Ethics and special need kids Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Ethics and special need kids - Research Proposal Example On the other hand, the same case applies to the perception of African American teachers towards white students and the course is the same. According to Oates (2003), positive disposition of teachers towards students tends to yield good results on the performance of the students. However, in the history of the U.S, there has been a notion that the African Americans have academic inferiority and that they lack diligence to perform. In another dimension, such notions have rendered the African Americans a low self esteem motive that makes them have a negative attitude about themselves in regard to their academic performance. Generally, although the African American students have equal opportunities in classroom in public schools, their performance is greatly affected by the context of their race and teachers’ perception (Oates, 2003). Conversely, the general place of African Americans in the American society also plays a critical role in explaining why the students cannot perform well in class. For instance, the perception that African Americans cannot secure good jobs in the U.S greatly affect their class performance because there is no guarantee that even after completing their studies they would get employed. Focusing on kids with special needs, it is apparent that the issue of racial discrimination fuels. ... In this regard, the perception of teachers towards African American kids with special needs is that their parents are incapable of taking care of the kids and that is why they are in their current conditions. For instance, a kid who cannot afford three daily meals tends to lack capacity to contemplate what they are taught in class. Mostly, such a kid comes from African American families. In another dimension, the perception by teachers that African American kids cannot perform better than the white kids has also played a key role on the continued underperformance by the kids. In light of this, teachers tend to focus most of their attention to white kids. A study conducted by Neal, et al (2003), found out that white kids are accorded much attention that African American students. For instance, teachers concentrate on areas they did not understand more compared to when it is the African American kids that raise the issue of lack of contemplation. Dee (2006) pointed out that, teachers p erceptions independently affect and influence academic performance via self-fulfilling beliefs and perceptual biases. In addition, if teachers are pleasant towards a certain student, they provide them with more effective and favorable instructions. The same case applies to situations where pleasant students portray poor problem solving skills, teachers guide them in a way that easily encourage them to develop good solving skills. This is centrally to situations where unpleasant students portray the same skills, teachers put little effort to encourage or correct them. In fact, Gay (2002) postulated that performance of students is in the mind of the teacher. They tend to evaluate students performance based on their perception about the students. In light of this, it is

Trans-Cultural Counseling Essay Example for Free

Trans-Cultural Counseling Essay One of the greatest challenges in counseling today is being able to deliver services that respond to the social developments that translate to responsive and effective psychological care. Hand in hand with globalization, people are not only having to deal with the social changes but also have to deal with the accelerated pace of these developments. Growing cultural diversity, economic challenges and globalization are a few of the major factor shaping society today. D’Ardenne and Mahtani, (1989) were among the ones to raise awareness regarding the issues that highlight the needed competencies and review of previous standards and approaches for counseling services. According to the article published by the Clinical Psychology Forum, â€Å"Racially and Culturally Appropriate†, recognizing culture and ethnicity are essential to create programs that consider the overall perspective of the individual and the circumstances of conditions that reflect a realization the pressures that individuals and groups because of the developing social scenarios. This is to provide emotional and psychological support for those that are most challenged which are often also are cultural minorities, the economically challenged, the youth and the elderly. Trans-Cultural Challenges Continuing research in to the nature of human psychology and mental health is now providing mental health care professional more insights to develop treatment, therapy and rehabilitation that is more sensitive to the needs of patients but also considers more the reality of patients’ lives. Particularly since the 1970’s, mental and psychological health services have begun to realize the need to revolutionize the treatment of mental illness. Developments in technology and health care services are changing the field of mental health nursing. Concurrent researches in the fields of psychology and sociology have revealed the importance of mental health and the programs that promote and support the same objectives. These developments have considered more factors of the state of human condition and the realities that they contend with. And what is most critical in understanding the human condition is understanding the individual in terms of his history, culture and experience. Mahtani and Marks (1994) point out that the valuation trans-cultural issues must be rooted in the most basic approaches and perspectives of counselors and psychiatrists. Their opinion is that psychology services must not just equate it as a factor in dealing with their clients, but rather see it as a pervasive and everlasting component of the individual. It is then prescribed that services should be able to address not only known conditions but also those that are yet recognized or have yet to develop. The objective is not just to be able to recognize trans-cultural issues but also to develop proficiency in dealing with related issues in the future. The influence of trans-cultural issues is both direct and indirect. It develops form social conditioning, experience and perception. Though it is a very significant influence to individuals, they are not reliable in terms of establishing standards for approaches. Therefore, one should consider them as theoretical precepts that have to be proven true first before being considered a factor in the case or session (Davies Neal, 1996). In the edition of Gender and Power in Families edited by Perelberg and Miller, they site that in the case of genre roles in the family, there are unique dynamics that contribute to the roles assigned to each of the member that influence how the manner by which individuals’ roles in other groups or situations in work, their personal lives or generally in society. However they also mention that though individuals are molded by these roles, the new groups or scenarios that they encounter other than their families may encourage the development of similar roles or discourage them equally. Counseling and Culture   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   How does culture impact counseling? It affects by its very foundations: the definition of normality depends significantly on the perspective by which it is defined. The problem of defining normalcy and any subsequent counseling or treatment is because it is so closely associated with conformity that it becomes difficult to universalize considering differences in norms which is greatly defined by the cultural majority (Mahtani Marks, 1994). For example, the utilization of normality is critical in theorizing the cause of mental disorders. Aside from creating serving as standard to measure deviation, it can also be used to establish statistical characteristics and tendencies for the population. Davies and Neal consider the case of homosexuality. Though it has been taken off the list of psychological and even a general acceptance, there still a significant amount of negativity attached to it. And this is not just by religions or societies that still consider it an abnormality. Perceptions attached to homosexuality are a cause of identification even in societies that have accepted it. Either way, it is an important factor in evaluating patient problems, expected outcomes of mental illnesses and the needed rehabilitation and treatment according to Perelberg and Miller. Undeniably, a person is a product of his self and the manner by which his environment affects him. In all theoretical models regarding the development of a personality, the conscious person is supposed to be motivated by internal interactions within his person. These two levels of personality interact with his environment and affect him individualistically developing his unique personality and psychological identity (D’Ardenne Mahtani, 1989). In both levels, culture has a role: the definition of the internal person is influenced by his culture and at the same time, the society he moves in responds to culture as well. Professional Implications   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The sensitivity to cultural issues are critical in being able to asses and develop treatment for conditions. Thus, the recognition of cultural issues and their consideration in the development of programs should become a priority of every institution and professional. This, from the   work of Mahtani and Marks, includes the need to identify what the cultural perception and influences of patients and psychologist, counselors and other metal health professionals are. This must then be communicated to the educational and training of professional.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There should be a realization that the insensitivity to these issues can result to the alienation and disenfranchisement or members of the society. D’Ardenne and Mahtani believe that there can be debilitating effects: it deters those with culture related issues from being able to be productive members of the society because they feel that they are not part or valued by society. This stems from their inability to access social and economic opportunities regardless of their availability. Professionals’ continuing education is one of best strategies to keep at pace with these researches and developments. Authorities in the field judge that there is a need to appraise model for continuing professional development not just to ensure that patients get the best care but also to afford career enrichment for professionals. Studies have indicated that most professionals are given very little opportunity, motivation or alternatives for professional development regarding cultural issues which has limited the professional development and skills regarding the issue. Therefore, efforts to alleviate whatever conditions that contributes to negative effects or limiting effects of cultural should be a priority concern. This involves the resolution of the issues not only from the perspective of clients but also just as importantly on the part of the counselor. Counselors are aware that they should remain impartial but there should now greater realization if perceptions of clients are being influenced by the counselor’s own cultural perspectives. Conclusion Multiculturalism is not just about culture, its core objective is to be able to incorporate different heritages to create a society that celebrates all the richness of humanity. It is the mark of a society that embraces the world and lives unafraid of the unknown. It is the foundation of a just and broadminded society. The development of a multicultural society is a reflection of true social progress. Most of the conflicts in human history were initiated by forms of cultural intolerance. A comprehensive understanding of the significance and principles of how trans-cultural issues influence diagnoses, conditions and treatment is a knowledge base that all professionals should have. There are many issues that can effect trans-cultural issues among them are disabilities, gender, social class, educational attainment, cultural notions and age. These factors create a great range of treatments and patient needs. At the same time, it also creates a wide range of possible treatment outcomes and interventions. Regardless of the issues, it should be understood that if trans-cultural issues are not fully addressed or responded to, there can be no comprehensive progress in communicating with the subject. Sensitivity to theses issues afford better mental and psychological health and have the potential of increasing greater awareness and sensitivity in society as a whole.

