EDF2085-Reflection #16

Genocide and ethnic cleansing are two strong words that have a severe meaning. I have never heard of ethnic cleansing, but it means to completely eliminate a certain group of people regarding their religion or ethnicity. Genocide is considered a crime while ethnic cleansing isn’t. They are both almost the same thing just genocide is something more specific and ethnic cleansing in spoken in broader terms. I think this is something that should just be eliminated and both should be considered crimes. It is like speaking about the Holocaust, because this is what it was really about. It is something so sad, and many events have occurred because of it. One of the examples of genocide in the 20th century is said to be in Rwanda the conflict with the slaughter of the Tutsi minority by the Hutu majority. A blind eye was turned into a slaughter and over two million Cambodians were killed. In Bosnia more than two thousand civilians were killed and women were raped over a hundred times, all this while their husbands and sons were being tortured in concentration camps. Ethnic cleansing caused the loss of their homes. In Darfur there were many killings by the government, sexual violence, looting of property which were some forms of the ethnic cleansing that was done there. I believe these things are really hard to accept. The fact that no one stood up for these unfortunate people makes it really sad. Ethnic cleansing should also be aborted together with genocide. These atrocities were something I never knew of before and I believe it is abuse how some people can treat others this badly over differences or what not. Genocide is a form of prejudice and this is one example on how it is being acted out in today’s society by gestures like this. I never knew that these different locations had people that were being treated this badly. This is unjust and these aren’t ways people should be treated in society. These are things we have to learn from and stick up for ourselves if they were to ever happen as hard as it is to do. The reason they happen is because no one has ever said no, or stand up for themselves.

EDF1005-Reflection #19

The children were being taught in their homes with the most important subject being reading. The homes were converted into schools which were called “dame schools”. They taught everything within English and grammar which was writing, computation, and reading skills. It was known to be that “dames” were women who were interested in education and they were the ones who took charge of the education in the communities. In the early 1900s junior high schools included 7, 8, and 9 grades and were made to satisfy and provide for the preteens. It offered a core curriculum as well as the counseling they needed. Later on, they developed all the other grades into another school and incorporated more into the high school. Boys were sent at the age of seven to learn the different trades while girls usually stayed at home with their mothers to learn homemaking skills and to learn things that a house wife should know. All these were the apprenticeship programs, some laws also required for certain areas to learn reading and writing skills. The boys who were able to pay for their education attended a school called Latin grammar school which was an exclusive school that you had to pay for your tuition just to receive an education. It is said that this was the beginning stepping stone to creating the American high school. Here, the students needed to recite and read different poems and stories. They also included all the other important subjects. Once they graduated they were expected to attend college and most of them became ministers. But, high schools were free unlike these grammar schools. They weren’t controlled by private boards, instead by the public. High school is something we hold within us forever. It is something we don’t forget, for some of us the best four years of our lives. Those are memories we cannot escape. Colonial schools were also surrounded by religion, and the high schools kind of began to move away from that. There were a couple of changes with the dame schools and the development of the high schools for adolescents. It all came together over time, and now we have elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools to follow.

"The Ruler"

The Esu is one of the deities. The purpose of the esu is to trick people and to develop some sort of maturation. It leaves people with a guilty conscious that will sooner or later come back to them if they betray it. It tests you to see what you can handle and are made of. It straightens out the parts of us that are broken, and tries to fix them. It doesn't like to point fingers at anyone. It teaches us the right way and was trying to show the ruler this. Esu tries to set a good example for us.

