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WEEK 4: Musics power against climate crisis

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WEEK 4: Musics power against climate crisis

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As a musician and music teacher, I found this performance, by Yo-Yo Ma truly inspiring. Music and the arts are a way of communication that pushes boundaries and opens minds to create a multisensory story. Yo-Yo Ma is playing for the project "Performing Hope in the Face of Climate and Nature Crisis" and "Artic Basecamp", the second year this project has taken place above the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos Switzerland. One of the main highlights of the meeting was transitioning to a cleaner, more secure energy source. International Energy Agency’s Executive Director Fatih Birol believes we do not have to choose between sustainability and security, we can have both. This performance by Yo-Yo Ma not only encapsulates how music can spread awareness and convey meaning but also shows the true connectivity of the world and that we all as humans need to be on the same team regarding the climate crisis. This event showed global development education in three different aspects, about for and as. Development about education, with topics in the world economic forum addressing the moral obligations and inequalities our world faces. Also of course sustainability goals were a huge portion of the meeting and where as a global agenda should we next? Development for education looking at Downs table 2 in Libby's 2013 article speaks of far-spread meetings with short times to convey a powerful message. This is essential what the Annual global economic form is, influencing high-power people, governments, NGOs, and businesses that their causes are worth caring about and/or funding. Development as education, Yo-Yo Mas performance engages people ethically and emotionally, it spreads an urgency to the climate crisis that statistical data may not convey to all people. Yo-Yo Ma is bridging a gap between culture, action, and policy creation.

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Cellist Yo-Yo Ma performs on snowy mountainside above World Economic Forum in Davos

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As a United States citizen and teacher, I'm deeply saddened to see the state of education, immigration, and many other things currently happening in my country. As I was reading and analyzing the two assigned readings for week two by Ramirez 2016 and Rizvi and Lingard 2009, I was reminded that education for children is an ongoing battle. Many countries around the globe may be making great strides and efforts to create better policies and prioritize education and learning but my country has gone backward. I'm not just hurt for the students who will be nervous to attend school or won't attend at all, but for their families living in fear of deportation from the home and community. My first student teaching assignment was a class of 25 recently migrated 4-8-year-olds, I remember being terrified to teach a group of children with whom I did not share a common language. My host teacher (also nervous) and I quickly realized that although teaching this group of students was going to be a challenge, that these students were excited and happy to learn. They were an extremely lively and smart group of kids with lots to say and an eagerness to be a part of elementary school. They taught me more in just 8 weeks of being a student teacher in their classroom than I could learn through any demo teaching book. I worry for them and their family, and their right to be educated. New more progressive policies must be taken by the United States national government and by the states to make sure students and children are protected. Some Oklahoma schools were adamant about not checking for students' immigration status or citizenship while others seemed to support the plan. My hope for the future is that more school enact their own policy to make education accessible to all students no matter their immigration status, making schools a safe place for children again. This in turn will call for states to create their own policies advocating for children's rights and education.

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As I read through this week's two readings, a general theme stuck out to me. Recent research focuses heavily on how we teach GCE in schools, who is teaching this, what are the standards of teaching a subject that encompasses so much. Freires's article proposed teaching children through problem-solving and encouraging critical thinking and reflection, rather than "Banking" a technique more familiar to me in my own personal school experience.

I had the pleasure of walking around IMMA, the Irish Museum of Modern Art, I was most intrigued by the Take a Breath exhibit. Between many works of art stood QR codes labeled Kids Audio Guide. Sending me straight back to class I had to listen to hear how kids were being taught about complex topics of the climate crisis, feminism, ecology, race, and war. These wonderful audios are suitable for any age and are spoken from a child's perspective on how they view the piece, followed by a backstory about the artist and the meaning of the piece. It's not only is an eye-opening experience for children but its fully immersive and unique way of teaching allows children to think critically and develop their own ideas.

Along with the children's audio guide were short messages explaining the piece, the cloud portrait above turned graph and research data about aircraft over Lebanon over a period of time, without fully experiencing the exhibit in person it is hard to explain how much statistical and numeric evidence went into this art that looks to the unexplained eye like clouds. Modern art challenges the way we learn and interpret information, it involves forms of activism while showing it beauty and connects with learners on a different level than words.

