Day 7 - Third Day at Work

          Today, Hannah, Jason, Teddy, and myself, began our workday in a library group-study room.  I continued researching elements to include in Social Justice and Cultural Awareness Weeks and found Externalism (Patrick & Connolly, 2013), in which participants do not take sides but rather step back to view from an external viewpoint, to be a best practice.  At half ten, the four of us met students gathering for a weekly Free Tea/Coffee, Biscuits, and Chat in An Tobar, the breakroom inside the Student Services Building.  The group consisted of about 12-15 young female students who all knew each other and one Maltese student involved with the Catholic Salesians who was also coming for the first time.  The students who all knew each other were first year students studying primary education and on break at the same time from their block schedule.  I was able to ask them about what themes or methods have stood out to them in their coursework, and they said that their entire program was following the child-centered Froebel Model.  In asking this group of students if they are uncertain about job prospects post-graduation, they said that they were mostly placed at schools that they themselves had attended as youngsters and will more than likely end up teaching at these same placement schools.  It is interesting to me that their school placements have started with the first semester of their first year.  Additionally, they mentioned that each of them is observing one student anonymously and in great depth as a case study over the course of the year.  One student even questioned aloud as to whether someone was secretly observing each of them growing up.  Once these students left, another couple of large groups socialized over tea and biscuits in the same space.

            Next, Hannah and I attended, along with Chaplain Shay, a Maynooth Green Campus committee meeting in which about 15-17 people representing various departments on campus gave input regarding some of the Social Justice Week collaborations.  One topic discussed was that of the need for more student input and involvement.  Apparently there are currently 10 university bloggers who they hope will attend Social Justice Week activities and blog about the experiences.  Just to be sure, Hannah and I are going to write some blurbs about what we attend this coming week which they can add to a blog link on their webpage.  They also wanted us to assist in selling the WOW bags, which are bags made of recycled juice boxes, during Social Justice Week.

Additionally, a great deal of time was spent discussing what can be done to get various lecturers on-board with turning off lights, equipment, and so forth when they are done and putting the appropriate waste in the appropriate bin.  They spoke about doable awareness by gently nudging key people and departments.  They also spoke about wanting to be a green flag [eco-] school, but needing to actually make the changes and not just get and display the flag.  I was surprised that I had not heard of this previously, as I studied environmental education [ecological teaching and learning] and my one son attended, and the other attends, an eco-friendly school.  In googling, I see that the U.S. has a similar process and flag for being an eco-school (http://www.nwf.org/Eco-Schools-USA/Become-an-Eco-School/Awards/Green-Flag-Award-Criteria.aspx) as does Ireland (http://www.greenschoolsireland.org/).

We finished our day by doing more research and meeting with Ian to hear about the meeting Teddy and Jason had with one of the Deans.  From that meeting, Maynooth University’s lack of student advising sounded similar to my English as a Second Language program because we are also lacking in advising and striving for more in the way of incorporating soft skills and daily life and work skills including math and civics into the curriculum. 

Today, I believe I furthered the conversation with the students in An Tobar for the Tea Break by asking about larger themes, their placements, and their employment outlooks.  Additionally, I was able to provide Joe Larragy, chair of the Maynooth Green Campus committee, with what we do on my campus regarding classroom smart equipment, which is to have signs on the equipment stating to turn it off when not in use so as to conserve the projector lightbulb. 

Professionally, I have expanded my thought regarding terms and concepts such as Salesian, Froebel Method, Malta—did you know that it only takes 35 minutes to traverse the entire island?—green-flag schools, Legion of Mary, John Hume, Dorothy Day, and so forth.