Final Thoughts and Ranting

When I first began this blog, I was skeptical of it's benefits. I always hated bloggers and their stuffy opinions. It's like giving the loud mouth in class the freedom to say what they want without peer pressure or someone telling them to be quiet. In truth, I never liked this blog. I felt that it was too constrictive to actually be passionate about. In the end, just as my fears predicted, it ended up becoming just an assignment I had to do. Truly, never before have I done an assignment that I both loathed, struggled with, and felt pressed for ideas as to what to write.

I think the problem is that globalization is such a gigantic topic that you can't be specific about it really. You can only dance around the issue and hit certain points. But that's it. You never get to the root of the issue. And this is to be expected. Globalization is such a historically continuous event that to truly understand it would give one a headache as they make the thousands of connections regarding the topic. To understand Globalization in a classroom would take more than one semester and more than one meeting a week.

Increasingly, I have become privy about my comparisons with the Danish school system and welfare system. I cannot just go out and say: "Well this is the model of the future and I should take them with me back to the US." No, you can't do that. A) the system is certainly not the model of the future and B) no system has it right. To fundamentally change the idea of welfare for six million is far easier and more doable then for over 300 million. These things take ample amounts of time. We just passed Obamacare and as a progressive, I think it's a disaster in the making. What right does the government have to tell me that after working 30 hours, my employer have to offer health benefits? Now, I know what you're thinking: "But Mike, that's a really stupid statement because you're now going to get health benefits." Well, not exactly and let me explain why: employers are going to slash hours to 29.5 a week just to miss the requirement. So not only are my hours going to be cut as a student part time worker, I'm still going to be out my own health care benefits... Thanks a lot for your help POTUS.

Anyways, I don't want to rant anymore. I did the blog, did my time, and for all intents and purposes, I'm calling case closed on it. I will take definitely take a few lessons with me. Mainly the ones about Identity and Collaboration. These are the ones that I think will drive innovation and and the future of sustainability. And on that bombshell, I'd like to thank you all for the time. Good night.

- Michael Cortez

Btw, looking at my introductory paragraph, I kind of come off as a hypocrite... but that's definitely not my intention.

Interesting dialogue comparing Denmark to the US

Update: April 14, 2013

As I have gone to look back at these posts, I have determined that this blog is the bane of my existence. Denmark is a country where clear communication is a very difficult thing to come by. I have to change things but what I don't know. Surely a few pointers on my progress report should have been easily feasible. No, not feasible, it should have been mandatory. I have no idea what needs to be changed. Therefore, I will change as I see fit and if it's not right, it isn't something completely wrong on my end. I'm not one to scour over previous work to guess what I think is wrong. I'm in the business of being notified of the problem, being told what's wrong, and how to fix it. All three working together is how it should be. That will be all.

Glossary

I was told I could copy and paste. Makes things easy for me.

Communication 
(from Latin 'communis' meaning to share) is when information, thoughts, feelings and messages are exchanged and expressed by speech, visuals, signals, writing or behaviour (body language).

Diaspora

The dispersion or spread of any people from their original homeland.

English as a lingua franca

English as a lingua franca (ELF) can be defined as “an additionally acquired language system which serves as a common means of communication for speakers of different first languages”. ELF is also “defined functionally by its use in intercultural communication rather than formally by its reference to native-speaker norms” whereas English as a foreign language aims at meeting native speaker norms and gives prominence to native speaker cultural aspects.

Ethnocentric

Evaluating other cultures according to preconceptions originating in the standards and customs of one’s own culture.

Globalisation

The expansion and intensification of social relations and consciousness across world time and space. The shrinking of time and space. 

Glocalisation

A combining of global and local aspects. A global service that is adapted to suit the local need. Globalisation has gained specific importance it is necessary teachers recognise this and respond to it by incorporating it into the classroom.

Sustainability

Sustainability is based on a simple principle: Everything that we need for our survival and well-being depends, either directly or indirectly, on our natural environment. Sustainability creates and maintains the conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony, that permit fulfilling the social, economic and other requirements of present and future generations.

Trolling
Intentionally writing or posting an opposing position to get a reaction out of someone (sometimes followed by a U Mad Bro? meme). 

Identity
 A sense of who you are as a person and how you relate yourself to others. An identity is what you stand behind and believe based on perceptions of yourself and the ones made by family and friends. 

Assimilation

 When you bring your culture and mix it with the culture of another until one day, the two merge and are identified or accepted into the majority group. 

Prototype

A first or preliminary model of something (usually a machine).