Around this post, Ive put pictures of the other exhibits and the children's audio guide link to them. This museum is also FREE, accessible education to all.

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Potatoes, riots, and other imaginaries - Ana Mendieta's

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https://soundcloud.com/imma-ireland/take-a-breath-kids-audio-guide-audio-2?in=imma-ireland/sets/take-a-breath-kids-audio-guide&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Child speaking on topics of Feminism Race and Ecology.

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The Journey of One Breath - Alex Cecchetti

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https://soundcloud.com/imma-ireland/take-a-breath-kids-audio-guide-audio-1?in=imma-ireland/sets/take-a-breath-kids-audio-guide&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

A child speaks on the importance of our oceans (Oxygen, plants, animals).

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Fourth-grade students at this school outside of Atlanta Georgia take compostable garbage from the lunch room to bring to their compost pile. Students learn math lessons on adding decimals and teaching sustainable living behaviors. In the video, they also share how students are urged to share their learning with their parents at home. This one project has the potential to reach a school full of families to think more sustainably about food waste and what happens to our trash once it leaves our person. This lesson is great for teaching about the climate crisis and sustainable habits while educating students on core subjects. Having students inform their families about how we need to be better taking care of our planet is another way to create better family bonding and further educate adults in the US who may have never received education relating to global warming or the climate crisis. Students are taking pride in helping the planet, this project creates hope and takes action. This lesson opens the door to critical thinking and opportunities for discussions regarding the climate crisis in a way that does not cause anxiety for children.

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ABC News Chief Meteorologist Ginger Zee visits an elementary school outside of Atlanta, where students are learning to compost their lunchtime leftovers — more than 18 lbs of food that will help, not hurt, the planet. #climatechange #news #abc #composting #kidsoftiktok 

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@abcnewslive
ABC News Chief Meteorologist Ginger Zee visits an elementary school outside of Atlanta, where students are learning to compost their lunchtime leftovers — more than 18 lbs of food that will help, not hurt, the planet. #climatechange #news #abc #composting #kidsoftiktok
♬ original sound - ABC News Live

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Grandmothers against racism near the Spire in Dublin city center

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Dublin City Center is not surprised by protesters and activists of all sorts. As you walk through the city center on any given day you will hear groups of people expressing there views on multiudes of things ranging from politics, war, religion and like in this, photo human rights. Relating to our dialogue in class and reading on the "Four Schools of Thought" by Dembour, it safe to assume that many of the people who engage with protests and actvism in Dublins city center believe in at least the school of thought labeled "Protest". That human rights are not just given and must be fought for. These people take time out of there days to make their opinions and what they believe in heard by others and visable to every person who walks by. Not only does this raise awarness of people passing by, but sparks conversation in radio, news, and political conversation. It also reminded me of how the Nannys in Switzerland were able to push against the climate crisis. No matter what age you are it is imparative that we strive to make our world better. These 6 grandmothers at the Spire show this intiative and remind us that its up to everyone to make the world a better place.

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WEEK 6: DEI in the United States update March 2025

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WEEK 6: DEI in the United States update March 2025

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The new president has taken office as of January 2025 in the United States, since then it seems as if mass chaos has erupted politically and socially in my country. Trump has signed many executive orders and promised to make huge changes to our current way of life in the US. To many, these promises also sound like threats, specifically reference DEI. As a beginning teacher, Diversity, equity, and inclusion have always been a part of my teacher training and how I grew up in middle and high school. An extreme amount of misinformation has been spread across the United States about what "DEI" actually is, what it funds, and who it helps. After a short talk with my parents who are around the age of 60, I realized they did not know what the term truly meant and had fallen victim to misinformation. They did not understand that without federal funding so many programs for children who need assistance and more support would cease to exist. I explained to them that Inclusion refers to every person being given the equal opportunity to flourish and grow and that the removal of DEI would cost me my job, and every job like it. I am a special education music teacher which is federally funded under the DEI program. I explained that DEI is to help have equal, fair, treatment to all people and focuses specifically on groups who have been underrepresented by factors such as race, ability, and gender. Although there haven't been concrete changes made, half of the United States has been switched to panic mode, especially teachers. Some articles say pushback is working and that schools/companies will not have to stop all teaching included in DEI but must rename and rephrase, there is lots that is unclear. For now, as an American citizen we must better educate ourselves and keep hopeful that our citizens will be protected and treated in a just manner and fight for what we believe is right.

