How should civic responsibility be taught at schools? It is an important topic that is hard to teach, because there is so many different aspects on what kind of responsibility people should have that is "right" Here's the summary of an article, Educating the "Good" Citizen: Political Choices and Pedagogical Goals, written by Joel Westheimer and Joseph Kahne.
The article begins with the idea of promoting community service. The amount of problems would reduce when the people of the community all have the responsibility to their habitat. Beside picking up trash and littering can help cleaning up the streets, services such as donating blood can also show some love to the citizens.
There are three types of "good" citizens; participatory citizen, justice oriented citizen, and citizenship without politics. Participatory citizens are those who participate in activities. By participating events can not only create more interaction between people but also carry on the culture. Remember, most of the culture is carried on by different activities and events. Justice oriented citizens are the ones that have justice in their hearts. We can not expect to have police everywhere in the town so, in order to have a city with order, it requires the citizens to help correct one another. Having citizens without politics is also a positive thing. Politics can sometimes make people hate each other. For example in Taiwan, some extreme nationalists would treat people that support different parties in different manner. If the people in the community can live without politics, it could avoid a lot of unfair treatment.
So, after reading all those great ideas, what would be the best strategy for teaching civic responsibility at H.I.S? I would say building good relationship between teachers and students would automatically let the students chose to have civic responsibility. There's no way one could have one another to do something by simply "teaching" In order to have the students get their actions going, they must care about the community first.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Wearing Tight Clothes Reflection
Yesterday was cross dressing day. In other word, boys get to dress like girls, and girls dress like guys.
It is the day during our "spiritual week" when the girls are more excited than the guys do. The reason is because males' wearings work perfectly on girls, anyway. As for the guys, showing their shoulders and wearing skirts is just not what they often do throughout the history. The seniors not only hung around schools with "unusual clothes" but also went out to 7-11 and check out people's reaction. A beetle nut store even let us go in and take some pictures. However, an old lady outside of the store had been staring at us with a disgusted look. I'm guessing that a lot of the by passer thought we were having a gay parade there. Being gay, lesbian, or bisexual isn't a big issue in Taiwan. Yes, people would be interested in staring at them, but that's only because it is something "unusual" Most Taiwanese wouldn't discriminate the ones with odd sexuality.
I wouldn't say cross dressing is a healthy thing, but it's definitely not harmful either. Some people would say cross dressing could be a chance for some people to express themselves, however, I don't think it goes to everybody. When a guy dresses up like a girl and reaches gender binary blurred he would most likely felt embarrassed and uncomfortable. I felt extremely uncomfortable by dressing up like that. It makes me wonder why would a girl want to wear those things. Just by looking into the mirror and see myself is enough to make me feel sick and want to puke. Having said that, it was a really fun day. To me, it's a day when one can go out of character and have fun. It's like doing art; it's not about how you do it, it's about how you feel about doing it.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Reflection on Ideas for Innovation
I agree with most of the points under Ideas for Innovation especially the first point, Spur greater parental involvement. In Taiwan's news, whenever you see a child broke the law the school and teachers are the ones to be blamed. Not a lot of people have realized how a better parenting could avoid it. Parents should not just be the ones to earn money for children’s education. They should be part of their education as well.
Like how the text explains, utilize community service to foster civic engagement can help students understand the reality. Doing community is something one could never learn from books or lectures. Having said that, perhaps it is more important to teach students the passion of doing community service first. A lot of time there will be students doing community only because it is a requirement. Students will do it when it is a requirement. The question is, is it a requirement after they graduate? Schools should not be doing things that will only keep the kids working in school.
I like the 6th idea, which is to model a high school on a community. However, once again, it depends how it is being done. Sometimes trying to make people to trust each other could end up the exact opposite. We used to have very cool concept here in H.I.S that helped students’ discipline in helping each other, which is the musical. By doing musical, we learned about how no matter what role one is playing, it has its own unique value there. A lot of improvement of closer relationship between the people that work in the musical happened during its process.
However, there are some points that I doubt could be helpful for a child’s growth. Make schools smaller does not go to everybody. Yes, I would agree that in a smaller school, each individual will be easily recognized and will have chances to do what they are confident in doing. But that does not necessary mean it will always help. There is not a lot of competition in small schools. Take myself for example, I could be one of the best artists here in H.I.S but as soon as I get into college, I will probably realize that I am just average. Because there is not too much competition here, it is harder to push ourselves and it has nothing to do with being lazy; it is just harder for us to realize how much more talent people are out there.
Teach civics effectively in schools is an interesting idea. I think it depends on how it will be taught. Both negative and positive value can be interpreted in anyway according to the teaching.
I also don’t like the idea of establish mentoring programs that work. It feels like switching a child’s mom or dad into someone else and then tell them that they have to love them.