Entrepreneur 

A person who organizes and operates a business or businesses, taking on financial risk to do so. The easy definition is that entrepreneur is someone who networks with various businesses to find out and take advantage of business opportunities.

Curriculum

A set of courses from a school or university that basically instructs a main idea/"main take-away"

Awareness

The state of being aware of something.

Links

www.espnet.eu/image

http://www.etwinning.net/

www.britishcouncil.org/Comenius

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtGho5oXuUY

http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/teachers.html

http://www.feedingcities.com/about/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/globalisation

Note To The Reader

Greetings fellow reader/colleague/random viewer,

Churchill once quipped, in his usual dry British wit: "You have enemies? Good. That means you stood up for something in your life." I am not a daft fellow, but I have been known on occasion to recognize the brilliance and meaning of a quote as opposed to merely finding humor in it's wordplay. So this leads me to the question of my growing concern: how do you become a good teacher that can meet the challenges of globalisation? The simple answer would be that you have to be willing to put your head on a chopping block and go for it. But taking such a daring plunge like that at least warrants further study and research. As if I was on an episode of Pee Wee Herman, the term: globalisation has become the word of the day and perhaps the word of my journey while studying abroad. To understand globalisation is to try to understand the mystery of the universe. Unless you're one of those fools who just answer "forty two" for the question of life, the answer to something such as globalisation could be to observe, incorporate, learn, and finally implement. But let's be honest: that definition is probably not right but to observe and learn from this world is undoubtedly true.

We live in an incredibly diverse world that is both absolutely amazing in terms of technology and frighteningly apocalyptic. As it turns out, the old rules of social darwinism have fallen to the wayside and now we must accept all forms of communication in this technological world. To prove my point about uneven diversity, go ahead and take a gander at the US edition of CNN. From people flying higher than the moon on bath salts to the ongoing rover mission on Mars, how is a student to sift through all of this information and say to themselves: "That's what I want." As time goes by from February to April, I will attempt to truly answer my question. Certainly it won't be a one time post where the light bulb goes off and a "eureka" is muttered. But rather bits and pieces of the puzzle gradually coming together.

Like any great idea or plan, failures and mistakes will happen. You will not agree with some of my viewpoints. Feel free to give constructive criticism. Part of becoming a good scholar is learning to take criticism and not pout about it like a fan gets when their football team gets destroyed. Comment, share, debate, do what you will. In the end, I will figure out the answer to this question (and I can guarantee other questions I wouldn't have even thought to ask).

All the best straight from Iowa,

Michael E Cortez
International Student at UCC Blaagaard/KDAS

Tolerance

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There's a famous saying: "When in Rome, do as the Romans do". The idea behind this saying is very important to take notice of in our increasingly diverse world. If you don't know, just copy everyone else and you'll surely find acceptance and tolerance. Tolerance is important for it allows the flow of ideas to go on about unimpeded.

"What tools can we use to stay tolerant?"

You should stay in a foreign country or attend an event that has many persons of a specific culture or ethnicity to truly get a sense of what they believe. Bigotry has no place in the modern world but I'm not stupid. Of course it'll happen and even the most pious amongst us will still have reservations or preconceived notions about a particular group. The best thing you can do is try to understand the differences. To become tolerant of the different group. Understand the differences. Tolerance of the group. Do you see it? There's a pattern here. Understanding and Tolerance go hand in hand.

Another good tool is to become more tolerant is to expose yourself to another cultures media, food, art, etc. By immersing yourself in the different way, you can begin to understand the differences and eventually become tolerant. By being different, everyone has something to contribute to not only their communities but also the world. Of course, these contributions aren't only positive but they do provide perspective. In the end, differences should be something that should gradually become a positive and enriching experience.

What questions can you ask to reach an understanding?

I think you should first try to understand your own culture so that you can realize the impression it gives to other people. For me, I completely understand negative sentiment towards the USA. We are a fiercely independent society that does what we want, when we want. We, and to some extent I, believe in the idea of: "there's nothing wrong with enjoying the wealth and fruits of the modern era". This would be cars, gas, fossil fuels, basically anything you'd call unsustainable.

So, I realize how this could come off. Now, I can begin to research other cultures and maybe explain why the USA might come off that way. I could explain how we've been used to being the number one superpower in the world and can afford the luxuries that it provides. But saying something like that, while honest and to some extent accurate, is extremely smug. So in turn, it's better for someone like me to understand other cultures all together and see how I can represent myself better and not just my country.

