Society and Lifestyles Week 6

March 4, 2017 User deactivated Leave a comment

Mind, Body and Health

Holmes Rahe Inventory

It was really interesting looking at this Holmes Rahe Inventory as it gave me an insight into my stress levels within the last year. The score I received was 183 which puts me in the 150-300 point category, this implies that I have about a 50% chance of a major health breakdown within the next 2 years. I know that I have had a lot of change within the last year however I did not realise that it could have such a major impact on my life in the next 2 years.

The scale is a really useful tool as it shows the level of stress in a person’s life and can determine what effects the stress you have experienced in the last year can have on your health and how you will be effected by it.

In the past year, I have left secondary school, started university, got a job and my grandpa was diagnosed with cancer (only to name a few things). As these stresses happened, I became very quiet and easily angered, these are traits which I am not prone to and so I knew and my family and peers knew something was happening. It has been a really challenging year for me however I believe that it has made me a better and stronger person as I am facing new hurdles which I am trying to overcome.

Overcoming my stress has been a gradual process as one thing happened after another and just as one thing was over another one came along. However, coping with them included a lot of crying, time to myself, and most importantly the support of my family and my peers. Without this support, I could not have coped the way I have done, they were there for me to talk to and share my worries and stresses with, and in return I have and will continue to support them as they have done with me. It was also good to have the support of my peers as they were in a similar position to myself and so we could talk about our worries together and support each other through these times.

Stress Hardiness

The “Hardiness and Social Support as Moderators of Stress” (Pengilly and Dowd, 2000) study conducted an investigation into the moderating effect of social support, hardiness, and the pieces of the hardiness scale of commitment, challenge, and control on the relationship between stress and depression. Hardiness is a person’s ability to bounce back from a situation – often known as resilience.

Factors which can have a negative impact on your health include: stress, loneliness, lack of social support, normative life transitions and non- normative life transitions.

Normative life events are things which people are expected to happen in their lives such as moving house or retiring. These events although predicted, can negatively affect a person’s life and cause them to stress temporarily however not cause a long-lasting effect.

On the contrary, non- normative life events are things which are unpredictable such as losing a job or getting a divorce. These life events can cause great stress on an individual and lead them to health problems such as coronary heart disease, cancer and other disorders.

Loneliness is another factor which can have a negative impact on your health. Loneliness is the feeling of having no support or having no one to talk to. Loneliness is often confused with being alone which is more of a physical sense where someone is sitting alone or is alone in their room. If a person is alone, they are not necessarily lonely as they could have chosen to be alone and know that they have support around them. Loneliness is a personal feeling and a have major health effects on a person’s life, they are more susceptible of having major depression and becoming ill as they have a diminished immune function. It can increase a person’s risk of becoming ill by 4 times the normal.

Lack of social support is another factor which has effect on a person’s health. Having social support is when people have others around them who they can talk to and lean on when they are struggling. It allows people to talk about their problems and gain guidance on their issues to try and resolve them in a time of crisis. However, if a person lacks this social support, they are going to physically find it harder to cope with their crisis, and take longer to recover from it as they have no one to get better for, they are only doing it for themselves as they have no support around them.

From this input, I have learned that there are many different methods that are used to try and combat these issues and support your own physical lifestyle. These can include exercise, because exercise releases endorphins to make you happier and less stressed. Finding someone who you can talk to as you can lean on them for support and talk through your worries with them, making you less lonely and isolated. Having a support network who can support you and you can support them – whether it is family or friends. A sense of touch is also proven to be beneficial for a person to have as it can lower blood pressure, decrease stress levels and reduce tension. It can be anything from a hug to a simple pat on the back. Also, trying to be optimistic can be beneficial as if you are being optimistic you are believing in yourself and are more likely to feel happy and this means your stress levels should increase and have a better outlook on different situations.