EDF2085-Assignment 1

The teacher does treat all students equally regardless of their ethnic background, gender, or skills levels. I wouldn’t have even noticed this antic because they are all treated like the same person. The teacher does treat all of the students fairly, with equitably, but of course according to their behavior. The teacher does respect all students regardless of the diversity in the classroom. This is a classroom of kids that are about the age of five, a kindergarten classroom. Some of them don’t know how to behave or stay in their seats, or it is the first year of school for most of them. It is difficult because as soon as one doesn’t start to behave they all get hyper and follow what that child is doing. For some of them they need extra attention and help when doing the assignments because they can’t grasp it when the teacher is doing it in the front of the class. The teacher approaches each one of them to see if they are doing it correctly. She does things orally, visually, and to watch them perform certain things. She uses different things to teach and show them. She may read a story and show them pictures and all this is incorporated with the words and color of the week. They perform assignments that require motor skills. She also performs tasks in which all students must participate or answer questions individually. This particular day they were learning about transformations, and how butterflies first become a caterpillar, then they make a cocoon, and then transform into a beautiful butterfly. Most of them were really surprised and grasped the concept. They had to draw what happened in the story, some of them knew it became a butterfly, and some of them were lost. Not all the students speak English which makes it difficult for them. “Communication differences are among the most obvious issues that must be confronted when crossing cultural boundaries” (Safford, 124). The teacher makes me help this one child who provokes all other students and behave terribly. She constantly wants me to sit with her and watch her do the work. She needs special attention and you can tell she doesn’t have any at home. The students are rewarded with a prize or candy sometimes, but only for the ones that behaved well that day. I believe this is good because this way they learn they have to behave good to receive a prize. Regardless of their age, gender, or ethnicity, each student is reward and treated on how they behave throughout the day. Each one is treated fairly and the same as the other.

EDF2085-Reflection #15

I believe the Holocaust was an awful thing that happened and no one deserves to be treated or to die like that. People were being separated from their families and tortured for no other reason than for being Jews. It was pure abuse and something really disturbing to watch while looking at the video we watched in class. Everyone should be treated equal in this world. It hurts to know that those people had to suffer as much as they did for us to have the freedom we have today; including segregation and slavery. I guess people learn through their mistakes, and we as a society have learned that we are way better than to be treated that way by anyone. These were innocent people, some in which didn’t even know this would be done to them. The people in denial that believe the Holocaust did not happen must think historians are unskilled for this event, which is untrue. I believe the people that think that none of this ever happened are in great denial and can’t believe such an awful thing did occur and are covering it up in ways in which they think they can convince people otherwise. They know they can’t prove themselves right with the history of it that happened, but politically with their beliefs. Hitler and his followers were obviously ethnocentrists and believed they were better than anyone else and if you weren’t one of them then you should be dead. The sad part of this is that this is what they carried on, which made a huge part in history. The people that say it didn’t happen, I think don’t want to face the fact that it did. It is something so sad, something to mourn about, that they may not even want to remember it. They don’t want to be reminded of it and how it was allowed to actually take place, so they block themselves with it and say it never happened. They might also be afraid a riot or something might be formed or take place. People might look at them differently knowing that they actually experienced this awful tragedy hands on. People shouldn’t think like this because we will be learning from their experience with this. They should share their experiences and what they went through.

EDF1005-Reflection #18

From the quote “In America, education has always been viewed as a vehicle for improving the society at large”, I do believe this is true. Everyone can improve themselves in every single slight way through education, which will help improve the society in which we live in. Everything will have more definition and meaning, and everyone would be able to see more eye to eye on things than what they are now. Almost half of the population does decide to continue to receive an education which helps build great businesses, meaning better jobs, which means more money, which also leads to a more modern and better place to live. Schooling also forms some sort of structure, an example being with all the educational reforms such as the National Education Summit. It teaches us how to behave around different types of people and form good relationships with others. A perfect example is that education started in the colonial times, and ever since we have developed it and made it better and easier for children to learn. We have formed better schools with the help of our society. Thanks to education we have doctors and people who can take care of us and our health. It has specialized people to do certain things and help out everyone in society. Benjamin Franklin had a huge influence in the education we carry on today because he established the academy which was a secondary school that offered a variety of different practical subjects to learn. Students were also able to choose which classes or subjects they wanted to take. As you can tell it was a big influence in the society of America because we have continued this method of choosing which courses you want to take and a variety of subjects as well. The purpose of getting education is to improve our knowledge to make wise choices when we are faced with them. Education is something you can’t get enough of, you can always improve and learn more. Every day we each learn something new, it may be about each other or about society, but every day is a learning experience which is why it is seen as a vehicle that does not stop moving. If our education is always improving, we will always have something concrete to back us ourselves up with. We will always have a point in our arguments. If we all would have an education, we would all be able to get better jobs which will help out the economy which can help form more job openings and change people’s lives.

