Rachel's Paideia Blog

Civic Engagement Blog Part Deux

Until reading the first article for yesterday’s class, I never really considered self-righteousness to be a problem in the world of civic engagement, but it proved to me that it is something I would really like to avoid. I think the best way to get around the “coat drive” syndrome would be to focus our attention on making connections with people, as we discussed. I don’t see anything wrong with being proud of making a difference to someone else, as long was we don’t start to see ourselves as some kind of martyrs helping out the “other”. And how hard can it be for us to see other human beings as just that?
Another concern that was initially a main one of mine was about taking on more than we could handle because I was excited about doing something meaningful (and therefore big). I realized from our discussion that making a big difference for even just a few people IS important. That is why I would want most to stick with the same group of people for an extended period of time. However, I think it would be beneficial for us to work with both children and the elderly for a few reasons. First, those in our cohort who are uncomfortable with one group or feel as though they have much more to learn from one over the other deserve the chance to change their minds. Besides, isn’t one of the main goals of the Paideia program to get people out of their comfort zones and experience new things? I also feel like it would be better for our topic, Understanding Human Behavior, to look at different groups of humans. I think it would make for better comparisons and more interesting discussions.
There is also the question of what size groups to try to work in. Making connections with people, I feel, would be easier in smaller groups (two groups would be small enough). I also feel like it’s pretty important for everyone in the cohort to have experiences with both children and the elderly, so maybe the two cohort groups could each focus on one of those at a time, and after a while switch. This would also make it easier for us to do something continually, maybe weekly or bi-weekly, if the groups were smaller. However, I am not particularly adamant about this—I wouldn’t be mad if we did everything as a group.
The idea of having a specific focus of what to discuss/teach with the children bothers me a little. If we were just doing sports or arts or anything really specific, we would undoubtedly leave some kids out. And if each person in our cohort focused on something similarly specific, I’m afraid I would get left out. I don’t have any expertise exactly, and am much more interested in just talking and getting to know these kids. Maybe it would be good to impose “values” but I feel like that might become a problem with self-righteousness if we assume they don’t already have that. I am most interested in becoming friends with these kids.
Organization of this project is important, though not something I’ve though about in depth. I don’t really like the idea of have a leader or leaders, because I don’t really see the point, unless we really can’t agree on something to do. I think we would make a more informed decision if Suzy helped us pick an organization that wanted and needed our help, rather than something that just sounded good.

posted by Rachel @ 3:50 PM 0 Comments

50 Facts Blog

I just realized that I haven't made a blog yet after leading the discussion...oops.
My topic was "People in industrialized countries eat between 14 and 15 pounds of food additives every year". I guess I was initially intrigued by this topic because I'm a vegetarian, and thought I was doing something right by avoiding the hormones and everything that are in processed meat. But the article discussed additives like preservatives and "cosmetic" additives for food, which really surprised me. I think maybe the only way one would truly be able to escape the awful things in food would be by growing their own food. Even though that's pretty unrealistic at this point in my life, I think that'll be a goal for me to strive for. I like gardening, and always grew lots of vegetables when I was living with my parents, so that's a start I guess. It would take a hell of a lot of work though...and all of the sugary drinks and cheetos and everything I like! Oh no! I don't know how realistic it is for me to act on this, so instead it will probably just be another thing for me to worry about.

posted by Rachel @ 5:16 PM 0 Comments

Civic Engagement Blog

"Civic Engagement" isn't really a term I had ever heard outside of the realm of Paideia, but I've thought a lot about what it means lately. I considered that section of the program to be the same as community service, but I don't know that that's entirely accurate. More than just performing some kind of service, I think it is actual involvement, and it seems to imply a longer span of time. Rather than just doing something to get immediate results, a civic engagement implies delayed gratification as a result of continued work to me. I don't really have any particular expectations for what we will do, only that it will actually matter and make a difference after we have completed our work. I just want to do something that will help others in the long run. As far as issues go, I am the same as everyone else in that I would like to work with children or animals. Education is a very very important issue to me, so I'd be interested in doing something with that. As far as concerns go, I feel like I might have unrealistic expectations of what such a small group of students could do, especially when I'm not sure exactly what our resources will be like. (Maybe my pessimism should be more of a concern though...) I am confident that we will be able to accomplish something to be proud of though.

Also, I apologize if this blog didn't make much sense. I've got a fever :(

posted by Rachel @ 5:06 PM 0 Comments