Jieni LIM (301167464)

Educ 471- Summer 2014

Prof. Rebecca Cox (Becky) Journal Entry Week 9 July 15, 2014

During this session (Week9), we had 3 groups of presentation. One of the presentation
groups was my team, Myth Buster, and the other two groups were Team Friends (U), and the
FUNdamental.
Overall, I think Adams part of presentation from the FUNdamentals brought the most
significant and deepest learning experience for me. I liked how Adam carried out the issue of
racism in such emotional, yet valuable way. It was sensitive, strong, and a solid message.
This presentation is a significant and unique way of bringing out a familiar discourse that is
popular in BC. I remember my social studies teacher in grade 10 teaching about the same
topic-- racism. He conducted several typical discussions, and projects to present the ideas of
racism. It was so vague and boring. Most people did poorly in that class, ad no one was
motivated to address or explore the issue.
However, the way that Adam brought out the issue of racism show a significant
influence on me. It is because my family and I have similar experiences. He carried out the
issue through a narrative form, instead of merely presenting the issues through a presentation
slideshow. His presentation slideshow limited words but utilized a lot of images and pictures.
And those pictures really caught my attention because they are family photos and pictures of
everyday experiences. These types of photos depict close ties and intimacy.
He wrote two words on the presentation slideshow: Confrontation and transformation.
He did not explicitly talk about what those two words mean to him or to the issues, but he
used his personal experiences to carry out the ideas. Using personal experiences enables one
to effectively deliver the message in a real and concrete manner. He connected past, present,
and future events, and shared about how his family dealt with racism. Throughout his
presentation, he integrates political issues such as the Vietnam War, and other issues such as
Jieni LIM (301167464)
Educ 471- Summer 2014
Prof. Rebecca Cox (Becky) Journal Entry Week 9 July 15, 2014

cross-cultural marriage, and skin complexion. The most significant and impact learning I got
from his presentation is he utilized the combination of personal relationship with his dad, his
dads own role as a soldier in politics, and his relationship with his mother and grandmother.
He also brought his family photos to the class and the photos were being passed
around during the presentation. When he was talking about his personal relationship with his
dad, and how the relationship turned for the better, at the same instance, a photo of his dad in
Vietnam was passed to me. At that moment, I felt like the entire story telling was tangible.
Five words to describe what I gained from Adams presentation: real, connections,
holistic, emotional, strong. In the future, I will definitely want to use the similar methods to
bring out issues appear dull, dry, and unmotivated. I seldom talk my own personal
experiences or use them as examples in my classroom settings. It was not due to me being
uncomfortable of it. I just never thought of it because I tend to think that personal experiences
are events that are shared with family or close friends. I gained a lot of insight from this
presentation.
Another presentation is the idea of deliberative democracy from Team friends (U).
The central values of this concept are decision-making and majority rule. Most classes in BC
adopt this idea, that if any decision-making is required, it is always the majority vote over the
minority. The deliberative democracy provides students a sense of engaging and power in the
community. However, I also notice that teachers are the one who control the situations;
teachers hold the larger extent of power in the system of deliberative democracy. The teacher
would still be the ultimate authoritative figure who decides which ideas can be nominated to
vote and which cannot.
Jieni LIM (301167464)
Educ 471- Summer 2014
Prof. Rebecca Cox (Becky) Journal Entry Week 9 July 15, 2014

For example, in a fourth grade class in a BC elementary school, the teacher and
students are deciding what should they bring for lunch for the national park field trip.
According to the national parks policy, only light food is allowed. Deliberative Democracy
is applied in this classroom.
(Mary and John raise their hands waiting for a chance to speak out their suggestions)
(Mr. Boukan points at Mary)
Mary: Mr. Boukan, Id suggest each of us bring sandwich.
Mr Boukan: That is a great idea!
(Mr Boukan writes down sandwich on the white board, and then turns around and point at
John)
John: We can bring soup and cracker!
Mr Boukan: Crackers are a good idea. But I am just thinking soup might be a bit
inconvenient for us to carry it around. Any other suggestions?

During the mini deliberative democracy activity, I noticed that not every voice was
being heard. Some of the suggestions were being ignored or filtered unconsciously/indirectly.
Moreover, with this implementation, minorities will have higher tendency of being left out.
Deliberative democracy attempts to promote the idea of everyone has a say, each
individuals should be given the opportunity to contribute or participate in certain form of
decision-making. However, my observation from my previous classes and the mini
deliberative activity that conducted by Team Friends affirmed the idea that, there is still a
distinctive gap towards to the goals of deliberative democracy in the classroom setting.