skateistan

The address for the Socialsense blog
http://culturalscene.blogspot.com.au/
The Thebarton Senior College Moodle

Contact Malcolm at malcolm.mcinerney@thebartonsc.sa.edu.au

Skateistan: To Live And Skate Kabul 

The Skateistan initiative is a great example of several people making a real difference and breaking down barriers in regards to some basic Human Rights. The right of girls to participate in society and everyone to have fun and access to a group activity and sport.

Skateistan is an international non-governmental organization founded by Australia Oliver Percovich that works with youth from a range of ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds to build trust and to provide empowerment through a combination of skateboarding and educational activities. It was established in May 2007 with the opening of the first Skateistan facility in Kabul, Afghanistan. It has since expanded, with project sites in Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and Johannesburg, South Africa. he idea of Skateistan began in 2007 when Percovich arrived in Kabul, Afghanistan, with three skateboards and quickly met a group of local boys and girls eager to learn how to skate. What began as informal skateboarding lessons at a local empty fountain turned into something much bigger. Percovich perceived the lack of opportunities for young Afghans, especially girls, and realized that skateboarding was a way to engage them and build community. Skateistan took shape in the following years, with the help of international donors and skateboard industry partners. It was officially registered as an Afghan NGO in July 2009.
On October 29, 2009, the 1750m2 Skateistan park officially opened, giving boys and girls in Kabul a secure environment and an indoor skatepark to come to every week.

Here are some background videos on this amazing initiative: 

 Background to Skateistan 

A girls story 

Promoting Skateistan 

Making Skateistan  

Madina's story

Girl skaters in Afghanistan  

Update in Afghanistan

In Cambodia 

Making a park in Cambodia

And you mean? Just for fun!

Image above: A ... ...

The address for the Socialsense blog
http://culturalscene.blogspot.com.au/
The Thebarton Senior College Moodle

Contact Malcolm at malcolm.mcinerney@thebartonsc.sa.edu.au

Idioms exist in every language. An idiom is a word or phrase that is not taken literally, like “bought the farm” has nothing to do with purchasing real estate, but refers to dying. Idiom also refers to a dialect or jargon of a group of people, either in a certain region or a group with common interests. Idioms are usually specific to a culture (and sub-cultures) and make it difficult for outsiders of a group to really know what is meant by a saying (even if a person has a good grasp of the language). Idioms are a way for a group to exclude non-members and may apply to a small group or a large cultural group. Idioms are part of group identity and behaviour.

* A film collection of short, sharp Idioms that will keep you guessing until the end.

* A site with Idioms galore (and their meaning)

We all play games

he address for the Socialsense blog
http://culturalscene.blogspot.com.au/
The Thebarton Senior College Moodle
Contact Malcolm at malcolm.mcinerney@thebartonsc.sa.edu.au

Individuals informal roles in a group

As mentioned this week in class, one of the reasons for the interest and dominance of Reality TV on our screens at the moment is the fascination people have with how groups operate and how people act in groups. As an individual we play many roles in our life depending on what group/s we participate in at any one time. Many of us play quite different roles, depending on whether it is a family, social, work or recreational type of group. In groups we acquire informal roles of being a leader, others we may be the organiser, joker, information givers, disgruntled etc

The purpose of this posting on group theory is to give some guidance to help you observe the informal roles individuals play in groups, in particular, the group you have joined to undertake the Groups Task assessment item for the course. These informal roles are in addition to the formal roles of leader, recorder, time-keeper and reporter we discussed in the 'Setting up the Group" posting.

Roles that all members can perform in a group

Task-Oriented Roles (Tasking behaviour)

The following are group roles which relate to the completion of the group's task. They are: 

Information-seeker: Asks for information about the task.

Opinion-seeker: Asks for the input from the group about its values.

Information-giver: Offers facts or generalization to the group.

Opinion-giver: States his or her beliefs about a group issue.

Elaborator: Explains ideas within the group, offers examples to clarify ideas.

Coordinator: Shows the relationships between ideas.

Orienter: Shifts the direction of the group's discussion.

Evaluator-critic: Measures group's actions against some objective standard.

Energizer: Stimulates the group to a higher level of activity.

Initiator-contributor: Generates new ideas.

Social Roles (Helping behaviour)

Groups also have members who play certain social roles. They are:

Harmonizer: Mediates differences between group members.

Compromiser: Moves group to another position that is favored by all group members.

Gatekeeper/expediter: Keeps communication channels open.

Standard Setter: Suggests standards or criteria for the group to achieve.

Group observer: Keeps records of group activities and uses this information to offer

     feedback to the group.

Follower: Goes along with the group and accepts the group's ideas.

Encourager: Praises the ideas of others.

Individualistic Roles (Dysfunctional behaviour)

These roles place the group member above the group and are destructive to the group. They are:

Blocker: Resists movement by the group.

Recognition seeker: Calls attention to himself or herself.

Self-confessor: Seeks to disclose nongroup related feelings or opinions.

Dominator: Asserts control over the group by manipulating the other group members.

Help seeker: Tries to gain the sympathy of the group.

Special interest pleader: Uses stereotypes to assert his or her own prejudices.