EDF1005-Reflection #17

Back in the days in England the Puritans wanted to reform the Church. They wanted to establish the religion of the Puritans. They formed schools that taught the children how to understand and read the Bible. In the U.S. this doesn’t happen unless you attend a private school, besides that religion isn’t even mentioned in a regular public school. I learned all this because I attended Catholic school my whole life. The Puritans had strong religious beliefs that helped them move through everything. Education was given only to whites in New England. Nowadays, in the present time thankfully education is something that is provided to everyone equally. The most important books to them were the hornbook and the Bible. Although books were scarce, they had to memorize most of the content. In America we have plenty of books to choose from now. The boys would begin their school day at 7 am, and then have breakfast at 9 am, and dinner from 2-7pm. They had a few breaks in between and studied math, science, history, Greek, Latin, etc. afterwards they would help at home. In the U.S. we still have school really early but not all day. We come home just in time for lunch and then dinner; dismissal from school is usually around 2 or 3 pm. Schools is provided to boys and girls, girls didn’t have to stay home and learn. Also, teachers were dominated by men, now is when it has become mostly a female career. In the earlier colonial times parents had the freedom to choose the education of their child. Neither regulatory boards, nor teacher certifications were required, and they didn’t have to pay for schools they did not approve of. Many things have changed though, teachers do need certification, and children must go to the public schools around the area in which they live, unless they want to attend a private school and pay for their schooling wherever they want. Female teachers attended a seminary and then graduated from it and were allowed to teach until they were married. Many whites didn’t want the blacks to attend schools, but there was finally several laws passed to change all this.

EDF2085-Reflection #14

I learned through reading “Understanding Prejudice” that there are many different types of prejudices. One of them is intentional prejudicial actions which is most common among people that had tough childhoods. Most of them can’t form serious close relationships with others and it’s because they’ve been. These acts are planned most of the time. They do this in order to defend themselves and their identities. It is really hard to change these behaviors in people that are like this. Then what follows unintentional prejudicial actions, which the intentions of this behavior are never really noticed. They will throw little things here and there but not as bad as the things the person went through throughout their childhood. When we give people the benefit of the doubt we are allowing them to change the way in which they behave. The good thing is there are ways we can avoid unintentionally prejudicial actions by practicing non prejudice thoughts, and removing our guilt factor. It is incredible how the way you were brought up can affect the way you behave in the long run. The early stages of life and elementary school are very crucial because this is what begins to form who you are and what you are going to be. Prejudice is the worst of the negative attitudes of multicultural awareness. When you are prejudice of a certain group you are prejudging them and the qualities of that group. For example, if I were to say Amy is in the popular group in high school because she is in the dance team. I am being prejudice because just because you are in the dance team doesn’t mean you are popular. It is just our mentalities of things and what we assume. Amy can be friends with everyone and in everyone’s group. This is the mistake people make nowadays; they always judge others and make prejudice comments before making an encounter with the person. Prejudice is formed by a group and also with others and their judgments. I do understand how prejudice happens because it is with the help of others. We all get influenced by others beliefs, as well as make judgments prior to our interaction with someone.

EDF2085-Reflection #13

I think most of the facts on “Understanding Oneself” are so true. We, as humans, are very complex creatures. A perfect example that was given was that we can be super nice and loving to those people we do not like, but yet to the people we truly love it is difficult for us to show our love and affection towards them. We, ourselves as human beings, don’t even know how we function ourselves. If we were to be asked this question we would spend quite some time thinking about it. Most of the time we begin to just do things without even thinking about them. There are three very important questions we have to ask ourselves to know our identity and where we are going in life. These questions are: Who am I? Where am I going? And what route shall I take? These are three questions that we ourselves must know the answer to. There are great questions to think about because this is how we know if we are doing something with ourselves. We should always have an aim for what we are shooting for. Everyone needs a goal in life, if not then there really is no purpose of living. Our self concept is a very important part of who we are. It makes us up individually by putting all of our ideas, thoughts, and beliefs together. How we act is determined by our self concept. If we see ourselves as something really important we are going to act superior to everyone and not hide under everyone else’s shadow. On the other hand, our self esteem is how we value and protect our self concept. It takes a long way for one to transform their issues with self esteem and concepts and it all comes with experience from life as each day goes by. All these qualities I believe are really important for a human being. They make each one of us up individually regardless of our differences. The “self” is made up of many more other things that make it up. It is what we can call our own and cannot be changed by anyone but ourselves. I found it interesting that everyone automatically changes their behavior without knowing in front of others. The reason we do this is because it is something that is expected and over time have realized this is the only way people will love us, like us, listen to us, and etc. I believe this is true because I have seen people act a certain way in their house with their parents, and once they go out in public with other people they change their attitudes and/or behavior right away.

