Social Studies: Important Notes

Notes 11

GOALS OF PEACE EDUCATION:

· Providing knowledge about the sources of violence in people's lives and exploring nonviolent ways to deal with conflict, peace education seeks to create in human consciousness the knowledge and desire to make the world more peaceful. To achieve these goals will not be easy.

· Goals of peace educators include teaching students how to manage conflict without violence, respect all forms of life, and engage in social justice activities. They also strive to help students appreciate intercultural diversity, learn the skill set for peaceful engagements, and envision a future without war.

VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS: Civil and political rights are violated through genocide, torture, and arbitrary arrest. These violations often happen during times of war, and when a human rights violation intersects with the breaking of laws about armed conflict, it's known as a war crime.

A human rights violation is the disallowance of the freedom of thought and movement to which all humans legally have a right. While individuals can violate these rights, the leadership or government of civilization most often belittles marginalized persons.

Another definition for human rights is those basic standards without which people cannot live in dignity. To violate someone's human rights is to treat that person as though she or he were not a human being. To advocate human rights is to demand that the human dignity of all people be respected.

WHAT IS A STRONG SCHOOL CULTURE? Broadly defined, positive school cultures are conducive to professional satisfaction, morale, and effectiveness, as well as to student learning, fulfilment, and well-being. The following list is a representative selection of a few characteristics commonly associated with positive school cultures:

· The individual successes of teachers and students are recognized and celebrated.

· Relationships and interactions are characterized by openness, trust, respect, and appreciation.

· Staff relationships are collegial, collaborative, and productive, and all staff members are held to high professional standards.

· Students and staff members feel emotionally and physical safe, and the school's policies and facilities promote student safety.

· School leaders, teachers, and staff members model positive, healthy behaviors for students.

· Mistakes not punished as failures, but they are seen as opportunities to learn and grow for both students and educators.

· Students are consistently held to , and a majority of students meet or exceed those expectations.

· Important leadership decisions are made collaboratively with input from staff members, students, and parents.

· Criticism, when voiced, is constructive and well-intentioned, not antagonistic or self-serving.

· Educational resources and learning opportunities are , and all students, including minorities and students with disabilities.

· All students have to the and services they may need to succeed.

WHAT MAKES A GOOD CULTURE? A good culture arises from messages that promote traits like collaboration, honesty, and hard work. Culture is shaped by five interwoven elements, each of which principals have the power to influence: Fundamental beliefs and assumptions, or the things that people at your school consider to be true.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is a specialised agency of the United Nations aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, the sciences, and culture.

HOLISTIC LEARNING APPROACH:

· An approach that seeks to fully activate all aspects of the learner's personality (intellect, emotions, imagination, body) for more effective and comprehensive learning.

· A holistic approach means to provide support that looks at the whole person, not just their mental health needs. The support should also consider their physical, emotional, social and spiritual wellbeing. A holistic approach focusses on a person's wellness and not just their illness or condition.

GOAL OF MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION:

· To respect and appreciate cultural diversity. To promote the understanding of unique cultural and ethnic heritage. To promote the development of culturally responsible and responsive curricula. To facilitate acquisition of the attitudes, skills, and knowledge to function in various cultures.

· A major goal of multicultural education is to help students from diverse cultures learn how to transcend cultural borders and to engage in dialog and civic action in a diverse, democratic society.

Cultural relativism is the ability to understand a culture on its own terms and not to make judgments using the standards of one's own culture. Using the perspective of cultural relativism leads to the view that no one culture is superior than another culture when compared to systems of morality, law, politics, etc.

Multiculturalism is a word that describes a society where many different cultures live together. It is the simple fact of cultural diversity. In society when people from different backgrounds link with each other's culture shows the acceptance of each other's culture and background.

Cultural pluralism is a term used when smaller groups within a larger society maintain their unique cultural identities, whereby their values and practices are accepted by the dominant culture, provided such are consistent with the laws and values of the wider society.

Ethnocentrism is the term anthropologists use to describe the opinion that one's own way of life is natural or correct. Some would simply call it cultural ignorance. Ethnocentrism means that one may see his/her own culture as the correct way of living.

UNITED NATIONS (UN):

· The United Nations is an international organization founded in 1945 after the Second World War by 51 countries committed to maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations and promoting social progress, better living standards and human rights.

· In addition to maintaining international peace and security, the United Nations protects human rights, delivers humanitarian aid, promotes sustainable development and upholds international law.

· President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill issue a declaration, signed by representatives of 26 countries, called the "United Nations." The signatories of the declaration vowed to create an international postwar peacekeeping organization.

Thomas Aquinas philosophy:

§ Thomas Aquinas was the greatest of the Scholastic philosophers. He produced a comprehensive synthesis of Christian theology and Aristotelian philosophy that influenced Roman Catholic doctrine for centuries and was adopted as the official philosophy of the church in 1917.

§ Aristotelian: Saint Thomas Aquinas accepted ideas of Aristotelian, which he called the philosopher. He put together Aristotelian philosophy with Christian principles. Furthermore, his best well known works were Disputed Questions of Truth (1256-1259), Summa Contra Gentiles (1259-1265), and The Summa Theologiae (1265-1264).

§ Aquinas' ability to blend religion and philosophy provided a happy medium concerning educational philosophy for Catholic proponents. In a wider context, he was able to make a connection between faith and reason that even non-Catholics can relate to.

FOUR FACTORS OF PRODUCTION: There are four basic resources or factors of production: land, labour, capital and entrepreneur (or enterprise).