21st Century Learning. Now what?

Dr. Peggy Patterson's talk on student life in the 21st century focused on challenges and success faced by today's learners. Listening to her speak, took me back to my days as an undergrad and the experiences I encountered as a student. As a first year student at UBC, as Peggy mentioned is common in big research and doctoral universities, I felt more like a number, rather than a student. Not only was I one in a sea of thousands of students but I was also a 'commuter' student. Listening to Peggy mention that students who live on campus were able to have a more complete learning experience made me feel a bit melancholy. Commuting from Surrey to UBC was more of a daily quest than a commute. Being on transit for up 3 1/2 hours a day left me with no energy, never mind the motivation to become more integrated with campus activities. Unfortunately, living on campus was financially, out of the question for me, but despite the challenges of commuting, I'm happy to be debt free.

I found it interesting to see that student satisfaction in their undergrad experiences was higher in smaller universities. It seems that students seem to prioritize attending a well-known university, rather than a less well-known smaller university where they are sure to get more attention. Now as an educator and a student, I value small classes and cohort style learning. I can learn so much more from my peers and feel less intimidated to talk to my instructor. I don’t remember ever speaking one on one to my professors in classes of more than 200 students.

What I most appreciated about Peggy’s talk is that institutions are taking the time to gather feedback from students. Now, hopefully they will take this into consideration when designing campuses and classroom environments. A teacher once told me that universities are not just a place to gain knowledge but also a business. This made me feel cheated. I hope that universities will strive to make student experiences positive, not only in delivering quality education, but also in establishing a sense of community and belonging.

The day after Saturday

After our day of presentations on Saturday, I came home with a heavy weight on my shoulders. It was wonderful to have a day filled with student-lead discussions and to see the different approaches our peers took to discussing Raphael's chapters. It was also inspiring to see the enthusiasm and sincere concern we all seemed to express towards the social determinants that hinder health in our society. It's funny, I often have strong feelings of indignation towards social issues when an isolated situation arises, but after a few days, the feeling wears off and I go back to living in my own little world, facing my daily grind.

But for some reason, the feeling lingered this weekend. I feel like often I am "all talk and no action." So to prolong the pull of my social conscience, I'm going to post the link to a video which we originally planned to show along with our presentation. It's called "The Story of Stuff" and it's about 20 minutes long, but definitely worthwhile. Through a series of illustrations, the narrator, Annie Leonard explains how all the "stuff" we buy gets into our hands, through a linear system from extraction to production, distribution to consumption and finally disposal. It shows how people and communities are affected all along the way and how our finite natural resources are being destroyed at an alarming rate. Of most concern, this video explains how people are affected along the line of production, those who are most marginalized and have no other options but to fill these positions along this system, driven by consumerism and economic gain. It ties into our discussion of precarious work environments that negatively affect health. Check it out! You'll never look at consumerist goods the same :)

The Mane Event

Although a bit skeptical at first, I knew this field trip would not disappoint.

With my scant experience with horses, I was curious to see what this event was all about.

During the first 'horsemanship trainers challenge', I was a little bit taken aback at first when Steve Rother pulled out his whip and began striking Toby to make him run around the pen. But soon enough, his obvious expertise in horse training put me at ease. It amazed me to see how quickly the horse was able to determine what Steve wanted him to do. I really liked how Steve vocalized to the audience what exactly his non-verbal methods were in communicating with Toby. I almost felt like he had read the readings that Stephen emailed us when he mentioned words like "finding the flow" or "rythm" with the horse. I really felt like I got a good understanding of the physical cues and trust building that is required when training horses. It also amazed me how important it was for the trainers to releasenthe strain on the horses as soon as the horses responded to what the trainers wanted them to do. I never realized how intuitive horses are and how their herd mentality aids in building a relationship with their trainer. I really liked how Steve emphasized the importance of trust and how by being strict and persistent, would in the long run benefit the horse.

I thought that the second trainer, Cade Mills took more of a nurturing approach when training his horse, "Walkabout" was it? It was very evident that he was not a veteran like Steve Rother. Although it seemed to take him longer to get the horse to learn his commands, I think he was just as effective, but in a more loving and caring way. He was always concerned with the horse being at ease whereas Steve seemed more concerned with helping the horse help him, as he said "let me help you, help me."

Jonathan Fields blew me away, seeing the connections he has been able to build with his horses. I was taken aback by the level of synchrony he could create with his horse. I loved how when he liberated them, as soon as he made that eye contact and certain mannerism, the horses new to come to him. I was also impressed by how he stressed the importance of a horse knowing when to follow cues, and not be super sensitive to any gesture.

