thursday. chivalry?

so i witnessed something today that made me think. probably more than i should have.

i was on a crowded bus from my uni. the bus driver announced to the platform that he could fit either the male or female onto the bus, but not both, because of capacity etc. makes sense, right?
the man said oh, okay. and walked away to let the girl on board. this got me thinking. is the male population trying to make up for hundreds of years of worldwide female oppression?

if you asked that guy who gave up his spot on the bus why, i'm sure he would say something like "i dont know" or "i didn't really think about it" - it's just expected. maybe it's a part of our culture, how we're brought up. and i'm not talking about general politeness.
have you ever challenged a virtue which is so closely followed in your mind? you would go a little mad i think. of course, you have to exclude the possibility that the male did it to impress the girl or to make friends. they were strangers. strangers, and yet it seems, there was already a specifically created order in which they behaved.

standing up on a bus, a guy offers you a seat. why? are you too fragile to stand up for a few minutes across town? or is it something deeper? something imbedded in our social construction?
it may be general politeness - but you only see it one way. girls are never expected to act this way and put the interests of the male first in general social situations.

why do we still abide by chivalrous values in this day and age?

feel free challenge your own behaviour and social construction and ask yourself, why do i do this? why do i act this way? if you have time.

bye for now
xR

monday. collaborative learning

warning. more teacher talk.

as children, we've been taught to obey authority. this is drummed into our heads every day at school. think about it. we are conditioned to move about the school grounds at the sound of a bell. we are taught to behave dfferently around teachers and authority figures in the school yard, as opposed to our mates in the playground. we are conditioned to this traditional way of teaching. it's a safe option for us. however, it's not the only way to learn. in this traditional method, the tutor spits out knowledge in our general direction until our ears bleed. we mostly learn through silence every day, in rows of desks across the room. every day. every year.

fortunately for our future generations, however, the education system is changing. slowly but surely, classrooms are for the first time adopting new teaching methods. new, creative ways to teach our children. to get them involved in their learning. in these interactive classrooms, teachers will no longer regurgitate information at our kids. instead, they will work as partners in learning. partners in gaining and understanding knowledge. partners. they will be engaging all senses. they will no longer be listening to information six hours a day, five days a week. they will be interacting with their environment. interacting with each other. as a collaborative partner. learning through experience, not just theory. educating children through learner-based practices instead of teacher-based.

it excites me.

bye for now
xR