Aggressor: Attacks other group members, deflates the status of others, and other 

     aggressive behavior.

During the Group Task every member will be asked at least once to step outside of the group for a short time and become an observer and use the 'Group observation' worksheet to 'map' the nature of the participation and decision making in the group.

Ethics of causes

Image above: A ... ...

The address for the Socialsense blog
http://culturalscene.blogspot.com.au/
The Thebarton Senior College Moodle
Course Calendar for your time management

Contact Malcolm at malcolm.mcinerney@thebartonsc.sa.edu.au

The Group Task for the Social Ethics topic

The group task for the course is focussed on the engagement with a social cause. Before embarking on the task we need to be very clear what social ethics means and what a cause with underlying ethics look like.

The SACE course describes the examination of Social Ethics as:

• to analyse the ways in which society as a whole deals with ethical issues.
• to consider how ethical codes of conduct are determined by many social influences, including family, culture, religion, and work.
• to understand the types of power that support different value systems.
• to analyse positions taken and appraise social issues that involve complex ethical judgments.
• to consider issues such as animal rights; job discrimination; assisted suicide; censorship; welfare and social justice; punishment; sexual ethics; the ethics of social research; the mass media; privacy; and the role of new technologies such as domestic and reproductive technology, production technology, and military technology.
• to consider the origins and effects of repressive or unfair laws, policies, and/or agreements in relation to minorities and less powerful nations.
• to research ways in which government, business, and community policies and practices relate to a particular ethical stance.
• to explore and contribute to the implementation of goals related to ethical behaviour or to ecological and social sustainability.
• to identify and analyse ethical issues relevant to their own positions and practices,and assess appropriate strategies to change these if appropriate.

Hence the work for your group is to select and engage in some way with a group which addresses some of the aspects of social ethics listed above. In regards to what social ethics actulally is, here is a definition which may help your develop your thinking on ethics.

Ethics is a branch of philosophy that involves examining concepts of right and wrong behaviour. Generally it relates to dealing with values relating to human conduct, with respect to the rightness and wrongness of certain actions and to the goodness and badness of the motives and ends of such actions.

More specifically ethics is two things

First, ethics refers to well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues. Ethics, for example, refers to those standards that impose the reasonable obligations to refrain from rape, stealing, murder, assault, slander, and fraud. Ethical standards also include those that enjoin virtues of honesty, compassion, and loyalty. And, ethical standards include standards relating to rights, such as the right to life, the right to freedom from injury, and the right to privacy. Such standards are adequate standards of ethics because they are supported by consistent and well-founded reasons.

Secondly, ethics refers to the study and development of one's ethical standards. As mentioned above, feelings, laws, and social norms can deviate from what is ethical. So it is necessary to constantly examine one's standards to ensure that they are reasonable and well-founded. Ethics also means, then, the continuous effort of studying our own moral beliefs and our moral conduct, and striving to ensure that we, and the institutions we help to shape, live up to standards that are reasonable and solidly-based.

As an example of an ethical cause I thought it was worth us considering is the Kony 2012 initiative. The cause is related to the campaign to gather support to stop the human rights violations inflicted on the people, in particular the children of Uganda by rebel leader Joseph Kony. The video called Kony 2012 which is linked to on this blog is graphic and confronting in parts and may upset some people. The Kony 2012 video.

The question for us to consider is: How is the Kony2012 an ethical cause?

The following quotes from the video certainly have an ethical flavour for us to discuss - what are the ethics involved in the Kony2012 initiative?

• “Planet connection through technology.”
• “Technology enables us to connect anywhere, anytime ... This connection is changing the way the world works.” In short the video is highlighting the fact that technology is making space diminish through the power of technology leading to increased global interconnection.
• “There are more people on Facebook today than there were on the planet 200 years ago.”
• “Humanities greatest desire is to belong and connect.”
• “Where you live should not determine whether you live?
• “It is not just important for one people but for everyone to capture and stop Kony.
• “Kony’s name needs to be everywhere.”
• “Will use 20 culture makers to make Kony famous?
• “Today the people of the world can see each other and can protect each other.”
• “The power of media to mobilise the world to act.”
• “To change the conversation of a culture.”
• “We are living in a new world, a Facebook world where 750 million people share ideas, not thinking in borders, it’s a global community.”
• “Arresting Joseph Kony will prove that the world we live in has new rules, that the technology that has brought our planet together is allowing us to respond the problems of our friends – a place where children, no matter where they live have a childhood, free from fear.”

For more information on the Kony2012 initiative go to:

• Kony2012.com
• The invisible Children Foundation

As a footnote it is worth examining the controversy surrounding this initiative in terms of the recent reports on the use of funds, scamming accusations and the mental health of the film-maker Jason Russell, the driver of Kony2012. A fascinating case study full of ethical questions in relation to causes.

The new Kony 2012 video called 'Move"

Research all you can about this example of a cause - was it a scam? What do you think?

Fundamental questions = Is it a cause to support on the basis of ethics and what are the ethics involved?

Groups grow and die!

