VOLUNTEERING EXPERIENCE

MY EXPERIENCE AND REFLECTIONS

• As a member of the society, I am looking for a way to do my part to give-back to the community. Back home, in India, I volunteered with several organizations to mentor young learners who faced any issues in deciding their career paths and goals.

• Similarly, at the start of the semester, I volunteered with Community Living Ontario. It is a non-profit provincial association. It advocates for people who have an intellectual disability and their families in the Ontario region. The organization organized a Family Leadership Series under their Family Engagement Program. This series was organized to offer a variety of ways to empower families to build a better future for their loved ones. I facilitated and conducted painting and hiking activities for 22 children with intellectual disabilities, with a team of 7 members as part of this series. 

• While conducting the painting activities, I witnessed the unfolding of constructivist theory. I felt, the learning environment of the event was designed in such a way where learners were regularly articulating their own thoughts to one another and constructing (designing) their paintings as they were discussing their day-to-day activities. All of us, team members, were facilitators to the young children who were discussing amongst themselves and then expressing themselves through painting and colors. 

• This experience presented a new perspective to me; that insights from traditional classroom experiences can also help us shape virtual learning and vice-versa. It made me reflect on the fact, that it is not necessary to separate and put both (traditional and virtual learnings) in distinct categories. I can learn to draw from both experiences and create an enriching learning environment for all those involved.