Study on Competency Model of an effective teacher

Study on Competency Model of an effective teacher The paper builds on comprehensive review of 13 research papers and a book on teachers competencies on basis of which a Competency Model of an effective teacher has been suggested that can be used during recruitment, training, and performance appraisal and also can be used as a mean for compensation of a teacher. Competencies of an Effective teacher Model has been categorized into three categories as shown in the above diagram which are as follows: Concern for College, Concern for Self and Concern for Students. Therefore, this paper produces data on what attributes in todays academic market place and in particular in classroom produces effective teachers. INTRODUCTION: Education has become essential these days. But along with it there are several challenges of education as well which require change in the quality and structure of education. For this integration of education with corporate sector is required for which course contents needs to be upgraded. But this is not sufficient as teachers are the education providers they play a vital role in bridging the gap between what is now available in the form of curriculum and the demands of the corporate world. Hence teachers should therefore react to the changing scenario and equip themselves to meet the need of the hour. Hence this paper identifies competencies (behavioural indicators) required for an effective teaching according to the changing scenario. Therefore, this paper produces data on what attributes in todays academic market place and in particular in classroom produces effective teachers. The theory being, the more effective the teacher the better prepared the student is for tomorrows challenges, not yesterdays and the more competitive the school can make itself. The paper will first review the literature highlighting competencies [behavioral indicators] of effective teacher given by other researchers. First it is important to understand the word competency. A competency is an underlying characteristic of an individual that is causally related to criterion-referenced effective and/or superior performance in a job or situation [1] Underlying characteristic means the competency is a fairly deep and enduring part of persons personality and can predict behavior. Causally related means that a competency causes or predicts behavior and performance. Criterion-referenced means that the competency actually predicts who does something well or poor, as measured on a specific criterion or standard. The history of competency can be traced to the early 1970s when industrial psychologists and human resource managers were seeking ways to predict job performance. There was significant evidence to show that personality testing was very poor at predicting job performance (about 10 percent success rate was achievable). In 1973, David McClelland, Professor of Psychology at Harvard University wrote a seminal paper Testing for Competence Rather than for Intelligence, which appeared in American Psychologist in 1973 [2], that created a stir in the field of psychology (McClelland, 1973). According to his research, traditional academic aptitude and knowledge content tests seldom predict on-job performance. He went on to argue that the real predictors of job performance are a set of underlying personal characteristics or competencies. McClellands concept of competency has been the key driver of the competency movement and competency-based education. LITERATURE REVIEW Attempts to define teacher behaviors have blossomed into a movement known as Competency-based teacher education (or Performance based Teacher Education). The State of Florida has been a leader in identification of generic teaching competencies and in the movement of competency-based teacher education. In 1975 the Council on Teacher Education (COTE), spearheaded a project to identify those competencies which are most essential to all teachers. 48 generic competencies consistently appeared in the search was selected for a final survey instrument. A random sample of 5 percent of all certified personnel in the state were asked to rate the competencies. 23 competencies met the specified acceptance criteria. The 23 generic competencies were grouped into 5 major categories namely communication skills, basic knowledge, technical skills, administrative skills and interpersonal skills. The state of Florida has included the 23 generic competencies in state policies requiring all personnel to de monstrate them in order to be certified as a teacher in the state [3]. A few of the sub-skills under each of the five major categories are as follows: Communication Skills, Basic Knowledge, Technical Skills, Administrative Skills and Interpersonal Skills. Peter F Oliva [3] has described an effective teacher as one whom: Is fully prepared in his or her subject Has a broad general education Understands the role of a school in the society Holds an adequate concept of himself or herself Understands basic principles of learning process Demonstrate effective techniques of instruction Efficiently handles the management of the classroom Possesses personal characteristics conducive to the success in the classroom A similar list has been developed by Kenneth P Henson [3] of an effective teacher as one whom: Is interested in students as individuals Has patience and is willing to repeat Displays fairness Explains things thoroughly Is humorous Is open minded Is informal Does not feel superior Knows the subject Is interested in the subject Is neat in appearance Similarly Dwight Allen and Kevin Ryan [3] have given skills which are generic or common to teachers at all level as follows: Stimulus variation, Set induction, Closure, Silence and Non-Verbal Clues, Reinforcement of Student participation, Fluency in asking question, Probing question, High order question, Divergent question, Recognizing attending behavior, Illustrating and using examples, Lecturing, Planned Repetition, Completeness of communication Teachers Competency has been defined as any particular knowledge, skill, or attitude or any set or combination of them that we may choose to specify (Donald M Medley Patricia R Crock). The knowledge specified may involve subject-matter knowledge, general knowledge, knowledge of psychology, sociology or one of the other disciplines, knowledge of pedagogy-any knowledge that may enhance teacher performance. Skills specified may also relate to content, to writing and speaking skills, to skills in arithmetic, they may be perpetual or diagnostic in nature, they may be performance skills such as those involved in lecturing, leading a discussion or planning instruction, they may be related to deployment of knowledge and skills of other types, or to the integration and implementation of complex strategies. Attitudes specified may pertain to the self, to pupils, to colleagues and to the profession, to values, or whatever [4]. A recent Research in 2008 by Faculty of Education, Adnan Menderes University, Turkey aimed to determine the teachers competencies Turkey needs in the European Union harmonization process [5]. The research used Delphi technique to determine the teachers competencies. Delphi application was completed by participation of 37 experts. As a result of analysis of the third round data removal of items with a standard deviation above 1 and arithmetic average below 6, 142 competency items were obtained. Removal and combination of overlapping opinions was done and hence 137 competency items were obtained. The competencies were divided into four competency categories which are as follows: Competencies Regarding Professional Knowledge Competencies Regarding Field Knowledge, Competencies Regarding Improving Oneself, Competencies Regarding National and International Values. Competencies Regarding Professional Knowledge were addressed in five categories as follows: Professional Competencies Regarding Getting to Know the Students and Enabling Their Improvement Professional Competencies regarding the process of learning-teaching process Professional competencies regarding monitoring and evaluating learning and improvement Professional Competencies regarding School, Family, Colleagues and Society Relations Professional Competencies Regarding the Programme and Content (Abdul Rahim Hamdan et al, Faculty of Education, University of Malaysia) studied the teaching competency and dominant characteristics of 309 teachers from different secondary / primary schools in Johor Bahru [6]. Their competencies were determined through teaching skills, concern for school, concern for students and concern for self, forming a comprehensive and practical model of teachers competency characteristics. Factor analyses of the instrument with various samples revealed 19 stable subscales. Skills Scales were divided into seven sub-scales. There were scales on Subject Knowledge, Teaching Prowess, Classroom Management, Updating Knowledge, Instructional Planning, Teaching Effectiveness; and Teaching and Learnings Progress Evaluation. Concern for School Scales was divided into five sub-skills. There were testing on teachers concern on School Vision and Mission, Objectives and Goals, School Policy and System, Collegiality and Commitment. Scales on Concern for Student were divide d into four sub-scales. There were testing on teachers concern on Student Needs, Academic Performance, Motivation and Behavior. Concern for Self Scales was divided into three sub-scales. There were testing on teachers concern on Self-Development, Self Management and Performance Standard. The most dominant competency of the teachers was in concern for school scales followed by skills, concern for self and concern for students. The result showed that there is significant relationship between gender and teaching competency. The result for the ethnic and teaching competency showed that there is no relationship between ethnic and teaching competency in this study. The data analysis showed that there is no relationship between teaching experience and teaching competency. The result also showed that there is no significant relationship between academic qualification and teaching competency. Thus, it can be summarized that, teachers with higher academic qualification does not mean more comp etent in teaching. (Naree Aware Achwarin, R.N., Ed.D., Graduate School of Education, Assumption University of Thailand) aimed to determine the teacher competence level and investigate the relationship between teacher qualification, teaching experience, and school size and teacher competence of teachers at schools in the three southern border provinces of Thailand [7]. The method of survey research was used through questionnaire. The unit of analysis was teachers, 750 were selected by simple random sampling methods from nine educational regions, 18 secondary schools, under the Basic Education Commission of Thailand (OBEC) at Narathiwas, Pattani, and Yala province. The instrument used for collecting data was a questionnaire, constructed by the researcher, employing the professional standards of knowledge and experience from the Teacher Council of Thailand (2005) containing nine competence