Inclusive Education Essay

This report details the role of educational inclusion, individual and general perspectives on inclusion and how the medical and social models have played a great part in the conception and in its application in regards to inclusion in the past and in recent times. Inclusion has different conception and used in certain terminology that relates to inclusion. It is used in different settings such as in social care and in the educational setting in the society today. In this report I will be focusing on the educational part. The Encarta English Dictionary defines inclusion as the addition of somebody or something to the rest of a whole. This definition has not specified who is to be included but a person or group being part and accepted by the rest of a whole. Inclusion have been defined and interpreted by many as just the integration of children with special educational needs (SEN) into mainstream school. According to (Rigby 2000) these kinds of misconception and viewpoints often lead to the misunderstanding and maltreatment in such a way that it creates room for continuous labelling, bulling and rejection by others without SEN. The term Inclusion according to (The Warnock 1978 Report) was initially used as integration, whereby children with SEN who have been educated in special schools where integrated into mainstream school provided they did not have any effect on adequate use of resources. The definition of inclusion is actually changing and moving, in the sense that, its concept and dynamism is now broader, people are now beginning to fully understand what it means and what it evolve in the society today. It is not just about people with special needs integrating or having the same capabilities to perform but having equal choices on where is more conducive they choose to live, having equal opportunity to engage in whatever they choose to do and being accepted the way they are (Giangreco 1997). Social Inclusion/ Social Exclusion There are no definite definitions for social inclusion and social exclusion, both of them has multiply definitions, it all depends on the context which it is used for and is still being developed. Exclusion can be defined as the act of excluding, or of shutting out, whether by thrusting out or by preventing admission; a debarring; rejection; prohibition; the state of being excluded (Inc Icon Group International 2008). According to the definition above, it indicates that social exclusion is multidimensional; people are not only excluded in the society because of their age, sex, religion, colour, disabilities, race and gender it can also be due to unemployment, homelessness, low income, poor mental health, locality, dysfunctional family, educational achievement, status in the society etc (SEU 2004). This group of people are said to be in a Cycle of Disadvantage ( Pope, Pratt and Hoyle, 1986). Article (136 and 137) of The (1997) Amsterdam Treaty was enacted in order to eliminate exclusion and promote economic and social cohesion. Social inclusion promotes integration and community cohesion, it builds the communities, promotes understanding and unity. Inclusive Education and Government Legislation According to (The 1944 Educational Act) it initially stated that, children’s education should be based on their age, aptitude and ability. During the Act establishment, there was a philosophy that children with special need were to be able fit in the school rather than the school making provision to accommodate them before gaining admission into the mainstream school. The (1944 Act) was in use until 1974, when the Warnock Committee was set up to review the provision that was available for children with Special Educational Need. This committee which was headed by Mary Warnock lead to the publication of the 1978 Warnock Report. The Report concluded that, they were about 20% of children in school population that might have Special Education Need and only 2% of which may require support in the mainstream school. The Warnock Report suggested that there should be a proper provision in place for children with Special Educational Need, which then will ensure that the 2% in mainstream school received the adequate provision. The 1978 Warnock Report had since lead to the enactment and development of various educations Act such as, (1981Education Act), (1993 Education Act), (1996 education Act) and the (2001 Special Educational Needs & Disability Act) All these Acts listed above reinforces government’s dedication and commitment to the fully inclusion of children with Special Education Needs into mainstream school and the society as a whole. Inclusive Education and Autism  Abraham Maslow formed a theory on ones personality that has a great influence on education. In his theory of human need, he emphasized that, the student with education need that has a wish or desire to belong to a normal group, that desire creates the motivation to acquire new skills, which the student can only achieve in a learning environment that is void of segregation. He further argued that the sense of belonging is the foundational need that that needs to be met in order to achieve the higher level self actualization. According to (Article 28) of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, it stated that every child has a right to education. No child should be discriminated, excluded or deprived on the basis of belonging to a particular group. Therefore Inclusive education can be defined as the integration of adults or children into mainstream school regardless their gender, age, disabilities, ethnicity, colour or impairment (Daniels and Garner 2000). Children with hidden disabilities like autism, which is a life time disability that affects the way a child communicates and interact within the society, are faced with difficulties of being fully included into mainstream school. Prior to the development of the Special Need Education, children with autistic spectrum were viewed under two models of disabilities, Medical or Social Model. These are ways how people viewed and acted towards people with disabilities. The Medical Model of Disability sees the illness in the person first and the individual second, this notion creates a bad and negative conception of disability (Cigman 2007). The Social Model of Disability sees the disable person first before their illness. This model sees the person as an individual, different and unique, who has an equal rights and opportunities to education and other essentials of life. The model recognises the fact that a disable person’s impairment does not regard him or her less than anyone else in the society.

Is Fanfiction a Legitimate Activity for Fans? Essay

Robin Hobb (2005) defined fanfiction as the written work of fans and readers who use the author’s original characters in their own fiction without any form of consent. As an author who is against fanfiction, she wrote a full length essay to describe this genre of writing as a foul approach to the craft. On the other hand, a blogger named Justin responded to the different items Hobb listed. In this light, many have said that writing fanfiction is not a legitimate activity for fans, much less legal. As Hobb illustrated in her essay, fanfiction is definitely a genre of literature that should be heavily discouraged. Her arguments aimed to justify that legal actions should be taken upon this seemingly intellectual theft. In contrast, Justin’s arguments aimed to legitimize this form of writing, and point that fanfiction is not illegal. To illustrate the premises, the terms legal and legitimate should be defined. The online dictionary wrote that legal refers to an act recognized and permitted by law. In relation to fanfiction, there are no laws that allow writers to create fanfiction. Subsequently, there are no laws either that bans this activity. When writing fanfiction, writers are explicitly asked to write disclaimers to declare and clarify that they do not have any sort of rights over the characters by the original authors. Legitimate activities are those that are in accordance to law. The online dictionary listed that it questions the authenticity of the object or act. Fanfiction is not entirely an authentic artwork since the characters used in the stories are borrowed from someone else. However, since these rights have been wavered in the form of disclaimers, the other elements of fiction are in the hands of ‘fans and readers’, legitimizing their intellectual property over their fanfiction. The following paragraphs will present the arguments of Hobb and the responses by Justin. These are aimed to exemplify if fanfiction is truly a legal and legitimate activity for fans. How each side argues around the motion, however, does not result to a fact. This means that this is merely a deliberation between two writers regarding this issue. First, fanfiction writers compose using the author’s elements in the story: characters, settings and general plot without consent, as Hobb said in the same essay. Here, the author was trying to imply that the writers are stealing intellectual property. Justin responded to this by saying that once published materials are shared to its audience, these people become engaged and take part in its success or downfall. He also questioned why those movie tie ins are more acceptable and not categorized as fanfiction when only sponsorship sets it apart. Just because money is involved doesn’t mean that fanfiction writers are practicing intellectual theft and productions battling for movie tie ins are very welcomed. The blogger further expressed that when they sue fanfiction writers, it is as if they are suing children for drawing the many Disney characters. In this set of arguments, the legality of fanfiction is given priority. Financial affairs are usually tied with legal actions. Here, it has been said that fanfiction writers do not earn through writing this genre. These writers create stories to satisfy curiosities and fantasies that were intrigued by reading or watching an original artwork. Any writer would say that they write for entertainment first, and money maybe later. Second, Hobb implied that there is no good coming out of writing fanfiction. It does not violate any copyright law, and writers do not earn from it. Justin responded to this by stating that fanfiction creates more than possibilities along the original story lines. It allows fan communities to have a stronger bond. More importantly, it gives way to a broader creative opportunity to express themselves as writers. Many writers create stories not to earn, but simply to experience the joy of writing, something many known authors went through even before the start of their careers. By writing fanfiction, people discover other writers who have the same interests. It promotes relationships among fans, and not just their creativity. Third, Hobb said that it lowers the ratings of their works. Fanfiction is a form of identity theft. Justin immediately responded to this by saying that fanfiction can be a form of literary criticism, and that when she despises these forms of fiction, she is taking these criticisms as personal judgments. Furthermore, the author of the blog added that fanfiction widens the readers of the works of these authors, especially when the fanfiction has been well written. Hobb continued that those who read fanfiction about Harry Potter might get the wrong idea about the context of the series; Justin said that majority of those who read Harry Potter fanfiction are most likely those who have read or seen the works J. K. Rowling has authored. Fourth, the author said that fanfiction writers who create stories based from her work is in a way claiming her work, and cannot be right from any angle. Justin reacted that these writers are her readers, and that they are those who will be saying if her works have been successful or not, if she is a great writer or not. That is how the industry of writing is. One is not a successful writer if his reader was not happy about his story. Moreover, Justin added that reading is half the joy because all texts have different interpretations. Hobb can never ascertain that her readers will all have the same idea after reading her works. Everybody have different mind sets and different backgrounds, which can strongly affect how they read and understand a story. Furthermore, authors should feel privileged and honored that their works gained fanfictions because it goes to show that their stories deeply touched the hearts and minds of these people that they respond in such a creative avenue. Fanfiction writers do not tell authors that they made a mistake, and that their works are ugly. In fact, they have become inspired; they just have different interpretations. Fifth, Hobb said â€Å"the intent of the author is ignored. † The original context was changed: relationships, death, ending, and plot. Justin further emphasized that it was how the fan writers perceived their works. Nothing was written to spite the author. More importantly, nothing was written to â€Å"close† loose ends in the story. It is more of widening the possibilities in the story; the ‘what ifs’ and ‘maybes’ the audience have encountered during the course of the story. The works of the many authors are deeply loved and fully appreciated, knowing the time and effort they must have exerted to finish the novel or series of. Fanfiction writers are not holding any claim on it. Sixth, Hobb was told that fanfiction is an appropriate avenue to become a better writer. She responded by saying that if this was the truth, then karaoke creates singers and coloring books create artists. Justin just called her â€Å"ludicrous†. Among her arguments, this is by far the weakest. Of course, these are the avenues to discover talent. How else would you know if a child would be a painter if you won’t give coloring books, a musician without instruments, or a writer without books? Talent cannot be discovered without initiating its search. Seventh, to counter this, Hobb said that fanfiction is not a means to become a writer. By completely changing many aspects of the original context, this pretense of creating stories is not a good practice of writing. Justin responded to this by presenting examples like Max Ernest, Duchamps and Basquiat, Public Enemy, DJ Shadow and Negativeland, whose masterpieces must be considered as theft of intellectual property and be imprisoned. The original ideas of the authors are not stolen. They are, in way, taken into the next level. Eight, Hobb always emphasized that the original idea belongs to its creator, as Justin pointed out. However, not all plots are invented. Ideas are usually similar. They are only altered slightly, and it would seem different. In such a craft, ideas are not always new, but what matters is how it was approached and written. It usually boils down to the same theme. Critiques question craftsmanship and not the main idea alone. These points highlight that Hobb’s arguments against fanfiction are very weak and does not fully justify fanfiction as an illegal activity for fans. Plagiarism was not committed since fanfiction writers give full credit to the original authors. Moreover, these writers do not create fanfiction to earn, but simply to write and relate with other writers of the same interests. They write for growth and not selfish reasons. Hobb failed to give light to her legal and legitimate stand against fanfiction since her arguments mainly concerned personal rants and close minded opinions. This paper initially stated that the points brought out in this paper cannot fully stand on either affirmative or opposition. However, based on the given text, this paper concludes that fanfiction is a legitimate activity for fans. Works Cited Justin. November 9, 2005. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2. 5 Malaysia License. 27 December 2007 .

