Student Musings

 

Year 11 Psychology 

Recently in Year 11 Psychology we have been researching the formation of attitudes and on Tuesday, the 25th of August we attended the Melbourne Zoo Virtual Experience. 

The Melbourne Zoo is running a campaign called Don’t Palm Us Off promoting sustainable palm oil, advocating for stopping the mislabelling of palm oil and the impacts of on the orangutans. 

Prior to the excursion we discussed our own perceptions of zoos, which included viewing zoos as safe sanctuaries for animals as well as tourist destinations where animals are mistreated. 

During the virtual experience, we were able to engage with the campaign through videos and a slideshow, while also being able to interact with the presenters through a chat.  We learnt about their approach to changing people’s attitudes, which was similar to the tri component model which we had learnt in psychology. 

After the experience, our opinions and attitudes were changed as we understood their important role in conservation. It was an amazing opportunity to be able to attend an online excursion during the current circumstances.

Karly Horton 

Director of House and Community Engagement

Pre Service Teacher Experiences

Hello again RSC parents, students and staff. If you didn’t have a chance to read my first connections post a few weeks ago, my name is Allison McDougall and I am a Canadian preservice teacher from Deakin University.

For the past five weeks I have been working alongside students and teachers at RSC; planning, teaching and assessing in both French and Drama classes. Prior to the beginning of this unique experience, I felt quite uncertain about how things would pan out as I would be completing my final teaching placement through virtual learning. Now that I have completed this teaching experience, I feel as though I have gained a new perspective of teaching and learning and have a newfound respect for both teachers and students with regard to their efforts to engage in learning through a virtual setting.

Since day one, my mentor teachers and their students have welcomed me with open arms and ensured that I got the most out of this experience. The student’s openness to explore new ways of learning have helped me grow as an educator.  I was able to trial new ideas and integrate my own experiences in my teaching which was extremely beneficial to my development as a teacher.  

A big thank you to the students and staff at RSC for welcoming myself and all other preservice teachers to join this virtual learning community. I hope that the end of this academic year proves to be better than the way it began, and I wish you all the very best for the rest of 2020.

Allison McDougall

Deakin Pre-Service Teacher

Wear A Mask and Stay Safe Class of 2020