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Summaries

Page history last edited by Colegiul Economic 12 years, 2 months ago

 

 5. Summaries, 12 November 25 November 2012

Week 8-9

Each class summarizes the answers received from other Learning Circle partners and post them to the wiki site.

 

 


Summary LC 1: The Bishop Strachan School, Canada:

Bishop Strachan Summary of our Learning

What did we learn from our partner schools?

 

  •  Taiwan has a unique perspective as they have been under another country’s control and do not have their own sovereignty
  •  Outline different factors that make them different – they went into a historical evolution of the nation
  • They come from a very different context them we do
  • Important that we noted what their questions did not have:  their responses were very historical
  • Men in Taiwan tend to marry women from southern Asia and these women are lower in the social structure of the country - Do men do this so they have more power over women?  How are women in Taiwan treated?
  • In Taiwan ethnicity was discussed within an Asian context of diversity where here at BSS our ideals of ethnicity are of multiple cultural backgrounds
  • Diversity in the sense of disabilities and how one understands this diversity – celebrating differences (this was really interesting for our class as we did not even discuss diversity around being able to do something or being disabled).
  • The school in Romania makes a conscious effort to promote interactions between the diversity in the community – intentional focus for interaction.  Why is this the case?
  • Romania, we saw a focus on diversity around religion. In Canada there is much religious diversity, our notion of diversity extends beyond religion
  • Discuss their unique diversity - around their personal interests (we did not consider this in our conversations…we immediately went beyond this)
  • Government agency that fights against discrimination – similar to Canada
  • There was little conversation around the historical issues around diversity in the country
  • Geographical location has played a key role in shaping the diversity in the country – multiple cultures represented and this is protected within their laws
  • Diversity in the classroom, they were also acknowledging the stereotypes that come with it – this was really great to read as we did not share this with the group
  • Diversity noticed around pop culture images – In Canada we also have very different styles and images/trends that people follow, as a class we never brought this perspective in to our conversation....interesting.

 

 

How did our learning from our partner schools connect with our learning about diversity in our class?


The perspective on the issue was interesting as it took on a historical approach to how the country came to be and not really focused on our understanding diversity particularly our was of speaking of ethnicity, sexuality, religion, etc. 

 

The notion of gypsy is very different and not a group of people that we would consider here in Canada.

 

Curious about what their community is like, the country, etc?  In Canada we a different sense of diversity, Lauren didn’t make a connection with the disability as a way of classifying the nations diversity.

 

We found it very interesting that there was very little conversation about “race” for example in our classroom we discussed diversity among cultures, sexuality, gender, religion, etc.  but we also talked about black (from various places in the world), white (from various ethnicities) , Asian, etc. 

 

We were curious about whether this was a reality for our partner schools, as it is in our classroom, but even more so in schools across Toronto?

 

 

 


Summary LC 2: iEARN Taiwan, combined classes, Tawain:

 

 

photo from http://evaluation.umn.edu/home/evaluation-job-board

 

 

◎  Why did we ask the question?     What did we know about the theme when we started?     

 

iEARN Taiwan team has members from three senior high schools located in Kaohsiung.  After a series of discussion, we come to an conclusion that we are all interested in education issues.   Moreover, as Taiwan senior high school students, we are expected to spend more time in study and exams while we do not quite agree that this is the only way to help us to be successful in the future career.   Therefore, we further want to know whether our partner schools have similar phenomena or different thinking on this.   Because of this, we begin to focus on the definition of a decent and successful job.  Such job as medical doctors, professors, business CEO are mostly regarded as decent and successful job holders in Taiwan.  However, our team members really don't think the ways we learn now in school can actually help us get a decent and successful job when grown up.  Therefore, we would like to know if there is any difference among us in different cultures.

 

Before this research, we expect that there must be different opinions from our partner schools due to different cultural backgrounds.  We expect to find out a better solution for us to cope with the heavy study burden and also learn to know if we are on the right track in acquiring the abilities and skills we will need in the future.