Societies and Lifestyles

Week 4 Society and Lifestyles

February 20, 2017 User deactivated Leave a comment

Disability and Inclusion

Today we got the opportunity to look further into inclusion and disability. An interesting part of the lecture was when we learned about the universal design, this started off as an architecture term, where the design of buildings would be structured around everyones ability to use them. These designs could include ramps instead of stairs because everyone is able to use a ramp whereas not everyone is able to use the stairs. This design allows everyone to use the structure without feeling left out, therefore promoting the feeling of inclusion.

Last week I mentioned that I was looking at Allport’s Scale, and this week I got to apply this scale to real life situations of discrimination of disability. I found this really interesting and valuable as I could apply the scale to real life situations to allow me to understand the steps of the scale in more detail and form that information into a table.

Allport's Scale

This lecture was really interesting today, and I found the seminar particularly useful because we had to read situations and identify whether discrimination was taking place – all of the situations were to do with children in a school environment and how the teacher felt with it. With the situations we worked together, in groups, to find out whether the teacher was discriminating against them because of their disability and then we found ways to accommodate the children to make them feel included in the situation. This was very useful as as a future teacher all children need to feel included in every situation, following the Scottish curriculum’s GIRFEC policy (getting it right for every child). As a teacher, every child, no matter whether they have a disability or not, should have the same opportunity as every other child in the class.

Societies and Lifestyles

Week 3 Society and Lifestyles

February 5, 2017 User deactivated Leave a comment

Inclusion and Equality

I found today’s lecture on inclusion and equality really interesting, as I was learning about the differences between them. It was fascinating to see that they had two different meanings as equality is about the fairness of things and inclusion is making sure that everyone is involved.

I got the opportunity to look deeper into Peggy McIntosh – a woman who studied and wrote a paper regarding “white privilege”. Peggy McIntosh studied privilege, especially “White Privilege and Male Privilege”. She described her understanding of ‘White Privilege” in her book “White privilege and male privilege: a personal account of coming to see correspondences through work in women’s studies”. Also “unacknowledged male privilege” – where white men receive unearned advantages because they are white males. She listed resources that she has in her ‘invisible backpack’ which gave her an advantage over other people who do not have them. I then looked further into her privileges she lists that she was entitled to as white woman. This was interesting to look at as I could look at some of these privileges and could relate to them myself.

I also found it interesting to learn about Allport’s scale of prejudice and discrimination as I could look at the scale and relate it to situations which happened in history and in today’s society. We were also looking at the PCS analysis (personal/psychological level, cultural level, structural level) which gives us a deeper understanding into how people operate at different levels in society. This PCS analysis is an area of today I think I can develop as I don’t fully grasp the concept yet. However, with further reading, I believe that I will develop this concept and hopefully use it in the exam as it seems interesting.

Equality and inclusion are key principles which I will need to adhere to as a future primary teacher. I will need to make sure that my classroom is one which supports all the needs of learners no matter of their sex, race or disability. Equality and inclusion are the foundations for the Scottish governments principle of GIRFEC – “getting it right for every child”. Every child deserves the same opportunities and access to support no matter what. Every child should feel included in a classroom and as a future teacher I will aspire to make every child feel important in my classroom and adapt my learning styles to what the children require at their own pace and level. This will mean that it is fair for every child in my class and hopefully allow all of them to feel included.

Societies and Lifestyles

Week 2 Society and Lifestyles

January 30, 2017 User deactivated Leave a comment

Religion, Culture & ‘Unchurched’ Spirituality

Today’s lecture was an interesting one because we were exploring the idea of spirituality, and how it was different from religion. Spirituality is outside of the church, it arose when the idea of secularization began to infiltrate many countries. When I was doing my independent study, I looked deeper into de-Christianisation (where Christian influences are removed from something). I found it interesting to find out that it was first happened during a French Revolution. It was where the people went against the priests and ministers as they were seen to be a part of the new government, and they massacred many of them, others fled to other countries to get away. This saw the closure of many churches within France, many of which never reopened. This caused many French people to abandon their faith, many of whom never got it back, resulting in France becoming a more secular county instead of a predominantly Christian one. I also found it interesting to look at the census during the lecture, as it said that 11% of people considered their religion to be Jedi Knight.