areas. The Cronbachs Alpha coefficient for the reliability was 0.96. The content validity was evaluated by five exper ts in the field of Educational Administration. The findings revealed Teachership was the highest teacher competence. In order from the highest to the lowest of nine competence areas, the ranking was teachership; psychology for teachers; educational measurement and evaluation; classroom management; learning management; educational innovation and information technology, language and technology for teachers; curriculum development; and educational research. (Earl Simendinger Bella Galperin, The University of Tampa Daniel R. LeClair, AACSB International A.G. (Tassos) Malliaris, Loyola University) described the design, development and delivery of this curriculum [8]. The objective and what the reader can expect to learn from this work is what are the most important attributes of effective business teachers. Incorporating these attributes into course design and delivery should lead to improvements in teaching effectiveness and students evaluation scores, which results in students better prepared for the business field. In addition to it, reviewing the past literature in particular, student evaluations have received the most attention- this statement shows the gap that competencies derived about the teachers were basically based on student perception not on the basis of management, professor and industry professions. (Kirk Tennant Charles Lawrence, 1975) focused upon teaching strategies and scheduled class hours and their effects upon instructor and course evaluations, student performance, and student absenteeism [9]. The study indicated that discipline teaching strategy produced much better student academic performance. This study indicates that in those situations in which student performance was considered a primary goal, a discipline teaching strategy should be adopted. In all cases the finding suggest that a discipline teaching strategy will improve both attendance and performance. In this multisection course, classes scheduled at good hours had higher student attendance, better student performance, and more favorable teacher evaluation by students. (William J. Read, Dasaratha V. Rama K. Raghunandan, 2001) surveyed administrators of accounting programs from a cross-section of schools and programs to determine whether there is an association between the weight given to teaching and the weight assigned to SEs [10]. The respondents were asked to allocate 100 points among research, service and teaching representing the weights that were attached to each in decision on tenure and promotion to full professor in their institution. The Result showed a statistically significant inverse relationship between the weight given to SEs and the weight assigned to teaching in faculty evaluations for tenure and promotion to full professor. This suggests that as institutions increase the relative emphasis on teaching in their tenure decision and promotion to full professor decision, they place significantly less weight on Student Evaluation. (Stephen A. Stumpf et al, New York University) investigated the relationships among several variables outside of the instructors classroom control and student ratings of teaching effectiveness are investigated in a causal network [11]. The student ratings are relatively independent of external variables. Variables external to the construct of student perceived learning include: (a) variables that students do not agree relate to their learning, (b) variables that the instructor cannot control with his or her instructional efforts within a class (e.g., instructor sex, class size), and (c) variables that students cannot observe and thus cannot accurately evaluate. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis was performed; the six independent variables account for a statistically insignificant 9% of rating variance. The set of six external variables were then entered into a regression equation already containing the three intrinsic variables (instructor in class, instructor in general an d graded assignments). The additional variance accounted for is .6%, indicating that no unique contribution is made by any or all of the external variables. The variables were instructor sex, the year the instructor received her/his last degree, instructor rank, proportion of required courses that an instructor taught over the two semester period and class size. (Dr Paul Isely Dr Harinder Singh) analyzed different factors that influence student evaluations, based on large set of data, reveals that class size, the difficulty of the class, the percentage of students responding, and the length of class are important determinants of students perception [12]. Moreover, although higher expected grades results in more favorable student evaluations, this relationship is significantly different depending upon faculty rank. Based on these findings, the author makes two policy recommendations. First, student evaluations of teaching should be adjusted for specific major determinants to obtain less biased estimates. Second, evaluating teaching effectiveness by a broad teaching portfolio that includes actual grades given to students and other teaching supplements may discourage faculty from exploiting the relationship between higher expected grades and favorable student evaluations. (James E. Whitworth, et al, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, Georgia) analyzed 12,153 student faculty evaluations to investigate the effects of: (a) Faculty member gender (b) Course type (required business core courses, classes within designated majors, or graduate classes) (c) Course level (graduate versus undergraduate classes) on student faculty evaluations [13]. The authors explored the effect of these three factors on students perceptions of how much they learned in particular classes. They found that female instructors rated better than male ones and that rating differed significantly by course type and by students perceived amount of learning. Graduate students tended to give higher scores than undergraduates. These findings could indicate that comparing evaluation data across different courses might not produce valid overall effectiveness rankings. (Richard L. Peterson et al, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ)conducted a study within a large department of a business school and recommends that the process used be adapted by other business school departments and other academic units across the university and at other universities to ensure a more universally appropriate usage of students ratings [14]. The central objective of the research was to identify variables that provide a valid rationale for assigning faculty into norming groups for the purpose of comparing one member of that group to all other members of that group. Given the objective and the data set they had available, they selected the following six variables to explore: Semester Effect, Course Session Effect, Faculty Type Effect, Course Level Effect, Course Focus Effect Course Type. Overall, this study makes two primary contributions to the literature. First, it provides an empirical examination of the factors that might be influencing students ratings. Seco nd, it offers suggestions on how these ratings might be used by administrators. These two contributions offer more evidence that supports Brightmans (2005) recommendations that any evaluation instrument focused on faculty teaching must be reliable and valid and have a meaningful norming report. COMPETENCY MODEL OF AN EFFECTIVE TEACHER A Competency Model of an Effective Teacher has been obtained after reviewing the literature and also by using Competency Dictionary obtained by colleagues of Richard Boyatzis in 1981 which was obtained by analyzing the data [i.e transcripts of behavioral event interviews] from a number of competency studies which produced set of competencies that consistently distinguished superior performance across organizations and functions [1] COMPETENCY MODEL OF EFFECTIVE TEACHER Concern for Self Concern for College Competencies of an Effective Teacher Concern for Students Figure 1: Competency Model of an Effective Teacher Competencies of an Effective teacher can be categorized into three categories as shown in the above diagram which are as follows: Concern for College, Concern for Self and Concern for Students. As teacher has duty towards for College it is defined as the first category where teachers competencies are adoption of College Vision and Mission, teacher should be committed towards his/her work, a teacher should be high on competencies like credibility, integrity and sincerity. Next comes the category Concern for Self which is very important as teacher always carry these competencies such as teacher should be high on analytical thinking, conceptual thinking, also have good meta qualities such as creativity, teacher should have excellent communication skills, should always be information seeking, should have self-control, self-confidence, be flexible, achievement oriented, open and receptive and most important is that teacher should be able to balance work and his/her life perfectly. Coming to Concern for Students teacher should have competencies like interpersonal understanding, should be able to influence others, should be good in developing others and should be assertive when required. The three categories have been diagrammatically represented below: The broad areas of Competencies under this category are: Organizational Awareness, Adaption Commitment Concern For Order, Quality And Accuracy The competencies can be as follows: Mission Orientation, Commitment to work contract, Ethical conduct and Credibility, integrity and sincerity Concern for College Figure2: Concern for College Competencies The broad areas of Competencies under this category are: Analytical Thinking Conceptual Thinking Meta Qualities Communication Knowledge and Information Orientation Self-Control Persistence Flexibility Achievement and Action Being open and receptive Being organized Work Life Balance The competencies can be as follows: Reasoning, Ability to Generate Theories, Creativity, Presentation skills, Resistance to Stress, Persistence, Strong Self-Concept, Adaptability, Result Orientation, Composure, Humor, Time Management, Work/Life Balance Concern for Self Figure 3: Concern for Self Competencies The broad areas of Competencies under this category are: Interpersonal Understanding Impact and Influence Developing Others Being Directive The competencies can be as follows: Empathy, Approachability, Sensitivity to Others, Interpersonal Savvy, Showmanship, Teaching and Training, Realistic Positive Regard, Motivating others, Classroom Control and Discipline, Assertive Concern for Students Figure 4: Concern for Students Competencies USE OF COMPETENCY MODEL: This Competency Model can be used for identifying policies for teacher training, Pre-service teacher training programs of institutions of higher education for teacher training, In-service training of teachers, Professional Development of Teachers, Selection of teachers, Evaluation of teacher performances, Self-knowledge and self-development of teachers.

