Week One: Notes and class activity

Today we had a debate in class, where we debated the following topics

• Private vs Public Schools
• Change in the New Zealand Flag vs No change  

The process of the debate was beneficial toward my approach to this brief, as I was enabled to grasp an understanding of both sides of each topic, where without doing any research (other than for my groups topic), I was able to gain some insight into the topics that were un bias due to the fact that we were given both sides. The information and statistics that were shared in the debate furthered my knowledge on the topics for this brief, which will make my process easier to pick a topic between the too.

The notes from the debate are as follows:

Debate one:

Private schools (Pr) vs Public schools (Pu)

Pr: 
-offer better education 
       i.e offer both IB and Canbridge, which is more recognised than NCEA oversea
-the workload is bigger, which pushes you to achieve more, therefore you work hard in life
-63% of schools in in AKL that recorded outstanding results where state integrated or private.
-More choices of subjects
-More attention for those who need help and those who are at a higher level, compared to public schools which are taught mid-level and have bigger classes. 
-teachers are able to moderate bullying and learning easier 
-more one-on-one time
-students tend to be more confident in class discussions 
-more opportunities for exchanges- more places to go-higher rate of scholarships
-NZ private school sector has been ranked the best in the world in the recently released programme for international student association (rsa) 2012 report
- doesn't have funding which means private schools have freedom to alter the curriculum
-money is spent on specialised teachers- better knowledge 
-good investment- in Auckland 8/10 are standout in their schools academic performance 

  
Pu:
-notes where in previous post 

Flag change (FC) vs No flag change (NFC)

FC:

-we need simple symbolism to show our brand
-meant to show our identity
-we don't resonate with our flag, theres a disconnect
-we are reluctant to fly our flag 
-current flag shows the southern hemisphere and the union jack which represents colonisation. 
-however, we are our own individual government now, a lot of countries are in the southern hemisphere so its not individual to us
-We are known for being a creative nation, recognised overseas for this, i.e peter jackson, however our flag doesn't show this
-NZ flag ignores maori and their culture and the fact that they were here first, the flag now gives more tribute to european and colonisation.
-The flag change could honour the soldiers and their fight for change 
-there are many other flags in nz through the years that have been ignored and not noticed 


NFC:

-over 100 years since the issue has been raised
-1902 the flag became official
-other countries changed their flag because of a change in power or if there was a horrific event in the country
-There hasn't been an event like this in NZ so why change it now?
-Merchandise, advertising, passport etc so it'll be a long process to change it, also expensive
-70% didn't want to change the flag according to a stuff.co.nz poll
-"if it isn't broke, don't fix it"
-RSA WW1 and WW2 in victory we flew the flag with our other allies 
-ANZAC DAY- Flag used as a symbol 
-Soldiers have fought under it, therefore its not the appropriate time to  change it with the 100 year anniversary
-26 million dollars lost toward the concept of changing the flag
-this could rise up to 30 million dollars once making the change to all aspects i.e uniforms, companies etc
-the money could be used in areas that are more important, i.e child poverty 

  


Within the process of the debate, points were given from the lecturers that were exposed in the debates, that are aspects that we need to consider when designing and developing our posters.

-In the research process, research both sides of the argument, where you look at valid/strong points that relate to rhetoric strategies
-When choosing/defining your topic for your poster, decipher what it is you want to say exactly
-what viewpoint are you coming from? create a statement that can be your direction
- we can miscommunicate things when we need to use things out of context so you need to make your argument clear