However, I found it confusing when we went to the tutorial, I found it challenging figuring out how to incorporate a theorist into the question we had to answer. I believe once I revise this topic that it will make more sense to me and then I can start to relate the knowledge I have learned to that of a theorist.

It has been interesting learning about religion and unchurched spirituality as they have an impact on our society. Popular religions are decreasing in size whereas spiritual groups are increasing. Spirituality, in our modern society, is seen as a form of religion that exists outside the normal religious institutions. In our society, religion is happening outside of the standard ‘churches’ and instead people are turning to spirituality. This does not mean that religion is disappearing, it’s just branching out into different aspects which suit the needs of our modern people.

Societies and Lifestyles

Week 1 Society and Lifestyles

January 21, 2017 User deactivated Leave a comment

Religion and Society

The concepts discussed throughout the day, on first glance, seemed confusing and challenging to understand as this is a brand new topic we were looking at today and I didn’t know what to expect from it. I had previously studied RMPS at the school and it focused on viewing the specific details of one religion, rather than looking at the topic ‘Religion’ as a whole, and then relating ideas to famous works of anthropologists.

Today I learned a lot about religion and how it can be perceived whether a person is looking at it from the inside – so it is a person’s own belief they are looking at from their own view point and from their religion’s teachings (also known as the believer’s approach) – or from the outside – a non-biased view of the religion (also known as the scholarly approach).

I began to comprehend some of the topics covered throughout the course of the day. However, I am still trying understand how to relate the theorist’s ideas to the concepts we are learning. I am sure that once I begin to work through the information, revise the notes from today and look at exam style questions that I will be able to see the connections between the information and theories and apply it to my work.

Today’s lecture and workshop has allowed me to see identify the challenges of religious diversity on society. As I got to look at this topic it allowed me to see how important it is to hold non-biased view to each of them, because, as a primary teacher, I will have to appreciate and respect every child’s religion and needs in my classroom so that they are not left out or feel discriminated against.

Therefore, to continue through this module, I will need to revise all of my notes as much as I can to allow me to look at exam type questions and work on relating what I am saying to answer a question to an anthropologists work to allow me to receive as many marks as possible in my exam.

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Reflections On My Own Reading and Personal Response To ‘Room’ by Emma Donoghue

December 1, 2016 User deactivated Leave a comment

Personally I am not a big reader. The most I have ever read is the Hunger Games Trilogy and that was only because I was too impatient to wait for the last film to come out. I usually only read when I am really bored or the book has a really good plot line. When I was younger I really enjoyed reading Michael Morpurgo as his stories were based around the world wars, a topic which really interests me. This area of interest encouraged me to then go and read another few books by different authors based on the world wars.

At first, when being asked to read ‘Room’ by Emma Donoghue , I did not really want to read it as it looked a little bit boring and not like a book I would have usually read. However, I had to read it in order to keep up with my studies, so I did. In the beginning of the book, I found it really challenging to read as it was taken from the perspective of a five year old boy, who’s language was highly developed in some places and diminished in others. Donoghue writes from the perspective of Jack – a five year old boy who has only ever been exposed to the room that he has stayed in all his life and the television that is in this room. As Jack is only five his language hasn’t fully developed yet and so it felt like I was reading a script of what a five year old had spoken instead of a story being told.

Nevertheless, I really enjoyed this book once I got into it. The story was really gripping and it made me want to keep reading with every turn of the page. I never knew where the story would go next and so didn’t want to put the book down. There were points in the book where I wasn’t sure how the author was going to carry on the story as I felt there was nowhere else to go. However, Donoghue expanded the story, not just stopping once they escaped from the room, she continued on and showed how Jack and Ma’s life went on after it and the struggles they faced in a day to day life.

