Education in Great Britain

————————————————- EDUCATION IN GREAT BRITAIN 6/7. Great   Britain   does   not   have   a   written   constitution,   so   there   are   no   constitutional   provisions   for   education. The   system   of   education   is   determined   by   the   National   Education   Acts. Schools   in   England   are   supported   from   public   funds   paid   to   the   local   education   authorities. These   local   education   authorities   are   responsible   for   organizing   the   schools   in   their   areas   and   they   themselves   choose   how   to   do   it.Let’s   outline   the   basic   features   of   public   education   in  Britain. Firstly,   there   are   wide   variations   between   one   part   of   the    country   and   another. For   most   educational   purposes   England   and   Wales   are   treated   as   one   unit,   though   the   system   in   Wales   is   a   little   different   from   that   of  England. Scotland   and  Northern   Ireland   have   their   own   education   systems. Secondly,   education   in   Britain   mirrors   the   country’s   social   system:   it   is   class-divided   and   selective. The   first   division   is   between   those   who   pay   and   those   who   do   not   pay.The   majority   of   schools   in   Britain   are   supported   by   public   funds   and   the   education   provided   is   free. They   are   maintained   schools,   but   there   is   also   a   considerable   number   of   public   schools. Parents   have   to   pay   feesà ‚   to   send   their   children   to   these   schools. The   fees   are   high. As   a   matter   of   fact,   only   very   rich   families   can   send   their   children   to   public   schools   as   well   as   to   the   best   universities,   such   as   Oxford   and  Cambridge. Another   important   feature   of   schooling   in   Britain   is   a   variety   of   opportunities   offered   to   schoolchildren.The   English   school   syllabus   is   divided   into   Arts   (or   Humanities)   and   Sciences,   which   determine   the   division   of   the   secondary   school   pupils   into   study   groups:   a   Science   pupil   will   study   Chemistry,   Physics,   Mathematics   (Maths),   Economics,   Technical   Drawing,   Biology,   Geography;   an   Art   pupil   will   do   the   English   Language   and   Literature,   History,   foreign   languages,   Music,   Art,   Drama. Besides   these   subjects   they   must   do   some   general   education   subjects   like   Physical   Education   (PE),   Home   Economics   for   girls,   and   Technical   subjects   for   boys,   General   Science.Computers   play an   important   part   in   education. There   is   a   system   of   careers   education   for   schoolchildren   in  Britain. It   is   a   three-year   course. The   system   of   option   exists   in   all   kinds   of   secondary   schools. Besides,   the   structure   of   the   curriculum   and   the   organization   of   teaching   vary   from   school   to   school. Headmasters   and   headmistresses   of   schools   are   given   a   great   deal   of   freedom   i n   deciding   what   is   taught   and   how   in   their   schools   so   that   there   is   really   no   central   control   at   all   over   individual   schools.The   National   Education   Act   of   1944   provided   three   stages   of   education;   primary,   secondary   and   further   education. Compulsory   schooling   in   England   and   Wales   lasts   11   years,   from   the   age   of   5   to   16. After   the   age   of   16   a   growing   number   of   school   students   are   staying   on   at   school,   some   until   18   or   19,   the   age   of   entry   into   higher   education   in   universities   and   Polytechnics. British   university   courses   are   rather   short,   generally   lasting   for   3   years.The   cost   of   education   depends   onà ‚   the   college   and   speciality   which   one   chooses. Pre-primary   and   Primary   Education Nurseries. Primary   School. Streaming. The   Eleven   Plus   Examination. No   More   of   It? In   some   areas   of   England   there   are   nursery   schools  Ã‚  3   for   children   under   5   years   of   age. Some   children   between   two   and   five   receive   education   in   nursery   classes   or   in   infants   classes   in   primary   schools. Many   children   attend   informal   pre-school   play-groups   organized   by   parents   in   private   homes.Nursery   schools   are   staffed   with   teachers   and   students   in   training. There   are   all   kinds   of   toys   to   keep   the   children   busy   from   9   o’clock   in   the   morning   till   4   o’clock   in   the   afternoon   –   while   their   parents   are   at   work. Here   the   babies   play,   lunch   and   sleep. They   can   run   about   and   play   in   safety   with   someone   keeping   an   eye   on   them. For   day   nurseries   which   remain   open   all   the   year   round   (he   parents   pay   according   to   their   income. The   local   education   authority’s   nurseries   are   free.But   only   about   three   children   in   100   can   go   to   them:   there   aren’t   enough   places,   and   the   waiting   lists   are   rather   long. Most   children   start   school   at   5   in   a   primary   school. A   primary   school   may   be divided   into   two   parts   -infants   and   juniors. At   infants   school   reading,   writing   and   arithmetic   are   taught   for   about   20   minutes   a   day   during   the   first   year,   gradually   increasing   to   about   2   hours   in   their   last   year. There   is   usually   no   written   timetable. Much   time   is   spent   in   modelling   from   clay   or   drawing,   reading   or   singing.By   the   time   children   are   ready   for   the   junior   school   they   will   be   able   to   read   and   write,   do   simple   addition   and   subtraction   of   numbers. At   7   children   go   on   from   the   infants   school   to   the   junior   school. This   marks   the   transition   from   play   to   â€Å"real   work†. The   children   have   set   periods   of   arithmetic,   reading   and   composition   which   are   all   Eleven   Plus   subjects. History,   Geography,   Nature   Study,   Art   and   Music,   Physical   Education,   Swimming   are   also   on   the   timetable. Pupils   are   streamed   according   to   their   abilities   to   learn   into   A,   B,   ?   