Ask youth for solutions is an interesting idea. Though, I think it should be changed into “be open minded in any one’s idea” not just the youth’s.
The Ideas for Innovation has a lot of good points. The only thing it needs in order to help things to improve is the right way to instruct them.
Like how the text explains, utilize community service to foster civic engagement can help students understand the reality. Doing community is something one could never learn from books or lectures. Having said that, perhaps it is more important to teach students the passion of doing community service first. A lot of time there will be students doing community only because it is a requirement. Students will do it when it is a requirement. The question is, is it a requirement after they graduate? Schools should not be doing things that will only keep the kids working in school.
I like the 6th idea, which is to model a high school on a community. However, once again, it depends how it is being done. Sometimes trying to make people to trust each other could end up the exact opposite. We used to have very cool concept here in H.I.S that helped students’ discipline in helping each other, which is the musical. By doing musical, we learned about how no matter what role one is playing, it has its own unique value there. A lot of improvement of closer relationship between the people that work in the musical happened during its process.
However, there are some points that I doubt could be helpful for a child’s growth. Make schools smaller does not go to everybody. Yes, I would agree that in a smaller school, each individual will be easily recognized and will have chances to do what they are confident in doing. But that does not necessary mean it will always help. There is not a lot of competition in small schools. Take myself for example, I could be one of the best artists here in H.I.S but as soon as I get into college, I will probably realize that I am just average. Because there is not too much competition here, it is harder to push ourselves and it has nothing to do with being lazy; it is just harder for us to realize how much more talent people are out there.
Teach civics effectively in schools is an interesting idea. I think it depends on how it will be taught. Both negative and positive value can be interpreted in anyway according to the teaching.
I also don’t like the idea of establish mentoring programs that work. It feels like switching a child’s mom or dad into someone else and then tell them that they have to love them.
Ask youth for solutions is an interesting idea. Though, I think it should be changed into “be open minded in any one’s idea” not just the youth’s.
The Ideas for Innovation has a lot of good points. The only thing it needs in order to help things to improve is the right way to instruct them.
Globalization
The use of phones, satellites, vehicles, ships, airplanes, Internet, etc. has made the world seem smaller. We can now easily find out what is happening in most places, how people live, or better yet; we can even go out and see the world ourselves. This is what we call “globalization” and the question is, “is it a ‘good’ thing?”
Globalization is neither black nor white. Its values differ depending on perspective. I would say it is more of a “good” thing. It allows humanity to gather a lot of information and see different things much easier than before. The Taiwanese did not invent the high-speed train but we still get to have one here in Taiwan. Because of easier access to places like Japan and France, which have made their lives easier. Even though the Taiwanese did not know how to build a high-speed train, they can still hire specialists in technology these days. Internet and cell phones are two of the fastest growing technologies because those are things that help connect people around the world. In other words, more people got to use them and give feedback and comments, which helps with their growth.
The other thing that globalization has brought is something not a lot of people have realized. Because of globalization, more people have stopped feeling ashamed of who they are. The minority is no longer vulnerable. Groups of people, such as the ones with different colored skin, hippies, rock music artists, gay, etc are more capable of expressing and showing who they are. How does globalization have anything to do with this? Because of globalization, it is now easier to find people that are similar to you. When people are with the ones that share the same beliefs, they are much more comfortable of being themselves. Eventually, tools like the Internet will help disseminate new ideas and influence other people. In the end, we will get to see that gay people are not harmful, hippies are not always on drugs, people with different colored skin are not mightier or less superior and that is when the majority will start accepting them.
We have begun to move as a whole now, which leads us to another great thing globalization has brought us. The U.N, The United Nations, is made up of many different countries. It allows most countries to have meetings to help solve problems. For example, Global Warming; the crises we are all facing right now is getting worse each year. A lot of scientists and engineers have been trying to solve the problem or at least find ways to reduce emissions. Globalization allows us to be able to all work together as a unit. People living in different places have different knowledge. We can now easily get everything to combine with what we already have and build something we could not have done all by ourselves.
However, working as one unit is not always a positive thing. What if we all made the same mistake? Then the problem could be bigger than our imaginations because it is now we, the whole world, making things worse. Take the use of vehicles for example. Humanity has gotten to know how convenient vehicles are and so even in developing nations like China and India the use of vehicles is increasing. Not knowing much about pollution before, we have all polluted the world together, as a team. Just like the growing speed of technology, pollution rates are also surprisingly high.
Globalization is also responsible for the low cost of labor around the world, which is another big issue. Different countries have different values of money, economy, and job opportunities. Therefore, some people had to go to another country to earn a living because they could not find a job in their own country. Places like America, where big corporations welcome migrant labor, because the lower they pay, the higher corporations earn. The world seems to be a smaller place, and so it is also easier to find people to “use” in order to gain more profits for oneself.
