The Social Identity Theory claims that we have several selves that correspond to group membership. This means that our behaviour alters depending on various company that we keep and this affects our personal self. Through Tajfel’s experiment, it became evident that even with minimal group paradigm, humans fall back to social categorisation and social comparison when they are put into groups. Using Sherif’s Roberts Cave experiment this became further evident, however it could also be seen that when the boys were working towards a common goals, it reduced their hostility for opposing groups. If we relate this to global conflicts, we are aware that most of the conflicts are initiated by contradictory opinions or racial or religious differences and therefore we can see that people are categorising themselves based on these beliefs and then comparing themselves, either trying to make themselves superior, or the opposition inferior. A current example of this, would be ISIS and their belief in their sect of Islam. Since it opposes a vast majority of the rest of the world, there is a conflict between these two parties. Both groups are categorised by sharing the idea that they are either for or against the values that ISIS aims to manifest and similarly both groups despise each other as they begin to compare the two groups. However, if we use what we learnt from Sherif’s experiment we know that if people are put to work for the same goal, they put aside their hostility and show appreciation for one another. This is obviously very hard to achieve, as the differences are often created by having separate goals. But these theories help us consider the causes of conflict and the ways in which it can be prevented.
Month: September 2017
Lighthouse Initial Discussions
L06: Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance
In my local service last week, we were discussing whether disabled people are looked after throughout their life. In places like Singapore, the government aims to integrate these people into society and supposedly have certain jobs kept for specially abled people, however we also discussed that this is generally not evident. In most countries expatriates who are disabled do not receive proper care and thus, it changes many families lifestyles as they are forced to stay in their own country to get that necessary support. On the other hand, as of now, there are some international schools in Belgium that provide extra help to support students with cognitive disabilities. I feel that although we are trying to improve these students motor skills through this service, there is still a greater picture that needs to be addressed, in which these students are not kept away from the rest of society but are rather assisted in merging with the rest of society.
UWC Day Chemistry
For UWC Day, in Chemistry we made a presentation connecting the SDG Goals to Chemistry.
Here is the presentation: https://prezi.com/pofq7kppvzbc/edit/#32_2475237
My Activities this year
This year for Service I am the chair of Kolkata GC and have joined a service called, “Lighthouse motor skills development”. Both of these aim to work with disabled children however in my GC, we try to raise money and awareness for the cause, whereas in the local service, we get to actually work hands on with the children and help to improve their motor skills. I think that I am very organised so I can use this strength in planning for my GC as well as taking on a position of leadership in my service. I sometimes can be a bit introverted when I first introduce myself to a group of people, and therefore I will try and work on that when I start my new local service. Additionally, I like to change the activities I do often and hence it will require my to have a lot of strength to stay committed to one cause for the whole year.
For action, I am currently participating in Pre Season basketball to improve my skills and prepare me for the real season, which I also hope to participate in. Along side this, I am train weekly for basketball with an external coach. I find the sport very enjoyable and I am quite diligent when it comes to improving my skills and committing to all the training sessions. However, I find it hard to balance getting a good amount sleep and getting all my work finished, so that I am fresh for the day since most of the training is before school.
Furthermore, for creativity, I have joined the ‘Economeast’ this year. I have a lot of passion for economics and I am excited to share my writing with a wider group of people. Again, I am quite organised so I would be able to reach all the deadlines and possible take on a leadership position. Additionally, I am also taking in part in Culturama and Kahaani this year. I have been a part of both of these activities, since I joined high school and have thoroughly enjoyed my experience. For Kahaani, I will be directing the whole show. I am slightly nervous this year, as I don’t have a very loud voice and I will need to take charge of a large group of people. This will be a bit of a struggle for me, but I will work towards that throughout the year.
This year in CAS, I would like to grow as a person and make myself a more capable individual in many various aspects. I would hope to become more confident and feel more involved in school activities and the school community. I hope that my time doing CAS will help me achieve these things.