Personally, I feel that ‘Room’ has significantly developed my reading skills as it has allowed me to read from a perspective which I never have before (that of a five year olds). I have spoken to many five year olds and read many of their stories however having to read a novel entirely based on ones thoughts was a really new experience. I found this novel challenging at first however found it rather enjoyable as the book progressed as it allowed me to really get into the mind set of that particular child and see the world how he saw it. By reading this book, it has allowed me to understand that all children see the world differently and different factors and home environments transfer into what a child’s language development is like.

I really enjoyed reading ‘Room’ however, in my opinion it hasn’t made me want to go an read another book straight away. Nevertheless, now that I have read this book I am now more open to reading one which is similar so that I can gain a greater knowledge of the way a child can see and take in the world.

Placement Year 1

Reflections on placement

November 8, 2016 User deactivated Leave a comment

During my week at placement I had a really good time and it opened me up to a wide range of new ideas which are being used in the classroom today. The teacher who I was with was a lovely woman who helped me at every moment she could. She made me feel very welcome within her class and got me engaging in activities with the children at every possible opportunity. When in the classroom, the children were engaged in lots of different practical activities in all subject areas. The most practical lessons were in literacy as the children were learning new sounds and instead of sitting around a table and writing, the children were busy doing practical activities such as working with play-dough, using an iPad to engage in the Jolly Phonics apps (allows the children to work at their own pace while it still being seen as fun), and one of the groups of children got to work at the smart board and play games on Education City.

Overall, I feel my placement was very successful. I learned a lot of new things and got to experience lots of different kinds of lessons and work practically which children which I couldn’t do while sitting in a lecture or workshop at university. I now look forward to going into second year so that I can gain more experience in classrooms, get the opportunity of taking a class on my own and planning lessons arounds the needs of that class.

Strength

Throughout my time on placement, I feel my area of strength was getting involved with the children and really getting down onto their level. I got the chance to work in small groups of children in different curricular areas such as numeracy and literacy. During a maths lesson, I took a small group of children who were working on the number four. As this was the first time of them being introduced to it we worked on activities (such as, number formation on whiteboards and physically counting objects to familiarise them with how many four is). This is to get the children familiar with the number by doing practical activities. These practical activities, I found, were very useful for the children as they were learning in a fun context. This also proves not as challenging to children who are still unable to hold a pencil properly and it still gives them the experience of learning and exposing all the children to the new concept. Through observing these practical activities, I feel like I have gained useful and relevant experiences which I can take on and apply to my next teaching practices.

Area of most progress

At the beginning of placement I feel as if I wasn’t very confident when being asked to lead/take a large group of children. However, during this placement, I had the opportunity to go on a class trip to the local Tesco for a ‘Farm to Fork, visit. This trip was very informative to both myself and the children as it was encouraging he children to try new healthy foods which they may not have had the opportunity to try before (and I got to try a few snacks too). The visit also allowed the children to see where food is made and where it comes from. We went into the bakery and watched them making pancakes (and the children even got to take one home with them). We also walked around the back of the store to see where the food was stored and kept in the fridges and freezers. During this visit, the teacher had to split the class into two groups as the class was too large to take around the store in one go. The teacher asked if I would feel comfortable with taking a group around (with the help of a parent helper) as I had got to know the children earlier on in the week and she trusted me with making sure they would behave and set a good example for the school.

Area Requiring Progress

The area I feel still requiring progress after this placement is my ability to speak up more when talking to staff. In the staffroom I talked a little bit however I feel I could have spoken more and engaged in more conversation to make me look more interested in what was going on. Sometimes when I sat in the staffroom I would keep to myself with my arms folded instead of opening up my body and look as if I wanted to talk. I was very nervous when I was in the staffroom as I had never sat in a staffroom as a student teacher before and it was full of people whom I had never met before and they had never met me.

Action Plan

I am going to build up my confidence in unfamiliar situations with adults by putting myself into situations which I do not feel comfortable in and make an effort with them. By doing this, I feel I will be more confident to speak up and engage in conversation with other staff members. This should make me look more open and confident when in an unfamiliar environment and seem more open to talking to other staff members.

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