Tuesday, May 19, 2009
week of sustainability
I think all the ideas we came up with today as a group were great and im pleased we chose the movie. One the advantage of having a movie, hopefuly even a movie launch (with popcorn) is that we can put it on a social networking site and it can be there for ages so people who enjoyed our movie can show there family, friends and flatmates! much beter than a one day thing that people would be likely to not take a lot of notice of. My vision of how the movie would go- It could start by showing snipits of our lifes before we knew about sustainability with a voice over making it sort of comical saying "Is packaging cluttering your life? spending all your wages on petrol and power? sick of paying too much for clothes that youl probably only wear once?" etc.. sort of like a bad add! then do a little bit of education taking ideas from the story of stuff then we start our "week of sustainable living" shows how much can be changed so easily, with further education for the viewers about each section. At the end a message about the long term effects of living sustainably and the results of our week like how much we saved etc.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
ECO foot print
At the moment I dont think I live as sustainably as I should be. According to the activity if everyone lived like me we woul need 3 earths! but I realy dont know how accurate that is... shurly not?!
At the moment what I do to be sustainable; Use the blue bin and recycle what I can, use my thermo mug for coffee (when I remember), reuse water bottles, use lots of blankets in winter instead of an electric blanket, walk, bus or share a ride places when I can and put any clothes I no longer wear in clothing bins.
At the moment what I do to be sustainable; Use the blue bin and recycle what I can, use my thermo mug for coffee (when I remember), reuse water bottles, use lots of blankets in winter instead of an electric blanket, walk, bus or share a ride places when I can and put any clothes I no longer wear in clothing bins.
There are many different approaches to the way sustainability is taught/learnt. The EFS (education for sustainability) swirl has the goal to to show how sustainability affects different areas such as; environmental, economic and socio-cultural and political. Each of these areas interconect and at the end of the swirl is a comment about all forms of sustainability relating to learning/teaching. THe EFS also provides ways affective sustainable learning can be achieved some ideas include; reflective thinking, future thinking, action orientated and cooperation/calibration.
The approaches taken in the Action Competance Model show the importance of student driven learning to achieve more passion on the subject, so instead of being told to do something the student should have the ability to come up with there own vision, plan and result. It focuses on changing the area we focus on from; what is wrong to what action we are going to take to change it. Our course follows this model well because it is up to us to develop what we do to show we understand the consepts of sustainability. I think this is a good idea because it allows people to be creative and use a learning style that suits them.
The approaches taken in the Action Competance Model show the importance of student driven learning to achieve more passion on the subject, so instead of being told to do something the student should have the ability to come up with there own vision, plan and result. It focuses on changing the area we focus on from; what is wrong to what action we are going to take to change it. Our course follows this model well because it is up to us to develop what we do to show we understand the consepts of sustainability. I think this is a good idea because it allows people to be creative and use a learning style that suits them.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Every day we are exposed to a barrage of information, advertisements, and stories in newspapers, on billboards and on television… information that tells us what is important in the world… advertisements that tell us about our priorities in life… and billboards that encourage us to want more. It may seem all too easy to just accept what we read and what we are told… But stop and think about what is really being said?… What are we really being sold?… What are the real messages?… Who is telling them and why are they telling them?… Who benefits from these messages?
These messages ultimatly are produced so the consumer will consume and ultimatly for the companys own finantial gain. These companys often use methods of marketing which when you think about it are quite insulting alot of them are saying you need their STUFF to be special and valued. It is almost as if the some adds are aiming to make viewers think they can sell us hapyness which obviously doesnt work but people get sucked in over and over anyway.
Next, reflect on your own thoughts and perceptions… What assumptions are you making about the messages you read and hear?… How do your personal values influence these perceptions?… How has your family life, culture, gender or faith shaped the way you interpret these messages… the world?"
I realise that not everything you hear in advertisments is true and I dont think I have been brought up to be too materialistic and I definatly dont think I read too much into anything that trys to tell me i will 'be a better person' if i have a certian 'thing'. However I think my generation, and the ammount of marketing you hear every day has contributed to me having some feeling of associating status and value with stuff and I probably do sometimes buy things for this reason.
There are always competing interests in debates about sustainability and it is important to build tolerance around different interests and perspectives. However, it is also important to keep questioning and scrutinising what it is that people and institutions are actually seeking to sustain.
I think it is important to be tolerant of other peoples ideas on sustainability because if people were to work together to make anything sustainable then people are obviously going to have to adapt in the short term. making anything sustainable is going to affect everyone involved and not always in a good way initialy. I also agree that the people need to have a firm grasp on the concept of sustainability and what they want to sustain before they go ahead and make changes. This is because some changes that may seem sustainable may also have negitave impacts that need to be looked into.
These messages ultimatly are produced so the consumer will consume and ultimatly for the companys own finantial gain. These companys often use methods of marketing which when you think about it are quite insulting alot of them are saying you need their STUFF to be special and valued. It is almost as if the some adds are aiming to make viewers think they can sell us hapyness which obviously doesnt work but people get sucked in over and over anyway.