and   D   streams.The   least   gifted   are   in   the   D   stream. Formally   towards   the   end   of   their   fourth   year   the   pupils   wrote   their   Eleven   Plus   Examination. The   hated   11   +   examination   was   a   selective   procedure   on   which   not   only   the   pupils’   future   schooling   but   their   future   careers   depended. The   abolition   of   selection   at   Eleven   Plus   Examination   brought   to   life   comprehensive   schools   where   pupils   can   get   secondary   education. Secondary   Education Comprehensive   Schools. Grammar   Schools. Secondary   Modern   Schools. The   Sixth   Form. No   More   Inequality?.Cuts   on   School   Spending After   the   age   of   11,   most   children   go   to   comprehensive   schools   of   which   the   majority   are   for   both   —boys   and   girls. About   90   per   cent   of   all   state-financed   secondary   schools   are   of   this   type. Most   other   children   receive   secondary   education   in   grammar   and   secondary   modern   schools. Comprehensive   schools   were   introduced   in   1965. The   idea   of   comprehensive   education,   supported   by   the   Labour   Party,   was   to   give   all   children   of   whatever   background   the   same   opportunity   in   education.Only   about   20   per   cent   of   children   study   for   the   General   Certificate   of   Education,   Ordinary   Level   (GCE   ?-level). Most   children   do   not   pass   GCE   examinations. They   leave   school   at   16   without   any   real   qualification   and   more   often than   not   increase   the   ranks   of   unemployed   people. Pupils   of   modern   schools   take   their   Certificate   of   Secondary   Education   (CSE)   examinations   while   in   grammar   schools   almost   all   children   stay   to   sixteen   to   take   ?-levels. More   than   half   of   them   stay   on   to   take   ?-levels.Some   comprehensive   and   many   secondary   schools,   however,   do   not   have   enough   academic   courses   for   sixth-formers. Pupils   can   transfer   either   to   a   grammar   school   or   to   a   sixt h-form   college   to   get   the   courses   they   want. The   majority   of   schools   in  Scotland   are   six-year   comprehensives. Secondary   education   in   Northern   Ireland   is   organized   along   selective   lines   according   to   children’s   abilities. One   can   hardly   say   that   high   quality   secondary   education   is   provided   for   all   in  Britain.There   is   a   high   loss   of   pupils   from   working-class   families   at   entry   into   the   sixth   form. If   you   are   a   working-class   child   at   school   today,   the   chance   of   your   reaching   the   second   year   of   a   sixth-   form   course   is   probably   less   than   one-twelfth   of   that   for   the   child   of   a   professional   parent. Besides,   government   cuts   on   school   spending   caused   many   difficulties. Secondary   School   Examinations Time   for   Examinations. GCE. CSE. The   Sixth   Forms. CEE.GCSE Pupils   at   secondary   schools   in   England   (that   is,   pupils   between   the   ages   of   twelve   and   eighteen)   have   two   main   exams   to   worry   about,   both   called   GCE   —   General   Certificate   of   Education. They   take   the   first   one   when   they   are   about   fifteen. It’s   called   O-   level. There   is   an   exam   which   you   can   take   instead   of   ?-level:   it   is   called   the   CSE   (Certificate   of   Secondary   Education),   and   it   is   not   as   difficult   as   O-level. Most   pupils   take   ?-level   in   about   seven   or   eight   different   subjec ts.There   are   lots   of   subjects   to   choose   from   —everything   from   carpentry   to   ancient   languages. For   a   lot   of   jobs,   such   as   nursing,   or   assistant   librarian,   you   must   have   four   or   five   ?-levels,   and   usually   these   must   include   English   and   Maths. You   may   leave   school   when   you   are   16. But   if   you   stay   at   school   after   taking   ?-level,   you   go   into   the   sixth   form. The   sixth   forms   and   sixth-form   colleges   offer   a   wide   range   of   courses. Ordinary   level   alternative,   CEE   (Certificate   of   ExtendedEducation)   and   CSE   courses   are   offered   to   pupils   who   need   qualifications   at   a   lower   level. But   if   you   have   made   up   your   mind   to   gain   entry   to   a   university,   Polytechnic   or   college   of   further   education   you   have   to   start   working   for   the   second   main   examination   —   A-level. Most   people   take   ?-level   when   they   are   about   eighteen. It   is   quite   a   difficult   exam,   so   people   don’t   usually   take   it   in   more   than   3   subjects—   and   some   only   in   one   or   two   subjects. Three   ?