Category Archives: Uncategorized

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Tensions Rage in Eastern Europe

These protests in Ukraine coincided with our Study Abroad group’s departure from Moldova, and it was hard not to reflect on the parallels between the two countries.  The tension between reform and movement to join the European Union with an older generation’s nostalgia for Soviet times, when there was at least some protection against poverty and a guaranty of a basic standard of living, is felt within families and across the population.  Russia exerts pressure away from reform, and there is cause to question the independence of media outlets.  “Democracy is a fragile thing”, said a member of the Liberal Democratic Youth Movement in Moldova.  And I am beginning to understand…

Gender Equality in Moldova: Being Inspired

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Alexei Buzu, Executive Director of a leading NGO which promotes gender equality in Moldova was just 19 years old when he was first elected to political office. He was still in college at the time and was studying finance and economics.

Alexei described to our Study Abroad group the tremendous responsibility he felt to participate, and then once elected to follow through on his promises to end corruption and promote political inclusion. “But who else if not me?”, he asked himself.

He makes the case that gender equality is just good public policy, and states that equal treatment and equal opportunity are simply not enough. Structural inequalities must be removed, and the impact of policies on the individual and personal level must be better understood.

See also, Being Inspired in Moldova.

Moldova Study Abroad

UB School of Social Work – Winter Session Study Abroad

The development of social welfare institutions in the Republic of Moldova has occurred within a context of rapid change and resource constraints. Our Study Abroad group looks forward to examining the impact of these changes, as well as the impact of language, history and cultural paradigms on the process of engagement and community practice in Moldova. We will also be exploring the importance of working with other disciplines in environments in which social work is an emerging profession.

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A Ray of Hope!

I was inspired by this NPR story.  Researchers looked at what methods effectively change people’s unconscious racial biases.  You’ll be surprised by what did…and what didn’t!

Incorporating successful elements in to various technologies – simulations, games, etc. – may prove helpful in reducing bias!  

 

Innovations in Teaching

I’ve been thinking lately that so much about our learning depends on context.  (The field practicum in social work is a perfect example of this.)

I imagine that early man, in fact, found the idea of teaching in a classroom (an actual space removed from their day to day activities) as a rather novel idea.  Perhaps classrooms were deemed a technological innovation of sorts!

Ironically, the classroom space today is held up by many as the ideal place for learning to occur.    But is it really ideal?

Gaming platforms offer many more advantages for learning than do traditional classroom environments. Learning in virtual worlds is experiential, and can include collaboration.
Students may find the virtual environment less threatening than a real-world practicum setting.   Environments might be tailored more to the needs of individual students.

I’m not saying that gaming is the preferred approach to teaching every imaginable subject.  I’m certainly not saying that it would replace the field practicum in social work.  But I have a growing list of topics that I think it would be well-suited for (and maybe better suited for).

i suspect that in the future gaming and other new technologies will lead to new discoveries about how people learn, and the effectiveness of more conventional approaches will be debated.  In the meantime, educators will need to keep an open mind about the possibilities.

After all, imagine if as a species we had never given the classroom a chance.