EDF1005-Reflection #16

Rhetoric was the study of speaking and writing in an effective way. Rhetoric was a speech with a given theme. It also became something that the teachers would use to train the students and demonstrate how to use language orally and to learn how to apply it when speaking or writing. There were teachers who were called rhetors who taught this writing style. This study of rhetoric became a huge part of Roman society. It was a form of art. Rhetoric became a genre and a huge part of literature and all. The declamation had three parts to it and was considered to have been formed from rhetorics. Rhetoric was a way of putting something into an argument. It was the way to persuade someone into a belief, or by what was being said at the moment. Rhetoric was being able to say something in one way and how it would be interpreted in another way. For example, if I apply for a credit card because I was pursued by the way the associate entrapped me into applying; even though I know having credit cards aren’t good. It was the center of all Roman education. The most famous rhetoric at the time was Marcus Tullius Cicero for being the most read rhetorician of the Classical period. He elaborated and developed new ideas. Rhetoric is something that was inherited from Greece. It was mostly the study of language and thought together. There were two types of rhetorics that were used. One was quaestiones which were themes that were general and abstract. The other was causae which was themes related to a particular person or situations. The declamatio of rhetorics is what dominated schools in the areas of literacy. The Romans put great emphasis in rhetoric once the child was about the age of sixteen. They believed this was important because they needed to learn how to read and write correctly in public. It would help them lead in society of government. I believe using rhetoric was a good way of learning grammar and speech in a sort of particular way because it was a different type and way of saying something. For example, Aristotle the famous philosopher was famous for using rhetoric. It is from him where we get the rhetorical “proofs” anyways. Although rhetoric was a major part of Roman education.

EDF1005-Reflection #15

Education in these two cities had many similarities and a few differences. Education in Ancient Rome was taken very seriously. Most of them were taught how to read and write. The people of the higher class though, were tutored privately at home. “Schools” which we know them as today, were supposed to be only for boys. As soon as they did something wrong they would get beaten or hit. There were no books and not many subjects to be learned. The regular school day for them was much longer than ours is today. Girls were also allowed to go to school but it was done at home. Their week consisted of seven days and they had no weekend to rest. No tests were ever given out but there was much competition. Almost everything was considered a competition for them. The teachers didn’t really have an assessment. Anyone can just walk in town and claim to be a teacher. On the other hand, education in Athens was pretty much to get the children ready for the arts. They weren’t worried about specifying them for a certain job like most of the Romans were. They wanted them to know a little bit of everything and be well rounded. The girls were taught the same things they were in Ancient Rome as well, which are to cook, clean, sew, and keep up with the household. Education for the Athenians took place in the home. They had three types of different teachers; each would have a different occupation. One was an elementary school teacher, the other a secondary school teacher, and the third was a rhetor who taught the students how to make speeches. They were each in charge of teaching something different to the students. This was a big contrast between the Romans and Athenians. I believe the teaching style of the Athenians was more effective and the closest to how our academics and curriculum are taught in today’s society. They were both similar in how they taught their girls of their society to take charge of the household. The Romans were mostly trained for fighting and for an occupation, not really any subjects unlike the Athenians. Education was an important part of both of these cities though. The Romans were more focused on getting their boys ready for the military and ready to fight. They began to train them since they were young boys. All together, both cities did not have many differences and were pretty similar to each other.