Business Credit Evaluation :: GCSE Business Marketing Coursework

Business Credit Evaluation Credit Review Summary What Banks Look For The most fundamental characteristics a prospective lender will want to examine are: - credit history of the borrower - cash flow history and projections for the business - collateral that is available to secure the loan - character of the borrower - loan documentation that includes business and personal financial statements, income tax returns, and frequently a business plan, and that essentially sums up and provides evidence for the first four items listed The first three of these criteria are largely objective data (although interpretation of the numbers can be subjective). The fourth item, the borrower's character, allows the lender to make a more subjective assessment of the business's market appeal and the business savvy of its operators. In assessing whether to finance a small business, lenders are often willing to consider individual factors that represent strengths or weaknesses for a loan. Also consider our discussion of how banks judge your application. Loan Application, Bank Review Form: What Do Banks Really Look For? Financial Statement: Last 3 years of business financial statements and/or tax returns Last 3 years of owner ¡Ã‚ ¦s personal tax return Current personal financial statement Cash Flow from Operations "Why is there so much month left at the end of the money?"  ¡X Unknown The cash flow from your business's operations  ¡X the cycle of cash flow, from the purchase of inventory through the collection of accounts receivable  ¡X is the most important factor for obtaining short-term debt financing. A lender's primary concern is whether your daily operations will generate enough cash to repay the loan. In addition, cash flow shows how your major cash expenditures relate to your major cash sources. This information may give a lender insight into your business's market demand, management competence, business cycles, and any significant changes in the business over time. While a variety of factors may affect cash flow and a particular lender's evaluation of your business's cash flow numbers, a small community bank might consider an acceptable working cash flow ratio  ¡X the amount of available cash at any one time in relationship to debt payments  ¡X to be at least 1.15:1. As most lenders are aware, cash flow also presents the most troubling problem for small businesses, and they will typically require both historic and projected cash flow statements. Managing Your Cash Flow A healthy cash flow is an essential part of any successful business.