As a teacher, I see much value in these non-verbal cues and being able to set the tone in class by a simple gaze, or body posture, or the hint of a smile. I also see much value in a simple touch of the shoulder when engaging with students, and that simple human touch can alleviate stress in a student. Mimicry is a good tool in language learning in terms of pronunciation and tone when speaking.

Overall, this was a good experience, one that I may have never experienced if it weren't for this HEALing journey.

Active Living Reflection: Soccer

I have been playing soccer since I was 12. This is not to say that I am an all-star hard-core soccer player, but I quite enjoy the smell of the fresh-cut grass (harder to come by these days with turf fields taking over), the cold rain alleviating my sweat, and showing off the occasional bruises that I accumulate after a rough game. Currently, I play in a women’s selects/premier team. My team consists of women from ages 20-43. It’s amazing, but a few of our best players are at, or pushing 40. One of the reasons I continue to play, despite time constraints or previous injuries, is the inspiration I draw from these women who are not only top notch players, but are also mothers with full-time jobs and have a house hold to run.

To me, soccer is a way to release stress, socialize with teammates, continue to challenge myself, and a motivator to keep in shape. Often, I’ve complained that games take up most of my Sundays, or that I’m too exhausted to go to an 8-10pm soccer practice during the week, but during the off-season, when I start to miss it, I am reminded of all the wealth it has provided my well-being over the years.

I have often heard friends say that they wish they had a sport or an activity to use as an outlet or to claim as a hobby. The truth is, it’s never too late. I have a friend who at the age of 28 joined our co-ed soccer league for social purposes. She loved it so much that she joined a team in the fall, registered for a few soccer clinics for adults and now tells me she has “become a soccer player,” something she never considered herself to be before.

So what are some conditions that enable me to play soccer?

• I am able-bodied


• I have a car to drive to practices and games


• I can afford the $275 annual registration fee


• My work/school shedule allows me to attend practices and games


• I had the contacts to find a team to play for

What are some conditions that may prevent some people from playing?

• health condition that does not allow one to engage in intense cardiovascular activity


• lack of transportation to games and practices


• lack of funds to pay for registration


• lack of family support


• work schedule does not coincide with practice/game times


• other aspects of life do not allow for leisure time

This being said, in spite of these obstacles, soccer is the most popular sport in the world. It requires little equipment and the rules are overall, easy to follow. In rural areas of third world countries, it's common to see children playing bare-foot with an improvised ball made of tied up rags or taped up garbage. For this reason, I wasn't surprised to see El Salvador make it to the semi-finals of the world cup beach tournament in Italy this past September.

In Canada, although hockey is quite popular, soccer is the most played sport. I recall one of my teammates saying that when she was a kid, her parents signed her up for soccer because it was the only sport they could afford. She said it was "the poor kid's sport." I laughed, realizing, that this was probably the case for me as well. She also commented that nowadays, her kids are also playing on soccer teams, but prices have skyrocketed. Emphasis has been placed on not only signing your child up for a team, but also for soccer clinics and player development camps. The competitive aspect has over-shadowed the leisure dynamic of the sport. If you don't sign your kids up for the "extra stuff', you are stifling their potential.

In terms of accessibility for non-committal soccer, I once attended a drop-in adult soccer session at the Newton Recreation Centre. What I discovered was a gym full of about 50 men raging from ages 16 to about 40, mostly of indo-Canadian or hispanic background, all eager to get some time on the 'field.' Aside from myself, there was only one other girl in the gym. The men were not accomadating to new players, let alone female players. I stayed for about 1 hour, and afterwards had a chat with the people at reception. I suggested that perhaps they should have more than 1 night of drop-in soccer a week since it seemed to be so popular and perhaps they should also have a ladies only night, since I'm sure most girls would be too intimidated to ever set foot in a gym with 40 extremely competitive, burly men. They gave me a card with the management's contact info, and encouraged me to make the suggestion. Unfortunately I did not follow through and now looking at the current schedule, I still see only one soccer drop-in night...time to take action! ;)

So there it is, soccer is the root of my active living. Everything else I do to be active stems from here.

fat tax? Bring it!

Here's an interesting article from a couple of weeks ago: Denmark is imposing a fat tax to try and divert people from eating fatty foods while using the revenue from the tax to fund obesity-fighting initiatives.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/the-hot-button/eat-it-butter-denmark-rolls-out-fat-tax-but-will-it-work/article2188130/

I think this is a good idea. I've always thought the government should tax fast-food, highly processed goods and they should highly subsidize fruits and vegetables.

It's also interesting to read the comments on this article.

