouri and has taught in Sierra Leone, Saudi Arabia and Singapore.
“Singapore Sensory Trail” was adapted with permission from the September–October 2002 edition of Legacy, the magazine of the National Association for Interpretation, <
www.interpnet.com>.
GREEN TEACHER 83 Page 41
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56
