On Tuesday the 18th I attended my first weekly seminar lead by Lina Waghorn, along with others in my group. I arrived and we were sorted into smaller groups at random. We sat at tables together and were each given a large envelope. I was curious as to what the task would be as I’m sure everyone else was too. Lina then instructed that we had to make a resource for new students like ourselves using what was in the envelopes. The envelope was opened and at first my team and I were confused at what was inside. We had in ours post-it notes, paperclips, a piece of paper, blue-tack, rubber bands, a pen and a pencil. We wracked our brains as we wanted to make something genuinely useful but had very limited resources to do so with. Ideas were exchanged and we decided that the most useful thing would be a map of the Dalhousie Building. The reason being that, at first, we found the building quite confusing to navigate.
I believe we worked well as a team and constructed our design as best we could based on the limited time and resources we were given. Of course, our design wasn’t the most effective or informative because of these reasons. As we were taking part in the task we soon realised that each team had different resources and some had far better and far more of them. We discussed after the task how we felt this was unfair as we didn’t get any choice in what resources we received. We also didn’t feel like it was a fair to compare our finished design with that of other groups because of this. However, we did make the best of what we had and finished the task to our satisfaction.
The purpose of the task was to highlight the inequalities that many children have based on their own background or where they live and attend school. We reflected as a whole group on what this means in schools and in wider society. Not every school has the same resources and, based on circumstances, not every child will receive the same opportunities because of this. Circumstances include where the child lives, where they go to school, how much funding the school gets and these are things that the child or even school themselves have little to no control over. It is not fair that children should receive more or less based on where they are from but this is the reality of many children.
However, children who don’t have to deal with inequalities and are perhaps on the other side of the spectrum may have a lesser appreciation of what they have. They may take the opportunities and resources that they have for granted. I should also mention that we were never told not to share with other groups. So in light of this, it is important to consider that those with less may be more appreciative of what they do have and work harder to get what they do not.
It can even be said, that in a wider societal context, families and communities are not receiving the same opportunities and resources based on where they are from. The impact of this is that based on where someone lives they will have poorer standards of living, of education, unequal opportunities for jobs and fewer opportunities to receive support and healthcare. This may well cause divides between communities.
I found this task extremely useful, as I’m sure everyone else did, in highlighting the inequalities that people have to face everyday and how our society can be divided or united through our differences. The task also highlighted how it is important to work together with other professionals to deliver support and opportunities for children and families in general. It is important to remember, every child has different circumstances which may hold them back from opportunities they are offered, unless they are given effective support and encouragement.