-levels   are   enough   to   get   you   in   to   most   universities.For   others,   such   as   Oxford   and  Cambridge,   you   have   to   take   special   exams   as   well. A   new   school-leaving   certificate   is   planned,   however,   and   O-level   and   CSE   will   be   replaced   by   one   public   exam,   th e   General   Certificate   of   Secondary   Education   (GCSE). It   is   to   show   how   children   worked   throughout   5   years   of   secondary   school. 5. Parliamentary elections in the United Kingdom should be seen as a referendum on the performance of sitting MPs, not merely as a snapshot nationwide opinion poll determining party voting weights for the next Parliament.The electoral system affects the degree to which voters may hold their representatives to account for their actions in the previous Parliament; changes which would diminish this accountability mechanism should be resisted. The UK presently has a legislature whose unelected chamber better reflects the relative strength of the Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrat and None of the Above parties. Conversely, if Labour and the Conservatives each won 50% of the vote, the other chamber would have a sizable Labour majority. 51% of the seats in the Lower House delivers 100% of t he power, and this can be captured by Labour on about 40% of the vote.Nevertheless, whenever Labour runs into opposition from the chamber which, in any other context, would be described as more â€Å"representative† by people who go in for that kind of thing, it threatens to force its legislation through under the Parliament Acts, on the grounds that the Lower House is more â€Å"democratic†. The Lower House  is  more democratic. Contrary to the self-serving views of the Liberal Democrats and other jejune supporters of electoral â€Å"reform†, what matters for democracy is not representativeness or proportionality, so much as accountability and responsiveness.When MPs behave in accordance with their constituents' wishes, this is to be preferred to their merely existing in party groupings of such sizes as best reflect their constituents' choices at the previous election. When discussing electoral reform in the UK, retaining a â€Å"constituency link† i s often posited as a requirement. That is to say, it is felt to be necessary that everyone should have an MP who is in some sense â€Å"theirs†, normally meaning that people are grouped into geographical areas and each area gets its own MP. A weaker version of this permits multiple MPs for each area.This is supposed to be good because it means that there's automatically someone in Parliament to go to with one's grievances. There is a much better reason why it happens to be good. If we merely say that everyone must have one or a small number of MPs, that does not imply that every MP must have his own constituency. The German federal electoral system and its antipodean imitator in New Zealand affords MPs who have no constituencies: they are elected from party lists and assigned in such numbers as ensure that the proportion of MPs in each party in the chamber match the proportion of the vote each party won.This category of MPs shares the same vice as MPs in a chamber fully elect ed by a proportional system: they can't be voted out of office directly. If your MP decides to go against the wishes of his constituents, they can contact him and say, â€Å"Hi, your majority at the last election was 2000; we, the undersigned 1001 who voted for you last time will vote against your party next time unless you buck the whip on this issue we care about. † The easier it is to do this, the more likely the behaviour of an MP will reflect the wishes of constituents.Don't believe the canard about votes not counting: every vote against the person who won counts against his majority and makes him more susceptible to pressure from his constituents before the next election. The electoral system can restrain this tactic. It works well under First Past The Post, and similar systems. Generally, increasing the number of MPs who represent a single constituency has the effect of making this tactic harder, as the punishment from electors may be spread across several MPs, especia lly if the electors cannot choose which MPs from a paricular party get the benefit of their vote.This is a notorious problem with the European Parliamentary elections in Great Britain: if some MEP is the ringleader for a particularly odious policy, she cannot easily be voted out without voting out the colleagues from her party. Even when a free choice on the preferential ordering of MPs is permitted, it is difficult to stop the disliked MP from riding back to election on the coattails of his more popular colleagues. So, in order of preferability, the electoral systems rank as follows: * First Past The Post, and Alternative Vote Single Transferable Vote in multimember constituencies * Proper Proportional Representation systems with open lists * Proper Proportional Representation systems with closed lists Having said all this, it must be stressed that electoral reform for the House of Commons should not be considered in isolation from the composition of the other chamber, and the rela tion between the Commons and three other institutions: the executive, the House of lords, and the courts.Some notes: Alternative Vote is the Australian name for a system which when used in single-member constituencies is identical to STV: electors rank the candidates in order of preference, and the least popular candidate is repeatedly eliminated until someone has over 50%; essentially, once a candidate is eliminated, a vote is regarded as counting for whichever remaining candidate was most preferred by its caster.The effect of this system tends to be obliteration of extremists without penalising or â€Å"wasting† protest votes. It should be noted that in the British debate, â€Å"Proportional Representation† is used to mean proper PR systems  and  STV/AV. The Australian Electoral Commission  used  to have an excellent webpage with a classification of all the electoral