Some people have lost pride in their own nationality because of globalization. The stronger countries, like The United States, are on the media most of the time. People listen to pop songs and want to be like the Americans. Most of us grow up with Disney and Hollyood, and so we like to act like them. Taiwan has a stranger case because it is right next to Japan and was once ruled by the Japanese. We are more connected to Japan than to America, so most Taiwanese would prefer to be like Japanese. Anyway, the case is that globalization brought us all together, but not on the same level. What it does is to pull us together and see how “good” the stronger nations are. Eventually, most people would start to compare them with their own and feel that the other ones are better. Why? Because the others are the ones that get to go on TV and get famous with riches and pretty faces.
In conclusion, globalization is both good and bad because it ties all of us together. When we are together, we have the opportunity to slowly accept each other and create a huge force. This force could be a power for the negative or positive, but it certainly depends on the perspective.
Globalization is neither black nor white. Its values differ depending on perspective. I would say it is more of a “good” thing. It allows humanity to gather a lot of information and see different things much easier than before. The Taiwanese did not invent the high-speed train but we still get to have one here in Taiwan. Because of easier access to places like Japan and France, which have made their lives easier. Even though the Taiwanese did not know how to build a high-speed train, they can still hire specialists in technology these days. Internet and cell phones are two of the fastest growing technologies because those are things that help connect people around the world. In other words, more people got to use them and give feedback and comments, which helps with their growth.
The other thing that globalization has brought is something not a lot of people have realized. Because of globalization, more people have stopped feeling ashamed of who they are. The minority is no longer vulnerable. Groups of people, such as the ones with different colored skin, hippies, rock music artists, gay, etc are more capable of expressing and showing who they are. How does globalization have anything to do with this? Because of globalization, it is now easier to find people that are similar to you. When people are with the ones that share the same beliefs, they are much more comfortable of being themselves. Eventually, tools like the Internet will help disseminate new ideas and influence other people. In the end, we will get to see that gay people are not harmful, hippies are not always on drugs, people with different colored skin are not mightier or less superior and that is when the majority will start accepting them.
We have begun to move as a whole now, which leads us to another great thing globalization has brought us. The U.N, The United Nations, is made up of many different countries. It allows most countries to have meetings to help solve problems. For example, Global Warming; the crises we are all facing right now is getting worse each year. A lot of scientists and engineers have been trying to solve the problem or at least find ways to reduce emissions. Globalization allows us to be able to all work together as a unit. People living in different places have different knowledge. We can now easily get everything to combine with what we already have and build something we could not have done all by ourselves.
However, working as one unit is not always a positive thing. What if we all made the same mistake? Then the problem could be bigger than our imaginations because it is now we, the whole world, making things worse. Take the use of vehicles for example. Humanity has gotten to know how convenient vehicles are and so even in developing nations like China and India the use of vehicles is increasing. Not knowing much about pollution before, we have all polluted the world together, as a team. Just like the growing speed of technology, pollution rates are also surprisingly high.
Globalization is also responsible for the low cost of labor around the world, which is another big issue. Different countries have different values of money, economy, and job opportunities. Therefore, some people had to go to another country to earn a living because they could not find a job in their own country. Places like America, where big corporations welcome migrant labor, because the lower they pay, the higher corporations earn. The world seems to be a smaller place, and so it is also easier to find people to “use” in order to gain more profits for oneself.
Some people have lost pride in their own nationality because of globalization. The stronger countries, like The United States, are on the media most of the time. People listen to pop songs and want to be like the Americans. Most of us grow up with Disney and Hollyood, and so we like to act like them. Taiwan has a stranger case because it is right next to Japan and was once ruled by the Japanese. We are more connected to Japan than to America, so most Taiwanese would prefer to be like Japanese. Anyway, the case is that globalization brought us all together, but not on the same level. What it does is to pull us together and see how “good” the stronger nations are. Eventually, most people would start to compare them with their own and feel that the other ones are better. Why? Because the others are the ones that get to go on TV and get famous with riches and pretty faces.
In conclusion, globalization is both good and bad because it ties all of us together. When we are together, we have the opportunity to slowly accept each other and create a huge force. This force could be a power for the negative or positive, but it certainly depends on the perspective.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
"End of Suburbia" Reflection
The film, "End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of the American Dream", basically talks about how America had suburbs after WWII, which leads to a huge amount of use of resources later on. Creating suburbs was a good idea. It provides the soldiers to have quiet place to live, since suburbs are far away from the urban world. However, because of that, people living in suburbs have to drive in order to get nearly anything.