 

To help clarify our questions, we create our questions as follow: 

**Our main question is: In your country, what is  a successful and decent job from the view point of the general? There must be a good number of jobs, but please just mention the top 5, and  further tell us the reasons.

Our sub-questions are as follows:

1.  To be well-qualified for the decent job, how do students receive such the professional skill      training in school? What are they? Please suggest 5 professional skills that students do need.  

2.  Please evaluate if your education system do help students gain the professional skills

     at a proper age.  Please illustrate your points by some examples.

3.  What kind of extra-curriculum activities do you think are beneficial to students'  professional skill

     development ?  Do your parents or teachers support your joining such extra-curriculum learning?       Why or why not?

 

◎ What did we learn in our classroom?     What did we expect to learn?

1. In Taiwan, senior high school students spend almost 8 hours in class, and some of them even spend another 2-3 hour in so-called crammed schools for intensive study.   The whole hard work is only for getting good grades in school.  The consequence only help more and more school pressure exist in school.  However, our team members do not think this is a good way to develop our future abilities since we are limited to learn other life skills and the 21st learning competences.  Although Ministry of Education (MOE) in Taiwan has tried hard to relieve the heavy study burden and launched an educational reform 10 years ago, the social concepts do not seem to change very much.   It is quite disappointing to see this. 

2.   However, there is still a certain percentage of teachers, parents, and students working on learning projects, such as participating in international projects learning with international partners in the hope of coping with the international society.    To those who study in vocational high schools, some companies offer programs for students to  acquire professional skills .  That means companies can help educate the students to become a proper worker which meets the the industry's needs. The project has caused a great response between companies.! 

3.  Through our research, we found out that the following five professional skills are highly recommended in our country.

     (A) the ability to judge  (B) 2.the ability to listen to your inner voice

     (C) to be progressive     (D) the ability to learn and practice  (E) be curious about the world

            reference: http://findbook.tw/book/9789862161012/basic 

 

2. We believe that our education system doesn't help student gain the professional skills at a proper age. It seems too late. The later our system divide students into different professions, the less time the students can 

learn each professional skills. We think that students should be divided to different profession at younger age.

 

3. We believe doing volunteer service is the best extra-curriculum activities that are beneficial to students' professional skill development. For example, during the activity we can find out our weaknesses and strengths by interacting with various people. We can gain confidence, responsibility, experiences in the activity and have a basic cognition of occupation. Some of our parents consider that doing extra curriculum activities may cause our school achievements decrease, but most of the parents support us to join in these such activities in order to receive great experience and the capability for professional skills development. 

 

 What did we learn from the responses of the students?    What was similar or different in the research answers received from the Learning Circle partners?

1. We found that LC1 share different point of view from others by saying everyone has a different definition, while others agree that a successful and decent job include more money, high social status, good condition at work.

2.  Most of us regard them as good jobs, including: ICT-related jobs, Green jobs,  organizers, and professionals in different fields.

3.  In terms of professional  skill training in school, most of us learn more theory than practice. However, different approaches to get professional skills can been seen in our partner countries.

4.  Top 5 professional skills students need:

     (1) Similarities:

     LC1 & LC3 think communication skills as one of the top 5 skills.  

     LC1 & LC2 think the ability of good judgement and management.  

     LC2,  LC3 and LC4:  think motivation and  flexibility as important.

    (2) Differences:

     And we share different abilities like time management,  being curious about the world, balanced and    

     rational. 

5.  If your education system helps students acquire these abilities?

     LC2 thinks it is too late.  LC1 and LC4 think their school systems offer timely help.

6. Extracurriculum activities: LC1, 2, 3 and 4 share a similar opinion that activities like projects and volunteer

    activities can contribute their future abilities.

7.  Support from parents or teachers:  L1, L2 and LC3 agree this point, while L1 rank 75% of teachers support

     extra-curriculum activities and LC2 think about 50% of parents do so.

In brief, we learn that in different questions, we have reached about 50%- 60% of similarities among us though we use different terms to describe. 

