How can we stop history from repeating itself? In this unit, we were studying Canada’s past wrongs and aiming to create a public memory so past wrongs never happen again. At the same time, I have gained new skills and had unique experiences with PLP. Moreover, I have learned to view things from multiple perspectives to make a fair judgement. Today, I will be telling you about my ology of apology and sharing my learning journey with you.
Answer to the driving question
So let’s answer the driving question of this unit first: How can we create a public memory of past wrongs so they are remembered and not repeated today? After studying this unit and reading many articles, I believe there are three essential factors to create an effective public memory. They are official apology, memorial and education.
1. Official Apology
An official apology is significant when issuing past wrongs. The apology is essential because it has the function of healing the harm and rebuilding relationships. It symbolizes the recognition and acknowledgment of wrongdoings; at the same time, it committed not to repeat past wrongs . Many consider the official apology as the beginning of a new era. Although apologies can heal and repair relationships, they can also be harmful. If an apology is insincere, it can damage the relationship furthermore.
What makes an effective apology?
When making an apology, there are many things to be aware of. After all, I have summarized some factors that will contribute to an effective apology. Which is taking responsibility, being proactive with non-verbal communications and delivering a specific improvement plan for the future.
Taking Responsibility
One of the most important characteristics that contribute to an effective apology is taking responsibility. Taking responsibility means recognizing and acknowledging the negative impacts that were caused by the offender. This can often lead to a stronger willingness to take actions repairing the harm. On the other hand, looking for excuses is perhaps the worst thing you can do when making an apology as it is a sign of insincerity
Being Proactive Non-verbal Communications
Although you may not believe so, body language is an essential factor when delivering an apology. Most experts agree that 70-90% of our communication is non-verbal. In other words, your body language, eyes contact, tones, etc… carry out much more messages than your words. Through non-verbal communication, people can easily decode what you are saying and sense your emotion and that’s why we need to be aware of it when delivering an apology.
A Specific Improvement Plan for the Future
“An Apology Without Change is Manipulation” To fundamentally solve the problem, a specific improving plan is often required in an effective apology. Instead of dwelling on the past, it is more meaningful to think about the future. The offender should explain how the improvement plan can prevent a similar event from happening again; at the same time, the improvements plan should include measurable changes to determine its effectiveness.
2. Memorial
The concept of memorials is easy to understand. They are built to remind people of events that happened in past and connect it to the present. At the same time, memorials can heal affected groups and bring positive effects to our society. Although it is sad when tragic incidents happen, a memorial can allow us to respect their sacrifice and celebrate our well-lived lives.
What determines the effectiveness of a memorial?
Overall, the factors that affect the effectiveness of a memorial fall into two categories: physical and spiritual appearance.
Physical Appearance: Physical appearance determines how much attention it can get from people. Some examples can be location, size, designing and colour. As memorials are built to spread an event’s significance, it would not be effective if they can not appeal to their targeted audience.
Spiritual appearance: Spiritual appearance determines how significant the memorial is to society. The feelings and emotions that are passed to the audiences are examples that fall into this category. A memorial with a strong spiritual appearance should be able to heal some harm of the affected group; at the same time, it should create a central place to visit and encourage visitors to revisit.
3. Education Systems
The education system plays a significant role in creating a public memory. As time goes by, we will repeat history when future generations forgot about it. Through studying history, we can shape and develop our society better and develop a better understanding of the world. As a student myself, I appreciate having the opportunity to know what happen in past because that allows me to learn from the mistakes made in past. However, this would never happen without a truthful education system.
How do we learn from the past?
It is important to understand some information can be misleading as it may contain the author’s biased opinions. That’s why it’s beneficial to make your ethical judgements. In brief, ethical judgements are judgements you believe are the most justifiable after considering all the perspectives and possibilities. Usually, primary sources will be stronger pieces of evidence than reports and articles as they reflect the situation better. In the process of making ethical judgements, you will develop a new way to view the world and enhance your critical thinking skills.
Overall, I realized all of the factors have been included when our government redress past wrongs. Whether it is Chinese Head Tax, Japanese Internment or the Komagata Maru incident, they have all got these factors to create public awareness.
Reflection
In the end, I would like to share with you my growth and learning in this unit. Throughout this unit, field studies and exhibitions have helped us the most on our learning journey.
The Impacts of Field Studies
It is amazing how we have six field studies in this unit, especially during the pandemic. Through field studies, we have learned in detail about Canada’s history of discrimination and understand what life was like under a racist government. The experience we have in field studies allows us to learn faster and easier; at the same time, the memorials we saw set up great examples for us to build our memorials. Field study is relevant because it allows students to gain a deeper understanding through the extension of the curriculum; furthermore, it encourages the growth of curiosity and critical thinking.
Exhibition
One of the most important goals in this unit is to create public memories by applying what we have learned previously. My group got Japanese Internment as our topic to create public memory. Although we understand the story and its significance, we did not know how to put it in its best form to make it outstanding. After brainstorming, we finally came up with the house design. The idea was to show the difference in living conditions between white Canadians and Japanese Canadians. You may be wondering how are we doing to do that. The house would be specialized into two floors, the white Canadians would be living on the top floor with luxury while crowded Japanese Canadians would be starving underground.
(Art work done by Ryan)
As we started building the house, it was only two days away from the exhibition night. It seemed to be impossible to pull everything together within such a short time; however, the power of collaboration has proved that wrong. Through communications, everyone’s responsibility became clear which increased our productivity. Because of everyone’s efforts and dedication, we were able to have everything ready before the exhibition.
Thankfully, everything went well on the exhibition night. We were able to explain in detail to our visitors what Japanese internment is as well as our memorial ideas. But there are surely spaces for improvements. I realized we were missing our group banner, which caused some confusion for visitors; meanwhile, our storyline and pictures could be bigger for better visualization. Most importantly, I did not practice presenting our script and ideas enough, which lead to poor body language and poor storytelling. But overall, I have enjoyed the process and I believe we have done a decent job.
Looking back, it was a meaningful unit throughout my PLP learning journey. I have learned a lot in communicating, critical thinking and critical thinking. Lastly, I would like to thank Ms. Willemse & Ms. Huges for the effort they have given us to make this wonderful unit possible.
References
Apology
Forbes — The Six Components of an Effective Apology
Forbes — How to Apologize the right way
Memorial
NPR.org — What makes a Successful Memorial
Education
Habitat for Humanity — Ten benefits of Eduction
Lumen Learning — What is Ethical Judgements
Cee.Ne.Edu — Ethical Judgements
Field Studies
Pros and Cons of Field Studies
Americans for Arts — The Importance of Field Studies