EDF1005-Reflection #14

Aristotle saw the world in a biological way which is how we derive most of the organisms we see today. He made a chain which was considered “Great Chain of Being” which had all types of species and what would connect each one of them would be their logical progression. We would be the highest one on that Chain of Being. What would differentiate us from the other organisms was our form of reason. With this he tried to form a relationship between all living things. Aristotle had Four Causes that were the most obvious. Each one of them was in the form of questions. The first two causes being the classificatory causes. Number one is “What kind of thing is it?” which is a formal cause. Number two asks “What is it made of?” which is the material cause. These first two causes show how the material/thing came about. The final two causes were the dynamic causes. Number 3 asks “What were the functions or the specific design of the object?” which this is the final cause. The last cause, Number four asked “How did the thing come to be?” which is the efficient cause, the effect. Aristotle wanted everyone to be happy and believed this was the most important thing in life. I agree with him in this statement because at the end of the day it is important that we, ourselves are happy. In order for this to happen we must be the best and succeed the best way we can. Aristotle believes motion is eternal. He believed that things that were in motion were set to be moved, and something causes them to do so. He said that the primary cause of motion was locomotion which is what causes something to move. To Aristotle, the “Unmoved Mover” didn’t cause anything to set in motion. It was usually contemplating and was something beautiful. He said this was eternal and was neither created nor can be destroyed. The influence it has on today’s Western civilization is that according to Aristotle, this is what causes the world to move in motion. The Unmoved Mover was superior to everything else in the world. It is what caused everything else to move. Aristotle brought about all these ideas and theories which have been reviewed and developed further. He made many observations with the world around us and the things living in it today.

EDF1005-Reflection #13

Plato believed that the basis of all things was truth which is how idealism is formed. Everything came from truth, starting with mathematics. The best thing in life was truth and everything else was important. Plato’s theory of ideas was known as Forms. His theory of Forms was a separation between the worlds of different ideas. He believed that Forms was knowledge known for sure, for a fact that was unchangeable, and things that were actually discovered were insignificant. He also thought that things that change aren’t real. If something were to be real is had to be unchangeable, and stay as is. Idealism is something that is “ideal” therefore the truth of something. Forms were something concrete and which couldn’t be changed, but were examined intellectually. For example, a circle is a Form because it has a radius, a circumference, etc. Love isn’t a type of Form because that is something abstract that changes from one person’s view to another’s. A Form was for example, putting all types of different things into a group that had similar characteristics with each other. Something that would change would be considered unreal to him according to his Theory of Forms. One form of idealism was Platonism. Plato’s theory of Reminiscence believed that we were born with Forms and a sense of knowledge but we tend to forget them once we are born. A lot of people don’t believe this theory today, because we tend to learn from others that are older than us as we grow and experience things in life that they once did. This is almost like being the first born child, they are the ones that experience everything first and pass on the information to the younger siblings. One of the ideas I believe are still being used today by Plato is his belief that children should be taught by the society as a whole rather than just their parents. I believe this is a fact, because even today we learn something new every day from one another. Plato believed that the main concern in life was to live a happy and good life, but in order to do this one must have the knowledge of what is good. The process of this involves the Form of Good.

EDF2085-Reflection #12

The reason Freud’s Theory of Personality is seen and considered as important is because it is influenced a lot in the world we live in today, it is still continued to be used. I find it to be a reasonably true theory that can be believed today. According to Freud in today’s world, the most important things are to reproduce and keep a life living (a human being), and to fight to stay alive which is not allowing anyone or anything interfere or get in our way of succeeding or doing what you have to do. I believe Freud was a very wise man. His structural model completely makes sense and seems appealing to me. Once we are born, we have something called the id. The id is something that has to be satisfied at that specific moment in time regardless what is going on at that certain moment, or where we may be. It has to be satisfied regardless the scenario or circumstances. Then, we have the ego which is developed when we are about the age of five, a toddler. It satisfies the id, but is considerate about the moment in time when we need that satisfaction. For example, if they are hungry and are at the doctor’s office they will wait till they leave the doctor’s to get something to eat. Finally, there is the superego. The superego is what forms our moral restraints that our parents give to us. It is what helps us determine what would be right or wrong. I believe it is true what Freud says that our behavior is determined by our pleasure. There are many instances where this is true. Everything we do is split into two instincts which are what motivates us, and is the result of our behavior. These two instincts are our sexual drive and aggression drive. Our sexual drive is what is constantly reproducing and allowing a streamline of different generations, etc to live. Our aggression drive is what helps us fight for our things that we need or want, and what tries not to let anything get in the way. Each of Freud’s stages represent the different stages between being an infant and being a mature adult. Freud believed we were born with a need for pleasure. When we are infants we find ways to satisfy this pleasure by sucking, chewing, biting, etc. But, as we get older, this pleasure becomes something else. Freud remains so important because he was the one to invent an iceberg model of how our mind works, as well as through our personality. His theory can be applied to our human personality.