 

 

LC1 

LC2

LC3 

LC4

LCthes5

Definition of

successful and

decent job

everyone has a different definition

 

1.Earn more money,

2.Steady life style,

3.Win high recognition,

4.elder's recommend,

5.high expectation,

6.Reasonable worktime

 

1.earn more money

2.high social status

1.Access to productive employment and income opportunities

2. Rights at work, particularly with respect to the core labor standards

3. Systems of social protection

5. A voice at work through social dialogue

1.high salaries

2.demand for these jobs  exists. 

 

Top five

good jobs

 

1.Doctor

2.Teacher

3.IT engineer

4.Lawyer

5.Teacher,

1.Green Jobs

2.Internet 

3.Construction Job

4.Marketing 

5.IT 

1.  IT Manager 

2.Organizational Development Manager 

3. PHP Developer 

4.Telecommunications Manager

5. Sales Manager 

1.lawer

2.ecomonist

3.system administrator/programmist 

professional skill   

training in 

school 

 

Don’t get professional training, but we can choose courses that are relevant.

There is a project in our senior high school which provide students to work in a formal company while learning.

1.We make our own firm, register it and develop all activities that take place in a real firm.

2.we have a technical profile and many hours of practice, to acquire a competence given a test that should pass it. 

 

have more theory than practice 

Top 5 professional

skills students

do need.

 

1. ability to understand and learn concepts quickly

2. working with other people/ leadership skills

3. interpersonal skills (basic people skills)

4. time management

5.Organizational skills 

1.the ability to judge

2.the ability to listen to your inner voice

3.to be progressive

4.the ability to learn and practice

5.be curious about the world

 

1.communication skills

2.flexibility

teamwork abilities

3.motivation and responsibility

4.learn to learn abilities

5. speak in another language

 

1.flexibility

2.smart

3.know themselves

4. keep up with the changes

5. balanced and rational

1.english

2.computer study

 

education system do help students gain the professional skills at a proper age. 

1. half a year of Careers, which is meant to guide us in our elections of career paths.

2. Throughout high school, our electives start to determine what career path we will choose in the future. We are also offered co-op opportunities in high school.

too late

 

Our educational system helps students to gain professional skills at a proper age, making them useful for society. 

 

extra-curriculum activities

beneficial to students'

professional skill

There might not be a particular activity that incparticipating in extracurricular activities can help students improve their time management skills, self-discipline and self-advocacy. These skills are all important factors in professional skills that one might require.

doing volunteer service, during the activity we can find out our weaknesses and strengths by interacting with various people. We can gain confidence, responsibility, experiences in the activity and  have a basic cognition of occupation.

1.volunteer 2.make a school magazine 

depends on what the students would like to do in their future.

 

parents or teachers’ support

At BSS, 1.teachers are supportive of joining extra curricular activities as long as students are academically successful (an average of at least 75%).

2.Extra curricular support from parents is completely dependent on their own experiences and opinions.

Some of our parents consider that doing extra curriculum activities may cause our school achievements decrease, but most of the parents support us to join in these activities in order to receive great experience and the capability for professional skills development.

 

support me to join such activities 

 

   

◎  Why do we think these differences exist?

We think reasons come from the social norms shaped from our local culture and philosophy.  Meanwhile different education systems further reinforce the beliefs and values which make us more and different.   However, we also find out that in fact, quite a large percentage of opinions and values are quite similar though situated in different places.  Now we come to appreciate the different cultures respectively for it provide us a new perspective to see the world.  

 

    

 


Summary LC 3: Colegiul Economic Buzau, Romania:

 

What makes us the same? 

We do believe that we have so many in common.   As mentioned in the definition found in the wikipeida,"Something is of universal value if it has the same value or worth for all, or almost all, people....Second, something could have universal value when all people have reason to believe it has value..."

     We spend a great deal of time and energy defining ourselves by our occupation, our religion, our education and our accomplishments. We go to great lengths to stand out from the crowd of billions that surround us on this world so that in some small way we can say that we are unique.