*Note. I do not support the above picture. It's just for demonstrative purposes. Nothing more.*

Core Concepts

Culture Shock
personal disorientation a person may feel when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life due to immigration or a visit to a new country, or to a move between social environments, also a simple travel to another type of life

Prejudice
any preconceived opinion or feeling, either favorable or unfavorable.

Sustainability

Americans are known to love their cars. I know I do because my one of my dreams is to own a supercar called the Bugatti Veyron. A piece of heavenly beauty priced at the cheap price of approximately $2.5 million. So sleek and beautiful. Zero to sixty in 2.6 seconds. Oh I salivate at the chance to own this car. Unfortunately, it is an extremely bad car for the environment. That angelic noise that comes through the engine is like death to the air outside.

So a Bugatti isn't in my future anytime soon. As I wipe the tears from my face, I begin to think about what kind of car could be sustainable? Hmmmm it'd have to be small. Very small. So small in fact, that even the skinniest of people brave enough to drive a car like that would have trouble fitting in. The car I'm thinking of is the P50. Think of it as a scooter with a body around it. Based on this video, such a thing could be practical for the future but if you're a person with a large gullet, it will be comical trying to fit in.

See? Everyone tells me you don't need cars in Denmark (unless you live in the country). Well, if you drive this around, you'll be set. It's literally the way of the future. More like the past because it's no longer in mass production. But the principle of the idea is definitely there and it's something to think about as we continue to question how to make technologies, vehicles, and overall living sustainable for the earth. 

Everyone has begun to figure out that I have a certain disdain for public transportation. I don't like having to rely on other people and systems to get me where I need to go. It severely limits independence and freedom to travel on a comfort scale. I have been told to get a bike and stop complaining. Yes, good idea. I might get one when it's not negative one outside. Sorry, but I am one of those people that believes in the idea of finding out just how easy and comfortable we can get to our destinations. This would involve, at least right now in Denmark, an enclosed body, comfortable seat, 50 miles per hour+, a heater(!), stereo system, and of course an iPod dock. I will take that over a train, bus, or bike any day.

http://www.bt.dk/danmark/rejsekort-med-problemer-200.000-passagerer-har-faaet-dummeboede

Innovation

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My favorite page on "Design For Change" were the four steps of "I Can". I think this is a good page because it literally tells you how to bring about innovation to solve problems both simple and complicated. Innovation is the key to financial wealth because innovation drives the economy to create goods that are desired by multiple customers. An entrepreneur can take advantage of this fact and use a page such as the "I Can" steps to innovation to make a product that can literally change somebody's life for the better (and, unfortunately, for the worse as well).

Innovation is not just an idea relegated for teaching. Apple has, until recently, been the greatest example in the modern age regarding continuous innovation. Not since the time of Archimedes, has one entity done so much to change how we think about problems. Steve Jobs famously uttered "How can people know what they want when they haven't even seen it yet" while he was working on the first Apple computers in a garage. This is the kind of innovation that can change the world and how we live it.

 'In a time when there is hunger for innovation everywhere, we think our primary responsibility is to help prepare a generation of students to rise with the challenges of our times' (d.school).

I think that this quote is extremely accurate. Innovation will be the key to fighting off competition from countries such as India and China. The challenges of our times are based mainly on sustainable energy, population control, and feeding a world that grows rapidly every day. Now I am not one to discredit sustainable energy but let's be real. Compared to fossil fuels, sustainable energy is extremely inefficient and impractical to maintain the way of life we are accustomed to. We need innovation to find new energies that are both efficient and good for the environment. You can't have one or the other because the money is where you can balance the two. What energies that are better then, for example, wind and solar, are unknown to me at this present time. Hydrogen is a solution I think of, but for obvious reasons, we can't rely on it for all of our energy needs.

Core Concepts

Prototype: A first or preliminary model of something (usually a machine).

Entrepreneur: A person who organizes and operates a business or businesses, taking on financial risk to do so.

The easy definition is that entrepreneur is someone who networks with various businesses to find out and take advantage of business opportunities. \

My opinion on Sustainable Energy

I think sustainable energy is impractical right now. We live in a world driven by the power of fossil fuels. Nothing comes close to the amount of energy fossil fuels give off. At least ones sanctioned by both governments and the people. It is proven that alternative energies such as Hydrogen and Nuclear energy are both efficient and give a large amount of power. The alternative energy that can maintain and increase the quality of life we enjoy will be the way of the future. I just don't see Wind and solar energy doing that. These types of energies all depend of nature. But nature is unpredictable and unreliable. We need something that can be constantly pumping out large amounts of power that connect to electrical grids and thus, power our world. 

