Final Blog Post

I am so glad that I joined the Wicked Problems LLC. I have been blessed to meet so many wonderful people and work side-by-side with them throughout the semester. I really enjoyed everything that we did in this course. There were so many interesting events that we got to participate in (such as Mouthful Play and Kelsey Timmerman lecture). The linked course was especially fun because I got to meet so many cool people with so many different opinions. It was also fun to hear how others experienced their linked courses and meeting others in different linked courses than me during the seminar. The main project was interesting because it was a collaboration of people from different courses using a holistic approach to a wicked problem in Austin. The wicked problem that we chose is education and because all of us have different educational backgrounds we were able to come together and discuss our views using our pooled intelligence. We came together and came to the conclusion that government funded pre-school would help the students in Texas be more prepared and kindergarten ready. If we can fix the problems of education today then we can create a better society for the future.

Interview

Today I interviewed Renny Swan, assistant principal at Fulmore Middle School in South Austin. The wicked problem that my group has chosen to explore is education; particularly how public schools are funded based on attendance of students. I asked Mr. Swan what he believed was the main issues surrounding this wicked problem and he told me that “we receive state funding via district funding under the Title I program. The problem is that we have to comply and provide training to teachers and support to the students of the high need population with this money, as opposed to using it solely for educational programs.” This problem impacts South Austin, because we are in a low-income area with a lot of diversity. “The problem with funding based on attendance” says Swan, “is that low-income students are less likely to have good school attendance due to transportation problems, parents not always in the picture and issues concerning their personal and family life caused by financial hardship.” It is ultimately unfair to punish a school by providing it with less funding when they have students who need programs such as the “English as a Second Language” program. I believe schools should be funded based on need and not on attendance.

“Show Us Your Austin”

Yesterday (Saturday, 10/29/16) my classmates and I went to the Dia De Los Muertos events in downtown Austin. Our task was to hand out flyers and stickers and promote cultural diversity in Austin. We were required to approach at least 25 individuals participating in the event and actually ended up enjoying meeting people and learning about their culture that we asked so many more than the required minimum amount. We asked people to use the hashtag “#ShowUsYourAustin” or our groups unique one “#SUYA.” Later, after reviewing instagram I learned that about 300 people have now used the hashtag and this made me feel really excited and happy that my friends and I were able to make a difference and contribute to this wonderful experience. Overall, I had a really great time with my friends and even learned more about Austin myself as a new Austinite. It was really amazing to see the diverse cultures that this city has and to learn more about the history and Mexican influence that our capital has. I am really grateful to be given the opportunities to attend these fun events and learn more about the vibrant city that I now live in. I hope to attend and volunteer at more events soon.

Dr. Kennedy’s Lecture

Dr. Bill Kennedy spoke to us on the subject of his main passion: photography. Kennedy began explaining his background in photography as he studied photojournalism at UT. The first question was about the “craft” of photography. Dr Kennedy ultimately ended up working as a photographer and took lots of photos of nature. Dr kennedy believes photography to be a wicked problem due to the powerful effect that it has on people who view it. Photography is still a mystery in itself and people are still asking why a photo can evoke so much emotion in the person viewing the photo.

Week 6 Blog

Wicked Problem: Education

Wicked Problem: Education

The Wicked Problem that my group is focusing on is education. I have created a flowchart describing how education is operated. Education begins with the government, which controls the finances of the school districts. Schools are then given money based on exam results and attendance of students (which my group believes is one of the problems). The bottom of the flowchart shows the students who are directly affected by this system. The success of the individual students is based on something this broad and the students are often characterized by the performances of their peers, giving them an unfair chance, while attending a school that has many budget cuts.

Week 4 Reflection

The Wicked Problem that my group has chosen to research is education, particularly problems with education in Austin. The specialized class I am taking for my LLC is citizenship and social justice, which focuses on how citizens can come together to create a better community and advocate for social justice. I think that education of children and teens should be the responsibility of the whole community. We learn a lot about the role that government plays and particularly how citizens can contribute to government. If citizens begin to see education as a group effort to make the community better for the next generation then we can work together to create better education for the children of America today.

Week 3 Reflection

Although I was not present in class for week 3 seminar, I was very informed after visiting the CAN Austin website. The Wicked Problem that my group is going to focus on is education, particularly problems concerning education within the city of Austin. After visiting the website I learned that Austin is ranked worse in kindergarten readiness compared to other cities in the United States. In Central Texas only 41% of children enter kindergarten ready. The problem lies within opportunity of being instructed by parents or attending preschool; these factors are obviously dependent on socioeconomics and location of the child. The goal of CAN is to increase this number to 70% by 2018.

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