International Marketing Essay

UK is one of the major centers for commerce and international business in the world. It is one country that has had to raise its economy through free trade and other business related portfolios. It later developed to principles of liberalization of international trade and investments in order for it to expand and grow especially in the 20th century. It has been able to attract large investments from multinational countries in order to meet the demand for the larger British population thereby minimizing unemployment rates. This paper will therefore examine the investment opportunities and challenges in UK (Office for National Statistics, UK 2006). Foreign investments Opportunities The UK has very many opportunities in terms of foreign investments. It is one of the fifth largest economies in the world and second in the European Union. The country’s capital, which is London, is considered a haven of investments especially in the financial sector. The country has a GDP of $ 2. 1 trillion and a GDP growth rate of 2 %. (2007 estimates). Most of the opportunities lie in the service sector (Office for National Statistics, UK 2006) Industries UK has very many industries that can be invested in by any foreign country and the major ones are; agriculture, telecommunications, manufacture, fishing and tourism. The UK is one of the leading countries in agricultural exports and this is the main driving force for its economy. (Bailey, 1999) International trade statistics Major exports The dollar value for most of the export trading has been improving due to increase in demand for exports going by recent statistics on total exports from the UK. The trend however has been found to be fluctuating and that it depends on other factors such as; political stability, foreign policies etc. (Office for National Statistics, UK 2006) The major exports the country has been undertaking are the agricultural produce; wheat, rice, maize and tea. In the manufacturing the sector, the country exports agricultural machinery such the tractors and its implements, food, tobacco, paper, printing, textiles, paper and publishing. In the service sector, the country has developed high-tech networks in the telecommunications industry. The leading company in this sector is Vodafone and it has also gone global in its service provision. Major imports The major imports that are imported to the country include automobiles, horticultural produce, tea, coffee, and oil. The dollar value for most of the imports is low as the demand for the products reduces in the country. The dollar value increases when oil products become scarce due to international demand. (Bailey, 1999) Balance of payments situation According to the Office of National statistics, the manufacturing industry accounted for approximately 19% of all the national output in UK last year and also made up to 16% of all the employment in the country. The British economy does not however depend entirely on this and it may decline in the next two to three decades. Other industries are coming up especially the service sectors with a view to balance payments situation in regard to treasury bills. (Office for National Statistics, UK 2006) Exchange rates Exchange rates in the UK have been changing since the year 1999 and today, the exchange rates are way below the 0. 54 mark. This can be attributed to the changing events of the decade and globalization (Bailey, 1999). The following table shows the changing exchange rates-over the counter- for the Sterling pound, Euros and the dollars. Year ? /USD USD/? ?/EUR EUR/? 2005 ? 0. 5500 $1. 821 ? 0. 6842 â‚ ¬1. 463 2006 ? 0. 5426 $1. 859 ? 0. 6815 â‚ ¬1. 467 Source: Office for National Statistics, UK 2006 Trade restrictions 1. Embargoes Embargoes are political trade tools that are put by trading bodies or governments in order to support a justified peace process. Trade embargoes in the UK has been used to support either the EU or the UN in order to deny individuals the opportunity to use money from international trade in buying weapons of mass destruction. This will be used for the purpose of containing retrogressive countries the financial capability to use trading activities for insecurity purposes. Such countries which have been blacklisted by the UK include; Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Zimbabwe etc. (Neid, 1988) 2. Quotas Tradable quotas are policy instruments aimed at restraining trade of certain commodities in the UK. Limiting the production or importation of non-environmentally friendly automobiles can reduce taking for example greenhouse gases. The UK has been able to meet its environmental objective through the implementation of quotas systems. (Neid, 1988) 3. Import taxes Import taxes are designed to protect local industries from international competitors who may be financially stronger than them. This strategy has been utilized by the UK in order to protect vulnerable sectors of its economy. Although it allows importation of textiles, the country charges high import taxes on all unprocessed hides and skins to protect its local industries. (Lawrence, 2002) 4. Tariffs Trade tariffs are the main hindrance to trading between two countries. These trade tariffs depend with policies formulated by individual countries concerning how the countries wish to conduct its trading. The United Kingdom has however developed a smooth and business free environment for most countries in Africa, Asia and the U. S. this has made investment more conducive for many multinational firms. (Neid, 1988) 5. Licensing Licensing is one of the techniques used to promote international trading. The UK has been able to utilize licensing agreements with other international firms to boost its trading. The country has also been able to license many international firms to operate in the country as a means of encouraging investments. (Lawrence, 2002) 6. Custom duties Custom duties are one of the main sources misunderstandings between countries due to the fact that they favor the home-based industries. Custom duties are usually employed by the government top curb influx of external products into the country. The UK has been able to utilize this remedy effectively especially in sectors which the government feels threatened such as energy, education, transport and manufacturing. (Bailey, 1999) Extend of economic activity not included in cash income transactions The extent, to which other economic activities which does not include cash income transactions, is not wide and especially that the economy is entirely dependent on two core industries. I. e. service and manufacturing. The rest which may not involve cash transactions. (Neid, 1988) Counter trades The UK has used counter trade strategies to improve their international presence in almost all its sectors. Counter trades function effectively when the trading countries agree on issues such as import duties, taxes and tariffs (Bailey, 1999). Labour force The UK labor force currently stands at 31 million going by 2007 statistics. Majority of this labor force are concentrated in the private sector and some of them in the public sector. Most of the employees in sectors such as the health sector may have been imported to the country to serve as nurse this has been caused by the worldwide shortage of the same. The unemployment rates in UK currently stand at 5. 4 %( 2007 estimates) most of whom are fresh graduates and the poorly educated young men and women in the country. (Office for National Statistics, UK 2006) Inflation rates The inflation rate for the UK as at 31st December, 2006, was 2. 3% and a poverty rate of 17 % by then. The inflation however, fluctuates depending on the economic situation of the country (Office for National Statistics, UK 2006) Developments in science and technology UK is one of the European counties which have invested heavily on innovation and technology. Almost all sectors of its economy are coping up with changes in technology. The country is using technology as means of out-competing its competitors in the manufacturing and service sectors. That is why most firms in the country are investing in research and development. The government has been able to utilize 5. 4 % of the GNP on R&D in the last fiscal year ending March 31, 2007. The technological skills of the current labor force in the UK can be rated good depending on which sector one is referring to. With reasonable levels of literacy (79% at the moment), the country’s population can improve. (Office for National Statistics, UK 2006) Conclusion There is a team of science and technology promoters under the department of UK Trade and Investment whose role is to help firms realize their international potential through partnership support and knowledge transfer. It mainly enhances competitiveness of companies trading in the UK and also those involved in international trade. The UK has been able to attract high quality foreign direct investments through this department which offers guidance and direction including available opportunities and marketing. References Bailey, M.(1999): Exchange rate trends and trade performance; Waldwick Archive, Vol 12 Ferguson, N (2004): Empire, The rise and demise of the British world order and the lessons for global investments. Basic Books, Oxford, p 90 Lawrence H. (2002): Exchange rate between the United States dollar and forty other countries and its effects on investment, Macmillan, Washington. P 34-40 Neid H. (1988): Multinational investment strategies in British Isles, Routlegde, UK. P 122-131 Office for National Statistics (UK 2006): The Official Yearbook of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. P 45-57