Identity

Blog Upload

Above is a photo of our group. We had to use pictures and tell a story in our own language. I did my portion in a Mexican accent because I didn't know what else to do. Saying it in English seemed boring. Saying the story in your own language is important because just like mathematics, a series of pictures can tell a story without spoken word. The succession of images are the story. By looking at this, we can interpretate what the story is trying to say without the story having to explicitly saying it. 

1) The Last Samurai. This movie is about an enemy soldier being forced to live amongst the samurai. He eventually sympathizes with the samurai and after learning the ways of bushido, he joins them in their last stand against modernization. This would apply to identity because what was once divide, became together.  

2) Lies My Teacher Told Me. A book regarding the fallacies told to American students in American textbooks. I think this would to apply to identity because telling lies to students can create a loss of personal awareness amongst American minorities. American Indians would especially feel alienated by the negative/ little studied aspect they are given by the companies.

3) Freedom Writers. A film. Using the power of writing, a teacher uses notebooks to converse and speak with her troubled students as they struggle with the horrors of living in the "ghetto". By writing, a person can be free of the social barriers and chains impressed to them and can be in a manner that feels natural. In this state, they can feel free to be themselves without fear of being judged.

4) CNN. By looking at this site, you can get news from around the world. This can help form an identity as you sift through articles that speak to you in multiple ways. You can be inspired, disheartened, saddened, etc.

5) This site has a ton of resources pertaining to identity, diversity, globalization, and internationalism.

"Globalization at the cultural level has brought about the fragmentation and multiplication of identities and this may require, paradoxically, a return to the familiar." (Cohen et al.)

When change becomes so profound that everything you find familiar is different, you will begin to resent and form negative feelings toward the negative change. As the feeling gradually becomes worse, you start to engage in more conservative activities to preserve what you find normal. This can be confusing for someone because as they are exposed to change, their identity splits off and becomes confused as they try to figure out who they are in the new kind of society.

"World citizenship is to be embraced, not feared. New forms of post-national understanding, responsibility, the state, justice, art, science and public understanding can emerge. This in turn can lead to more advanced forms of democracy, liberty and mutuality." (Beck)

I don't agree with this quote. Certainly Europe wouldn't agree when the USSR came in after WW II and brought with them new forms of state, justice, and public understanding. No, in fact, they found out that instead of democracy and liberty, they'd work in a salt mine in Siberia if they spoke out against Mother Russia. We look at globalization in this class as nothing but positive but I see many negatives. Eventually, the culture being more affected by the intercultural exchange will feel a loss of identity and resort to the quote made by Cohen. Globalisation is not all positive and I think we should have focused on more negatives so that we could get a true sense of what globalisation truly is. 

Foreign Occupation and Globalization

I was told that foreign occupation is not globalization. I disagree with this statement. Foreign occupation leads to the forced exchange of culture, language, customs, etc. It exposes the submissive culture to the new culture. Foreign occupation has led to countless advances, rebellions, and new ways of thought as well as industry.

Let's look at the example of Alexander the Great:

Alexander the Great conquered the Persian Empire and forcibly brought them under his control in a brilliant campaign. He could have gloated and completely eviscerated Persian culture because at the time, the Persians were considered barbarians by the Greeks. Instead, Alexander gave them Greek art, literature, philosophy, and military tactics. Before then, areas such as Sogdiana and Bactria (modern day Iran and Pakistan) had no last previous contact with Greek culture. This exchange was later called Hellenism.

Hellenism: "Historical spread of Greek culture after Alexander the Great's death"

In perhaps one of the best examples of globalization because of foreign occupation, let's go a bit further: ever hear of Bhudda? I'm not talking about the fat one where you rub his belly and you get good luck. The non fat/proper depiction of Bhudda is partly based on the ideals of Greek art. His figure has Greek traits of perception, depth, and proportion. This all stems back to the influence of Greek thought on Indian cultures that became known as "Indo-Greco" civilization. 

Note: It is important to state that Alexander did try to mix Persian and Greek culture. In one notable example, He had all of his generals take a Persian wife (although historical records state that many of these marriages lasted no more than a year). Alexander also incorporated Persian dress and royal customs into his repertoire as well. 

Key Concepts

Identity: A sense of who you are as a person and how you relate yourself to others. An identity is what you stand behind and believe based on perceptions of yourself and the ones made by family and friends. 

Assimilation: When you bring your culture and mix it with the culture of another until one day, the two merge and are identified or accepted into the majority group.