Reflecting on the income gap

Okay, I haven’t posted ANYTHING since my intro, and after checking out my peers’ blogs, I’ve realized that I need to catch up! So here I go:

After Reading Ch. 3&4 in our textbook Social Determinants of Health, I’ve become pre-occupied with thinking about the income disparity that exists in our great nation of Canada. What struck me the most from these two chapters is:

- the rich are getting richer while the poor are getting poorer

- the middle class is disappearing as the healthy apple shaped economy is hollowing out

- “the 246,000 privileged few who rank among the country’s richest 1% took almost a third (32%) of all growth in incomes between 1997 and 2007." (http://www.policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/National%20Office/2010/12/Richest%201%20Percent.pdf)

- the government is not doing much to equalize the growing income gap as they reduce social programs such as employment insurance

- corporations have a big influence on government policy making and they see to it that they don’t lose out on their profits

- although taxation and government transfers alleviate low incomes, the major culprit is low wages

Since reading these chapters, I feel appalled that living in a country as developed as Canada, we can allow this to happen. Now that Occupy Wall Street has hit the media and is having a snowball effect across western nations, I can understand why “the 99%” is speaking out against the corporate biased government. I don’t want to get too political, but if we want to be a healthier nation, we need to have more equality amongst our population by enhancing our social programs and evening out the income disparity. Here are some articles that are relevant to this topic:

http://thetyee.ca/News/2011/10/15/OccupyVancouver/

This article talks about the different reasons why protestors are “occupying” Vancouver. The main reason is speaking out against corporate greed and its negative implications towards the general public, but there are many causes people are advocating for and they see this as way to have their voices heard.

http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2011/10/18/Billionaire-Occupy-Wall-Street-Allies/

this article speaks about billionaires accepting that it isn’t fair that they aren’t being taxed enough…interesting…

and here's one of my favorite images:

Intro

Hola y bienvenidos! My name is Marina Gomez and I am proud to call myself a HEALer. After our first session with my fellow HEALers, and seeing the diverse wealth of knowledge and experiences we make up as a group, I am eager and excited to embark upon this journey. I felt at home surrounded with an energetic group of people who share the same hope of creating a vital and healthy community.

Currently, I work as a high school teacher at Johnston Heights Secondary. After 3 years of working at different schools, going from teaching science to math and now languages, and constantly planning for new courses, I now feel that I’ve found a home at Johnston Heights. What I love most about my job, is being surrounded by youth who are full of awe and wonder as to what their future may hold. I love being part of their journey in molding who they will become and I strive to empower them in their hopes and dreams. I see teaching as a means to reaching out to youth and helping them become aware of their potential.

Wanting to move forward in my career, I saw the next step as taking on a master’s degree. When looking for a program, I knew I wanted to find one that would intrigue me and motive me to take on, once again, the life of a student. The Health Education and Active Living program sounded ideal for me, as it focuses on what I’m passionate about, and that is healthy living. I’ve come to realize how incredibly resilient yet at the same time fragile, the human body is and that we constantly take our bodies for granted. In order to lead meaningful and fulfilling lives, it all roots down to how we take care of ourselves. The idea of you are what you eat, holds a lot of truth and I’ve noticed that what I eat affects my mood, my ability to produce, mentally and physically and mandates how I function as a whole. Also, in order to survive the daily grind, whether cleaning the house, carrying groceries, or picking up your kids and to enjoy leisurely living, having a working body is essential. Physical activity not only makes you stronger and allows you to function at full capacity, it also a great escape from daily stresses. Although I am now fully aware of what leading a healthy lifestyle encompasses, embodying these principles is a whole other matter.

My expectations of this program are to gain a strong foundation of how to embody healthy living, and to be an example to those who surround me of the benefits of striving for vitality. I’m also very eager to learn more about the social determinants of health and its manifestation in our schools and community settings. By the end of the program, I hope to have a better idea of how I can take what I have learned, and apply it to my role as an educator.

My interest in health stems from when I was in my early 20s and decided to eat a vegetarian diet. It all began when a friend told me he had decided to become vegan after watching a PETA video about cruelty towards animals. I decided to dig deeper and began reading up on where our food comes from and it’s impact on our health and the environment and how people are affected along the way. It really struck me how blind society is to what is behind the curtain of food production. After reading books like In the Defense of Food by Michael Pollan and watching documentaries such as Food INC. or listening to Mark Bittman on TEDtalks talk about “what's wrong with what we eat,” I’ve come to see the crisis our society faces in terms of our diet and how it affects our health.

After paying more attention to my diet, I began to notice changes in myself. I had more energy, I hardly ever got sick, and I felt more positive about my life. As a soccer player, I noticed I could now run harder for longer.

Now, entering my late 20s, I’m noticing that in order keep up the feeling of vitality, not only mindful eating, but also making time for daily fitness is key. During this program, I hope to find the motivation to ‘walk the talk’ of healthy living. As I continue to play soccer, I hope to incorporate more variety of active practices in my leisure time, especially in the outdoors.

Ciao for now!

Marina