The Beveridge Approach versus The Workfare Approach Essay

The Beveridge Approach versus The Workfare Approach - Essay Example Nevertheless, it is cautioned that matters are not that straightforward. Often left-wingers favour practices that disable institutional support that may affect their broader ideology and there are right-wingers who may favour it as it positively affects their broader policies. This is only a particular instance. (An Introduction to Social Policy, Undated). In November, 1942, Sir William Beveridge presented his report entitled "Social Insurance and Allied Services" to His Majesty the King. In it he mentioned that there were three guiding principles that he had used to formulate his policy of public social service. These are as follows. Sir Beveridge asserted that any experiences gleaned in the past must be used to build opportunities to the future. Such experience should not be restricted on the basis of any sectional interests vested in its gathering. He personally remarked of this - "A revolutionary moment in the world's history is a time for revolutions, not for patching." (The Beveridge Report, 1942) The second principle cautioned that the organisation of social insurance should be treated as only a part of overall social progress. This was so because social insurance aimed at negating all want in the British people. Sir Beveridge cautioned that 'want' was only one aspect of the reconstruction that was then necessary to put the British Empire back on its feet after the war. The other four were - disease, ignorance, squalor and idleness. Then third principle was that social security w3as to be achieved by co-operation between state and individual. The state would offer security for service and contribution. It would organise security but not stifle incentive, opportunity and responsibility. It would establish a national minimum but it would leave room and encourage voluntary action by an individual to procure more than that minimum for himself and his family. (The Beveridge Report, 1942)New Labour's Welfare Policy When the 'New Labour' Party came to power in Britain in May, 1997, it did so with a considerably changed economic manifesto from its previous stint which immediately preceded its re-election. Under Tony Blair, the new labour economic policy was strongly oriented towards the supply side and the welfare state was intended to exist on the basis of steady employment provided by the pull of demand. All these changed policies were meant to

What are the possible legal implications of nationalisation ( Essay

What are the possible legal implications of nationalisation ( expropration) regarding foreign oned properties in International Law - Essay Example A discussion of the legal implications of nationalisation or expropriation of the property of foreign investors has been presented in this write up and this should be of interest to all those with an interest in international law and business. I hereby certify that, except where cited in the text, this work is the result of the research carried out by the author of this study. The main content of the study which has been presented contains work that has not previously been reported anywhere. This write-up is submitted in fulfilment for the requirements related to an essay on The Legal Implications of Nationalisation, or Expropriation, regarding Foreign Owned Properties in International Law. National governments, especially governments in the developing world, have been known to have tried to recover control of their own economy and to attempt to do that which will appear to be for their benefit by trying to nationalise, take or expropriate foreign owned business and property. 1 The expansion of Western economies since the nineteenth century has resulted in outflow of capital for investment into the developing world. However, with the formation of national governments after the granting of independence to the former colonies, the foreign business ownership arrangements came under pressure, with the nationalisation measures that had been taken by the former Soviet Union serving as an example for the newly independent states. 2 It has to be appreciated that although certain countries may feel that nationalisation or expropriation may serve in their best interest, the taking of foreign owned property by a host country poses a very significant risk to continued foreign inve stment. Not only is nationalisation, or the taking of private assets by public authorities, a deterrent to continued foreign investment, but it also raises significant issues in international law as

A Clean, Well-Lighted Place by Ernest Hemingway Essay

A Clean, Well-Lighted Place by Ernest Hemingway - Essay Example Also witnessed in other works by the author, are the themes of social exclusion, death, loneliness, and modernity which demonstrate the relevance of the narrative in dealing with social issues. In A Clean, Well-Lighted Place, Ernest Hemingway focuses on several social issues that affect society, old people especially. Social Issue and Its Impact on the Narrative Old age is associated with a stage in life when individuals settle down and have a peaceful life away from complicated activities since their energy is dwindled. Spending time with the family, particularly the extended family and resting constitute the main depiction of individuals in their later stage of life. Pensioners enjoy the savings they made during their young ages as opposed to active participation in work. However, A Clean, Well-Lighted Place generates a different picture of a suffering old man lost in desperation, loneliness, and isolation. Despite having enough money and resources to sustain his life, the main cha racter old man struggles to fit in a society that cannot deliver the social life he deserves. Social exclusion of the old people is a social vice that destroys the dream of a peaceful rest for the old generation. The events in world political history left a huge scar to the human society since war and aggression create animosity resulting in death and desolation. A cold society depicted by the setting of the story after a time of war shows the coincidence it has with social insensitivity. To illustrate this, the author uses the presence of a soldier and a guard in the story for the obvious reasons of some force needed to quell certain disorderliness. In addition, the waiter’s treatment to the deaf old man shows insensitivity as speaking to the old man aware of his disability is quite an insult. Causation In terms of fictitious application of the plot, the author selects the events of causation that resonate well with the social issue of neglect, isolation, and desolation of t he old in the society. In illustrating the nature of the main characters, particularly the old man, it is clear of how the desolation and isolation manifest in the story development (Lombardi para. 2). It is perhaps due to the depiction of the difference in the condition of the commotion in daytime and late night silence that the author generates the gentle character of the old man, who chooses the late night for his drink. In contrast, the author paints the young waiter as a violent and insensitive character by opting to retire when the commotion in noisy and dusty street subside. â€Å"‘You should have killed yourself last week,’ he said to the deaf man,† (Hemingway line 19). The older waiter’s character seems to be in the middle of the two extremes in that his lenience for the old man’s choice of drinking time does not convince him to take over. He understands the social impact of old age and the risks of desolation and he is aware of the realiti es that await him in his later days not too far, unlike his younger colleague. The interaction of the three characters in the narrative shows the disconnect that affects the young and the old within the theme of responsibilities of a socially cohesive society. The young cannot understand the challenges of the old such as why they could opt to pick the late hours for drinking crowned with sheer lack of sensitivity. We also learn about the family setting for the old man, with only one niece making up the family that takes care of him. Lack of other family members raises questions on how practical his resting days are, shedding more light on why he is in virtual inexistence in terms of social life

Health and social care Understanding Abuse Essay

Health and social care Understanding Abuse - Essay Example ng child abuse, difficulty in detecting child abuse since a time there are no scars or marks left on children’s bodies among others (Hoyano & Keenan, 2010). This work is about stipulated policies and legislations with regard to child abuse. It also focuses on the relevant professionals responsible for reducing child abuse in the society as well as the hurdles or challenges involved. There are different types of child abuse in the modern society. However, all child abuse is associated with emotional problems in their lives. It is a child’s right to appreciate and enjoy protection from parents or guardians. Emotional child abuse is associated with poor mental and social child development. This results from frequent shaming and child humiliations, belittling, negative comparisons, common yelling to children, ignoring a child as a kind of punishment or rather silent treatment, lack of affection to children and threatening or bullying a child. Neglecting children is another kind of child abuse. Parents in the modern world are entirely engaged in their careers to an extent that they do not have adequate time for their children as required by the law. Some parents do not cater for their children’s needs like clothing, food, shelter, food, education, security and others. This is the most kind of abuse in the current generation since the majority of parents are physically or emotionally impaired to offer such needs to their children (Starr, 2003). Furthermore, it is difficult to detect since parents have different financial abilities to cater for their childs needs. Older children rarely show the external signs or indications of neglect. Some are forced to play the parenting role to feed and shelter them. Physical child abuse includes body harms and injuries to the child. Extreme or severe caning and beating to children may result to bruises and wounds on a child’s body. Punishments should be in accordance with a child’s age and health condition. Child sexual

Income Inequality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Income Inequality - Essay Example en noble countries are among the richest in the world, the figure of income per capita does not add up to the income distribution of the available population of individuals. This proves the income inequality serving in wealthier countries in the current world, especially, the United States and the United Kingdom countries (Beggs, 2015, Pg. 1). Income inequality within such countries is regularly disguised by the national average. This essay focuses on the growing income inequality issue in the wealthiest countries across the globe and the consequences of concealing economic inequality. Economic variation differs between civilizations, historical epochs, economic arrangements and systems. The term can denote a cross sectional distribution of income or capital at any specific era, or to the generated income and capital over lengthier phases of time. There are numerous arithmetical indices for calculating economic disparity. The commonly used methodologies include the Gini coefficient and the Lorenz curve, however, there are still other methods (Conferenceboard, 2015, Pg. 2). Economists have stressed that income inequality has brought about growing social problem. The economist view that the world cannot be a just and fair place for everything but too much disparity can be damaging. This is because income disparity and wealth focus can obstruct long term growth of a country’s economy. Previous economic studies contrasting disparity in economic growth had been unsatisfying, nevertheless in 2011, the International Monetary Fund economists revealed that bigger income parity, less disparity, heightened the period of countries economic growth development more as compared to while having free trade, low institutional corruption, overseas investment, or small foreign debt (Beggs, 2015, Pg 1). Nevertheless, the increase in income disparity over the past few decades, the subject was mainly overlooked. An article on The Economist post was dedicated on income inequality

