Wow! Whatta busy week!

Last weekend was a good start to the week.

I spent Saturday evening at the Dee Why RC and Warringah RC joint changeover. I had a lovely time meeting all sorts of new people! It was also interesting on two counts: 1) the clubs are outside of my host district, so it gave me the opportunity to get outside of 9750 and 2) it was the official merging of the two clubs to form the Dee Why-Warringah RC.
I met some really nice folks who aren't in Rotary, but who are very involved with community service. The two with whom I spoke most are both employed at Mona Vale Hospital near Manly. We're planning for me to trek to the North to have lunch with the two of them soon. They said they would show me around the hospital and give me a bit of a lesson on Australian healthcare. I'm really looking forward to it!

I was supposed to be assisting with a Dee Why RC BBQ the following day (Sunday), but it was cancelled due to rain. Instead of spending the night in the Northern Beaches area, I returned to Earlwood. My Sunday was to be spent not BBQing, but studying at the State Reference Library and then walking (only a few minutes up Macquarie Street) to the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

I was so glad to make it to the Sydney Conservatorium of Music for a free Live on Sunday concert. I had been hoping I could make it for ages, as I had heard about it numerous times on the radio. One of my favorite radio stations (ABC Classic FM) was presenting the concert live over the air. I'm really looking forward to the next concerts! A few that are on the horizon:
> 1 July: The Tom Vincent Band
> 8 July: Virtuosi Tasmania
> 15 July: The Art of the Viola
> 22 July: Tiger's Dream
> 29 July: Chanson and Leider

Monday took me to the Undercliffe P.S. to work with the kids on the last big of the mural project. I was off to Balmain later in the evening for a Rotary meeting.

The rest of the week was really just a lot of tying up of loose ends. There were loads of small things that needed to get done for the unveiling ceremony, so I spent my mornings at the public school, my afternoons running around Broadway gathering materials and getting things printed up, and then my evenings researching. This isn't me complaining, though---I LOVE being busy! I actually wish I had a bit more going to keep me more busy...especially now that the mural project has ended.

I'm happy to say the Undercliffe P.S. Mural Project reached a successful completion. The unveiling ceremony flowed smoothly and the kids seemed to have a good time. It was a nice end to a fun project. Rakesh is interested in replicating the project in Balmain---so that's really exciting! I may be meeting with the principals in some schools there to pitch the idea soon.

I have two really exciting projects coming up---so stay tuned!!! I'll be going on about them soon enough! ha ha ha...

More later...

Well, folks---I know some of you have heard about this project more than you'd like, but it simply wouldn't be acceptable if I neglected to dedicate a post to it!

As several of my friends and family are well aware, I've been coordinating the Undercliffe Public School Mural Project. It's really gained momentum the last week, and the developments that have occurred are fantastic!

First of all, the absolutely lovely Irina Dunn (Executive Director of the New South Wales Writers' Centre) has lined up an author to act as guest speaker at the unveiling ceremony. Deborah Abela, author of the two series Max Remy (Superspy) and Jasper Zammit (Soccer Legend), will be our "keynote speaker". Following the closing remarks, she'll be hanging around to sign some books and speak with the kids and their parents.

Rakesh Duncombe, a Rotarian in my fantastic host club (Rotary Club of Balmain), will be present to give the Rotary address of sponsorship and acknowledgment of student work (through presentation of certificates).

I'm currently working on a photo slideshow that will be played before the ceremony and during the reception. We'll have photos of the kids working on the project and the sort of "before and after" shots that are essential! ha ha ha...

It's all really exciting!

If you're interested in finding out a little more about the project, read below!

The Undercliffe P.S. Mural Project is designed to provide students with a cross-disciplinary approach to understanding the importance of literacy and the importance of international awareness. The project is enthusiastically endorsed by the Undercliffe P.S. principal and teachers as well as by the Rotary Club of Balmain.

PROJECT GOALS OUTLINE ------------------------------
This project seeks to:
***Provide students with an alternative outlet for learning.
***Allow students to exercise artistic expression in an educational environment.
***Give students the opportunity to utilize leadership skills (through the delegation of
leadership roles [i.e., color specialists, mural painters, ceremony assistants, project
spokespersons])
***Engage students in a dialogue regarding “real-world” issues of global scale.
***Unite the community of Earlwood (i.e., Undercliffe P.S. students, staff and family members
of Undercliffe students) and Rotary through recognition of student achievement.

PROJECT EXPLANATION ------------------------------
Students in two separate senior classes are presented with classroom-based instruction and discussion relating to the aforementioned topics (i.e., literacy and international awareness). Following the lesson and mediated discussion, students are asked to provide an artistic representation of knowledge gleaned in the form of illustrations. Artworks provided by the students are then voted on by students and staff, with four selected illustrations from both classes comprising the mural designs.
This project encourages participation of all students. Students whose illustrations were not selected for the mural design will serve as mural painters and design planners. Students will also be selected to serve as project spokespersons.

PROJECT CULMINATION ------------------------------
The murals will be unveiled during a ceremony on 22 June 2007. The unveiling ceremony will be attended by members of the Earlwood community, students of Undercliffe P.S., Rotary representative(s), an Australian children's author, and members of the local press.

Here is the flyer/invitation I've created for the Unveiling Ceremony.