Unlike "Enron: Smartest Guys In The Room" this film doesn't really inspire people. It only does the job of reminding people the problem we are all facing. It is undeniable that transportation plays a huge role in most people's life. We need it to go to from place to place and, even for the ones that have markets right near by their homes, the markets, themselves, need transportation to get all the goods. In order to save time and so we can use spend more time doing something else, vehicles become a very helpful technology. Only problem here is that most them need oil, and oil is finite. To be more realistic, it "is" going to run out pretty soon.
What could help save the situation? A lot of scientists and engineers are now working on trying to find something else to replace oil. It would be good to have an infinite amount of replacement, such as solar power. While we are either still finding the solution or waiting for people to find one, there are things we can do to help at least save a little bit more resources for all of us to use in the future. Although it costs money, I always prefer to take public transportation. I mean, even if we drive ourselves, we will have to put money into the gas station anyway. So why not just use the public transportation that is always there running in the circle? A lot of people have been asking me why haven't I started practicing driving and get a license yet. Yes, I usually say it's because I'm lazy. but other than that, it's because I don't think it's a must. Look at me now, I can still get to go to many different places by walking, biking, or taking the public buses. When I'm in my internship up in Taipei, MRT really saves my life. Even if I need to go to somewhere that is not in Taipei, MRT doesn't go to, and has no bus stop, the worst case would be calling a cab.
We have tons of scooters here in Taiwan and those drinks oil like a beast. I guess most Taiwanese would prefer to buy a scooter is because of its price and it's easier to park a scooter. The problem with scooter is that it can not carry a lot of people. I have seen some Taiwanese can put 3 or even 4 passengers on one scooter but I'm pretty sure not everyone is able to achieve that. It is usually either one or two people on a scooter. Compare with cars, which usually have between two to four people in one vehicle, a scooter only has about half of a car's opacity while it could use more oil than some cars do.
The major problem here in Taiwan is that we don't have a very well designed public transportation yet, except for Taipei. Places like Tokyo doesn't have this kind of problem. Tokyo has an extremely well designed subway that decreases pollution and cleans up the roads. Better public transportation will help save more oil.
image: drew from a friend, Sarwar Z. Khan.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Organic. Organic? Organic!
After watching the film, The Smartest Guys In The Room, about Enron's fake and reading the chapter "Big Organic" from the book, written by Michael Pollan, called "The Omnivore's Dilemma" I start to find it difficult to believe in everything I from from advertisement and labels.
The name "organic" is a like a diamond ring word; it pretty much adds on a lot more value to a product when it's on its package. I am not the type of person that cares too much about eating "healthy food". I eat McDonald's even when I have already learned that it is "unhealthy" to human bodies. However, the name "organic" still stands out to me. As long as a product bares that name, it means that it got the reason to be more expensive than its competitors.
What does it mean when something is organic? There are many ways to address this term. I would put it as "when something is fresh, clean, and without any other chemicals." Now, the chapter of the book pointed out that when something says it is "organic" it probably doesn't really mean "it is organic" What it's saying is that the companies didn't "lie" to us. Instead, they hide the details from the consumers. I remember when Tina and I were working on the "green business presentation" Ms. Gruber once came and warned us that even when a company says it is a green business and it produces organic products doesn't necessary mean it is the type of "green" we are looking for. Come and think about it, if everything on the selves came from local farm without any pesticides, how would they menage to get that many farm? The process of making organic products is definitely industrialized. At least most of them.
This is pretty similar to Enron's case in some ways. Most of the "green business" out there would tell the consumer how green they are, but most of them wouldn't show the in depth details of how they do things. What's similar is that both Enron and the companies that have the title "organic" hide behind a name or numbers to attract more buyers. The difference would be that Enron just made up everything there. they even made up the numbers that they hid behind. As for most of the green business, they just only gave the broad idea of "organic" but specific details of how they menage to do it and get there.
image source: http://www.nextnature.net/?p=2012
Friday, November 28, 2008
Internship Monthly Blog 1
Above is a picture taken when I accidentally slept too much in High Speed Rail and ended up in Taichung when I planned to stop at Hsinchu.I help do research for an Israel jewelry designer, Victor, for a collection book that he's working on. It's a book that will contain 100 world's top leader fashion brands in this world today. My main job is to help him research at least two brands' that are on the list. I need to find information about the founder(s), the brand's establishment, its philosophy, and its direction for the future.
My main job is to gather information, not to write it. I help him make sure all the dates and names are correct, there's no contradiction between different sources, the spelling of their original names, etc. There's a lot of reading for each brand. However, I could actually learn a lot from doing it every week. Because of this internship, I have no excuse for myself from not reading anymore. I never had a good habit of reading, and this is something that makes sure I will spend time reading every week. Also, I'm starting to began to catch up some tricks about gathering important and necessary information from reading long texts.
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