Culture and Psychology Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Culture and Psychology - Assignment Example Although the apartments of Japanese prostitutes are clean and well-maintained, yet they have lost much of the sense of dressing because of imitating European prostitutes. However, they may not be very well-educated. Hence, we can say that prostitution in Japan is a well-organized business. German prostitutes, in contrast, may be so educated that, Pitu (2011) writes that, â€Å"In Berlin, you might meet a prostitute with a PhD.† Prostitution became legalized in Germany in 2002. Since then, the business has been growing itself very rapidly. There are thousands of registered brothels in Berlin and other parts of the country. Street prostitution is very common, carried out under supervision of pimps. The factor that influences street prostitution is the economic instability of people, and especially women, who become prostitutes to fulfill their financial requirements. Prostitutes also serve to procure drug business. They also work at bars, where they lure men into buying expensive drinks and avail sexual services. We see that in both the countries, the biggest factor that triggers prostitution is the financial instability of some groups of people, who bring their women into prostitution to meet their financial needs. These countries are also well-known for their sex trade or sex trafficking, in which women are forced into prostitution and are abused sexually. Since prostitution is legal, brothels place ads with government employment agencies to hire prostitutes. When not enough local women are recruited to fill the places in brothels, women from other places are brought via sex trafficking to work in the brothels. Hence, the factors that trigger prostitution in these countries are not cultural, but based on financial needs and business requirements. Japanese have been known to be very flexible in accepting foreign sexual behaviors within their own culture. Japanese do not show public

Astroturf campaigns in politics Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Astroturf campaigns in politics - Research Paper Example An Astroturf campaign looks like a real political campaign, but few-placed interest units orchestrate such events for given selfish reasons. In this case, gaining grassroots support is a legitimizing force that ensures a given campaign seems like a real campaign. There are several consequences of such campaigns. To begin with, Astroturf campaigns increase the likelihood of passing the wrong policies. A country operates through policies that define how government entities make decisions. In every sector, there are policies that guide the operations and management of resources. Wrong policies, therefore, may direct a country towards a crisis, especially, for sensitive sectors such as health.In addition, these campaigns may lead to the exploitation of the public. This occurs in case of election of incompetent officials. Selfish political interests may influence the organization of such campaigns. This occurs because such interests may vouch for a politician who forms policies that favor given ends (Perrucci and Wysong 66). In turn, the rest of the population bears the catastrophe of wrong policies. This is usually evident in the case of competition laws that may disfavor small and upcoming firms. Astroturf campaigns destroy the morality of politics, as voters do not attain the chance of voicing their objective opinions. Such campaigns may be so sensational and delusional such that decided voters sway towards fads. It is essential for politics to create an environment whereby each opinion reflects in the ballot.

Application of Findings to the Nursing Process Research Paper

Application of Findings to the Nursing Process - Research Paper Example For example, work interventions (WIs) have been attributed to primary concerns, such as direct patient care, and to secondary concerns, such as discourse between nurses during work. Hence, the findings of the article show that when assessing a patient it is advisable to include primary, as well as secondary factors to come through with a complete picture. 1.2. Diagnosis The diagnosis carried out in the current research presents a twofold approach that addresses immediate, as well as long-term concerns. The research has highlighted that nurses face WI’s in a far greater proportion than expected; this may lead to unsatisfactory patient care problem that needs immediate focus and attention to be resolved. Issues that may require immediate focus include WIs due to direct and indirect patient care, engagement by patient’s family, etc. Furthermore, the research has diagnosed that a long-term approach is required to deal with nurse’s habits, such as conversing with each other during work or paying little more than normal attention to the task after a WI. In doing so, the current research has accounted for immediate, as well as long-term, focuses that conform to the nursing process. 1.3. ... However, the research presupposes that this may not be possible in each given healthcare setting so localized solutions may be required. Steps related to more long-term issues, such as changing the working habits of nurses, can be taken in small phases involving training, monitoring and self-assessment. The current article is specific about the measures required, as well as provides measures that can be implemented practically to make a difference. This, in turn, conforms to the outcomes/planning element of the nursing process. 1.4. Implementation Implementation as per nursing process requires the utilization of a care plan so that sustainability of care can be achieved. The current article outlines different methods to achieve sustainability of greater nursing care by reducing WIs, but no single plan has been chalked out for implementation. Instead, the current article mentions that actual implementation plans will differ by the exact healthcare setting in use, although vague implem entation steps have been outlined, as mentioned in the previous section. 1.5. Evaluation The current article does not provide highly concrete or detailed evaluation plans but does refer to them indirectly. In terms of nursing process, evaluation serves as effective feedback to modify the overall care plan continuously. Given that the findings of the current article apply in different forms to different healthcare settings, it can, therefore, be expected that their evaluation plans will also be different. However, there is little deniability that in these settings the evaluation criterion will still revolve around the central concept of WI. 2. Utilization of Findings by Students and Practicing Nurses Given the fact that WIs are a common part of the work

