The authors thoughts
Behind every project, there is an idea or ideas that shape the direction taken by the project. These thoughts are recorded here to help the author of this blog and those visiting the blog for the first time to get a deeper understanding of the thinking process that has guided the author of this blog.
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It is my first time to be in Australia, a country rich in diversity in terms of the culture, experience, spirituality, energy and all. I have a huge concern when it comes to this issue of integrity (honesty-in simpler terms). It has caused me great sadness that everyday when you open a newspaper from many countries you are guaranteed of seeing a major scandal concerning corruption. These stories are so common that actually many people have come to look at it as a norm as opposed to it being an exception. Indeed I have been asking myself how we can turn things back to the good old days when people greatly valued honesty as the best policy. There are many children, women and men who can not be able to access healthcare in the developing countries because someone out there chose to be dishonest and diverted the relevant funds to private use. As I continued thinking about it, I started analysing the project to undertake for this course, I thought how about finding out about persons who are passionate enough to take a common stand in integrating integrity learning activities in our education system. I had in mind starting from pre -primary all the way to the university. Education has a way of influencing people's way of thinking so it can help future generations to learn the benefits of having integrity in our societies.
ReplyDeleteI don’t know how the educationists would look at it not to mention that education system is quite broad and have different players. I am still in the brainstorming stage so kindly let me have a bit of your wisdom.
Thanks and kind regards
Mary
As I think of how to inspire integrity in our lives, my brain, i guess mixed with love and a bit of anxiety has been working overtime. As you may have noticed from last week's discussion its has been my passion to see a system that encourages integrity to all its members of its society. I envision our education system embrace this idea. (my first point of entry is the University) At this particular moment this exists only in the ideal(my head) and the real situation on the ground is another story, Universities embrace diversity of ideologies and is it possible for ethics to be separated from an ideological perception. What if this idea is considered as a spiritual ideology, that there is no such thing as COMMON INTEGRITY.It all depends on individual's culture and spiritual beleifs.
ReplyDeleteTo be a bit realistic i think that the formal education system is quite particular and also sensitive and to navigate it in order for this idea to be embraced will require some time and patience. So i thought to myself why not target citizens who are passionate about integrity and from there strategise how we (as club of committed persons) can inspire our work ethics and the core values that we desire to see in the younger generations through the education system. I would assume that private schools and schools run by religious organisations would be easy to target, however this remains to be seen. Integrity might mean different things to different people. My definition for now is 'doing the right thing even when no human being is watching.(God is always watching!!!!!) guys do you think am moving from ideal to reality? Do you think is doable?
mary and kind regards
THE COMPLEXITIES OF TOP DOWN APPROACHES
ReplyDeleteI started with this grand idea that we ought to integrate crucial values such as integrity into our education system as one way of eradicating corruption. As you all know the education system is under the control of the state mostly and it occured to me how complicated it is to attempt to convince the state apparatus to rethink their curriculum so as to enshrine core values within it. Indeed there is this other course where I am learning about the Dynamics of Public Policy and most Top Down approaches involve the change of policies and it is a long process that takes significant resources and time. For a new policy to take off and go through the various stages it needs a period of about one year. I would encourage anyone interested in under standing policy process to read this book by Althaus, Bridgman and Davis(2007) titled ‘The Australian Policy handbook’ Considering the logistics and the reality of the matter I automatically shelved that kind of approach. Indeed Pawar(2010) the first reading in the SWSP 7123 reading pack ,the 2nd chapter titled ‘community development practice trends in developed countries' shows that most community development activities initiated by the state were not as effective because of the challenge of making the projects people-centered, bottom up and less bureaucratic. On the other hand community initiated and led projects were more effective and the people were from the local community. So based on that knowledge I have realised that the students and professionals themselves who are consumers of what is taught in schools have the potential of initiating the whole process of integrating core values into our education system. The ONLINE FACE BOOK ETHICS &INTEGRITY CLUB has just began the journey of bringing values into our education system . The idea behind this online club is to broaden the membership relevant to this project and I believe there is power in numbers
I have been out of university for more than ten years. The one thing I have discovered about the Masters programmes here in Australia is that the learning is focussed on connecting what a student learns in class to the practice. So even as I figure out how this project is progressing, it is wise and prudent for me to continue seeking the relevant theories that speak to my project. I love this book by Dale titled ‘Development and Development Planning’ and what I have loved most about this book is that it sort of speaks to one of my ideas in a strong way, THAT PEOPLE MATTER. The author perceives development as important only if it is people focussed and is geared towards improving their quality of life .Corruption has negatively affected people and it only benefits the rich and further marginalises the poor. I envision this project providing a forum that empowers students and other relevant stakeholders with an opportunity to indirectly improve the quality of many marginalised poor people. The reality that students have the capacity to reduce and even eradicate corruption in the future work places deserves to be explored and thats why I am hoping the upcoming motivational talk will strongly inspire the students present to strongly aspire to have excellence in the area of personal integrity
ReplyDeleteCheers!
APATHY-A HUGE CONCERN
ReplyDeleteThis project has been interesting and encouraging.The ability to move a concern that has been privately held by me to a public shared issue is quite gratifying. However i have noted with concern that after the first preliminary meeting of my community, i still find my self initiating dialogue, suggesting what we should do next. I was hoping that if the community were as passionate as myself they would be eager to make recommendations that would strengthen our community. I begin to appreciate what Green and Haines(2002:37)have observed in their text'Asset building and Community development'that it is not easy to maintain the community's input on a regular basis. I agree with these two authors that it is time consuming,frustrating when the community members do not seem as enthusiastic as you had hoped.Sarkissian et al (2009)in their book 'Kitchen table sustainability:Practical recipes for community engagement with sustainability' have raised a concern that has attracted my attention. On page 133, they state that young people in general are not keen of community engagement processes as they find them boring, irrelevant and a waste of time.Members of my project comprise of the young people.I am concerned as to what can keep them motivated and committed. I need tips on how to encourage their perceptions about change agendas that are geared to bring positive change in the society.Anyone with great tips, just let out, i am listening.
THE PRAYER DIMENSION
ReplyDeleteAs days goes by,it is becoming quite clear that most persons who have analysed the problem of corruption have indeed concluded that the root problem is spiritual. That the most sure way that people can stop being greedy is having the love of God in their hearts. Many people have suggested that we need to commit this issue to prayer and i have noticed that though i love prayer, i hardly pray specifically concerning this issue of corruption. May be it is the high time i inspired myself to pray and called on others to do so. may be we can just form a prayer chain concerning this issue, Wouldnt that be great!!!
"the root problem of corruption is spiritual". I personally think that the cause of corruption is depending on the level of powers a person hold. In Australia, though the system is not perfect. They have diversify the powers into 3 layers-executive, judiciary and parliament. Each are suppose to be independent from each other however connected to each other. It is also the value and beliefs of the society. Corruption does not only happen from the top leader but to the individuals as well. Business for example, it would be hard without networks. Hospital politics-you need to please someone to get your job promoted. It is the society we live in, not purely the politicians. However those politicians have more "temptations" to be corrupted simply they hold more powers and wealth than others. (only from what I have seen in asia with my personal experience).
ReplyDeleteDear wendywu
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. Fighting corruption is not just about politicians. It starts with an individual. i am very much encouraged by your observation that the desire for wealth and power drives people to be corrupt. What a shame. We should seek to serve others as people are the source of power.
cheers!