Carol Gilligan: interpretation of “Feminine Ethics” Essay

To start with Carol Gilligan is considered to be one of the most famous psychologists in the United States and in the world. The author of the â€Å"feminine ethics† was born in New York in 1936. Her career as a future psychologist started with the presenting of the doctoral thesis at the Harvard University in 1964. For a decade she was working with the great theorist of moral development, Lawrence Kohlberg, but then she began criticizing his works. In her famous book â€Å"In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women’s Development† (1982) Gilligan presents a revolutionary idea, she gives women rights to choose and she associates them with care and in some cases with the motherhood. Still, there were some reasons why Gilligan began to criticize Lawrence Kohlberg’s work. Firstly, she considered him to have rather a narrow approach to the problem of moral values. Secondly, Lawrence Kohlberg examined only men’s moral principles and paid no attention to women’s feeling and in such way, Kohlberg showed â€Å"biased opinion against women†. Thirdly, Gilligan felt that women should have the voice and she wanted to present a controversial approach to women’s rights and moral values. Fourthly, Kohlberg in â€Å"terms of influence on a human relationship† considered men’s rights and rules to be at the higher stage than women’s (Gilligan, 1982). Lawrence Kohlberg was not the only scientist whose works gave Gilligan ground for her future work. She laid her research on Freud’s and Erickson’s works. Thus, while discussing women’s moral senses Sigmund Freud, stressed that they are underdeveloped, because of women’s dependence upon their mothers (Lawrence, 2008). Another famous moralist and theorist, Erik Erickson believed that the process of women’s development is successful only in case of separation from the mother and the family. Thus, the board schools for girls are a good possibility for a young lady to develop moral senses. Still, Erickson thought that if a woman did not come through the process of self-development she would be lacking some major senses, which make her a real woman (Boeree, 2004). Criticizing the above-mentioned theories Gilligan understood that her goal was to present a new approach to the women’s moral senses. Her theory comprises three aspects of women’s moral development: selfish, social and principled morality. According to Gilligan (1982) â€Å"Women must learn to deal with their own interests and to the interests of others†. The above-mentioned theory has laid the basis for the Gilligan’s Ethics of Care and Feminine approach to the women’s role in the society. I look closer to the proposed three-stage theory some similarities to Freud’s one will be found. Thus, Gilligan presents the following ideas as for the first level – the level of â€Å"self†: â€Å"†¦ the self is the sole object of a woman’s concern. This self is a beleaguered self: a powerless and disappointed self, so afraid of being hurt that it prefers isolation to connectedness†¦.this is a self that wants above all to survive† (Gilligan, 1982) Still, the first level is the level of â€Å"wish†; and when the woman makes the transition from â€Å"wish† to â€Å"necessity†, from â€Å"the selfishness† to â€Å"willful decision† and to â€Å"the responsibility of moral choice† she will reach the second level – the level of moral development. The main motive which leads the woman to move from the first to the second level is a desire to establish connections with others and to participate in social life. According to Gillian â€Å"†¦the woman of the second level is the conventional, nurturing woman who equates goodness with self-sacrifice and who tries to subjugate her wants to those of other people†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Gilligan, 1982). The moral development of a woman according to Gilligan can continue to the third level in the case when a woman suppresses her wants and as a result, she reaches a destructive boiling point. Thus, Gillian writes: â€Å"†¦to avoid becoming a resentful, angry, even hateful person, a woman needs to push beyond level two to level three of moral development, where she will learn how to care for herself as well as for others†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Gilligan, 1982) So in case when a woman moves to the third level the process of making decisions is a two-sided procedure. From one hand woman takes into consideration her own desire and from the other hand she looks at others’ interests and tries to find a happy medium. Gilligan characterizes the move from the second level to the third level as a transition from goodness to truth. She writes: â€Å"A woman moves from pleasing others – being the conventionally good, always self-sacrificing woman – to recognizing her own needs as part of any relationship. In sum, a woman attains moral maturity when she stops opposing her needs in favor of others’, simultaneously recognizing the falseness of this polarity and the truth of her and others’ interconnectedness†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Gilligan, 1982). As it becomes clear Gilligan believes that women look at moral senses through the prism of caring about others and responsibilities to others. Still, Gilligan uses rather a narrow approach to the women’s moral senses. It is obvious that women are living in society and fulfill their roles according to the choice made. But Gilligan ties ethic of caring with the relationship and responsibility and here is the greatest confusion. Thus, from one hand women make choice on their own from the other hand they are to look at their family, relatives, and friends. Can there some misunderstanding be found? Nevertheless comparing the Gilligan work â€Å"In a different voice† with the feminine approach which is presented in the work, it should be stressed that everything is circling around care, which the woman is obliged to give. But is it a real feminism? It can’t be so. Still, it should be stressed that Gilligan’s work influenced a lot of works in the sphere of womenà ¢â‚¬â„¢s morality and feminism. Analyzing Gilligan’s work Omonia Vinieris, the representative of idealism, writes that proposed three-level development of moral senses cannot be applied to the modern society because of the masculine â€Å"competition and self-interest†. She stresses that â€Å"sensitivity and kindness were never equated with human goodness† and as a result presented â€Å"feminine approach cannot be applied to the rational and intellect male-world† (Vineries, 2002) Using Gilligan’s ethics of care Brenda Green proposes to apply feminist care to the nursing practice. She thinks that care can be applied to politics and can be associated with gender and power. Moreover Green advocates the idea that the ethics of care should be rooted in the moral frameworks of responsibility and relationships rather than rights and rules and that any care orientation is inseparable from contextual circumstances rather than being a formal and abstract system of thought. Additionally, care should be grounded in the daily activity of life rather than a set of universal principles. (Green, 2012) Houser, Wilczenski, and Ham (2006) using the â€Å"Ethics of care† suggest that feminism ideology includes two primary streams of â€Å"woman-centered† approaches which are relevant to care ethics: the feminine and the feminist. ‘Feminine’ refers to the exploration of women’s unique voice and advocates for an ethic of care. ‘Feminist’ refers to the resistance against male domination and advocates for equal rights. Both approaches seek to validate the importance of experience, understand the destructiveness of oppression, and eliminate gender and social inequality. Halwani (2003) in his turn suggests that while using care equal weight should be given in our moral deliberations. The main aim of the family from his point of view is responding to the needs of the loved ones. Such an approach implicates partialism or discrimination in care to others. Although partialism seems arbitrary, it does assign greater importance to the protection of one’s own interests and to the interests of those the person cares about, over the protection of the welfare of others, particularly those who are strangers. Coming to conclusion it should be stressed that Carol Gilligan has presented the new approach to the development of women’s moral senses and feministic ideas as for the women’s role in the society. Beside Gilligan’s works influenced further studies in the sphere of morality and the women’s place in the society. References Boeree C. G. (2004) Personality theories: Erik Erikson. Psychology Department Shippensburg  University.  Retrieved  from  http://www.ship.edu/%7Ecgboeree/perscontents.html Gilligan, C. (1982) In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women’s Development. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. Green B (2012) Applying Feminist Ethics of Care to Nursing Practice. Journal of Nursing & Care. Retrieved from https://www.omicsonline.org/open-access/applying-feminist-ethics-of-care-to-nursing-practice-2167-1168.1000111.php?aid=6557. Halwani R (2003) Care ethics and virtue ethics. Hypatia, 18, 161-192. Houser R, Wilczenski F, Ham M.A. (2006) Culturally relevant ethical decision-making in counseling. Sage Publications, California. Lawrence A. (2008) Gilligan and Kohlberg: Implications for Moral Theory. Blum Source: Ethics, 98 (3), 472-491 Vinieris O. (2002) On the feminist theory of care. QCC. Retrieved from http://www.qcc.cuny.edu/SocialSciences/ppecorino/ETHICS_TEXT/Chapter_12_Feminism/What_is_it.htm

race in heart of darkness essays

race in heart of darkness essays The representation of race in fiction is never as simple as it looks For Joseph Conrad to write Heart Of Darkness in the late nineteenth century should have been controversial. It voiced an opinion of slavery and Imperialism not welcome in civilized Europe. Conrads writing is fictional, and therefore attracted less attention than it might have. Its dream-like storytelling is courtesy of a frame narrator, who is in turn relaying the story of the African journey undertaken by Marlow, Conrads main character. Fiction though it may be, Marlow was strategically placed in this new world to witness greedy colonial power in action, and present it to the people who are ignorant of it or choose to suppress knowledge of it. Therefore the text acts almost like a conscience for the society. Through dialogue spoken to Marlow and his personal contemplation - Marlow discovers a distaste for the white Company values towards the Africans they so readily abuse. He pities the natives greatly, but this is problematic as he too uses them, to philosophize on their existent ial struggle and contemplate subconsciously why white is indeed dominant. Thus Marlow himself reinforces the social values of his time which he dislikes. This dehumanization is indeed more subtle in the text than outright violence and racism, but hypocritical none the less, and provides the reader with substantial doubt over what morality is seen to be in Heart Of Darkness. Conrad uses Marlows contemplative monologue to divulge to the reader the corruption of imperialistic and social Darwinist values put to use by whites to gain power over Africans, while still showing that Marlow, though disgusted, cannot seem to escape his naturalisation to these values. Imperialism is the dominance of one country over another. One of the ideologies that was strongly used to promote imperialism in the nineteenth century was Social Darwinism, which was based on ethn...