Social Philosophy Essay Example for Free

Social Philosophy Essay Introduction As more and more cities, counties, states, and counties ban smoking in public places, place high taxes on cigarettes, and otherwise enact anti-smoking laws, clashes between the rights of one group of people and the rights of another are inevitable. If this principle were the basis for deciding public policy, which Mill advocated as one of its usages, Mill would fall somewhere in the middle on the smoking/anti-smoking spectrum. Certainly, Mill’s harm principle can be (and has been) used by both sides to support their own arguments.    In the smoking debate, the harm principle falls short in determining which of two harms is lesser, or which of two rights or interests is greater. This is why it is a useful philosophy in debate, but should not be the sole basis for legislation and public policy. John Stuart Mill’s Harm Principle In On Liberty, John Stuart Mill argued for a society organized around â€Å"one very simple principle †¦ that the sole end for which mankind are warranted, individually or collectively, in interfering with the liberty of action of any of their number, is self-protection† (15-16). This is referred to as the â€Å"harm principle,† and is considered one of the founding principles of utilitarianism (Wilson 45-48). Utilitarianism is a belief system which adopts the harm principle, arguing that each individual has the right is pursue his or her own happiness, as long as that pursuit doesn’t harm another individual also pursing their happiness or utility (Wilson 40-44). This is not quite the same as interfering or impeding an individual’s path to happiness, as Mill points out in chapter V of On Liberty; â€Å"In many cases, an individual, in pursuing a legitimate object, necessarily and therefore legitimately causes pain or loss to others, or intercepts a g ood which they had a reasonable hope of obtaining† (106-7).   In other words, Mill recognized that there was not a utopia where every individual could pursue happiness with no overlap when, for example, two individuals pursue happiness through the same, singular person. Mill’s goal was to create a principle that could serve as the basis for society, in legislation, and in social standards and customs. In the final chapter he goes into significant detail regarding the kinds of situations to which this principle could be applied, specifically â€Å"how far liberty may legitimately be invaded for the prevention of crime, or of accident† (108). Mill favors the strongest strictures on liberty in the case of children, where he argues for potential parents having to prove their financial fitness in order to have children at all, and then to provide education for all children (121-122). On issues of crime, he considers government to properly have a place as a precautionary, administrative organization than as a legislative and punitive one (Mill 128). Throughout the treatise, Mill treads the line between the liberties of individuals and the commitment each individual has to society, seeing individuals as heroes who must consistently fight against the whitewashing of democratic society, warning that â€Å"If resistance waits til life is reduced nearly to one uniform type, all deviations from that type will come to be considered impious, immoral, even monstrous and contrary to nature† (84). How the Harm Principle Relates to Anti-Smoking Laws Mill specifically discusses the â€Å"sale of poisons† and taxes on the sale of certain substances deemed to be immoral (109-113). He argues for both the sale and taxation of, for example, alcohol, as being regulation that is â€Å"not contrary to principle† (109). Therefore, we can extrapolate that he would not necessarily be averse to taxes on the sale of cigarettes, since It must be remembered that taxation for fiscal purposes is absolutely inevitable; that in most countries it is necessary that a considerable part of that taxation should be indirect; that the State, therefore, cannot help imposing penalties, which to some persons may be prohibitory, on the use of some articles of consumption. (114) This is important because it underlines Mill’s philosophy of harm as it relates to economics. He did not believe that by adding taxation which would put the price of a certain item out of reach for some individuals, that this was â€Å"harming† them in such a way as to impose on their pursuit of happiness and utility. He considered taxation to be most properly levied against â€Å"what commodities the consumer can best spare† (114). Cigarettes and tobacco are certainly considered ‘extras’ rather than necessities in contemporary society, but they have not always been considered as such. So where, at certain points and in certain cultures, cigarettes were considered something of necessity, the taxation of them would have been an encroachment from the State onto an individual’s liberty. This case problematizes the relationship between Mill’s harm principle and his theory of democratic societies being slavishly ruled by the majority opinion. We have seen an enormous shift in popular opinion regarding the use of tobacco in the United States. What may have been an affront on liberty 50 or 100 years ago (heavy taxation of cigarettes and tobacco products) may be viewed now as simply being necessary to fund our government. If societies are not static entities, and the mores of a single society may shift over even short periods of time, how can we be sure that the currently prevailing opinion is, in fact, the ‘right’ one? Mill believed that â€Å"Society has expended fully as much effort in the attempt †¦ to compel people to conform to its notions of personal, as of social excellence† (19). Indeed the taxation of cigarettes seems to amount to a sin tax, as more of a punishment than a tax of an item which is not absolutely necessary to survival. Medical science is not immune to these changing tides in public opinion. During the waning years of Prohibition in this country, teetotalers claimed that the exhalation of breath from a person drinking alcohol could effectively â€Å"poison† an innocent person standing nearby (Stewart lines 18-19). Similarly, anti-smoking proponents claim today that the exhalations of smoke from one individual can adversely affect the health of another individual. Mill saw this as an argument against censorship; â€Å"We can never be sure that the opinion we are endeavoring to stifle is a false opinion, and if we were sure, stifling it would be an evil still† (14). While we may not be able to know without doubt which opinion is the right one, Mill saw this as an opportunity for individuals to exercise their liberty through discussion and debate. In the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on Mill, Fred Wilson discusses the important of debate in Mill’s philosophy; â€Å"Only through free debate can such critical skills be developed and maintained: our self-development as reasonable persons, capable of critical assessments for belief and action† (45). The goal is not to produce an unerringly ‘right’ decision, but to create a society where open and honest discussion is a part of the mechanism of liberty in society, as both a check on our human fallibility and an encouragement to progress. Why the Harm Principle is Inadequate as a Basis for Public Policy The harm principle provides a philosophy of the individual and his or her relationship to society which is useful as an individual or institution level philosophy. This is especially true for those individuals or institutions without a set of religious beliefs, as the harm principle provides a system of morality to follow. However, as the basis for legislation and public policy, it is somewhat inadequate. There are, more often than not, many people with conflicting interests, and while the harm principle may form the basis of discussion, in the end an individual’s liberty may be stifled in favor of another’s. At that point, the decision has to be made as to which liberty is more important. In the case of smoking bans, an individual who derives happiness from smoking, particularly happiness from smoking in a public place, where he or she is also able to drink and socialize with friends, is taken away. At the same time, other individuals are not subjected to the possible ill health effects of secondhand smoke. The harm principle provides a useful lens through which to frame the debate, but policymakers must often make slightly messier decisions than On Liberty provides for. The very nature of public opinion as Mill saw it (which was as a tyrannical force) means that the definitions of harm will change throughout history and across geography. This leads to both sides of the smoking debate claiming Mill as a member of their side. In an interview, Mill biographer Richard Reeves, in discussing the misuse of Mill by policymakers, said that; What sometimes happens is that if you are doing something that’s actually quite paternalistic, and you don’t want to say so because you want to dress it up as a liberal policy, you might use Mill. And you stretch the harm principle well beyond reasonable usage to justify what’s fundamentally a paternalistic policy. The worst thing is to dress up a paternalistic argument in shoddy, ill-worn, liberal clothing (par. 9). Mill saw the free thought and operation of the individual as being necessary to the progress of society, and especially as a check against both the State and prevailing public opinion (19). Conclusion In this essay I have described and critically examined Mill’s harm principle and how it relates to the contemporary issue of anti-smoking laws. I have argued that the harm principle as applied to anti-smoking laws is and could be used by either side of the debate. An individual who smokes finds his or her happiness circumscribed by the happiness of those individuals who do not wish to have cigarette smoke in the public places they frequent, and vice versa. A group of individuals are going to have their liberty trespassed upon in order for other groups of individuals to retain their liberty, and rather than bringing harm to none there are only degrees of harm, which are considered more or less harmful according to the current tides of public discourse. While this creates space for a robust debate (one of the requirements of a society based on liberty), it does not provide a basis for policymakers and legislators to create public policy. Works Cited Mayes, Tessa. â€Å"Mill is a Dead White Male With Something to Say.† Spiked! Review of Books 28 March 2008. 16 April 2008 http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/reviewof  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   books_article/4923. Mill, John Stuart. On Liberty and The Subjection of Women. New York: Penguin, 2006. Stewart, C. â€Å"The Case Against Smoking Bans.† 2002. New York City C.L.A.S.H. 18 April 2008   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.nycclash.com/CaseAgainstBans/Conclusion.html#Conclusion. Wilson, Fred. â€Å"John Stuart Mill.† The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (Fall 2007).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Stanford University. 15 April 2008 http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2007/   Ã‚  Ã‚   entries/mill/.

The benefits of mental toughness in sport

The benefits of mental toughness in sport ABSTRACT On the basis of advantages that a mental toughness can offer to a performer, the study was designed to develop the understanding of the components of mental toughness in sport. The purpose of this study was to identify the components of mental toughness as perceived by the researcher and was guided by the two questions, which are as follows: What are the components of mental toughness and To what degree those components of mental toughness are trainable or teachable to a particular player. 10 cricket players ageing from fourteen years of age to twenty years of age were selected for the research so that they have enough experience to answer the questions in the research. The procedure of this was that the research is based on the questionnaire of mental toughness given by Sparkes in 1998. Each participant had to fill the questionnaire for the purpose of evaluating the importance and trainability of twenty different components of mental toughness. INTRODUCTION Cricket is one of the most popular games having a very high viewership and followers. Cricket is basically a mental game that requires a lot of psychological skills in addition to basic playing skills. These skills make player a champion and different from ordinary player. He (champion) is able to display his psychological as well as playing skills during the course of the game. Among the various psychological skills, mental toughness is an important psychological factor that effect’s player’s performance in matches. Sometimes, cricket teams despite their talents lose their matches. The researches on these poor performance lead to the finding that the players in these teams lack mental toughness and the ability to bounce back from the setback of losses. There is an evident to prove it when cricket’s great legend Sir Vivian Richards attributed the Indian cricket team’s loss in West Indies during the cricket world cup 2007 in the first round as the lack of m ental toughness in Indian players. Loehr (1986), he popularised the term mental toughness in sports performance and contested that at least half of superior performances can be due to mental toughness. Mental toughness is regarded as the most important factor in sports to achieve the goals and perform excellent. Jones, Hanton and Connaughton (2002), they stated that mental toughness can be defined as having a natural or developed psychological edge that helps or enables a player to generally cope better than his opponents in many demands (competition, training) and specifically would be more consistent and better than the opponents in remaining focused and determined and goal oriented in his sport. Attributes of mental toughness (Sparkes 1998), he talked about twelve different attributes that a player should have to be ideally mentally tough performer. For further investigation of mental toughness, the following questions were developed to guide this research. What are the essential components of mental toughness as perceived by the cricketers? To what degree are these stated components of mental toughness are trainable or teachable? On the basis of these two major criteria, the player was asked the following questions: I can bounce back from the from the set back as a result of increased determination to succeed. I have an unshakable self belief that i possess the unique qualities that make me better than my opponents. I have an insatiable desire and internalised motive to succeed. I remain fully focused on the task in hand in the face of competition- specific distractions. I am able to regain psychological control if facing uncontrollable situations. I can push back the boundaries of emotional and physical pain, while still maintaining techniques and effort in distress in training and competition. I accept that competition anxiety is inevitable and knowing that i can cope with it. I don’t get adversely affected by other’s good or the bad performances. I can thrive on the pressure of competition. I remain fully focused in the face of personal life distractions REVIEW OF LITERATURE The present study was undertaken to explore the physiological profile of the cricket players and to find to what degree their mental toughness, goal orientation actually helps them in their performances. The result showed that there is no significant correlation between mental toughness and different types of goal orientation i.e. task orientation and ego orientation. At the same time, the motivation dimension of mental toughness was found to be significantly related to both ego and goal orientation. (Duda and Hall,2001) Moreover task orientation has been found to be positively associated with various indicators of motivation, including intrinsic motivation positive affect and the tendency to seek out the new and challenging experiences and to try hard in difficult situations. (Ntoumanis and Biddle, 1999) â€Å"The general lack of clarity and precision surrounding the term mental toughness is unfortunate, since it ism arguably one of the most important physiological attributes in achieving performance excellence. (Jones, 2002) Another study conducted by researchers stated that mental toughness is an important physiological characteristic of the game. (Gould, 1987, 1993 and 2002); (Williams, 1998);( Jones, 2002) â€Å"It appears therefore, that virtually any desirable positive psychological characteristic associated with sporting success has been labelled as mental toughness at one time or the other†. (Jones,2002) METHOD This chapter will discuss the participants, procedure, analysis and instrument used in the study. This study involves both quantitative and qualitative measures of the components of the mental toughness of sportspersons. PARTICIPANTS This, study consisted of 10 male cricketers from the division 3 and 2 category of cricket teams in the city. A mix of different teams and players were chosen to increase the diversity of the group. Each participant was needed to have a minimum of three years of playing cricket so that they can answer the questions in their knowledgeable way. INSTRUMENTATION The instrument used in this study is the questionnaire comprised of twenty questions of mental toughness. These twenty questions comprised of twelve different components of mental toughness and eight components of preservance that were given by Sparkes in 1998. Each component was assessed by participants based on their perception of: The importance of including each component in the construct of mental toughness. The degree to which each component is trainable. The participants assessed both the importance and the degree to which the component is trainable, using a 5 point scale. Besides this two additional questions were also asked which are as follows: Are there other components of mental toughness that should be included which are not there in the questionnaire? Do you believe that there is any component that could be combined to form an individual, essential component of mental toughness? PROCEDURE When the questionnaire of mental toughness (Sparkes,1998) was adopted by the researcher, he then approached 10 different cricketers and asked them to fill up the questionnaire. Researcher also made sure that the identity of the players will be kept confidential i.e. it would not be disclosed to anyone. Researcher sat down with the players and asked them the questions and marked the answers himself. 1

Facilitation Theory Or The Humanist Approach?