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The Trump administration gave schools a DEI ultimatum – then walked it back

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The Trump administration gave schools two weeks to comply with a broad anti-DEI order. After the deadline, the Education Department walked it back.

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If one views the world through the lens of a student in a low-income district in the United States, they may not realize the cultural "norms" that are not offered or available in their school district. Democracy in education means giving all students equal, equitable education regardless of their background and where they live. This is not true in the United States and has never been. Arts programs continuously have to fight for their right to be funded and present in school curricula even though in most states it is illegal to have these programs completely cut from schools. A study conducted in 2019 and published in 2022 reported: "92 percent of students in U.S. public schools have access to music education in school, 3,609,698 of students do not have that same opportunity". This is not equity. These numbers show specific communities and groups of children receiving a poorer education with less opportunity. An even more unsettling statistic was published in the same report, "2,095,538 students do not have access to any arts education". This is not just music education, it's art, drama theater visual arts, and more. Unsurprisingly the students with the highest risk of falling into these statistics are from Public schools in Urban Communities that have the highest percentage of students with reduced/cut lunch costs. Education within the United States needs to become Equal.

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Millions of U.S. Students Denied Access to Music Education, According to First-Ever National Study

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Despite significant progress made in recent years to keep music and the other arts in U.S. public schools, millions of U.S. public school students still do not have access to these programs. This is according to recent findings by The Arts Education Data Project (AEDP), which provides the first-ever review of the status and condition of music and arts education in U.S. public schools based on large-scale student participation data.

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The US has the highest income gap of any industrialized country worldwide based on this article from Howard University. The top 20% of people make 80% of all the income in the US. This leaves the lower 20% of Americans only making 3.8% of the income. This is an extremely large gap and causes a huge struggle for the poorest 20%. Another alarming fact mentioned by the article is that the poverty line does not account for the region in which the family lives. The regional cost of living in the United States varies dramatically from state to state. Meaning a set National poverty line is likely to be extremely inaccurate for many people and this number may be underrepresenting how many people fall below the poverty in the region they live. Each state has a different minimum wage with some varying greatly, you can see huge differences when you compare states such as New York at $16.50 and Georgia at $7.25, which hasn't changed since 2007. The cost of living is also worth mentioning, it costs three times the amount to live in New York than in Georgia. The poverty line is calculated by how much it costs to eat minimally multiplied by three. This price changes in each region of the US and should be calculated by state and not nationally. The groups of Americans who are most affected include African Americans and Latinos who are almost three times as likely as non-Latino whites to be poor. The United States has yet to learn from other countries around the world how we can fix our widening wage gap and racism. It's saddening to see numbers like these on the rise and wages only continuing to decrease and many Americans lose job/financial security. As an American, we can only predict that poverty will become more prevalent with so many programs and jobs being defunded especially for those who truly need them.

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Introduction to Sociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World

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Understand trends in U.S. inequality. Explain the social distribution of U.S. poverty. Distinguish the structural and individual explanations of poverty. List the major effects of poverty. In his classic book The Other America, Michael Harrington (1962) brought the reality of poverty home to many Americans.

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WEEK 9:Migrants more likely to be working than Irish-born - RTE

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WEEK 9:Migrants more likely to be working than Irish-born - RTE

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In a recent news article from RTE by Ailbhe Conneely and Brian O'Donovan they report migrants in Ireland are more likely to be working than Irish-born citizens. Although this headline may be concerning to some, I think once you read the percentages it changes the perspective of those who may think this is a "bad" thing. Reports are shown through age and key employment status, 76.8 percent of migrants versus 72.7 percent of Irish born are working in 2024. Unemployment is more of an issue for migrants but the numbers still are relatively low comparing migrants at 5.8% vs Irish-born at 3.5%. Ireland has a long history with migrants and has many policies and regulations regarding migrants that are there to protect and help them. From policies regarding human rights, the Refugee Act of 1996, the Naturalisation and immigration service, and rights embedded within the constitution Ireland is safe for immigrants to come and enter society. These reports are misleading and can be looked at by Irish communities in a bad light. Ireland should be celebrating its ability to recognize the contributions that migrants have made to the community and be proud of its cultural diversity and community after an uptick in migrants in recent years. Education reports from OECD show migrants as high scoring and report that students from low socioeconomic backgrounds and homes where English is not spoken fall most at risk in education. Reports with headlines like this are a danger to inclusivity and compassion, it deepens stereotypes and creates an Us versus them mentality. More collaboration, dialogue, and intervention is needed to see migration as a movement for positive change and to help members of society see the benefits of migration.