EDF2085-Reflection #11

Many of the topics discussed in Beliefs, Values, and Attitudes are very important when speaking of the concepts of teaching. For example, the same way we have authority in cultures to assure us that a belief or something is true, it is almost exactly the same thing teachers do. Many beliefs end up being determined by the culture through observations and day to day activities. This is how they determine certain beliefs. Values are something very important to us. It is something that we should carry with us everywhere throughout our lifetime. Each and every one of them represents the goals we have, our judgments, and pertain to all of our different beliefs. I learned that us as teachers will be able to observe a student’s values by seeing the way they are and act towards different things. These types of values are called conceived values. A person’s attitude is also a really important attribute because it relates to our beliefs, and this is where feelings are also involved. It is important to be able to judge a student’s attitude to determine if it is a negative or positive one and why. These are all different strategies that I learned about, and different things lead up or determine something else. Everything is like a chain reaction. It is all part of a cognitive component. It is important to know that beliefs, attitudes, and values can be changed or altered. If they wouldn’t be able to be changed then we wouldn’t be able to function with multicultural awareness. What was also very striking for me was all the different acts of prejudice that can come about. Because once you are a teacher, you also have to make sure not to avoid or discriminate any individual for any matter. This is another one of the things that I found most important because it is important to apply in a classroom with students. This will cause them not to learn to their full potential because they will feel a block in the relationship between the two of you. All these behaviors are the result of rejection and a student will feel this tension. You have to be aware to form a comfort zone for the student and make all of them feel superior equally, not one group more than another.

EDF2085-Reflection #10

I believe this article is really helpful for all of us as our futures as teachers. It shows us ways on how to treat all students equally while at the same time teaching them as a group (classroom). It is really important to know your student and who he or she is by learning their names the first few days of class. There is nothing like addressing someone by their name, it shows importance for that individual. We can’t assume just because a student doesn’t explain themselves to the class constantly and speak out, that they don’t know what’s going on. I was taught to listen more than to speak out, and I would consider myself an average, above average student. Us as teachers cannot assume things, but we must know. All the respect and attention for each student has to be shown the first few days of class so they don’t begin to shut themselves out or feel left out. It is important to let everyone participate and make everyone response seem important in the classroom while the other students judge as well. It’s also a good idea to set rules for the classroom, to let all the students know the respectful and right things to do with one another. You should never make a student act as a spokesperson for the group. Each student should have an opportunity to speak out in class and express their opinions. I learned if we were to be talking about a certain topic and that topic represents a student in the classroom, avoiding eye contact makes it even more obvious. I have learned all of this because if it wasn’t for reading this article I wouldn’t know how to react or what to do if this scenario happens. But, if the student is always participating and getting involved, then the student is already warmed up with the atmosphere and will feel comfortable sharing his/her opinions or views on the topic. The most important thing is to pay attention to all students equally and try to know them each individually. Try to learn and explore their learning style, and teach them as a group of diversity. As a teacher you have to be very precise and careful with what you say because you may offend a student by saying something wrong.

