Scoil Mochua SEN Placement

During September I engaged in a placement in Scoil Mochua special educational needs school in Clondalkin.

My evaluation of the scheme is that it was quite a useful exercise in letting go of objects per se in favour of experience. There was no focus on the objects created as opposed to the ideas and experiences created by the process. I enjoyed working in an environment where the scheme had to accommodate so many different needs and yet remain essentially the same for all of the different participants.

My evaluation of working as part of a team was that it was an education for me. In bringing to the table what I have found useful to learn about teaching in the last year I felt I consolidated that learning and in observing the different skills brought to bear by Sarah and Tomas and their different approaches I felt that I was afforded an exposure to a greater horizon of teaching methods.

The most challenging experience was the variety of needs that had to be accommodated by the scheme and teaching methodologies. We were lucky that our scheme favoured touch and sound over a heavy dependence on the visual or a capacity for fine motor skills.

I think if we were to do it again I would try to secure a single location from which to work. Logistically it was a nightmare going from classroom to classroom with bags full of messy materials. I think this is definitely a work in progress as a scheme so I would love to have done it so often that we had a shed full of go to musical objects that we knew were guaranteed to fascinate all candidates.