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New research from the ESRI has found that foreign-born residents are more likely to be employed, active in the labour market, and better educated compared to the Irish-born population.

The latest Monitoring Report on Integration has assessed the experience of migrants compared to the Irish-born population in the areas of employment, education, social inclusion and active citizenship.

It highlights that migrants also have lower incomes and are more likely to experience poverty and deprivation (14.5%) than Irish-born residents (11%).

The study found that migrants are also much more likely to be affected by high housing costs, with 37% of migrants spending more than 30% of their income on housing, compared to 9% of Irish-born residents.

The ESRI described the findings in relation to housing costs as "particularly stark".

The report is published jointly by the ESRI, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, and the Department of Justice.

It is the latest in a series of reports that investigates how migrants in Ireland are faring.

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Read full report here
It found that migrant employment and rates of participation in the labour market have remained higher than those of Irish-born residents since 2022.

Employment rates have maintained their recovery since 2021, when they fell to the same level as the Irish-born rate during the Covid-19 pandemic.

When it comes to education - which is essential for assessing integration - the research, found that migrants had higher levels of educational attainment than Irish-born overall.

59% of working-age foreign-born residents had tertiary education between 2021 and 2023, compared to 42% of Irish-born residents.

Higher education rates varied by place of birth, with the lowest figure among those born in eastern EU countries (38%), and the highest among those born in Asia (79%).

The research found that migrants have higher levels of educational attainment than Irish-born residents overall

Excluding agriculture, in 2024 Irish-born residents (10.3%) were still significantly more likely than foreign-born residents (8.4%) to be self-employed.

However, those born in the UK (15.3%) and those born in North America, Australia and Oceania (15.5%) had a higher self-employment rate than Irish-born residents.

According to the research, political participation of immigrants has increased, with the number of immigrants both running and winning a seat doubling in the 2024 local elections, albeit from a very low base.

The proportion of councillors with a migrant background remains low overall, at 2.2%.

"Recent positive developments in migrant integration include strong growth in the African employment rate and improvements in citizenship processing times," said Evan Carron-Kee, co-author of the report.

"However, there are also some persistent challenges. Migrants are disproportionately impacted by the housing crisis and are much more likely to experience income poverty and deprivation."

"These issues require urgent policy attention," Mr Carron-Kee said.

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Migrants more likely to be working than Irish-born - ESRI

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New research from the ESRI has found that foreign-born residents are more likely to be employed, active in the labour market, and better educated compared to the Irish-born population.

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On April 15 2025 students from Russia, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan participated in a global peace education program hosted by Yeonsu Middle School. This initiative was to help foster understanding and empathy for students with diverse backgrounds. They urged students to think about history and commitment to peace. They used methods like storytelling through picture books, exchange programs (integrated through school curricula), visits to important cultural sights, language learning, and cooperation activities. These programs offer small class sizes for more personalized education and full funding options to students who may be unable to afford it. These initiatives fit perfectly into the 8 pillars for positive peace, there is equitable distribution of resources for students and a free flow of information between diverse groups and all ages of students. The programs also create good relations with neighbors and give students the opportunity to immerse themselves in a culture different from their own. The initiative was designed because of rising levels of immigration to the area and the need to "foster peace sensitivity, emphasizing the need to recognize and embrace each other’s differences." Other parts of the program such as language teaching (Korean) are in the process of creating an online format where students across the globe will have access to educational resources to learn the Korean language, culture, and writing. Education programs and initiatives like this should be normalized and spread globally in order to bring more peace initiatives and understanding throughout the globe.

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Diverse Students Engage In Peace Education Program

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On April 15, 2025, a unique educational initiative took place at Yeonsu Middle School, where students from diverse backgrounds, including those from Russia, Kazakhstan,…