I don’t normally post this often, but I couldn’t resist this. The figure at left turned up on my Facebook feed. Yes, the topic of carbon emissions is important, but I was equally fascinated by this spiral representation. This is the first time I have seen this format. It is certainly more engaging than the traditional bar graph in one long column (even though it is somewhat hard to read without amplification!).
John
In the United States, the earliest start time for school begins at 7:40 Am or 8:15 Am. However, compared to different countries around the world schools either starts at the same time as the United States or it starts later. For example, a typical school day in Australia starts at 9:00 Am. As for Brazil, school time starts at 7:00 Am. In South Korea, the average start time is 8:00 AM. Kenya has the same start time as South Korea at 8:00 AM.
A typical start time for Russia is 8:30 AM. So far it seems Australia has the latest start time. I wonder if that helps with student performance in school? I mean does starting school at a later time help students function and perform better in school? At 7:00 AM I think students are tired and not fully awake.
In France, a typical school day starts at 8:00 Am, the same as Kenya and South Korea. The average start time in China is 7:30 Am. These school days in the United States, Australia, Kenya, South Korea, China, France, Russia and Brazil shows similar school start times. This is relevant to our course because it compares these countries to show how school systems around the world works. In addition, it shows that governments in these eight countries have placed similar school policies in regards of beginning classes quite early.
However, Australia starts at a later time compared to the other seven countries. We can test or research with these eight countries to see if starting school at an early time or later helps students learn or function better in school. We can then look more into Australia’s school system to see if starting school at 9:00 Am is beneficial to students or not then compare it to the other seven countries mentioned.
You can read more about the school days of these countries in this article https://www.infoplease.com/world/world-statistics/school-years-around-world it also tells the school end time of the countries as well.
Blessing.
Last night in class we had a discussion about the word cosmopolitan. As we noted, at one level, it is a simple descriptor of someone who has an interest in different cultures.
But there is much more controversial use/abuse of the word. In this version, there is a cosmopolitan elite, on both the political left and right, that has sold out national interests to global cultural and economic interests.
For a historical context, see the Wikipedia entry on the term Rootless Cosmopolitan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rootless_cosmopolitan
And for a more contemporary analysis, see this July 2019 article: What conservatives get wrong about cosmopolitans: ‘Citizens of the world’ aren’t so elite after all. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/07/27/what-conservatives-gets-wrong-about-cosmopolitans/
John
Welcome to the blog for PAF9181 Comparative Public Policy and Administration.
Post anything you want that you think is relevant to the course. The only rule is that you have to explain why you think it’s relevant (or you can declare it isn’t relevant, and explain why you posted it anyway!!).
Remember that this course is COMPARATIVE Public Policy and Administration, and not World Politics or International Relations, so try always to add a comparative aspect, particularly if you are commenting on something in the US.
The posts can be very serious. We are in the middle of an impeachment process so it is worth comparing how different countries can remove their leaders. In the US we have 4-year fixed terms for President and a very high-stakes, high-bar process of impeachment. In other democracies, particularly those with parliamentary systems, all it takes is a vote of no confidence, or the the ruling party changing their leader. Which system is better.
Equally, the blog posts can be somewhat more trivial. See the following article that compares dinner times around the world: What time people typically eat dinner in 12 different places around the world https://www.insider.com/dinner-times-around-the-world-2018-11
Note that this blog is only visible to registered users from this class. So it is private. But given the state of hacking I can never 1000% guarantee it will never get into the public domain. So be prudent.
If you are not familiar with blogging, I have put instructions for the blog on Blackboard.
John