Community Arts Project
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| The take away we gave to members of our class with platform information on the inside to encourage them to VOTE! |
What do YOU believe in?
The objective for this project is to get Early Childhood Educators to educate themselves on the party platforms for the upcoming election and go out and vote. By getting more Early Childhood Educators to go out and vote we are letting the government know that we do care what happens and will hold them responsible for promises made. We are hoping that this will result in more importance being placed on issues related to educators, families, and children. In addition to getting Early Childhood Educators to vote, we also want to promote voting among students because the student vote is an untargeted but very important demographic.
The inspiration for this project came from a segment that was featured on the Rick Mercer Report on March 29th, 2011. Check it out...
How will you use the arts to communicate your 'BIG IDEA'?
We will communicate our big idea through the arts by creating a viral video which will be aired on The Rick Mercer Report but that could also be spread through e-mail. Below is the story board we created about what would happen in our video.
Who will you Involve
ž College of Early Childhood Educators
- Julia Lipman (Communications Manager)
- Julia Lipman (Communications Manager)
The College of Early Childhood Educators promotes advocacy in their Mission Statement. Voting is a great avenue for expressing their beliefs and advocating for what they believe in. The issues presented involve children, since children don’t have a voice we must speak up for them. This would benefit the College because of the positive publicity and media that would surround the project. In conclusion, if they were to get involved with this project they would be achieving part of their mandate.
College of Early Childhood Educators Website
College of Early Childhood Educators Website
ž School of Early Childhood Education at Ryerson University
- Rachel Langford (Director of Early Childhood Education)
- Rachel Langford (Director of Early Childhood Education)
Positive media and promotion for the program would result as them participating in this endeavor. It may let prospective students know about the program (very few degree programs in this field). Once again, this project would allow them to express their beliefs about the importance of child care programs and issues related to children.
Website for ECE at Ryerson University
Website for ECE at Ryerson University
žRick Mercer; Rick Mercer Report
- Rick Mercer/General Inquiries Staff
As you can see in the video that the link is posted above, Rick Mercer believes that individuals especially those who are young need to vote to show the government that they care; help him further his cause and belief. By encouraging students at Ryerson University to vote, as well as Early Childhood Educators in general we are helping him in his cause. He would benefit by having another segment on his show that he would have to film but would be produced for him. This would save him resources as he would not have to spend time brainstorming ideas, but would just have to come to location to film.
Rick Mercer Report Website
As you can see in the video that the link is posted above, Rick Mercer believes that individuals especially those who are young need to vote to show the government that they care; help him further his cause and belief. By encouraging students at Ryerson University to vote, as well as Early Childhood Educators in general we are helping him in his cause. He would benefit by having another segment on his show that he would have to film but would be produced for him. This would save him resources as he would not have to spend time brainstorming ideas, but would just have to come to location to film.
Rick Mercer Report Website
žCity of Toronto (Children’s Services)
- Elaine Baxter-Trahair (General Manager)
Stand up for children who themselves do not have a voice. The City of Toronto has contacts in many childcare centres and comes in contact with many other professionals who interact with children. As a result, they can easily spread the word through e-mail about our cause. This would benefit them because child care centres provide revenue to the City. If more funding were provided as a result of Early Childhood Educators voting, the City could continue to run the programs they currently offer without budget cuts and possibly provide more programs. This would result in increased revenues for the City as well as offer a more family-friendly image of Toronto. If parents view Toronto as a family-friendly city they may move into the City to utilize the services they offer. As a result, property taxes would also increase providing increased revenues for the City. The possible benefits are ongoing as a result of supporting this project.
- Elaine Baxter-Trahair (General Manager)
Stand up for children who themselves do not have a voice. The City of Toronto has contacts in many childcare centres and comes in contact with many other professionals who interact with children. As a result, they can easily spread the word through e-mail about our cause. This would benefit them because child care centres provide revenue to the City. If more funding were provided as a result of Early Childhood Educators voting, the City could continue to run the programs they currently offer without budget cuts and possibly provide more programs. This would result in increased revenues for the City as well as offer a more family-friendly image of Toronto. If parents view Toronto as a family-friendly city they may move into the City to utilize the services they offer. As a result, property taxes would also increase providing increased revenues for the City. The possible benefits are ongoing as a result of supporting this project.
Toronto Children's Services Website
How will you persuade the community to support your project?
We plan on persuading the community to support this project by showing them the importance of this issue. By placing lots of media (such as the Rick Mercer Report) we plan on reaching a mass audience with the importance of our cause. This project is also a low, cost-effective way to reach many people and educate them on the importance of voting.
How do you think your presentation went?
I believe that our presentation went very well. Class mates seemed to respond positively to the issue and gave us some good suggestions afterwards. The issue is VERY relevant to everyone in our class and is a social justice issue that needs to be addressed. It was coincidental that afterwards there was a presentation in our class that attempted to get others to vote.
What could you have done differently?
What we could have done differently was focus more on the party platforms and what they are offering. This would have given people a little more information on the issues that are present in the election. I think that this may have been unnecessary though because we did provide this information on our Facebook page if people were interested. Other than that, I am very pleased with out presentation and would not change much.
Comments/suggestions/questions from the class feedback.
After our presentation we were not asked any questions. Feedback and suggestions were given because the results were not yet available. Overall though in passing I did receive feedback that our presentation was well done.
Art Word of the Week: Balance
Balance: Creating something that is equal, or shows both sides of an issue.
This art word of the week connects with this weeks blog because I believe the presentation we did was very well balanced. We did not try to persuade individual's to vote a certain way based on the issues we believed were important, but created a balanced discussion on voting. We gave people the opportunity to decide on who they should vote for and gave them the information they would need to make an educated vote.
Extension to Early Childhood Education: This blog is related to early childhood education in a VERY important way. Since children do not have the voice to speak up for themselves WE need to do that for them. Through voting we can change the face of early childhood education for the years to come. It is important for educators to make an educated choice when voting and ensure they vote for the party in which they believe will consider the issues that are important in the field and will follow through with their promises.