     I believe that regardless of  what we believe, we all want a better life for ourselves and for our loved ones. This is less about belief and more about what we do.
     I believe we would all like to make the world a little better. Again, will our beliefs make it better or will our actions?

   But these beliefs that separate us are of far less importance then what makes us all the same.
   We all want to be respected. We all want to be valued. We all want to be at peace and feel safe. We all want to love and be loved.

Some points about what you all think we have in common:

  • Elected officials to serve in Public Office
  • Different classes → low, middle, high
  • National Traditions/Celebrations
  • Family traditions
  • Values
  • Emotions 
  • Character

 

What makes you special?

 

     Human diversity is the difference among people and how those differences make an effect on society. These differences can include biological, social, and cultural differences.

     People are very different from each other. Individuality is what makes us different from each other. We think differently and we act differently on the same situation given we have our own experiences in the past. But, it is in one attitude that helps us go through life as a winner and that is the winning attitude. The never-say-die attitude will help us excel.

     As far as traditions are concerned , I believe that we, Romanians, have poached quite a few from other nations, such as: Halloween, Valentine’s day or we even party on other countries’ national days. However, we have preserved some of our ancient folklore, by celebrating Dragaica, Dragobetele, Florii and many others.

 

            3 main things (in the opinion of the respondents) that distinguish people from Ukrain are: traditions, language and religion. And this is one of the important criteria of each person, each nation - the "uniqueness."

 1) Uniqueness in the traditions. Seeing, for example, several different weddings people can often learn what nationality young people are. Even taking the example of a normal holiday that  everybody celebrates, everyone can be unique by the dishes  on the holiday table.
2) The uniqueness of the language. You  probably won't argue it as  everyone is proud of their native language, because the  warmest and dearest language for everyone is his/her mother tongue. Wherever you are, you will  listen to  the person who speaks your native language with great joy and pleasure. 

3) Uniqueness in religion. Each nation has its own religion that it respects  and every other nation must respect the religion of others. This is one of the most important differences between people because their taditions and way of life can be built on the religious basis. 

Due to cultural diversity, we know we are different.  According to sociology, we, Taiwan, belong to the high-context society, so in term of communication, the message does not just exist in our language, but the social context instead.  For example. If someone wants to get business done in Asia part, he or she should be aware of building up the social network. This is because we are in high-context culture so the social interaction is more indirect and part of the meanings are hidden in our social context.   In contrast, countries like USA, German, or the western world, people speak in a more direct way, namely, a low-context society. 

For Canadians, their unique things are:

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is entrenched in our Constitution and guarantees the fundamental rights and freedoms of all Canadians at all levels of government.

 Examples of rights and freedoms include:

 Fundamental Freedoms (ex. freedom of belief, expression, conscience, peaceful assembly, religion, association, freedom of the press etc.)

 Democratic Rights (ex. right to vote and run for public office)

 Legal Rights (ex. right to life liberty and security of the person, innocent until proven guilty etc)

Canada not only allows freedom of speech, but promotes it

Canada supports gay marriage

 


Summary LC 4: National College "B.P.Hasdeu", Romania:

 

We would like to apologise for our late post, but it's mid term papers' time around here so we barely have any free time.

 

We tried to imagine a country with no diversity. We think that it is vital for a complex society. We wanted to know how important is diversity in maintaining intercultural relationships and social complexity . We also hoped you could tell us if there are any regions in your country where the customs have been kept and respected to this day.


Our friends from Colegiul Economic Buzau, Romania agreed that diversity is essential for each country, considering that tradition has also a great role in maintaning a balance between people who belong to different cultures.


Our friends from Kirovograd Collegium, Ukraine  quoted  Friedrich Nietzsche “At bottom every man knows well enough that he is a unique being, only once on this earth”. They stated that diversity does not mean division, it means difference, which is essential in today’s times. In addition to this, cultural diversity is the one which pushes people to interract with each other , to get in touch with history, traditions and local people. Another idea that we enjoyed was the uniqueness that diversity brings among people. It provides us a better approach to a wide variety of problems. It would be wonderful if everyone on this planet understood the fact that diversity plays a vital role because “human diversity makes tolerance more than a virtue; it makes it a requirement for survival”, as Rene Dubos said.