Facilitation Theory Or The Humanist Approach? Teaching and learning today are completely different from yesterday because we are facing the challenges of changes in higher education for the future prosperity with todays young students and their readiness to take up these challenges to face up to the coming centuries. Understanding teaching and learning is not easy, not something that can be based on the representation of what has been perceived or limited to a few methodological prescriptions. In this chapter, we are going to go back and shed light on some theories of learning to understand better to what extent teaching is related to learning and how they can impact in society. 1.1 languages Teaching and Learning Language teaching and learning still requires much effort to be stored in individuals mind perfectly. It should have acquired an appreciation of the values of a broad range of intellectual disciplines such as linguistics, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics and mainly applied linguistics as well as general detailed knowledge. So, how can language pass on these disciplines to become dynamic and pragmatic in use? To answer this question, let us see what Campells theory depicts, in figure 1 below, about the relationship between three disciplines: linguistics, applied linguistics and pedagogy. Campbell ( 1980:7) says: The relation between the language sciences and language teaching has emerged as one of the key issues in the development of a language teaching theory à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦For him: Applied linguistics is the mediator between the practitioner and the theorist.. See Fundamental concepts of language teaching book of H.H.Stern,(1983:36) Linguistics Applied linguistics Pedagogy Theoretician Mediator Practitioner Figure1 Campells model of the relationship between theory and practice According to Campells theory starting from linguistics, the scientific study of language, alone is not enough to get an effective relation between pedagogy and linguistics. The latter requires much practice to relate theory to practice and make language more effective. For that reason, to consolidate the three disciplines, Campell included three extra elements to his conceptual framework. These elements are psychology, sociology and anthropology. Campells model of the relationship between theory and practice made Spolsky( 1980:72) argued and then modified Campbells theory .For Spolsky, sociolinguistics discipline is very interesting to achieve a good result in the relation between theoreticians and practitioner. He divided language teaching into three main sources: Language description: General Linguistics Language teaching: psychology for the theory of learning and psycholinguistics for the theory of language learning Language use in society : sociolinguistics What we can understand from Sposkys theory language teaching is an interesting amalgam of disciplines, each one contributes to educational language in practice and the focus here is on the educational language. Pragmatically speaking, according to many people the understanding of language is not only learning theories but it is also our reflection and thinking of knowing to what extent can be these theories impact on the teaching of language. The theories are different of how we learn, and they are useful and ready for how students learn and also how teachers teach. Each one of them, student and teachers, has own way of thinking of own different way of learning. So who are we in these theories? And what are these theories? To answer these questions let us see some fundamental theories of learning: 1.2.1 Reinforcement Theory This theory was developed by the behaviourist school of psychology, notably by B.F. Skinner (Laird 1985, Burns 1995). Laird (1985) sees this aspect of behaviourism not relevant to education. It is about some positive and negative tasks the learners made in his daily life. This theory requires much Competency Based Training ( henceforth, CBT), It is useful in learning repetitive tasks like multiplication tables and those work skills that require a great deal of practice but higher order learning is not involved in it. The criticism of this approach is that it is rigid and mechanical (Burns 1995). 1.1.3 Cognitive-Gestalt Approaches The focus in this theory is on the importance of experience, meaning, problem-solving and the development of insights (Burns 1995, p 112). Burns notes that this theory has developed the concept that individuals differ from one to another, they have different concerns at different times with different subjective interpretations in different contexts. This theory is very close to learners to get themselves in learning language by knowing to what extent they are different from each other. It is also very close to the learners characteristics of today (for more details see chapter 3) 1.1.4 Holistic Learning Theory The basic understanding of this theory is that the focus is on the composition of the individual personality which consists of many elementsspecifically the intellect, emotions, the body impulse (or desire), intuition and imagination (Laird,1985, p 121) that all require activation if learning is to be effective. This theory is about a complementary theory to Cognitive-Gestalt approaches. 1.1.5 Experiential learning In this theory, Kolbs research found that people learn in four ways in learning (McGill Beaty 1995). The ways are as follows: Concrete experience Testing implications of Observations and Reflections concepts in new situations Formation of abstract concepts and generalization Figure 1 the Experiential Learning Model (Kolb, 1981) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Learning through concrete experience à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Learning through observation and reflection à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Learning through abstract conceptualization à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Learning through active experimentation In discussing these theories, we confirm from the educational researchers concept that learners are different in their way of learning. Kolb, one of these educational researchers whose interests are involved in proving that learner, individually, can choose any style and way of learning which reflects his behaviour to act in learning which is the link between him and his society through actions and reflective process (McGill Beaty 1995). This theory confirms Spolskys argument ( 1980:72) 1.1.6 Facilitation Theory or the Humanist Approach Carl Rogers and others have developed the theory of facilitative learning. The basic introduction to this theory is that learning will occur by the educator acting as a facilitator, that is by establishing an atmosphere in which learners feel comfortable to consider new ideas and are not threatened by external factors (Laird 1985). Other characteristics of this theory include: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Human beings must be eager to learn (prompt willingness) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Human beings must be curious to learn (curiosity) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ To change on selfs concept we must be involved in a significant learning. ( flexibility and readiness). Carl and Rogers see that: The Characteristics of Facilitative Teachers are: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ They are not more protective of their beliefs than other teachers à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ They are affectionate they are all listening to learners, especially to their feelings à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ They are much attentive to their relationship with learners in the classroom. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ be open-minded and apt to accept feedback, whether positive or negative and to use it as a reflective and constructive insight into themselves and their behaviours. Some of these characteristics do fit our changes into innovative and modern teachers but others still to be modified according to our readiness for being autonomous teachers. In this work, we are going to focus on the changes from the traditional, affectionate and facilitative teachers into modern teachers. The characteristics of learners: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Must be courageous, autonomous and responsible for their own learning à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Must care and provide much information (input) for the learning which occurs through their deep perception (insights) and experiences. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ are encouraged to evaluate themselves before their teachers and to be aware of their learning needs to focus on what factors may contribute to achieving significant results. These characteristics are mandatory and required in the new systems implementation. To understand better this theory which impacts strongly our work we must understand the relationship between teachers and learners or in another words between learning and teaching as well as the strategies made to enhance this relationship. So what is learning and what is teaching? And what is the relationship between them. Teaching is to get and pass on knowledge while learning is to acquire this knowledge by studies; it is also the process where knowledge is created through transformation of experience (see page 3 David Kolb 1981). It seems that the relation between them is very strong and interrelated. From these definitions, we can also understand that the relationships between teaching and learning lead to the best academic achievement for students having the desire to acquire learning language which represents an individuals receptive cognition to learning different tasks depend on the context (Peterson, et al., 2009). It is an input which differs from one individual to another depends on the teachers in regard to what type of information is most effective. The concept that students and teachers have different competence that vary from one to another to learning and teaching language in different styles and ways lead theoreticians and practitioners, those who are responsible for curriculum control and revision, to think of the curriculum framework, i.e. how to be in charge of approaches and systems to structure teaching language and planned in the curriculum frame work. The curriculum is now very interesting to empower both learners and teachers to develop their potential in knowledge. So, what is Curriculum? Who are responsible for planning it? And what is it for? To respond to these questions we need first understand the curriculum meaning. 1.2 What is Curriculum? The curriculum is concerned with two terms teaching and learning, i.e. what is given in learning and teaching, and how they take place. What teachers teach or learners learn comprises aims, strategy, knowledge, skills and outcomes of learning students are intended to make obvious. The how of the curriculum concern teaching/learning methodology, teaching strategies and media resources. The curriculum has been changed due to changes in systems implementation such as CBA, LMD and ICTs integration in the classroom. The latter needs some cases of the invention of new technology to modify the content and enlarge knowledge to make a good curriculum. The systems , CBA, LMD and ICTs integration, in many ways can be seen to be affecting the curriculum both in terms of content and methodology. Further, we mean by the word curriculum run a Course, i.e. it describes a series of steps in teaching and learning specific contents. It is also considered as a sequence of learning experiences; the fact of these definitions that without curriculum none can control the individual students experiences. Thus through curriculum students can be provided with opportunities to learn a specific content. From the latter, we can understand also that the suitable definition to the curriculum is a sequence learning opportunities given to students in their study for specific purposes. A sequence of learning opportunities cannot be seen but it can be planned and made through the classroom activities. Thus, curriculum appears in different aspects which exist in textbooks for specific contents to facilitate teaching and make teachers efficient to pave this sequence of learning opportunities for students. It is actually made to develop learners competence; herein we are speaking about the importance of curriculum development 1.3 The Importance of Curriculum Development The importance of curriculum development appears in its focus on knowledge transmission and skills development in regard with competency based language teaching (henceforth CBLT) or learning outcomes. That is to say, working on the four skills (reading, speaking, writing and listening), knowledge and attitudes make effective teaching strategies. In relation to CBLT, Docking says that: CBLT [Competency-Based Language Teaching] is designed not around the notion of subject knowledge but around the notion of competency. The focus moves from what students know about language to what they can do with it. The focus on competencies or learning outcomes underpins the curriculum framework and syllabus specification, teaching strategies and assessment. (Docking, 1994: 16) From the above quotation basing on what have been already said, we can understand that Competencies focus on four main parameters appears in the following: Learning outcomes Curriculum Syllabus Teaching strategies (a course) Assessment Figure 1: The Main Parameters of Learning Outcomes or Competencies Figure one represents the relationship between curriculum and its aspects (syllabus, teaching strategies and assessment) in regard with learning outcomes. These four fundamental concepts help theoreticians and practitioners to define the context in relation to the students needs about the curriculum framework which is clearly related to students learning needs. To respond to learning needs and CBLT the curriculum planning must take care of the following points: Setting: Students number, age, gender, purpose, education Aim: Type and purpose of course, mandatory and required tests . Materials needed or available: text, books, e- books, magazines, articles or computers, laptops with their connection to the net and so forth. Time: How many hours, day of week, time of day. These four points can also be viewed as part of syllabus. The latter is very important to design a course that must focus on the needs of learning outcomes. Herein, to understand more the concepts given let us have a look at what is a course in regard with syllabus or vice versa. 1.3.1 Course A course is an integrated series of teaching-learning experiences, whose ultimate aim is to lead the learners to a particular state of knowledge. (Hutchinson and Waters 1996: 65) The distinction between a curriculum and a course is important because some of the areas of concern in curriculum development as: societal needs analysis, testing for placement purposes or program wide evaluation may be out of the hands of teachers who are developing courses (Richards, 2001). 