Week 30- Global Trends

I chose to look at the National Intelligence Councils "Global trends- Paradox in Progress" report to inspire this weeks blog entry.
The section that appealed to me dealt with "Ideas and Identities driving a wave of exclusion." In the introduction to the chapter it states that "Growing global connectivity amid weak growth will increase tensions within and between societies."
I interpret this statement to be referring to the increased capability to share ideas and communicate in impoverished or developing societies that have historically experienced civil unrest or religious conflict. It is also referring to the use of overt nationalism in countries such as Russia and China, where the threat of Western democracies is exaggerated in order to exert governmental control. Ideas are spread so easily through social media that it easy to reach a mass audience with an idea quickly and repeatedly, regardless of the wealth of the audience.

So how does this have an impact on Rm 7 at Churchill Park in Glendowie, not a well known location for ideological unrest? Unfortunately, when something goes viral it can spread quickly and easily. An example of this is the demonizing of Donald Trump in my class in the lead up to the U.S elections last year, Sure, Trump has his faults and was not every ones  first choice to lead the free world, but I was still taken back by the way that my students found it hilarious to ridicule and find humor in displaying his image. The reality was that apart from being a man who wants to build a wall around Mexico, the class had no idea who he really was, except to say that he was really bad.

This is an example of how growing global connectivity can drive exclusion. It is certainly a challenge for teachers today to inform students about the rights that people have to freedom of expression and the need to respect these rights. Our students need to realize that just because an idea goes 'viral' and is being shared by millions on the internet, it is not necessarily the truth or morally correct. We need to make sure that students do not become prejudiced towards other cultures or religions by what they see or read on the internet due to the ignorance of world issues that can arise due to our geographic isolation from the rest of the world.

In primary schools we need to begin teaching kids about the way that they internet is used by the  media to report the news and that reporting can differ depending on the point of view that it is being reported from.

References

National Intelligence Council, "Paradox of Progress", January 2017