 

We also found out that Ukraine itself is a unique representant of big diversity, its traditions being influenced by the governance of Austria and Russia in the XVIII – XIX centuries. We were glad to find about the fest of Ivana Kupala(Midsummer)- a folk ritual fest-,which preserves the cultural heritage of their ancestors.

 

What Canada did is really amazing. Being aware of our past mistakes and having the strenght and dignity not only to apologise, but to completly change our attitude is one valuable thing in life. Even more impressing is that you managed to do that as a nation.


One idea we’re not sure we entirely understood is whether respect and tolerance are interconnected or not. First, you suggested that „respect isn’t needed in order to achive a sense of tolerance”, but further on, you sustained the key of a strong intercultural relationship is respect. Well, we believe tolerance is based on respect, because other way it may be regarded as a compromise or, even worse, as a rather fake feeling.


 You gave the example of Aboriginal people, which caught our attention. The reserves keep the customs alive, giving people the opportunity to learn more about fascinant cultures, but I guess it also supports the economy of both the region and the country. The tourists’ attitude is vital in this case, as they have to show respect to locals and protect their environment.

 

Our mates from Taiwan mentioned 2 cultures and, we may say, for 3 minutes and a half your video carried us away. We agree with you that tv channels that broadcast programs and news in aboriginal language or in Hakka are a great sign of respect, expecially if this is done not only on restricted areas, but all over the country. It would have been interesting to find out more about your experience with the Amis tribe, but you facinated us with their handicrafts, anyway. 

 

 


Summary LC 5: Kirovograd Collegium, Ukraine:

 

People often say here in Ukraine:

 
"Never talk communicating with others about religion and politics as these two topics can be the source of misunderstanding".

 

 

Some people agree, some do not. We wanted to know what people from other countries think. And that's what we got:Firstly, we have put a few questions:

  • What is your attitude to these words? Do you agree or disagree? Give your reasons.

 

All of our partners think that it is wrong not to discuss the problems. Here we haven't found any diversity as every team has expressed their mutual support in favour of sharing opinions and points of view.

Some quotes:

  • People develop and generate new ideas based both on fact and mixed opinion.(Canada)

  • The major core value lies in that we should respect others' faith and respect the differences so as to eliminate any bias or conflicts among us.(Taiwan)

  • Only talks and act can solve a problem.(Romania)

  • An important factor is also the atitude of the person you are talking to

  • There is always a middle path because up there is only one God.

     

   

  • What can be done to unite people in spite of these differences?

No diversity in the opinions again: people should develop their tolerance

  • highlighting the similarities between people bring us together
  • celebrating our differences allows us to appreciate them and use them constructively instead of oppressing them in an attempt to conform
  • respect each other's religious beliefs
  • never jump to a conclusion without double-checking and always keep an open-mind to different voices.
  • communicate with each other and solve their problems

 


      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 What can be done to avoid conflicts on religious basis or on the basis of different political beliefs ? 

  
1. Listen to the other.
2. Try to put yourself in his skin.
3. Don`t do to someone else something you would not like to be done to you1
4. Understand, don`t just tolerate.
5. If you don`t understand you didn`t try enough.
6. Try harder.
7. Explain yourself.
8. make your point.
9. Look in the mirror to see who you are now.
10. Look into the other`s eyes to see who you really are. 

 

     What is being done in your country?

   The least amount of information we have received to the question, was about what IS BEING done in the country. Canada said that, as they live in a multicultural country, their population is "different". They are taught inclusion at a young age and to celebrate different cultures traditions and  perspectives They celebrate our diversity through festivals and parades such as Diversity Festival(July 6,7 and 8th), National Aboriginal day (June 21), Pride Week (June 21-28th), the Ukrainian Festival and many more. And in Taiwan has legislated to protect the rights of the people in this area. For example, Article XIII of the Constitution said, "People have the freedom of religious belief.And Article 7 of the Constitution said. " The people in Taiwan , irrespective of any religion are equal in law. Therefore any religion and people are equally protected.                  

