Critical Question #2 // What sustains communities?

Community is a word that means lots of things. To some it might be a sense of togetherness, others the idea of a group who share common interests and goals.

To me, sustainability means we can live efficiently, without waste for a long time. Like the word itself explains, it is the power to sustain (for as long as possible).

This essay may be brief, but I’ll get to the point. Communities can only function as long as their members are passionate and straightforward. Without passion, all we have is a group of people with ideas they can’t get started on.  This passion also takes initiative. Without the passion or initiative to give ideas a boost, nothing begins. Ideas stay ideas. They don’t become reality.

This brings me to the second step. Realism. Straightforwardness. Though Divergent thinking may be the key to finding good ideas, we need to remember there are limits. Whether these constraints are economical or physical, knowing our limits and maybe staying inside the box means we can work effectively. Get things done. Heck, we can get more done!

But hold on, hold on. Divergent thinking but staying in the box?? What’s going on there? The best way to plan and take action effectively and efficiently is to use your divergent thinking skills to find an idea. The perfect idea. Then we use our realism to decide whether this idea is within our constraints. Maybe it isn’t! Head back to that initial thinking and find an alternative which is just as out there and creative! So now we’ve got our idea, and we know we can do it! Last we can use our passion (let’s not forget about it!) and take action!!

How to Get Your Community Going // Summary:

• Use divergent thinking to find an idea
• Use your sense of realism to plan or figure out whether your goals are achievable
• *If you know you can’t achieve your goals, head back to that divergent thinking to find a creative, achievable alternative* “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.” – Samuel Beckett
• Now, use that passion and take ACTION!!

(Sorry for the lack of evidence, I was away for most of sustainability week)

One BIG Reflection // World Around Us, Ethics Weeks

The World Around Us

How did this week give you a new [possibly real-world] perspective on traditional subjects?

Saw a bit of what regional life and schools are like.

What was it like to study through a Galileo-filter?

W H A T   I S   A    G A L I L E O    F I L T E R ?

What did you discover about life outside of the city?

Schools are really well maintained, there’s minimal litter

How was your experience in Leongatha?

I really enjoyed it. I would’ve preferred to document it more but nonetheless it was enjoyable!

Ethics

What was your standout experience this week?

I really enjoyed the ethics of sex trail!

Do you have any new insights into the nature of ethics and your own personal code of conduct?

Definitely!! Though I was a ware of most things we discussed on trail, I still found the experience great! Also it was cool to get a better understanding of others’ ethical reasoning.

How is your team doing in terms of preparation for the Options Trail next week?

We’re almost ready. We just need to organise a few details such as small tokens of appreciation and recording devices.

 

Are you facing any challenges? If so, how could you overcome them?

The fact that Patrick is leaving next week will be difficult. Also incorporating Daniel into our team work style too.

Week 5 // Liveability Week

above: jane’s bioblitz trail group 😀

quick note: my critical question #2 is on its way! i’ve been a bit busy lately..

How was it settling back in to the rhythm of school post camp [or post break]?

Pretty easy, even though I didn’t go, I think most things are back to normal. A few inside jokes though TT,TT

Have you noticed any changes to the way Brookes relate to one another – are you closer, more comfortable with each other, or are friendships more defined?

Yeah, everyone definitely gets along much better. Once again, though I wasn’t at camp things are still going just as well for me !

How liveable do you think your suburb is? What would make it more or less liveable for you?

My suburb is ranked around 236 and personally its quite surprising seeing as Aberfeldie (which is less than 8 minutes away) ranked 4th. Though things like the airport and distance from the CBD have positive AND negative aspects to them, my suburb’s overall liveability is not bad. It’s safe, clean, quiet and mostly residential. But I may not be the best judge of that as I technically live on the border of 3 suburbs. But like we discussed in the suburb liveability session, for some home is simply a place to kick back at the end of the day. For me, personally, I go to school, meet friends and spend a lot of my down time in the city rather than at home.

What are your hopes for the remainder of the term? Which skills, areas of knowledge and personal qualities do you want to keep working towards?

I want to focus a lot more on teamwork and leadership. Less by being the leader and hopefully more as the moderator. I want to be able to keep moving forward in a way that my team project group can get along better.

Week 4 // Camp Week

 How was your week? What was a standout moment for you?

My standout moment for the week was being elected as the 2015 Vice President of the University High School SRC. The rest of my week was spent awkwardly dropping into school to finish my 2014 Secretarial duties. I also enjoyed spending some time with my friends Leo, Quynh & Sara. I spent Friday afternoon with my friend Cam and then the evening at a Halloween movie night at my friend Juliet’s place.

What kind of experiences have you had that have challenged you? How have you found the strength to overcome these challenges?

I haven’t really felt very challenged this week. I got plenty of work done and got to spend some more quality time with my parents.

Week 3 // Sustainability Week

image: Jane w the Brookes LEAP members 🙂

Which aspect of sustainability made the biggest impression on you – do you think you’ll be able to try and incorporate it in to your everyday life?