Next, reflect on your own thoughts and perceptions… What assumptions are you making about the messages you read and hear?… How do your personal values influence these perceptions?… How has your family life, culture, gender or faith shaped the way you interpret these messages… the world?"
I realise that not everything you hear in advertisments is true and I dont think I have been brought up to be too materialistic and I definatly dont think I read too much into anything that trys to tell me i will 'be a better person' if i have a certian 'thing'. However I think my generation, and the ammount of marketing you hear every day has contributed to me having some feeling of associating status and value with stuff and I probably do sometimes buy things for this reason.
There are always competing interests in debates about sustainability and it is important to build tolerance around different interests and perspectives. However, it is also important to keep questioning and scrutinising what it is that people and institutions are actually seeking to sustain.
I think it is important to be tolerant of other peoples ideas on sustainability because if people were to work together to make anything sustainable then people are obviously going to have to adapt in the short term. making anything sustainable is going to affect everyone involved and not always in a good way initialy. I also agree that the people need to have a firm grasp on the concept of sustainability and what they want to sustain before they go ahead and make changes. This is because some changes that may seem sustainable may also have negitave impacts that need to be looked into.
The Story of Stuff
What really hit home for you?
The chapter on consuming. also how people accualy want us to consume at any cost to people and the environment just for finantial gain. The ammount that we take from the earth and also the way countrys just shove their problems over to other countrys and have anb out of site out of mind attitude to these problems.
What do you question about the movie?
How likely it is that people are going to get out of the cycle of working/making money, being almost hypnotised by the media, shopping and consuming/spending their money and then going back to work to start this cycle all over again. I think although what the movie was saying was shocking I think alot of people are comfortable and would rather choose to ignore this kind of information because it is easier.
What would you like to explore further?
What changes are being made and how welcomed the idea of change is.
What stands out for you?
The Story of stuff and the slide show on the issues of sustainability
Why did you choose this/these?
I chose the story of stuff because it realy shows the whole process of what is hapening to the environment and how unsustainable the world is. I chose the slide show because I found it interesting the ammount of food different people around the world consume and how unfair it seemed.
How did you react or respond to the experience?
I was amazed by the fact that in the story of stuff it explained that someone accualy came up with this way of living and wanted people to consume the way they do now purly for profit. it was very interesting.
What caused you to react this way? What surprised you about your reaction?
Just that I had no idea how seriously one thing effected another to make such a huge impact on both people and the environment. I was supprised by how the story of stuff made me realise how important stuff is to me and what effect consuming and wasting so quickly has on the environment, also it made me see if something is cheap someone someware is paying for it.
What did you learn from the experience?
see above.
What were the critical moments for you?
the consumption part of the story of stuff
What have you discovered about your attitudes, prejudices, opinions on this subject?
That I didnt pay enough attention to how much i consume
What is holding you back from engaging in the learning?
nothing
What motivates you to learn?
About sustainability- the fact that learning about sustainability makes me more aware of what I am doing to help (or not) the environment.
The Story of stuff and the slide show on the issues of sustainability
Why did you choose this/these?
I chose the story of stuff because it realy shows the whole process of what is hapening to the environment and how unsustainable the world is. I chose the slide show because I found it interesting the ammount of food different people around the world consume and how unfair it seemed.
How did you react or respond to the experience?
I was amazed by the fact that in the story of stuff it explained that someone accualy came up with this way of living and wanted people to consume the way they do now purly for profit. it was very interesting.
What caused you to react this way? What surprised you about your reaction?
Just that I had no idea how seriously one thing effected another to make such a huge impact on both people and the environment. I was supprised by how the story of stuff made me realise how important stuff is to me and what effect consuming and wasting so quickly has on the environment, also it made me see if something is cheap someone someware is paying for it.
What did you learn from the experience?
see above.
What were the critical moments for you?
the consumption part of the story of stuff
What have you discovered about your attitudes, prejudices, opinions on this subject?
That I didnt pay enough attention to how much i consume
What is holding you back from engaging in the learning?
nothing
What motivates you to learn?
About sustainability- the fact that learning about sustainability makes me more aware of what I am doing to help (or not) the environment.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Reflective framework
In the first class we participated in an activity were we showed our opinions on different and sometimes personal things. This activity stood out for me because there topics that aren't usualy talked about and it was interesting to see how peoples views differ. In todays class it was good making up a definition of what sustainability is because i wasn't too shure if what i was thinking was correct so it gave me a clearer definition of what sustainability is and what this topic is going to be all about.
I think I reacted positivly to these activitys because they were a bit unusual and they used group work, I think I work best when I can hear other peoples thoughts and ideas because it makes me more confidant in my own.
I learnt a good definition of the subject from the brainstorm activity.
I think I reacted positivly to these activitys because they were a bit unusual and they used group work, I think I work best when I can hear other peoples thoughts and ideas because it makes me more confidant in my own.
I learnt a good definition of the subject from the brainstorm activity.
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