    

  • ·       

 

     

 

 

 

 




                                                                      

Summary of UBOD 3 - Colegiul Economic Buzau

 

 

What makes us the same? 

We do believe that we have so many in common.   As mentioned in the definition found in the wikipeida,"Something is of universal value if it has the same value or worth for all, or almost all, people....Second, something could have universal value when all people have reason to believe it has value..."

     We spend a great deal of time and energy defining ourselves by our occupation, our religion, our education and our accomplishments. We go to great lengths to stand out from the crowd of billions that surround us on this world so that in some small way we can say that we are unique.

     I believe that regardless of  what we believe, we all want a better life for ourselves and for our loved ones. This is less about belief and more about what we do.
     I believe we would all like to make the world a little better. Again, will our beliefs make it better or will our actions?

   But these beliefs that separate us are of far less importance then what makes us all the same.
   We all want to be respected. We all want to be valued. We all want to be at peace and feel safe. We all want to love and be loved.

Some points about what you all think we have in common:

  • Elected officials to serve in Public Office
  • Different classes → low, middle, high
  • National Traditions/Celebrations
  • Family traditions
  • Values
  • Emotions 
  • Character

 

What makes you special?

 

     Human diversity is the difference among people and how those differences make an effect on society. These differences can include biological, social, and cultural differences.

     People are very different from each other. Individuality is what makes us different from each other. We think differently and we act differently on the same situation given we have our own experiences in the past. But, it is in one attitude that helps us go through life as a winner and that is the winning attitude. The never-say-die attitude will help us excel.

     As far as traditions are concerned , I believe that we, Romanians, have poached quite a few from other nations, such as: Halloween, Valentine’s day or we even party on other countries’ national days. However, we have preserved some of our ancient folklore, by celebrating Dragaica, Dragobetele, Florii and many others.

 

            3 main things (in the opinion of the respondents) that distinguish people from Ukrain are: traditions, language and religion. And this is one of the important criteria of each person, each nation - the "uniqueness."

 1) Uniqueness in the traditions. Seeing, for example, several different weddings people can often learn what nationality young people are. Even taking the example of a normal holiday that  everybody celebrates, everyone can be unique by the dishes  on the holiday table.
2) The uniqueness of the language. You  probably won't argue it as  everyone is proud of their native language, because the  warmest and dearest language for everyone is his/her mother tongue. Wherever you are, you will  listen to  the person who speaks your native language with great joy and pleasure. 

3) Uniqueness in religion. Each nation has its own religion that it respects  and every other nation must respect the religion of others. This is one of the most important differences between people because their taditions and way of life can be built on the religious basis. 

Due to cultural diversity, we know we are different.  According to sociology, we, Taiwan, belong to the high-context society, so in term of communication, the message does not just exist in our language, but the social context instead.  For example. If someone wants to get business done in Asia part, he or she should be aware of building up the social network. This is because we are in high-context culture so the social interaction is more indirect and part of the meanings are hidden in our social context.   In contrast, countries like USA, German, or the western world, people speak in a more direct way, namely, a low-context society. 

For Canadians, their unique things are:

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is entrenched in our Constitution and guarantees the fundamental rights and freedoms of all Canadians at all levels of government.

 Examples of rights and freedoms include:

 Fundamental Freedoms (ex. freedom of belief, expression, conscience, peaceful assembly, religion, association, freedom of the press etc.)

 Democratic Rights (ex. right to vote and run for public office)

 Legal Rights (ex. right to life liberty and security of the person, innocent until proven guilty etc)

Canada not only allows freedom of speech, but promotes it

Canada supports gay marriage

             

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comments (1)

Bob Hofman said

at 11:57 am on Oct 27, 2012

Hi Guys.. please in this phase do not use the summary pages, post your answers on the Q&A pages
--> https://gtpubod1518september2012.pbworks.com/w/page/58745103/Research%20and%20Answers

You don't have permission to comment on this page.