1.3.2 Syllabuses Syllabus is a more detailed and operational statement of teaching and learning elements which translates the philosophy of the curriculum into a series of planned steps leading towards more narrowly defined objectives at each level Dubin Olshtain, (1997: 28), Syllabus is essentially a statement of what should be taught, year by year through language syllabuses often also contain points about the method of teaching and the time to be taken (Lee 1980:108). Another opinion is that that Syllabus is a more detailed and operational statement of teaching and learning elements which translates the philosophy of the curriculum into a series of planned steps leading towards more narrowly defined objectives at each level Dubin Olshtain, (1997: 28). Syllabuses are more localized and are based on accounts and records of what actually happens at the classroom level. Given these definitions it is suggested that it seems helpful to define a curriculum and a syllabus as separate entities. To conclude we can now ensure that we can see syllabus design as part of course design, they are complementary and parts of curriculum whose importance appears also in the following: The educational purpose of the program. The content teaching procedures and learning experience which will be necessary to achieve this purpose .(the means) Some means for assessing whether or not the educational ends have been achieved. ( Richards, Platt and Platt 1993: 94) From these most significant points Allen sees that: Curriculum is a very general concept which involves consideration of the whole complex of philosophical, social and administrative factors which contribute to the planning of an educational program. (Allen quoted in Nunan, 2000: 6) Thus, it is the change of instructions in teaching and learning in all over the world. For that reason, most developing countries institutions among them Algerian institutions have amended and revised their curricula in another words their syllabuses, methods, approaches and systems to respond to the world requirements, taking into account the various factors( external or internal) that influence learning process. To understand more this policy of education we must understand its basic notions in the structural education such as competencies or learning outcomes, syllabus, course, assessment and curriculum. Today, there are many of teachers and students who think that curriculum is syllabus; in fact, syllabus is a part of a curriculum. It describes the content of a course .i.e. It shows the content of what is going to be taught including a set of knowledge and skills. Herein, the importance of presenting the basic notions education is to go over the global changes and structures of the various disciplines to learn from others and to be apt to know what others think of us. In addition to curriculum development made by policy makers which enables learning to take place, during the course of study, in terms of knowledge and skills, teachers should highlight the main syllabus to present the main learning and methods and to provide the learners with resources and equipments to support the effective teaching of the course. In this case the teacher notion must focus on how to structure the knowledge to be well received by learners. The following quotation ensures our saying the learning structure through teaching. Teaching is knowledge transmission, management of learning. The teacher is a decision maker, provider of learning structure, collaborator, and resource. (Adapted from Graves 2000: 31) Our aim from understanding the curriculum development and its importance is to ensure a successful and effective teaching of the language through official curriculum delivered by policy makers to be implemented in schools and universities. Implementing such curriculum requires much effort to respond to the learners needs and competence. Algeria as one of developing countries and a multilingual schooling is in the process of growing out of its historical roots run riot to make changes in educational policy encouraging the education ministry to revise, modify and update the curriculum for basic education, particularly in basic education programs. Speaking about changes in educational programs and organizing content lead us to think of the CBA approach and LMD system that are the fundamental concepts, today, of the curriculum whose interests are in organizing and exploring learners competence (knowledge and skills). They both work on input (data/ knowledge) and outcomes. The question to be raised here what are these implementations? These systems implementations are CBA approach in primary and secondary schools and LMD system in universities. 1.4 Historical Background about CBA In 1973, the word competency was introduced to psychology literature when David McClelland argued in his article Testing for competence rather than for intelligence that neither job performance nor success can be got through old and traditional tests of academic discipline. Thus, the search for theory and tools that could unfailingly see coming effectiveness in the workplace began (McClelland, 1973). In1982 it was Boyatzis who first drew together comprehensive data that had been collected inthe USA using the McBer Company Job Competence Assessment method. Since then, competency has become a significant factor in HR development practices (Simpson, 2002). The word competency comes from a Latin word meaning suitable (Bueno Tubbs, 2004). Boyatzis (1982) defines a competency as an underlying characteristic of a person which results in effective and/or superior performance in a job (p. 97). According to Boyatzis (1982) a job competency represents ability. An individuals set of Contemporary Management Research 49 competencies reflect their capability or what they can do. A job competency may be a motive, trait, skill, aspect of ones self-image or social role, or a body of knowledge that an individual uses, and the existence and possession of these characteristics may or may not be known to the individual. Similarly, Mitrani et al. (1992) state that competencies could be motives, traits, self-concepts, attitudes or values, content knowledge, or cognitive or behavioral skills. A competency is an individual characteristic that can be measured or counted reliably and that can be shown to differentiate significantly between superior and average performers, or between effective and ineffective performers. Meanwhile, competency can be described as a set of behavior patterns that an incumbent needs to bring to a position in order to perform its tasks and functions in the delivery of desired results or outcomes (Bartram, et. al, 2002; Woodruffe, 1992). Spencer and Spencer (1993) viewed competency as an underlying characteristic of an individual that is causally related to criterion-referenced effective and/or superior performance in a job or situation (p. 9). They recognized five types of competency characteristics consisting of motives, traits, self-concept, knowledge and skills. First, motives are the things that an individual consistently thinks about or wants that stimulate action. Motives drive, direct and select behavior toward certain actions or goals and away from others. Second, traits are physical characteristics and consistent responses to situations or information. Third, self-concept is an individuals attitudes, values or self-image. Fourth, knowledge is the information that an individual has in specific content areas. Finally, skill is the ability to perform a certain physical or mental task. Knowledge and skill competencies tend to be visible and relatively surface characteristics, whereas self-concept, traits and motive competencies are more hidden, deeper and central to personality. Surface knowledge and skill competencies are relatively easy to develop and training is the most cost-effective way to secure those employee abilities (Spencer Spencer, 1993). Figure 1 illustrates central and surface competencies. Knowledge Attitudes, Values Trait Motive Surface: Most easily developed Core Personality: Most difficult to develop Skill Knowledge Self-Concept Trait Motive T Skill Knowledge Self-concept Trait Motive tr The Iceberg Visible Hidden Figure 1 The Iceberg Model and Central and Surface Competencies Source: Spencer and Spencer (1993: 11) In other words, visible competencies such as knowledge and skills may be somewhat technical competencies basically required by the job, whereas hidden competencies such as self-concept, traits and motives are behavioral competencies that drive an individuals performance in the job. Boyatzis (1982) states that motive and trait competencies have the most direct impact on self-concept and also have an impact on skill. The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO, 2002) defines competency as a set of skills, related knowledge and attributes that allow an individual to perform a task or activity within a specific function or job. If an individual possesses these three elements of competency they can effectively perform duties as required by the specific job. From the wide range of related literature, the definition of competency can be summarized as an underlying characteristic of an individual that is causally related to criterion-referenced effective and/or superior performance in a job or situation. Job competency is a set of behavior patterns that a job incumbent needs to bring to a position in order to perform its tasks and functions with competence. A job competency can be a motive, trait, skill, self-concept, body of knowledge or an attribute that allows an individual to perform a task or activity within a specific function or job. 1.4 The Implementation of the CBA Approach in the Algerian Classroom The CBA approach has been adopted by the Algerian education ministry to be integrated in the primaries and secondary school to improve teaching and learning. It is imposed on both teachers and learners to explore their competence and roles in lifecycle. A competency based approach is a new reform contributes to better the learners knowledge situations that may varied in a range of skills. The CBA is closely related to a context-of-use. In other words, students will be good learners to use language effectively in their lifecycle by drawing a map to master what they have learned in schools. 1.5 The reasons of the CBA Approach Implementation in the Classroom The reasons why the Algerian authoritarians those who are responsible for educational policy implement the CBA approach in the primary and secondary school classrooms is to develop students linguistic and problem-solving capacities that will make students to deal with different tasks cognitively and pragmatically challenging any difficult situation in the classroom. It will also make learners autonomous and see learning as an essential process for both their studies and their future. So it is implemented in schools because it is a productive approach basing on what the learners are expected to do rather than on what they are expected to learn about. 1.6 The Characteristics of the CB Approach The CBA approach enables learners to check their capacity to overcome obstacles and problems; it is problem- solving approaches that make learners think of well doing. It is a creative use of a newly constructive knowledge. Moreover, it characteristics can be listed as follows: It makes students challengers to endure and encounter all kind of complexity and ambiguity in learning. It is about reflection, self-assessment, and performance review are fully integrated into the exercise. As a result, challenge becomes success. Collaboration in teamwork is essential to the effective learning experience. It enables students competence to affect the world beyond the classroom and to make contributions that are valued by professional and experts. It provides learners with information based on assessment tasks. It is based on authentic language proficiency across sociolinguistic context. It reveals the learners innateness. It is usable for instruction and curriculum adaptation to the learners needs. It is based on the outcomes as in Schencks saying: It is outcome-based and is adaptive to the changing needs of students, teachers and the community à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ competencies differ from other students goals and objectives in that they describe the students ability to apply basic end other skills in situations that are communally encountered in everyday life. Thus CBE (Competency Based Education) is based on a set of outcomes that are derived in life role situations. Schenck (2001:14) To reinforce what has been said about CBE let us see some extra definitions of Competency Based Education to understand better from where does CBA come from? Richards and Rodgers (2001) says: Competency Based Education focuses on outcomes of learning. CBEaddresses what the learners are expected to do rather than on what they are expected to learn about. CBE emerged in the United States in the 1970s and refers to an educational movement that advocates defining educational goals in terms of precise measurable descriptions of knowledge, skills, and behaviors students should possess at the end of a course of study. Richards and Rodgers(2001) To reinforce Richards and Rodgerss definition of CBE Savage see that CBE is a functional approach to focus on skills depends on the learners needs and competence. He sees in his definition the following: Competency Based Education is a functional approach to education that emphasizes life skills and evaluates mastery of those skills according to actual leaner performance. It was defined by the U.S. Office of Education as a performance-based process leading to demonstrated mastery of basic and life skills necessary for the individual to function proficiently in society. Savage (1993: 15) For Mrowicki, referring to skills only is not enough in speaking about CBE because competency is an interesting amalgam of knowledge and attitudes for more effective results. Thus he sees in his definition the following: Competencies consist of a description of the essential skills, knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors required for effective performance of a real-world task or activity. These activities may be related to any domain of life, though have typically been linked to the field of work and to social survival in a new environment. Mrowicki (1986: 144) It is very interesting to understand what we have presented as most significant definitions of CBE regarding the Communicative Approach which is at the basis of the Competency Based Approach, the educational system applied in Algeria, and which can be also considered to be at the basis of the LMD system applied at the level of the University, next section is devoted to the presentation of the latter, i.e. of the LMD system, to see in what way is the LMD system a continuation of the CBA. 1.7 What is LMD? The LMD system, introduced in the Algerian universities by 2003-2004, is a current issue that specialists in Algeria and elsewhere are interested in. The LMD system (Licence, Master and Doctorate) is the latest reform applied in the Algerian universities. It aims at bringing the Algerian diploma to the universality and to bring the Algerian student to a higher level of learning on the one hand and to the world of job on the other hand. The introduction of LMD in the Algerian universities should be accompanied by these new ideas for innovative teaching practices to improve the performance of the university system but also lead to greater employability of graduates. 1.8 The Characteristics of the LMD System In practice, we observe that the formalization of thes

