Prior to the inputs on Disasters, my knowledge was limited. Although I was aware of different types of disaster and the effects they can have in terms of mortality rates and mass destruction, I was unaware of the impact humans have on natural disasters and role of the government. However, from the classes I am now aware of the important roles government agencies and charities play before during and after a disaster.

 

By comparing the two case studies of earthquakes hitting Japan and Haiti I was able to develop my understanding of the political involvement in natural disasters. I was already aware that Japan was a better developed country than Haiti but many of the information from the case studies came a s a surprise to me. The level of preparation in Japan was significantly higher than that of Haiti, as well as the aid received from other countries because Japan are allied with more countries than Haiti. This left Haiti relying heavily on charities and volunteers. Before the case studies I simply believed that the Haiti earthquake was a bigger earthquake although having evaluated these case studies I was able to develop my critical analysis skills. In addition to this, the graphs used throughout the case studies encouraged me to develop my interpretation skills.

 

We then discussed how we might teach natural disasters. When educating children about natural disasters, it is important to be sensitive and aware of the material we show pupils. Rather than focusing on the death toll and the mass destruction, the focus would be on preventative measures, recovery and the disasters themselves. This could be done by inviting guest speakers from aid charities to speak to the class. In addition to this, the topic of disaster would best be covered at the second level as younger children might find the topic too upsetting.

 

The second week of learning about natural disasters required us to plan a microteaching lesson. From the presentation task I developed many skills, most noticeably, patience. For our microteaching task, I gave myself the task of creating a paper mache volcano in order to carry out an experiment of making the volcano ‘erupt’. However, during the group presentation the experiment did not work. Having the patience and understanding that not everything will go to plan all of the time, I attempted the experiment again and thankfully it was successful. When creating the volcano, I was also able to develop my art skills. The microteaching task also helped me develop critical analysis skills. I found that many of the articles I looked at were not academic and so I had to look through them in detail in order to understand what could be used in our presentation.

 

The microteaching session itself also enhanced a number of my skills. For example, my confidence when speaking in front of others. This is an important skill to develop as a learner and transfer to my teaching. Effective Communication is one of the four capacities of the Curriculum for Excellence (Scottish Executive, 2004), thus it is vital that pupils develop their confidence throughout their school career.

 

Reference List:

Scottish Executive (2004) A Curriculum for Excellence: The Curriculum Review Group. [Online] Available: http://www.gov.scot/Resource/Doc/26800/0023690.pdf  [Accessed 1 November 2017].