JavaScript Nesting IF Statements

JavaScript Nesting IF Statements Nesting if/else statements helps to organize and isolate conditions in order to avoid testing the same condition twice or to minimize the number of times various tests need to be performed.   By using if statements with both comparison and logical operators, we can set up code that will be run if a specific combination of conditions is met. We dont always want to test the entire condition in order to run one set of statements if the entire test is true, and another if it is false. We may want to choose between several different statements, depending on which particular combination of conditions is true. Suppose, for example, that we have three values to compare and wish to set different results depending on which of the values are equal. The following example shows how we can nest if statements to test for this (in bold below) var answer;if (a b) {  Ã‚  if (a c) {  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  answer all are equal;  Ã‚  } else {  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  answer a and b are equal;  Ã‚  }} else {  Ã‚  if (a c) {  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  answer a and c are equal;  Ã‚  } else {  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  if (b c) {  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  answer b and c are equal;  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  } else {  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  answer all are different;  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  }  Ã‚  }} The way the logic works here is: If the first condition is true (if (a b)), then the program checks for the nested if condition (if (a c)). If the first condition is false, the program bumps to the else condition.If the nested if is true, the statement is executed, i.e. all are equal.If the nested if is false, then the else statement is executed, i.e. a and b are equal. Here are a few things to notice how this is coded: First, we created the variable answer to hold the result before we started the if statement, making the variable global. Without that, we would have needed to include the variable on the front of all of the assignment statements, since it would be a local variable.Secondly, we have indented each nested if statement. This allows us to track more easily how many nested levels of statements there are. It also makes it clearer that we have closed the right number of blocks of code to complete all of the if statements that we opened. You may find that it is easier to put the braces there first for each if statement before you start writing the code that belongs inside that block. We can simplify one section of this code slightly in order to avoid having to nest the if statements quite as much. Where an entire else block is made up of a single if statement, we can omit the braces around that block and move the if condition itself up onto the same line as the else, using the else if condition. For example: var answer;if (a b) {  Ã‚  if (a c) {  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  answer all are equal;  Ã‚  } else {  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  answer a and b are equal;  Ã‚  }} else if (a c) {  Ã‚  answer a and c are equal;} else if (b c) {  Ã‚  answer b and c are equal;} else {  Ã‚  answer all are different;} Nested if/then statements are common in all programming languages, not just JavaScript. Novice programmers often use multiple if/then or if/else statements rather than nesting them. While this kind of code will work, it will quickly become verbose and will duplicate conditions. Nesting conditional statements creates more clarity around the programs logic and results in concise code that may run or compile faster.

Analyze Drug and Alcohol Treatment Centers and the Success Rate for Inpatient vs Outpatient essays

Analyze Drug and Alcohol Treatment Centers and the Success Rate for Inpatient vs Outpatient essays Inpatient versus Outpatient Drug Treatment The purpose of this paper is to introduce, discuss, and analyze the topic of drug treatment centers. Specifically it will discuss the effectiveness of inpatient versus outpatient drug treatment and the success rate for inpatient versus outpatient treatment. Drug treatment centers are continually in the news, especially with the prevalence of famous people who use them to detox from drugs and alcohol addictions. Just recently, Hollywood stars Mel Gibson and Robin Williams noted they would enter treatment programs for their addictions, one an inpatient facility (Williams), and one in outpatient treatment (Gibson). Their success rate in kicking their addictions relies on many things, but the statistics show that Williams, by choosing an inpatient treatment center, has a better chance for success in kicking his addiction. However, the overall success rate of any treatment program, whether inpatient or outpatient, still leaves room for improvement. Drug treatment centers exist in just about every city in America today. They have been a way for patients to receive treatment for drug and alcohol addictions since the beginning of the 20th century. Treatment goals do not end with inpatient or outpatient treatment, but continue throughout the patient's life, as this early treatment goal notes, Success in enabling the patient...to become (for the time being) independent of the drug must be regarded as the completion of the first stage of treatment. For permanent cure, a prolonged period of aftercare is necessary, in order to educate the patient's willpower and to change his mental outlook. Attention must also be paid to the possibility of improvement in the patient's social conditions (Mott, 2004, p. 20). Thus, the inpatient or outpatient center is simply the catalyst for change, and for success, the patient must continue to follow the steps and guides learned throughout the treatment...

Thermodynamics and Fluids II Laboratory tests and report Lab

Thermodynamics and Fluids II Laboratory tests and - Lab Report Example The potential to kinetic energy conversion takes place in the stagnation point; the point situated at the Pitot’s tube entrance, as see in the schematic diagram below, Figure 2 below. A pressure higher or greater than the free-stream pressure, that is dynamic, results from the conversion kinematic to potential. This "static" pressure is obtained by comparing it to the dynamic pressure of flow with the differential manometer (CÃŒ §engel and Cimbala, 2014). The conversion of the resulting differential pressure measurements into respective fluid velocity heavily depends on the specified fluid’s flow regime a Pitot tube is measuring (Spurk and Aksel, 2008). In case of an incompressible flow, below is the Bernoulli equation describing the relationship between the pressure and velocity along the streamline: The simple pitot tube is comprised of an opening at the tip where pressure can be compared with the atmospheric pressure, or the pressure at pipe through that the flow passes (Boyes, 2010). The Pitot tube is when taking the local velocity measurements at the given point of the flow. The speed of airflow is determined when there is change in pressure between the two holes found in the Pitot tube; known via head (Kundu, Cohen and Dowling, 2012). Therfoe the speed of airflow is calculated using Bernoulli’s equation: The purpose of this laboratory was to analyze jet pumps using knowledge of fluid mechanics learned in the course. Assumptions of steady flow and no friction were applied and these theoretical results will be compared to the experimental results obtained by measuring the flow at the end of the jet pump. The SI units were used during the analysis for easy conversion among different variable. Head was directly proportional to actual pressure, high heads translated into high velocities; the fast jet had a large head drop. The pitot tubes are greatly affected by the Reynolds number when operating at low fluid velocities. Pitot tube’s accuracy

Chinese Politics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Chinese Politics - Essay Example These students were against the failure of the state to mourn Hu Yaobang who was the CPC General Secretary and a symbol of liberal reform and a clean government to them. They were joined by allegiances that were against the communist and in need of economic reform and liberalization. The response of the PRC to the peaceful protests was repressive in nature and an absolute violation of human rights.2 The government had warned the protesters of drastic actions to control the ‘social chaos’. True to their words, army action was taken against the protesters and they were shot dead.3 Given that the troops sent by the PRC were unable to enforce martial law in the face of 100,000 protesters who had protested for seven weeks, they resorted to open fire indiscriminately on the protesters and this saw thousands of protesters killed thus making it the major turning point of the history of China. Apart from the killings, many other protesters together with their supporters were arrested and foreign press banned from the country thus leaving the coverage of events to be controlled strictly by the PRC press. The government used every possible measure to crush the uprising thus enabling it to remain in power. Russia and Eastern Europe faced an economic crisis as their economy performed poorly hence attracting public intervention. This led to protests against the government which was successful as it resulted in the displacement of the communist government. China, on the other hand, did not fall even though it faced similar challenges like the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe since it successfully suppressed every uprising. In addition, the economic performance of China was not declining given that years later under the same party the country has made tremendous progress economically.

Social arts practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Social arts practice - Essay Example Unifying communities is also another way of rebuilding a community. A social practice artist who has achieved tremendous success in doing this is Tania Bruguier. The artist helped build immigrants in Queens a community center. Caledonia Curry was also helpful in building of shelters in Haiti. Currently, the artist is rehabilitating a church in Pennsylvania. As seen with the two artists, social practice can be very beneficial to the community and can therefore bring change to the world (Merli, pg. 110). Different social practices may not achieve as much success as these two examples have but, the idea is to bring people together, get them talking and develop relationships with each other fostering peace and harmony, which is a plus to any society. Technology has been very effective in reducing face-to-face conversations. The advent of social sites such as Facebook have made it particularly difficult to keep in touch with other people or connect in real life. Social practice changes this through offering individuals a chance to interact in real life and experience the goodness of human interaction that is not on the internet. While there are those who feel that social practice may not last long, the truth is, people generally enjoy the company of others and an art that gives them that will here to

Legislative Brief Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Legislative Brief - Essay Example The government needs to take a number of drastic steps in the coming years in order to reduce our dependence on hydrocarbons, plus change the culture of America to make it generally more green. Only then will we turn back the clock on our environmental problems. The world’s climate is changing and the consequences are far reaching. When examining this important issue we must be sure to have our facts straight. Even before looking at the consequences and possible solutions, it is necessary to determine what is causing this phenomenon. Some people say climate change is part of a natural process which happens every few centuries and which caused the ice age and other periods in Earth’s history in which the temperature was different. This might be true. But many scientists believe that human beings cause global warming (Coren). They say it is caused by the huge amount of cars we drive on our roads and by our coal plants and our thousands of factories. These people say we have simply not been good stewards of the Earth and are now responsible for the fact that the surface of the planet seems to be warming because of trapped gases. Our fossil fuel use is the main reason those gases are present. Every time we drive a car to school or work, use electricity, or heat our houses, we are releasing carbon dioxide into the air and making our planet hotter. Another important source of greenhouse gases is caused by deforestation, mainly in the Amazon. There is a lot of money to be made in cutting down trees and planting land for animals to use so the animals can be made into hamburgers at the end of the day. Cattle itself is said by some people to be in part responsible for increasing the amount of methane in the atmosphere (Flannery, 201). So much of what we do to stay alive and to make money appears to be hurting our planet, according to scientists who are increasingly vocal about this important