Recycling properly is really important. I try to incorporate it as much as I can already! Fact- If you put your recycling into garbage bags it gets disposed into general waste instead.

Think back to the session on personal sustainability – how balanced do you think your life is?

Pretty balanced, I’d like to think. I’m pretty lucky to have the things I have.

Are you investing enough time and energy in to the things that fulfill & inspire you? Do you need to make any changes?

I think so. I’d like to spend more time making art. Get a job. Work hard to be able to do more of the things I love.

How was mini trail? Are you pleased with the quality of information that you & your team gathered? Would you do anything differently given the opportunity? How was your teamwork – was there a different dynamic from your experiences with the City Grid task? 

Mini trail went quite well. We got to the gallery quickly and split up into pairs to complete surveys. Though we didn’t get a great amount of information, we got all that we needed and wanted. In our free time we even managed to get a look around the 21st century art exhibit as well as HYPER NATURAL. As for teamwork, there was a bit of difficulty around organising the presentation as the majority of the team wanted a more simple presentation while another member insisted on keeping a 33 slide prezi centred around the word ART. In the end (though it hasn’t really happened yet) some negotiation was made, but nothing is final. We’ll see how it goes tomorrow.

Critical Question #1 // Is Melbourne Fair?

~\\ ADDITIONAL NOTE//~

The feature image above is a piece of artwork. The original image was then appropriated by Jacqui Lambie MP into an anti-burqa ad to air to her Facebook following

I believe that Melbourne is an unfair city filled with social and cultural injustice. However, though the city we live in has a long way to go, making change won’t be difficult if everyone plays their part.

Last Tuesday, during our Youth Law session it was obvious there was confusion about how to act around the police. You’d want to be polite but assertive. Assert your rights but know their powers. And know where to draw the line. I personally, found it confusing and I know others did too. We explored the idea that police are present to protect us yet some individuals have racial, cultural or age prejudice. How can our people feel safe if the ones protecting us could even be the ones setting us up to fall?

It has also been evident that the Media plays a large role in the fairness of Melbourne and Australia. Obviously the media is also influenced by influential people, people of power and money. This means the things we see on TV or hear on the radio are all filtered. For example, we could actually blame negative media influences for the violent hate crimes against Islamic people in Melbourne. ISIS is a tiny minority in the Islamic world and the media tends to portray overseas drama as something that is avidly present in Melbourne. The media’s wide airing of Jacqui Lambie’s (MP) theory of IS using Ebola to reign terror on Australia also means that this is even more likely to happen than it would if Lambie had never spoken to begin with.

This brings to light the emerging fact that many of our country’s politicians, the people who represent us in our country, have no respect for our own people. The mistrust and the mutiny, they all add to our country’s lack of understanding. The ‘typical Australian’ is now upper-middle-class, white, Christian to some extent and certainly not real. These stereotypes are leading our country astray. Australia is forever changing and with Melbourne as one of the most politically democratic and progressive cities, we should be leading by example. We need to be able to meet our electoral candidates before the elections. Are they bias? Racist? Not understanding of others? Condescending? Unwilling? Unmotivated? These are the flaws that aren’t hard to notice, sure nobody’s perfect but our people don’t deserve to be represented by people who don’t represent ALL the people.

Although Melbourne is a generally safe and liveable place, Melbourne is not fair. Melbourne’s society might seem fine but never forget, we’re still on the privileged side of things. We are lucky to be getting an education and to be constantly aware of what’s going on in the world around us. The fact that there are other teens and even adults in our city who never had the chance to get a good education is unfair. The fact there are thousands of adults and children living out in the streets is unfair. Fairness is defined as the condition of being free from bias or injustice. So is Melbourne really fair?

References

http://youthlaw.asn.au/

http://streetsmartvic.com.au/

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/jacqui-lambie-questions-defence-officials-about-prospect-of-ebolainfected-suicide-agents-attacking-australia-20141022-119ve0.html

http://www.dailylife.com.au/news-and-views/dl-opinion/the-trouble-with-jacqui-lambies-antiburqa-campaign-20140921-10k2iq.html

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2014/09/25/backlash-against-australian-muslims-worsens

in-class discussions, Youth Law session, discussions with peers and family

Week 2 // Justice Week

Did your perspective on Melbourne as a city [fair or not] shift this week?

Not really. Though the Youth Law session made me feel slightly more uncomfortable about whether added police presence is good or not.

Which experiences packed the most impact for you?

I really enjoyed going to Lentils and speaking to the people there. Everyone is so dedicated there and the sense of community is astounding!

Have you become inspired to become an activist?

Definitely! I would like to think I’m a grassroots activist. I try to advocate for environmental action on a community level as well as help improve our school for students (mostly in SRC and LEAP!).

What cause are you most passionate about?

As you can probably tell, the environment! Also, Mental Health. Both are pretty important for living.

Have you been able to work towards achieving any of your learning goals this week – which ones and in what ways?

I certainly know more about the environment, but definitely a lot more about Australian Politics. I think after our Wednesday Fair Food trail, I learnt a lot more about Climate Change and human effects on the environment. At Parliament I learnt a lot about the layout of State Parliament and its laws.