THE WAI AND DISABLED POPULATIONS :: Essays Papers

THE WAI AND DISABLED POPULATIONS Introduction-In a world where the Internet is the fastest growing method of communication and educational resources, it should be available to all of its users. However, it seems that the creators seemed to have left out a certain group of people. This group of people would be the disabled population of the world. It might seem to the "normal person" that this is not a big issue. Contrary to what people might think it truly is. The Web Accessibility Initiative was established by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Its promise is to assure all users of the web a fair and equal opportunity for people with disabilities. There are many important reasons why web accessibility is important. Not many people realize how many obstacles the web has for people with disabilities. This affects millions of people throughout the world. Some of these include visual disabilities. For example, web sites that have poorly marked-up table or frames, unlabeled graphics or undescribed videos. People with hearing disabilities also experience problems, such as lack of captioning for audio, and proliferation of text with out visual markers. Other sites on the web are also unfair for people who have cognitive or neurological disabilites. This can cause problems because of flickering or strobing graphics on pages, and highly complicated presentations and language use(Brewer). In October 1994, the W3C was created to lead the information superhighway to it's highest potential by developing a set of guidelines that ensure its evolution, accessibility and understanding by everybody. WAI is sponsored by a mixed group of government and industry supporters of accessibility. It has three different guidelines to address different needs. 1.) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0. 2.) Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 3.)User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 Each guideline has specific supporting documents and resources. Some examples of this are checklists, technique documents with implementation detail, curricula, and logos. Research and development can have a major impact on the future of web accessibility. WAI plays a key role in assessing trends in implementations of accessible and inaccessible web technologies. It also helps with devoloping collaborations with research projects to promote awareness of the need for accessibility and benefits of universal design. For people with disabilites the Internet has been a "mixed blessing(Brewer)". Inaccessibility is unfair because the Internet is an excellent source for news, information, commerce, distance learning, email, voting, entertainment and even keeping in touch with family and friends.

Plato’s Concept of the Soul and its Relationship with the Body Essay ex

Plato’s Concept of the Soul and its Relationship with the Body Plato’s theory of the body and soul originated from his earlier theories and dialogs, ‘the analogy of the cave’ and ‘the theory of forms’. Plato believed that the soul is immortal. That the soul existed before it came to the physical body, and it is still there when the body dies. This is a dualistic interpretation of the mind/body problem. Plato linked the soul to a charioteer in charge of two horses, the mind and the body, which are pulling in completely opposite directions. The soul wanting to go back to the world of the forms and the body wanting to enjoy the five sense plus pleasure. In Plato’s words - the body is the source of endless trouble†¦it fills us full of love and lust and fear and fancies of all kinds†¦and takes us away from all power of thinking at all. Therefore emphasised that the philosophers must live simply and avoid sensual pleasure so as to focus the mind on the soul and gain its knowledge. The analogy of the cave relates to the...

Kants Views on Enlightenment Essay -- Philosophy

Kant's Views on Enlightenment The best summary of Kant's view of Enlightenment lies in the first paragraph of his essay "An Answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment?": Sapere Aude. Translated 'dare to know,' the phrase "is the motto of enlightenment." For Kant, enlightenment means rising from the self-imposed stupor which substitutes obedience for reason and which atrophies man's ability to think for himself and develop his natural capacities. Laziness and cowardice prevent man from enlightening himself, an activity which becomes harder over time since man becomes comfortable and content in his stupor. Likening mankind to livestock, Kant cites the army officer, the pastor, and the physician as guardians who paralyze man's freedom by demanding strict obedience and providing ready-made answers. However, Kant stops short of advocating total civil disobedience; the solider must not disobey the orders of his superiors just as the citizen must not refuse to pay his taxes—such actions would catalyze da ngerous unrest. Instead, both parties should be at total liberty to addre... Kant's Views on Enlightenment Essay -- Philosophy Kant's Views on Enlightenment The best summary of Kant's view of Enlightenment lies in the first paragraph of his essay "An Answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment?": Sapere Aude. Translated 'dare to know,' the phrase "is the motto of enlightenment." For Kant, enlightenment means rising from the self-imposed stupor which substitutes obedience for reason and which atrophies man's ability to think for himself and develop his natural capacities. Laziness and cowardice prevent man from enlightening himself, an activity which becomes harder over time since man becomes comfortable and content in his stupor. Likening mankind to livestock, Kant cites the army officer, the pastor, and the physician as guardians who paralyze man's freedom by demanding strict obedience and providing ready-made answers. However, Kant stops short of advocating total civil disobedience; the solider must not disobey the orders of his superiors just as the citizen must not refuse to pay his taxes—such actions would catalyze da ngerous unrest. Instead, both parties should be at total liberty to addre...