I've been eating, sleeping and dreaming Bourdieu lately...so I must provide as the opening to this post a bit of Bourdieu's wisdom (quoted here from The State Nobility...):

"Given that, as established elsewhere, the structure of social space as observed in academic societies is the product of two fundamental principles of differentiation---economic capital and cultural capital---the educational institution, which plays a critical role in the reproduction o fthe distribution of cultural capital and thus in the reproduction of the structure of social space, has become a central stake in the monopoly on dominant positions." (1996: 5)

Some of you are aware that my current research interest is in first-generation university students at a prestigious university (namely, Australia's premiere and "ivy league" university: The University of Sydney). I'm particularly intrigued by identity management of students who are coming from working-class backgrounds.

I, myself, am from a working-class background. At times I find myself feeling a bit out of place in the university environment. It isn't that I feel I shouldn't be in university---it's more that I feel that I'm living someone else's life. (Does that make sense?) Given my background...and considering the lives many of my former classmates are living back in Eastern Kentucky...I wonder how on earth I made it! Knowing what I do, there are, of course, many sociological explanations for why I (and other working-class students) have made it. But what interests me is the journey and the transformations that we undergo in the process of moving toward the more equitable achievement of social/cultural/academic capital. It is through this achievement that our social spheres are reconfigured and our social networks essentially redesigned.

It's fascinating to me---particularly when utilizing my overactive "sociological imagination"---that if one is astute enough, one can derive social class, geographical location, familial power patterns, and educational attainment level (among many other things) within two-minutes of social interaction with another. I guess that's why I love interactionism as a sociological perspective! There are so many symbols attached to our discussions and social interactional patterns; there's so much to be discovered!

At the same time, this could be a bit troubling, as folks can use the information they obtain in the course of short social interactions to negatively label the person with whom they are conversing. (Granted, this is good to an extent---it provides a mental/categoric orientation of the two social actors which will assist in the process of social interaction, as it allows them to determine where they're coming from and how to navigate the social distance that lies between them.) By mentally labeling the person with whom they are engaged in discussion, the social actor is actively constructing subsequent interactional patterns with the person they have labeled. That is, by labeling that person, they are determining the way in which they will converse with that person. If they consider their interactional counterpart a socially inferior person, they may speak condescendingly. If that is the case, and if the person who has been labeled picks up on the condescension, then said labeled individual may internalize the label. This could thus cause the "labeled" to create a self-fulfilling prophecy, thereby acting upon the internalized label (thus, in effect, being what is expected of them and, in essence, becoming the label they've received).

These fascinating patterns of socialization, social interaction, labeling and such have brought me to my interest in working-class university students and their identity management/formation (particularly in the educational field of power/control). These students have successfully passed through primary and secondary education---two successive levels that are dominant class oriented. They have overcome the labeling of their classmates/peers and teachers. They've in turn adapted their lives to be able to "code switch" between an academic (i.e., dominant-class) and working-class language, they've internalized dominant-class expectations (e.g., competition, aesthetic values, individuality, etc.) and they've navigated through these discrepant spheres to ultimately attain some level of inter-generational social mobility. Thus, the question becomes: How does this social mobility achieved by working-class students affect familial interaction? Are there particularly discernible patterns, or do these interactional patterns depend entirely upon subjective experiences that, in effect, are in operation on an individual basis?

Let's assume the student has been unable to successfully "switch" between their two social locations (working-class background in a dominant class oriented field). It can be assumed that they would cling more needily to their academic qualifications and their occupational location attained through their academic qualifications. They have therefore become insulated within the social sphere that generally doesn't want their kind (considering that many working-class children don't make it into university in the numbers that middle- and upper-class children do). Therefore, they may deny their background or conveniently skip over the details of their background while struggling in the course of social interaction not to convey said background (through relying heavily upon dominant class language and reference to qualification[s]).

Isn't sociology so interesting?!?!

:D

The Sydney-Based Rotary Ambassadorial Scholars (inbound) had a unique opportunity to meet the current Rotary International President, Bill Boyd, last night. We attended a Rotary International tri-district dinner at Waterview in Sydney Olympic Park where RIP Bill Boyd was the keynote speaker.

Sydney-Based Scholars with Rotary International President Bill Boyd

(L to R) Toby, Philip, Julie, RIP Bill, Laurent, Me & Alex

The dinner was really very lovely. We not only had the chance to meet the highest-ranking Rotary International officer (i.e. Bill Boyd)---we also had the opportunity to meet Rotarians from the neighboring Rotary districts (in NSW).

I had a great time chatting with the Rotarians at my table! A few of them were from the same club. They invited me to their club changeover, and another of them has invited me along to assist with a project in Manly in two weeks. I was very happy to say yes to both! :) They're going to work out the details to have me to their club as a guest speaker soon. One of the Rotarians has even said that he and his wife will take me to Koala Park! What a nice group of folks! :)

I spent the morning and afternoon in Ashfield today assisting with a BBQ. The money raised will benefit Five Dock Public School. The folks I worked with were loads of fun! I had a nice time, but between last night's dinner and waking up early for the BBQ this morning I was completely knackered!

I have a big presentation coming up this Monday (Rotary Club of Sydney CBD). More on how that went later...