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.