Perfection

When I watched the video, I reflected upon the difference between success and happiness. The girl of the video successes in everything she did. However, she did not necessarily do what she really wanted. Therefore, she wasn’t happy.

Moreover, I was encouraged by the video to doubt about what perfection is since even though the girl was perfect at playing violin and studying, she didn’t enjoy it. Is that perfection? Is perfection similar to happiness, or success?

When reflecting, I could also take the video to my real life since I felt identified with the case the video portrays, not because I am perfect in what I do, but my parents wanted to impose my future.

I was always good at math when I was at school because my father taught me (He is a math teacher), I had good marks and I got my best PSU’s score in math. Therefore, my parents chose me a career to study at the university (Civil engineering) based on acquisitive power and math. Nevertheless, what my parents did not know was that I do not like mathematics, so I just studied one year in that university since I did not like the career, even though I could earn lots of money with that profession.

Finally I was allowed to choose my own future and decide what I really want to do. I don’t know how successful I am, but I’m sure I’m happy. 

Journal Entry Unit 1: Sustainability and Accountability.

Unfortunately, due to I was two weeks absent, I cannot share many learning experiences since it was quite difficult for me to catch up on the contents of the unit, specially the readings. However, I can share some reflections related to the discussions in classes among classmates and teachers.

Even though Sustainability and Accountability are unknown and abstract concepts among society, they are used every single day in plenty of aspects such as economy, environment, and education. In terms of education, accountability takes to sustainability. For example in a school there are determined systems of assessments to students and teachers. That kind of assessment and what is being assessed is an accountable system since it supports the working of the school, and is carried out by stakeholders who are responsible and are part of the working on teaching-assessment process. As a consequence there should be sustainability if the objective of this assessment system as well as the results remain in time, although the assessment system can suffer some changes depending on the results.

On the other hand, the abuse of data management and the desire to increasing it in order to be accountable can affect students motivation since qualitative variables are forgotten. There are schools where in determined grades (7th for example) there must be only a 5% of the class with special needs, while in 6th grade the 10% of the class have special needs. How are you going the half of special needs students to make them pass to 7th? What would happen to those students who would not be selected?

Even though in education we must be accountable, we must be inclusive as well. Teachers and stakeholders in general, have to be positively sustainable and accountable (at least in educational terms). Do not forget the focus which is students' learning rather than numbers.

Link video-journal: http://youtu.be/D9BAKsC3t28.