EDF2085-Reflection #9

Awareness is the process of being conscious or unconscious processes or activities. It is like a “space” for our memories where beliefs are stored. When you become aware of something your body reacts to it. You begin to feel sad, happy, hot, cold, cry, joyous, etc. It is all as soon as the body begins to process what it is encountering. For example, if my body is aware that I am touching a hot object, it is going to react by automatically removing my hand and probably scream from the paint. I also agree with Zetty, that awareness is like our observer. It knows everything and sees everything. I believe that the story of the epiphany was really impressive, I have never had that happen to me but I would like to experience it. An epiphany is like a hit of reality through a certain new perspective. In the quantum theory both matter and energy have particle like and wave like properties. They both change forms. The quanta is different levels which is part of different molecules. Our consciousness is a part of our awareness. Awareness is keeping track of something and when we are conscious of it we do not notice it is being done. Osho was the one to make the distinction between these two terms. He differentiated between awareness and consciousness. Conscious is a quality of the mind, but awareness isn’t its just mental. When we are conscious of something we are putting our thought into it. Let’s say there is a bee flying around where I am standing, I am conscious of it being there and I am aware that it may possibly bite me. There are many different categories consciousness falls into, and there are eight levels of it. We can also experience transformation with our state of consciousness. But all this requires different types of transformation. It happens anytime we learn something new we apply it to our lives. If I learn something today that changed my life I will transform and change my ways according to what I learned new. There is different types of transformations that happen, but all this depends on our level of consciousness or unconsciousness.

EDF1005-Reflection #12

Sputnik changed many things in schools in the 1950s. Sputnik was a race in space with the Soviets which was to educate the scientists and engineers. What Sputnik actually did was advance the curriculum of education for students. Things weren’t centered around the students anymore; they required a more rigorous study. People wanted more precise learning and teaching on different things. They wanted students to think more like actual scientists or mathematicians, and to study the more traditional subjects like Math and Science. But, the launch of Sputnik put an end to this debate for a temporary time. These things needed to become the main focus. The launch of Sputnik was a space race between the US and Russia, which eventually led to the accomplishment of the first man landing on the moon. This is how Sputnik began to arouse new and advanced performances in different things. New technology was discovered and teachers had to begin new methods for teaching so students can become more aware and filled with insight. Students were offered scholarships for colleges that allowed them to major in the major subjects, loans, and teachers were also being better prepared for a classroom and how to approach students with this new approach. After this launch, Congress passed the National Defense Education Act which enhanced the nation’s security and also advanced technology and resources for young men and women. The United States viewed education as an important tool to succeed in reforming education. Many people wanted a more progressive education for the nation’s curriculum. When they performed a test in which was more effective, either the progressive approach or traditional approach, and progressive seemed to outnumber the other. As more time passed education began to become an important influence. They passed the Land Ordinance Act and Northwest Ordinance which required townships in new territories that were bounded by Ohio and the Mississippi Rivers to ensure a piece of land that was doable for educational purposes. The government made education encouraged for everyone.

EDF1005-Reflection #11

Socrates was an important figure in history and we have developed things today because of him. Socrates, along with the other great philosophers at the time formed the Western Philosophy. He viewed happiness not as having a life, but as having a good one. His views on happiness were different from ours. He believed if we didn’t examine our life then we were just wasting it. We are wasting our gift of critical thinking and wisdom. He liked to look at things closely and precisely to examine them and conclude why they came out. I believe this is very true because we should examine our life, and set goals for ourselves to see how we are going to live it. On the contrast, some people like to believe the complete opposite of this. They rather just go with the flow and with whatever they feel like doing that day. I like to live my life examined with a set of goals and things I want to accomplish. By doing this you know what you want to get out of life and the things you want to achieve while living in it. He developed an idea in which is carried on today in classrooms, court houses, etc, and it is called elenchus. Elenchus is used in the western civilization as an ongoing process. It is the method formed by him which asks questions about moral concept. You argue with what you believe. It makes you doubt your own moral beliefs. He thought this was supposed to be applied to life and put together there. Socrates wanted people to believe and understand his ethics which lead to his belief that happiness is moral excellence. He would philosophize to everyone and wanted everyone to elevate in thinking in an ethical manner. Many of his ideas and thoughts are still being used today or have been evaluated and enhanced even more. All our different forms of religion have different ethical concepts and morals. He brought about these new ideas and methods to society, some in which are still being used today. Socrates liked to examine a person’s character. Pleasure to him was different forms of virtues. But, many people disagreed with him because you may be overcome with anger, guilt, or sadness, and act differently than what pleasure is to Socrates.