The address for the Socialsense blog
http://culturalscene.blogspot.com.au/
The Thebarton Senior College Moodle

Contact Malcolm at malcolm.mcinerney@thebartonsc.sa.edu.au

Meeting template for group scribes

Types of groups

Primary and secondary groups

A primary group is a group where individuals have significant emotional attachment and/or dependency i.e. a family. A secondary group is a group where there is little or no emotional attachment and the group fulfils a basically functional role for the individual i.e. a class at school. However this division can be vague because a dysfunctional family may be a secondary group in many ways and a class could be very important to an individual and take on a primary role. As with much of this group dynamics theory the classifications of roles, stages, types and behaviour are only generalisations and exceptions can always be seen, depending on the individuals involved, changes over time to the composition of the group and the overall context for the group.


Stages of a group

It is often said that groups are like a living thing, involving the stages of birth, youth, developing adult qualities, aged accomplishment and termination. To further this analogy, the stages of group development have been created for members to identify where their group is at and how it is developing. These stages are not compulsory for a group and often a stage is skipped or is reverted to. The progress of a group through the stages can be impacted upon by changes to the group, change of conditions, modifications to expectations, accelerating, stagnating or reversing the group. What is for sure, all groups have a birth and a termination, whether they rebel and or mature is up to context and situation.

Here are the stages:

1. Forming and dependency

Members first get together during this stage. Individually, they are considering questions like, “What am I here for?”, “Who else is here?” and “Who am I comfortable with?” It is important for members to get involved with each other, including introducing themselves to each other. Clear and strong leadership is required from the team leader during this stage to ensure the group members feel the clarity and comfort required to evolve to the next stage. This is often called the stage of dependency ... on the leader.

2. Storming and rebellion

During this stage, members are beginning to voice their individual differences, join with others who share the same beliefs, and jockey for position in the group. The group should help members to voice their views, and to achieve consensus (or commonality of views) about their purpose and priorities. This stage is often called the stage of rebellion and is identified in a group by members of the group challenging the leader or the general behaviour in the group.

3. Norming

In this stage, members are beginning to share a common commitment to the purpose of the group, including to its overall goals and how each of the goals can be achieved. The group should focus on continuing to clarify the roles and behaviour of each member, and a clear and workable structure and process for the group to achieve its goals. This is the stage of creating norms and ways of operating for the group.

4. Performing autonomy

In this stage, the group is working effectively and efficiently toward achieving its goals. During this stage, the style of leadership is barely evident from an individual, as members take on stronger participation and involvement in the group process – shared leadership. This stage is often called the stage of autonomy and co-dependency where the members of the group are dependent on each other and do not require a leader to control them. The cooperative coherence of the group means that everyone gets along and contributes so that they do not let down the group. This is the productive stage of the group where the group fulfils its aims and goals.

5. Termination – Celebration or sadness

At this stage, the group finishes. Groups approach this stage in different ways. Sometimes termination is associated with celebration and partying. Other times this stage is associated with sadness and commiseration. Other times it just happens and people unemotionally walk away from the group. It depends on the situation, purpose and participants as to which one of the termination scenarios occurs. It really depends if the group is a primary or secondary group in nature.

How will your group develop in accordance with these stages?

Determinants of autonomy goal.

Whether a group moves through all the stages to autonomy depends on the group context. Some groups cannot reach autonomy because they rely on a leader as part of an organisation i.e. an army group. Other groups are designed to give power to the group members and make the leader redundant as quickly as possible i.e. a group arranging a formal.

 

Great topics for investigation

 

The address for the Socialsense blog
http://culturalscene.blogspot.com.au/
The Thebarton Senior College Moodle

Contact Malcolm at
malcolm.mcinerney@thebartonsc.sa.edu.au

You have chosen some great topics for your investigations.

Here they are:

Yahye: Divorce rates
Lok: Smoking around young children
Majak: Gender reassignment
Leah: Governments role in population growth
Khem: Immunisation compulsion
Ornella: Cyberbullying
Francois: Same-sex marriage
Darcy: Advertising and body image of women 16-25
Tahera: Abortion legalisation
George: Raising retiring age
Maria : Wages for sheltered workshops

I have listed them here because we should know what others are doing, in case we see something relevant to others - pass on the info! 

You have developed your topic, focus questions, hypothesis and done much of the background for the topic by now. You should now start using the template on Moodle to do the Introduction.

Just interesting!

The address for the Socialsense blog
http://culturalscene.blogspot.com.au/


Contact Malcolm at malcolm.mcinerney@thebartonsc.sa.edu.au

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* Someone’s best maps of 2013

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* Amazing maps

Maps after maps, some quirky some just plain interesting and useful.

* Where are people exercising

Marvel at these global heat maps of popular cycling and running routes. A glimpse into the geography of elevated heart rates and sweaty pits is now available thanks to Strava, maker of GPS-enabled exercise-tracking gizmos. Over time, the San Francisco-based company has collected a lot of user data. Now it's put the info in play in a giant, visual way, with these global heat maps showing the movements of the hardcore huffing-and-puffing populace. The maps include 77,688,848 rides and 19,660,163 runs for a blink-inducing total of 220 billion data points.

* 25 scariest places on the earth