Aaa Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

Aaa - Essay Example Scientific and technological developments are part of our evolution and they do not necessarily intervene. I also do not agree with Dean Burnett’s argument that the convenience brought by technology made us physically weak. For example, Dean Burnett’s argued in his article entitled â€Å"Human evolution: the next stages† that â€Å"An increasingly health-and-safety conscious world where people are prepared to sue for even the most trivial injury means the danger of forceful impact is reducing, and as such rigid and inflexible bones wont be as essential to humans†. It is implied in this argument that modern man is getting weaker because he is used to convenience that evolutionary consequence in order to adapt better to the environment such as having more cartilage to become stronger is not happening. I disagree with this statement because man is in fact getting stronger even without the added cartilages as he suggested. If only Burnett cared to watch sports events such as Olympics where records after records are being broken, he too may change his mind that we are now way stronger than before. Technology did not intervene with our physical development. It enhanced it with better formulation of supplements, better techniques in exercise and training and better understanding on how our body would function better. Taken together, it tremendously improved our evolutionary process that our improvement is become exponential compared to the gradual evolution of

Personality disorders and eating disorders Essay

Personality disorders and eating disorders - Essay Example would have been very difficult for me even to accept the behavior of Aidan initially, but with time I would have also accepted the absurd behavior or sexual innuendoes of Aidan. Like Richard only, I would have also passed through a volley of comments sometimes discreet and sometimes open from my colleagues or seniors. At one side the pang of homophobia and on the other hand the teasing and threats of mismanagement regarding handling the case form the colleagues would have been a mental pressure and anxiety for me. I would have felt disgusted, lonely, and even distracted from my other jobs as the client used to show resentment for Richard’s divided attention. At some point of time my disgust would have reached its optimum point as it can happen in the case of any happily married man. The sense of isolation or when everybody around fails to interpret one’s activities is really more depressing and frustrating for a working married man as in this case the mental disgust cau ses misbalance in behavior which causes disturbances in both the domain-professional and personal. But like Richard only I would have also discussed the case with my staff and crew cause open communication helps in clearing up all the misunderstandings and doubts. It is obvious that Richard shares a special kind of sympathy with the patient which is a mark of a true nursing staff but really it is impossible to say whether it would have been possible for me like Richard to hold back patience and face the disgust of everyone around yet serve the ailing client who can be a trauma to any one and every one. Though tough but in this case dealing with Aidan in my own way and receiving comments and giving explanations for the way of treatment would have been hard for me to balance, but with endurance and patience I would have overcome it. Putting oneself in place of Aidan who is an acute patient of Personality Disorder is weirder but like Aida, I would also have tried to cling to Richard and my

Legislative Brief Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Legislative Brief - Essay Example The government needs to take a number of drastic steps in the coming years in order to reduce our dependence on hydrocarbons, plus change the culture of America to make it generally more green. Only then will we turn back the clock on our environmental problems. The world’s climate is changing and the consequences are far reaching. When examining this important issue we must be sure to have our facts straight. Even before looking at the consequences and possible solutions, it is necessary to determine what is causing this phenomenon. Some people say climate change is part of a natural process which happens every few centuries and which caused the ice age and other periods in Earth’s history in which the temperature was different. This might be true. But many scientists believe that human beings cause global warming (Coren). They say it is caused by the huge amount of cars we drive on our roads and by our coal plants and our thousands of factories. These people say we have simply not been good stewards of the Earth and are now responsible for the fact that the surface of the planet seems to be warming because of trapped gases. Our fossil fuel use is the main reason those gases are present. Every time we drive a car to school or work, use electricity, or heat our houses, we are releasing carbon dioxide into the air and making our planet hotter. Another important source of greenhouse gases is caused by deforestation, mainly in the Amazon. There is a lot of money to be made in cutting down trees and planting land for animals to use so the animals can be made into hamburgers at the end of the day. Cattle itself is said by some people to be in part responsible for increasing the amount of methane in the atmosphere (Flannery, 201). So much of what we do to stay alive and to make money appears to be hurting our planet, according to scientists who are increasingly vocal about this important

Personality disorders and eating disorders Essay

Personality disorders and eating disorders - Essay Example would have been very difficult for me even to accept the behavior of Aidan initially, but with time I would have also accepted the absurd behavior or sexual innuendoes of Aidan. Like Richard only, I would have also passed through a volley of comments sometimes discreet and sometimes open from my colleagues or seniors. At one side the pang of homophobia and on the other hand the teasing and threats of mismanagement regarding handling the case form the colleagues would have been a mental pressure and anxiety for me. I would have felt disgusted, lonely, and even distracted from my other jobs as the client used to show resentment for Richard’s divided attention. At some point of time my disgust would have reached its optimum point as it can happen in the case of any happily married man. The sense of isolation or when everybody around fails to interpret one’s activities is really more depressing and frustrating for a working married man as in this case the mental disgust cau ses misbalance in behavior which causes disturbances in both the domain-professional and personal. But like Richard only I would have also discussed the case with my staff and crew cause open communication helps in clearing up all the misunderstandings and doubts. It is obvious that Richard shares a special kind of sympathy with the patient which is a mark of a true nursing staff but really it is impossible to say whether it would have been possible for me like Richard to hold back patience and face the disgust of everyone around yet serve the ailing client who can be a trauma to any one and every one. Though tough but in this case dealing with Aidan in my own way and receiving comments and giving explanations for the way of treatment would have been hard for me to balance, but with endurance and patience I would have overcome it. Putting oneself in place of Aidan who is an acute patient of Personality Disorder is weirder but like Aida, I would also have tried to cling to Richard and my

How do you believe Identity is formed Essay Example for Free

How do you believe Identity is formed Essay Identity cannot be formed and defined in one category; it is defined in many ways. Our Identity is formed by our race, culture, language, belief and environment. Sarah Morris described,† Every thing around what and us shapes who we became we believe about other and ourselves. † (1) In the book Why are all the black kids sitting together in the cafeteria? (2) Shows that identity is formed by the following category: objects possessions, creations, interests, friends, family, work hobbies, practices, habits, choices, values, beliefs, appearance and ethnicity. I agree that identity is formed in the entire category list above together to shape up who we are. However finding who we are is not easy but the more we find out about our self the better we know who we are. To begin with, identity is basically the question â€Å" Who am I? † Tatum, 2003, p. 18, himself writes, â€Å" The answer depends in large part on who the world around me says I am. † (3) I think this is true because people view other people feedback and suggestion to help us learn more about who we are. One category that affects who we are is our race. Parham, Thomas A, Helms, Janet E article The Influence of Black Students racial identitudes on preferences for counselor’s race writes, â€Å" Racial self-designation (e. g. , black, Negro, Afro-American) was not associated with preferences for either Black or white counselors. † In other words, everyone defined themselves differently, and by knowing what race you are it will affect your life. Another example is when you apply for a job or anything; there is a race box where you have to put yourself in one category. The race you check may affect you from getting accepted or not. Therefore, one way identity could be defined is your race. Another category that defined your identity is culture. Culture identity is a person’s background and how you can refer to a person. This also means where you are from, what language you speak and your religion. For example, according to Chaim I. Waxman, the video talks about how people mention Jewish and their religion. To put it another way, the way people mention the Jewish it may affect the Jewish by talking about their, politics, religion and culture wise. The video also shows how angry he was about people talking about Jewish. He also talk about how Jewish doesn’t reveal themselves in religion in American now. (4) Moreover, one famous poem by Amy Tan called Mother Tongue describes about how people make fun of her mother because she does not speak English perfectly. Amy Tan emphasizes the idea that we all speak different languages and that we are categorized by the way we speak. I agree that because my experience is similar to her mom, which confirms it. As a result Instead of making fun of people, we should treat everyone the same no matter how they speak. Culture and your language is a big part of what make your identity. In Erikson view of identity, he believed that throughout each person’s lifetime, they would experience different conflicts. Then he describe those experience help us throughout our life on figuring out who we are. I agree with Erikson because I believe every experience you have, it will help you learn more about yourself. For example I have the experience to talk in front of judges and students, this has affected me by learning the skill to speak in front of audience. Another reason why I agree with Erikson is because in order to find out what we like, we need to go out and experience everything and see what we enjoy doing the most. Erik Erikson’s theory of identity formation support my statement of identity cannot be formed or defined in one category but in many ways and experience is another way that formed your identity. Although identity could be formed in more than one category but identity could also be formed in more than one theory. According to James Marcia, she create a four identity statuses which are: 1) Identity Diffusion: When a person has not yet thought about or resolved their identity and they have not yet established future life direction. ) Identity Foreclosure: When a person is committed to an identity, but that commitment was made without exploration as to what really suits them best. 3) Identity Moratorium: When a person is actually experiencing an identity crisis and actively searching for the answers to questions they have about their life commitments. 4) Identity Achievement: When a person has solved the identity issues by making commitments to goals, beliefs and values. Both Marcia and Erikson theory of identity formation have their own perspective while I think both of them is right. We will somehow experience both theories that Marcia and Erikson wrote. Erikson writes, â€Å"If the Identity vs. Role Confusion crisis is not solved, an adolescent will be confused about their identity and the roles they should have as adults. The idea is that failure to form ones own identity leads to failure to form a shared identity with others. Which could lead to instability in many areas as an adult. † As a result both identity shows that identity is not completed with one specific word or category but in many ways. Furthermore, according to parentteachersupport. org, it states, â€Å"Forming identity is the most serious function of adolescence, the period between ages 12 and 25. Without a well-formed identity a person will encounter one problem after another during adult life. With a well-formed identity a person demonstrates a sense of being at home with self and experiencing sameness in personality although operating in a variety of roles. While interacting with many different individuals, such a person receives similar reactions on a consistent basis. istent basis. † Shows how important a person need to know who they are in order to avoid some problems during our lifetime. Especially when you are an adult, you will be struggle during adult life if you don’t know who you are. When a person is well formed about his/her identity these are the following description from the same site: He is comfortable with who he is and does not try to live the identity of another person. She recognizes and accepts her strengths, limitations, talents, and aptitudes. He chooses which qualities of others and which environments are most beneficial for self grow. She knows what psychological defenses are most appropriate for her in the face of threat and anxiety. He has learned what instincts/intuitions, needs and roles are most useful to his well-being. She is counted upon as an accountable part of a larger whole. This is why it is important to know your identity in order to be confident about who you are and recognized your strengths. Not only does identity formed in more than one way but identity also affects your lifetime. According to Formation Education for Parent, Teacher and child, identity means â€Å" who I truly am or who I believe I truly am† and by answering that it contains more than one answer which means identity is more than one answer. It is being said that identity formation is at heart of self-esteem, attitudes, spiritual development, pro-social behavior, healthy relationships and personal accomplishment. Those are just some formation of identity and of course there is more than just those. In the same site, it also describes different kinds of identity such as teacher identity. For instead, parents establish the foundation for identity formation through parenting practices that support growth in personal security, autonomy, initiative, and industry. While teachers contribute to growth in interaction, classroom practices and teaching strategies provide student exercise in those same foundational elements. To summarize this paragraph, there is different kind of formation of identity and many ways to s=describe identity. Hoare defined identity as â€Å" a sense of who one is as a person and as a contributor to society, it is personal coherence or self- sameness through evolving time, social change, and altered role requirements. † Basically this means identity provides one with a sense of who you are. One personal, social and culture influences on identity formation. Terrie Loye describes gender identity as being a male or female, which linked to sexual expression. Her thought about identity is simple because identity is what helps you change and what change you. Bosma and Kunnen (2001) support the idea that peers can act as models and provide diversity and opportunity. On the other hand, I agree with them because your friends influence your behaviors and your personalities that help you change in a good or bad way. Terrie Loye describes the term of culture as the language, beliefs, values and norms, customs, dress, diet, role, knowledge and skills. She also describe that culture is a way of life and that culture is passed on from one generation to the next through the process of socialization. This is very true because of culture is a way to define who I am and it’s a way of life. Bosma Kunnen also states â€Å" The relationships with one’s family are typically the first and individual experiences, thus providing a foundation for identity formation. For young teenagers, frequent accesses to the Internet or media are aspects which go towards constructing a person’s own personal identity. The open University support my statement about identity is formed in more than one category, it states, â€Å"By examining the requirements of the state, how a child views gender, and the importance of race or place of birth, you will start to understand how each individual can have more than one identity. The article start with the question what is identity? , It states, â€Å"If identity provides us with the means of answering the question ‘who am I? ’ it might appear to be about personality; the sort of person I am. That is only part of the story. † This is true, who am I? Is not a easy question to answer. We often describe ourselves by c hoosing or to identify with a particular identity or group. Identity involves in 1: a link between the personal and the social:, 2: some active engagement by those who take up identities, 3:being the same as some people and different from others, as indicated by symbols and representations, 4: a tension between how much control I have in constructing my identities and how much control or constraint is exercised over me. As a conclusion, we present ourselves to others through everyday interactions, through the way we speak and dress, marking ourselves as the same as those with whom we share an identity and different from those with whom we do not. 5) In other words identity could be formed in many ways that describe who you are such as your personality, culture and more. There have been changes in our lives, in the domestic arena, in the workplace, in our communities, which means who I am could change over our life depending on our experiences and more. Change has also created new opportunities for redefining ourselves, at home and in the work place and as members of different ethnicities.

