SOC 450 Threats to the Global Environment Assignment 3a: Threats to the Global Environment Many of the UN members are not satisfied with the progress of t

SOC 450 Threats to the Global Environment Assignment 3a: Threats to the Global Environment

Many of the UN members are not satisfied with the progress of the Millennium Development Goals. They feel that the goals focus on the wrong issues. There is a disconnect between what issues the UN developed countries believe are priorities and what many developing countries feel the prioritized issues should be. For example, the country of Burundi has asked that one of the goals be focused on food security. Austria, however, is adamant that the major current global issue is to mediate ceasefires in countries in the midst of a civil war.

You have been asked to provide an unbiased perspective and identify the four issues you feel most impact the global environment. You will present your findings at the next UN General Assembly. Your goal is to provide a history of each issue, the number of countries affected, and the effects of this threat to the world population.

Of the eight major threats listed below, choose the four that you consider the most critical.

Energy sources

Civil war

Globalization

Poor health of entire populations

Lack of educational opportunities

Cultural taboos

Inappropriate uses of technology

Climate change

For your presentation to the United Nations:

Develop a minimum of four slides per issue for a minimum total of 16 slides.
Provide at least a paragraph on each slide (in the notes section) to explain the reason this information is relevant to the UN’s assessment.
To review how to do any of the required assignment deliverables in PowerPoint, please refer to your Lynda.com account or reach out to your instructor ahead of time.
For each issue, create a graph or chart to analyze the data you have collected.
Cite at least five credible sources excluding Wikipedia, dictionaries, and encyclopedias.

This course requires use of Strayer Writing Standards (SWS). The format is different compared to other Strayer University courses. Please take a moment to review the SWS documentation for details. (Note: You’ll be prompted to enter your Blackboard login credentials to view these standards.)

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

Examine the factors that account for why the growth in the world’s population can negatively affect global society.

Assignment 3b: Threats to the Global Environment Counterargument

The members of the United Nations are impressed by your presentation. The information you provided has led to productive debates. There are now questions about prioritizing the issues at hand. Some of the countries are challenging your recommendations and questioning your reasons for not including certain other issues they believe are priorities.

There are four remaining threats in the list of major global issues. Review the topics and reflect on two that you did not use in Assignment 3a. Defend your reasons for considering these topics to be less important than the issues you assessed in Assignment 3a.

Energy sources

Civil war

Globalization

Poor health of entire populations

Lack of educational opportunities

Cultural taboos

Inappropriate uses of technology

Climate change

Choose two of these four threats and write one paragraph on each threat stating why each is less a priority to the health of the global environment than the four you assessed in Assignment 3a.
Support your argument with at least three scholarly sources for each threat chosen (a total of at least 6 sources) that can be used to support your position that these two threats are less a priority than the four threats which you chose to assess in assignment 3a.
Each counterargument should include:
An opening statement describing the threat; Three (3) points that offer evidence which supports your position that these threats are less a priority than the four threats that you assessed in Assignment 3a.
Please cite at least three scholarly sources in your argument.
For a brief list of resources for this assignment, please see the end of the course guide.

This course requires use of new Strayer Writing Standards (SWS). The format is different than other Strayer University courses. Please take a moment to review the SWS documentation for details. (Note:You will be prompted to enter your Blackboard login credentials to view these standards.)