NOT All About That Bass

Spoon Uni Article http://spoonuniversity.com/2014/10/bass-delivering-harmful-messages/

Kids React Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuO4ksIPJqY

Under 8s Sing All About That Bass https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdYI6FvE-0s

I doubt many/any people will bother reading this however, the Spoon Uni article (link above) sums up my feelings about the #1 Hit song, All About That Bass.

The song bothers me so much because I know many people, especially SKINNY people who think the song is great and empowering without listening to all the lyrics. Most of the lyrics are super positive but the key is there isn’t just one body type! And though raising awareness towards photoshopping in the media as well as the fact that curves are normal is good, it’s still bad for self confidence as well as a bad example by saying things like “I’m bringing booty back [pos] go tell them skinny bitches that…[neg]” What is Meghan Trainor really implying??

Aside from the video, the Fine Bros most recent ‘Kids React’ was a bit of a let down too. I was hoping that during the Question Time section of the video they would not only address the positive but also negative aspects of the video. But apparently not as they were pointing the children in the direction that the song (& video) is/are 100% and good for kids to watch. These aren’t stupid kids and are clearly able to deal with other big issues, so why not explain how body image isn’t just about not being fat. Or that there are still negative connotations around being skinny.

One of the girls said that “Loving yourself no matter what and not caring [about] what everyone tells you” but maybe the song could be refined to match that idea without putting skinny “bitches” down along the way.

Finally, after the Fine Bros mentioned the filtering of popular songs for airing on Kids TV networks I had a look at a video of a little girl covering the song. The Disney edition of the song. If the song is promoting such a good message, why do big companies have to mute out half the song? Understandably, more mature references are left out but the edited editions aren’t necessarily better ! I’m avoiding going into it too much here, but lyrics go from “She says, boys they like a little more booty to hold at night…” into “Boys know real beauty is actually what’s inside…”. Why do boys matter in an issue like this?

Apologies for the state this post is in, more rant than thorough explanation…

Week 1 Reflection // Orientation Week

What has been a standout moment for you?

I really enjoyed the team skills sessions on Thursday morning. I liked being able to make new connections with others in my sub school as well as learn about the best ways to work as a team.

Has anything taken you by surprise?

I was pretty surprised about the lack of participation in class. Hopefully more people open up to class discussion because I really hate being the only one talking!

Has Galileo met your expectations thus far?

Yeah, I think it has. The first week has been pretty relaxed, though I’m sure there’s plenty more to come.

How did you experience the difference between the Mini Melbourne and City Grid trails?

I found the City Grid trail to be much more independent, not only because we were alone but also because we were left to sort out any team difficulties by ourselves. It meant we had to assign roles and do our jobs properly. I also found the city grid to be much more hands on; though the task was simple we weren’t guided so we each had to take separate initiatives.

What was it like to receive so much trust from the teachers- did it motivate your group to complete the task?

Yeah, we finished the tasks pretty quickly. The trust made things much faster, as we could go wherever we wanted how we wanted. This meant we could focus on the train network making it easier to head to our destinations via City Loop.

How was your experience of working in your team project group?

There was a little trouble when assigning roles but once it was sorted out, the day went along quite smoothly.

Did you embrace a leadership opportunity?

Yes, I did. I wasn’t planning on it, as I often take leadership roles and like to let other people have a go. But after there was a bit of indecision of who should take the lead, I stepped up.

Learning Goals

This term I’d like to learn about/work on…

•  Time Management // so that I can finish good quality work in a given period. This will help me manage my priorities and have more leisure time.
•  Leadership // so that I can learn to lead a team and work on compromising and communicating better(this will be handy in SRC too)
•  Negotiation and Compromise // to argue better with my parents and apply it in situations where other people don’t agree completely. To rationally sort out tricky situations keeping all parties happy and NOT offending anyone in the process.

•  Australia’s political system // because my sister works in politics and it would be helpful to have a more clearer understanding of what she does and how our country uses its power
•  Music/Music Appreciation // to realise and understand how Melbourne appreciates/incorporates music into our culture and everyday life as well as what the music industry is like in Melbourne
• (see below for Climate Science)

• Independence // so that I can learn to be be reasonable of what I want and how I can work get it done/make my goals achievable. It will give me added motivation to move further and work harder.
•  Patience // will be a difficult one. But it can be achieved. It means working harder to be respectful in a team. Its important for communicating and working well in a group
•  Organisation // Keep my priorities straight as well as stop (or at least minimise) my mass amounts of procrastination. It will certainly keep my mum happy too.

Climate Science (Knowledge) Break Down

How to Achieve (new knowledge):

• study further news and information about the causes and effects of climate change (this could be via AYCC)
• attend rallies to meet passionate people and learn about how we can make change
• teach others about climate change and how they can help
• join the school’s environmental group

Obstacles or Difficulties

• finding accurate sources to interview and survey
• ?

Success

• will look like… being confident enough to teach others about climate change and how we can work to make Australia more sustainable