Value Chain Of Unilever Management Essay

Value Chain Of Unilever Management Essay Any profit motive concern would like to keep the costs to the minimum and maximize profits that can be sustainable as well. Lean production and waste elimination is the product of years of innovation to reduce costs. (Karlsson and Ahlstrom, 1996) This has worked to the favor of external entities such as suppliers and customers, and to some extent, the employees. Companies have realized the importance to involve the community as a whole in the process to foster a sustainable infrastructure that can ensure growth for the company and other associated with it. Introduction Unilever is a large multinational company, having its sourcing, production and sales throughout the world. There are a large number of fast moving consumer goods including foods, beverages, home and personal care products, and cleaning agents. A single category of products sell under various brands, having different attributes and varieties within a single brand. Some brands are limited to certain regions while some brands are under partnerships or have been acquired from local companies. Production of many products has been outsourced to other companies, under strategic alliances, in order to cut on cost of production, like Lux. The company has been continuously engaged in implementing such strategic moves. To improve the value chain, the secondary activities are highly evident as well as the primary activities. Lean Production at Unilever Unilever has a focus toward eliminating waste and bringing lean production into practice, right from the sources through internal processes to the consumers. With its complex procurement network and production scattered in different places, the possibilities for further enhancement in the value chain are endless. Unilever aims to be a multi-local company, which can understand local needs, and produce new products tailored to local needs.(Jones and Decker, 2007) This localization takes into account the different strategies that have to be put into practice for the same product in different locations, which can be put into reducing costs. There have been various success stories from around the world in this regard. In Peru, Unilever does not has a production facility so it uses the cost effective strategic option of outsourcing to local companies including Alicorp S.A.A., which reduced labor requirements and more focus was given to marketing the products. (SOMO, 2006) The companies involved in these strategic alliances have been strong companies. Unilever has a policy to find a partner with a high innovation potential, that can be used to ensure efficient synchronization with Unilevers own supply chain. As Bonney, 2002 has said that the company practices have partners dedicating a team solely for joint development exercises, where knowledge is effectively shared and applied, and commercial agreements are reached on patents, which signified long term partnership approach. Garijo, 2002, adds that Unilever, before going for an alliance, analyzes its internal capability in a particular domain and asks a potential partner to do the same on its own end. Future agreements are based on such defined capabilities. The gradual shift from house of brands to branded house has involved better internal processes. One example is their investment in information technology, which is been superseded by knowledge management practices over the last decade. Knowledge workshops have led to the creation of the Community of Practice (CoP), which pertain to a certain domain such as supply chain or production RD, who are involved in Knowledge Management Groups (KMGs), which continually enrich the knowledge of the employees. Marketing is one domain where KMGs are becoming active, owing to the tacit nature of localized knowledge in this area, while there are already dozens in supply chain and production technology. (Pos et al, 2005) Unilever has used CoP effectively to deal with Agronomy issues in areas with scarce water. In Australia, innovative irrigation systems were developed while in Brazil, an improved system curbed over-irrigation and associated problems. The resulting agricultural products are low-cost, better quality and have lower disease rates. Through this way of sourcing of raw materials, Unilever has established long term control over its sourcing needs. Given the leverage of its size, Unilever can further and continuously leverage its size to strengthen the very entities that it interacts with; the customers, suppliers and strategic production partners. Waste Management Being a large and growing company, the company needs continuous innovation to manage its waste along the value chain. It has been observed that outsourcing looks convincing but it discounts the control factor. For example in Perus case, the outsourcing has caused considerable cost reduction however it has also made it difficult to impose the standards practiced by the company. The layoffs resulting from the outsourcing and further layoffs by the outsourced company, have spoken about the cost to the employees of such strategic moves. The company has reduced the waste of over-employment and has improved efficiency but created the waste in the form of tarnished labor relations, which shows the inability of the company to follow its own Business Partner Code. (SOMO, 2006) As already discussed, Unilever is effectively improving its inbound logistics. The case of Palm Oil controversy, is one of the reasons to do so, and has in fact made the company respond quickly to such issues. In the case, Unilever could not fully adhere to its Sustainable Development Report 2009 where the company aims to grow while improving the environment and recognizes that each stage of the value chain can affect the environment. Prior to this and earlier declarations, the company had been working hard to restore its reputation, damaged by Greenpeaces Cooking the Climate report, where the company was named as a largest buyer of palm oil made from non-sustainable sources. Further media revelation of the companys continued purchase compelled the company to order its Indonesian supplier to stop buying from a local rainforest. Despite the companys successful sourcing of 15% of its tea and palm oil from sustainable resources, the company has been inconsistent in fulfilling its pledge s. The company has to practically prove its 2015 plan to source all its raw material from sustainable sources. (Drnach and Dowding, 2010) Unilever has been able to nearly eliminate waste in its production facilities and in the outsourced production. This has been due to the implementation of latest technology in its mass production models. At the outbound logistics domain and marketing sales domain, more and more services are being outsourced. There are a large number of companies like advertising agencies, brand activation, event management, media planning, business process outsourcing, distributor networks and more which are specialists in their respective domains (McGovern, 2005). It has been beneficial for the company to outsource to these companies due to the nature of these tasks. However, a collaborative and strategic partnership is made with these companies which can ensure better quality of results. The waste that occurs in this stage is that of the work rejected or delayed, for example, an advertising agency comes up with an advertising idea which is rejected or the distributor mishandles distribution, resul ting in inventory losses. Another waste that occurs in this area is in the form of delays that result in stockpiles of inventory. The distributor can misunderstand the change in the product brand image and fails to distribute to the markets intended for in the new branding. Failing to distribute the product properly can cause the product to lose its repeat or prospective customer. (Spence, 1977) The dual company structure does not create any impediments in the value chain as an equalization agreement eliminated dual board and management. (Jones, 2002) Under an agreed structure, where beneath the two parent companies are many local subsidiaries, the degree of involvement with the subsidiaries is gradually increasing, like its strategic plans, and moving from house of brands to a branded house. (Daye and VanAuken, 2007) It is highly recommended that Unilever should be more proactive by enlisting support and collaboration with their distributors and outsourced companies for marketing sales. The company should avoid being heavily dependent on the outsourced companies by having a system to create its own plans while approaching these companies.(Lei and Hitt, 1995) As for the inbound logistics, I adhere to Drnach, 2010 recommendations that the sources of supply should be tracked and audited regularly. The company should take a step in the improving its value chain without waiting for competitors to do the same, where there might be short term losses. It is also recommended that the knowledge management groups and related programs should be taken to other domains in the value chain by making its use compulsory for maintaining employment. Instead of using community of practice as a tool, the company should consider community of interest in order to create an acceptance of the knowledge management among the employees. It is important, also, to assign enriched roles or provide them alternate roles along the value chain, once the outsourcing has been done, rather than to lay them off. Any addition to the value chain, despite the cost, will add value to the organization as long term. The waste generated from the production itself should be utilized as a raw material for other production processes. Idle time can be utilized in training especially for factory workers, if it cannot be reduced immediately or not at all. This time can also be used in recreation activities for the employees. Employees should be given the chance to take part in decision making exercises that can help the top managers understand the complexity of problems inside the organization. Before the recommendations can be implemented, there should be a comprehensive audit of the value chain of the entire organization that can refine the recommendations. Impact of Change The recommendations will increase the efficiency of the organization and fewer resources would be used in production process. If implemented in letter and spirit, and with greater efforts, the recommendations can provide benefits beyond the intended ones. For example, by enlisting the support of distributors, the company can gather more information about the customers, through the retailers. Such information can be more meaningful than a consumer research conducted by a research company. With technological collaboration (like RFID Tags) with the distributors, the company can track the movement of the products from the production to the consumer in real-time, thus identifying where and when the products reach first and where the product demand varies owing to different factors, like seasonal and occasional. Distributors can also provide the company with information about changing consumer needs in various parts of the same location, leading to a different variety to be researched and launched for that area only, with a limited marketing budget. Maintaining linkages with the outsourced companies can be beneficial while having its own plans before approaching the outsourced companies can be even more beneficial owing to reduced dependencies on those companies. For example, it the company wishes to reposition the brand of an ice-cream, it should do complete planning of the work that is to be outsourced to different companies. With a plan in hand, the company will have a benchmark to compare the results with, so that they will not have to approach the companies again and again for improvements. The company can send a dedicated team to work along with these companies to report back the updates regularly so that the concurrent adjustment and enhancements can be made, rather than making a second approach to adjust the changes. For the inbound logistics the recommendations of tracking and auditing of the sources of raw material will improve the raw material quality and ensure long term availability. This will be possible as the audits will provide information whether the source of the raw material is sustainable. Furthermore the audit will provide information about the supply chain origins. For instance, in a South Asian country, the company can sell packaged milk like Nestle has. The company can reach the dairy farmers, who can be provided vital information as to the time they should deposit the milk. Technology at the village can be enhanced by installing lactometers that can measure how pure the milk is and the farmers are then paid according to the freshness of the milk rather than large quantities of low quality milk. Farmers would be encouraged to take care of their livestock to improve milk quality. Meanwhile the company can educate the farmers on taking care of the livestock through modern technique s such as medication and veterinarian care facilities. The village itself would find incentive to acquire such facilities. Thus by improving the technology of the village i.e. by going on a focused corporate social responsibility initiative, the company has a considerably better raw material that saves processing time and cost. Short term losses for implementing a value chain initiative can be high where the industry structure is not compatible with the initiative. A large company such as Unilever can bear such losses, but the impact it will have on the existing environment and the industry structure will be large enough to influence other players in the industry to follow suit. In my recommendation, that the company should not be reluctant at implementing a value chain initiative even if the losses seem to be high. The enhancement in the value chain will thus be beneficial to the industry not just the organization. The first company to implement the change will be the first one to benefit from the change, while other companies will be forced to follow the new industrial standards to survive. The long term sustainability will be created in term of continuous supply of better quality raw material from a sustainable source. The recommendations on forming knowledge management groups for more employees to share knowledge in their area of practice and interest, will considerably improve the quality of human resources at the organization. Community of interest should be promoted over practice, as it can diversify the views of the employees so that they can become more occupationally mobile rather than restricted strictly to their area of specialization.(Curtis, 1959) Furthermore the strategic moves by the company are expected to result in shifting existing employees to different areas on the value chain. The more occupationally mobile the employees are, the more quicker they will be able to learn their new roles, reducing hiring and training costs as well as retaining the employees along with the company specific knowledge. New employees would have to be taught about the organization from scratch, and would require more training. Lastly the idle time and waste generated by the production process itself can be managed to provide training time to the employees. This will avoid wastage of time in activities unrelated to work. If it is possible, the idle time can be used as a reason to employ part time wage workers who can work between the idle time intervals, while being trained during the intervals. Technology can be used to allow workers to work from home, if they are well trained in their area of work, and use the free time to maintain a reasonable work/home life balance. Waste from the production process itself can be used in other production processes in another factory of the company. For example, certain waste material from the production of soaps can be utilized in producing more soaps. Improved value chain will provide benefits to the community and the company. If both of them grow well, the benefit is passed on to all other players in the market. Framework to Respond to Danger Signals Keeping the Porters value chain model as a tool, a new first-line manager at Unilever can use the framework to identify the waste that occurs at each stage of the value chain, find the danger signals of each waste and respond to it. Inbound Logistics The waste can be the lost production time owing to delay in arrival of raw material, or the low quality raw material. The danger signals can be the number of hours a production process has to be stopped or slowed down, and the number of hours factory workers may have to wait. For each progressive number of hours, the manager has take a certain action. For instance, initially the incoming logistics has to be contacted for verifications of delayed time schedule. Later the production manager has to be informed, while workers are to be informed of the expected time and compensation. If the logistics is too much delayed, the managers can send the workers back to reduce wage cost and inform the higher management through production manager. Production and Operation The waste can include the idle time inherent in various machines in factory due to cool-downs and maintenance. This can cause wasted labor hours, which are paid for the idle times as well. The number of hours elapsed since the shut down is the danger signals. Initially the manager has to inform the workers to wait while the maintenance is in progress. On further delay, the workers are paid and sent back, while the manager liaisons with the maintenance team to know the status and inform the same to production manager. Outbound Logistics The waste includes inventory losses on mishandling, the lost consumer due to delay, misdistribution or low stock at the retailers end and losses owing to miscommunication with the distributors. The danger signals can be the loss percentage. As the percentage increases, the danger signals increases, and so a more high level decision has to be taken. For instance, for a small loss, the distributor is sent the first warning, while both company and distributer assume loss and the manager process the proceeding and informs the production manager and accounts department. On a greater loss, the distributor assumes the loss, failing which the manager has to inform the same to the production manager, accounts manager as well as the Marketing department. Marketing and Sales The waste is the time involved in rejected work from an outsourced company, and lost customers owing to failed brand repositioning based on unreliable research. The line manager has little to do with this domain, however the danger signals is the accumulated inventory if the full or partial production has started concurrent to change in, for instance, product attribute takes place, but is not marketed as yet. The manager can stop the production and inform the concerned positions. Service The waste is the loss of consumer due to inability to attend to consumer complaint or suggestion. The danger signals can be the increase in unattended consumer complaints on which the production has not taken any action, as well as an increase in the inventory levels. The manager has to inform the production to check the complaints and improve the product quality, while coordinate the production with procurement in case a machine update in needed. Procurement The waste that can occur at this stage of the value chain is the negative publicity as well the long term depletion of a raw material from a non-sustainable source. The danger signals can be the increase in inventory as fewer orders are being taken. The manager has to inform the procurement and marketing department after a certain inventory level is reached. Technology Development The waste is the lost production time due to an outsourced production facility not being fully compliant with the technology standards set by Unilever. The danger sign can be the total number of accumulated idle time in a week. Considering that the line manager is employed by Unilever at the outsourced facility, the manager can first inform the outsourced company production department, then to his companys outsourcing manager and production manager. Later the technical team of Unilever can be informed to perform necessary adjustments. Human Resource Management The waste can be the lost production time caused by delays caused by training new personnel. The number of hours elapsed since shutdown are the danger signals. Line manager can inform the human resource and production department to quicken the training period Firm Infrastructure The waste can be the lost production time caused by delays due to unrealistic plans and lack of finance. The number of hours elapsed since shutdown are the danger signals. Line manager can only inform the management of the happenings and try in his capacity to facilitate solutions. Conclusion Operations management is now the key to achieve faster production rates and improve both the top line and the bottom line. (Mukherjee, 2009) This area of study is increasingly being merged with the domain of marketing based on indirect responsibility because of the realization of need to be agile in competition.(Pycraft, 2000) To make sure that consumers are reached in time, sourcing, production and distribution has to be achieved quickly and efficiently.