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

Examine the factors that account for why the growth in the world’s population can negatively affect global society. 1
Huda Nayyef
ENG 120-4378
Feb. 27.2019
Growth Mindset
Summary of “Prominent Scholar Calls Growth Mindset A ‘Cancerous’ Idea, In Isolation”
“Love Challenges, Be Intrigued by Mistakes, Enjoy Effort and Keep on Learning” Tony
Robbins. In his article, Adriel Hilton echoes the sentiments of Dr. Luke Wood, a professor of
education at San Diego State University in critiquing the concept of the growth mindset. The
author highlights the professor’s critique that in as much as research on the concept of growth
mindset is appreciated, the viewpoint embraced by the educational community for purposes of
enhancing student learning and development is wrought with a false contrast between the
affirmation of effort and ability. According to Dr. Luke, this skewed perspective is
counterproductive to the success of historically underserved learners such as the students of
color. The article records Dr. Luke’s argument that educators must recognize both the student’s
ability and effort if their levels of achievements are to be improved. The myopic perspective, as
Dr. Luke calls it, propagates a cancerous idea to the learners that they can only achieve
educational success through hard work without their educators appreciating and recognizing the
abilities of the students as well as their external inhibitors such as racism that limit their abilities.
According to the professor, this well-intentioned research framework is incomplete as it does not
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take into consideration students of color whose abilities are rarely validated throughout their
educational cycle.
Summary of The Perils of ‘Growth Mindset’ Education: Why we’re trying to fix our kids when
we should be fixing the system.”
Alfie Kohn’s article examines the shortcomings that proponents of the concept of growth
mindset such as Carol Dweck exhibit in their assumption that mindset adjustment is all that
students can do in order to better their educational achievement. He decries the manner in which
the concept of the growth mindset has been uncritically construed by educators, parents,
journalists, and managers as the most important strategy towards attaining improvement in
student success and in the education system at large. He argues that the popular claims about the
power of attitudes and beliefs as propagated by the growth mindset theory not only overrate the
benefits but also enhances a propensity of attention diversion from the state and value of learning
and education. The article focuses on the shortcomings of the concept of the growth mindset and
offers that the solution lies in the willingness to look beyond mindsets and instituting changes to
the structural arrangements to fit the primary objectives of student education.
Response
The concept of the growth mindset is built on the premise that affirming effort in a
student’s work yields a greater focus on hard work and resilience thus leading to improved levels
of educational performance. This concept has gained uncritical enthusiasm and support across
educational facilitators and administrators and this precedence is detrimental to the education
system and student success. The concept has been dubbed the most effective strategy for
improving student achievement and education system; a claim that has seen an equal measure of
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both criticism and support across educational researchers and psychologists. In this paper, I
argue that the concept of the growth mindset is not the most important aspect of improving our
education system and student success because there are other important determinants that must
be considered in driving improvement in the field of education. These factors include structural
arrangements in the classroom and school, quality of the education and meaningfulness of the
curriculum, pedagogy, parenting, and authenticity in the assessment of the learning, among
others.
I strongly support Kohn’s position that the only benefit that can be derived proponents of
the concept such as Dweck and others is the recognition of the student’s effort rather than the
ability for purposes of encouraging perseverance. This is mainly because, just as Kohn puts it,
praise for effort or ability tends to suggest some form of controlling and condition. It is thus
worth emphasizing that children are likely to be motivated by reward or praise as opposed to the
action the action that prompted their rewarding or praising. According to Kohn, a positive
judgment is more controlling that it is encouraging. Equally, praise indicates the educators’
acceptance of a child is conditional on the child’s impressive performance. The defense for the
proponents of the growth mindset fails to recognize the effect of non-evaluative feedback as a
preferable type of praise that, according to research, provides information about students’ work
without attaching a judgment (Kohn). I, therefore, pose in support of Kohn’s sentiments that
students look up to educators for guidance, nonjudgmental feedback, and unconditional support.
Focusing entirely on a shift from ability to effort, as the growth mindset suggests, is
destined to miss the primary objective of learning – intellectual development. Echoing Adriel
Hilton, I argue that validating a student’s ability through giving motivational messages
contributes a lot to the self-confidence in a student. Remarks that appreciate the ability of a
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learner affirm their intelligence and capability thus motivating them to learn more. It is also true
that when learners whose self-worth is pegged on their performance are doomed to fail, no
amount of growth mindset can help. A growth mindset only serves to have students focused on
achievement in such things as tests, competition, and grades as opposed to intellectual
engagement and development (Hilton). This premise of the growth mindset is dangerous in that
it perpetuates a self-help tradition which assumes that conditions in which individuals find
themselves are immutable or fixed. Moreover, it is important to note that school-environment
and structures also play a role in the student’s achievement. Availability of learning resources,
infrastructure, good leadership, and thoughtful pedagogy contribute significantly to a learner’s
intellectual development (Fishman, et al.). In addition, policy-making in defining the quality of
the education and meaningfulness of the curriculum in the field of education cannot be
downplayed in the quest for the improved education system and student success. Pedagogical
and parental discipline, as well as guidance, has also been quoted as being impactful in the
educational development of a child (Masino and Niño-Zarazúa 54). In general, therefore, it is
quite inaccurate to focus so much on growth mindset when there are a host of other influential
factors that affect the educational achievement of learners and the overall improvement of the
education system.
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Works Cited
Fishman, Tiffany D., et al. “Success by Design: Improving outcomes in American higher
education.” Deloitte Insights, 16 Mar. 2017,
www2.deloitte.com/insights/us/en/industry/public-sector/improving-student-success-inhigher-education.html.
Hilton, Adriel A. “Prominent Scholar Calls Growth Mindset A ‘Cancerous? Idea.” HuffPost,
16 Nov. 2017, www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/prominent-scholar-calls-growth-mindseta-cancerous_us_5a07f046e4b0f1dc729a6bc3.Accessed 21 Feb. 2019.
Kohn, Alfie. “The Perils of “Growth Mindset” Education: Why We’re Trying to Fix Our Kids
when We Should Be Fixing the System.” Salon, 16 Aug. 2015,
www.salon.com/2015/08/16/the_education_fad_thats_hurting_our_kids_what_you_need
_to_know_about_growth_mindset_theory_and_the_harmful_lessons_it_imparts/.
Masino, Serena, and Miguel Niño-Zarazúa. “What works to improve the quality of student
learning in developing countries?” International Journal of Educational Development,
vol. 48, 2016, pp. 53-65.

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