systems used in Australia's twenty-odd legislative chambers, but they've apparently improved it off their site now.Other fallacious views on electoral systems which it is useful to rebut at this juncture include the contention that FPTP entrenches a two-party system (in fact, the number of parties is contingent on the geographical concentration of voters), that AV in the UK in 1997 would have led to a larger Labour majority (only if you didn't tell people and the parties what the electoral system was in advance, otherwise the parties would have behaved differently), and that geographical constituencies are a relic of a bygone age and are being replaced by PR across Europe, or at least the world.FPTP is described by Hilaire Barnett in her militantly Anglosceptic tome on the British constitution as â€Å"still† existing in some dusty English-speaking corners of the planet; in fact some countries using PR have been moving towards constituencies: Italy did in the 1990s, and the Dutch are considering a similar move. 2. POLITICAL PARTIESThe idea of political parties first took form in Britain and the Conservative Party claims to be the oldest political party in the world. Political parties began to form during the English civil wars of the 1640s and 1650s. First, there were Royalists and Parliamentarians; then Tories and Whigs. Whereas the Whigs wanted to curtail the power of the monarch, the Tories – today the Conservatives – were seen as the patriotic party.Today there are three major political parties in the British system of politics: * The Labour Party – the centre-Left party currently led by Ed Miliband * The Conservative Party (frequently called the Tories) – the centre-Right party currently led by David Cameron * The Liberal Democrat Party (known as the Lib Dems) – the centrist, libertarian party currently led by Nick Clegg In addition to these three main parties, there are some much smaller UK parties (notably the UK Independence Party and the Green Party) and some parties which operate specifically in Scot land (the Scottish National Party), Wales (Plaid Cymru) or Northern Ireland (such as Sinn Fein for the nationalists and the Democratic Unionist Party for the loyalists). Each political party chooses its leader in a different way, but all involve all the Members of Parliament of the party and all the individual members of that party.By convention, the leader of the political party with the largest number of members in the House of Commons becomes the Prime Minster (formally at the invitation of the Queen). Political parties are an all-important feature of the British political system because: * The three main political parties in the UK have existed for a century or more and have a strong and stable ‘brand image'. * It is virtually impossible for someone to be elected to the House of Commons without being a member of an established political party. * All political parties strongly ‘whip' their elected members which means that, on the vast majority of issues, Members of Pa rliament of the same party vote as a ‘block'. Having said this, the influence of the hree main political parties is not as dominant as it was in the 1940s and 1950s because: * The three parties have smaller memberships than they did since voters are much less inclined to join a political party. * The three parties secure a lower overall percentage of the total vote since smaller parties between them now take a growing share of the vote. * Voters are much less ‘tribal', supporting the same party at every election, and much more likely to ‘float, voting for different parties at successive elections. * The ideological differences between the parties are less than they were with the parties adopting more ‘pragmatic' positions on many issues. In the past, class was a major determinant of voting intention in British politics, with most working class electors voting Labour and most middle class electors voting Conservative.These days, class is much less important be cause: * Working class numbers have shrunk and now represent only 43% of the electorate. * Except at the extremes of wealth, lifestyles are more similar. * Class does not determine voting intention so much as values, trust and competence. In the British political system, there is a broad consensus between the major parties on: * the rule of law * the free market economy * the national health service * UK membership of European Union and NATO The main differences between the political parties concern: * how to tackle poverty and inequality * the levels and forms of taxation * the extent of state intervention in the economy * the balance between collective rights and individual rights

Every Child Matters Act and the No Child Left Behind Act Essay

Robinson 3rd hour Flanders A barrier for ensuring that all children in our community receive a high quality education would be the Every Child Matters Act and the No Child Left Behind Act. Ed. Gov states, â€Å"President Bush made a commitment to ensure that all children receive a high quality education so that no child is left behind. In just one year after the president first took office, the No Child Lefty behind Act (NCLB) passed overwhelmingly. No Child Left Behind has led to higher standards and greater accountability throughout the nation’s school systems. No Child Left Behind provides the schools with more funding, gives states and school districts more control and more flexibility to use resources where they are needed most, holds schools and school districts accountable for results, and may provide your child with free tutoring and extra help with school work. When it comes to improving education in our state I believe our priority is to improve teaching, make better finical investments in our education systems, and coming up with better way to get students more involved and excited to learn. I believe we need to look at how much we’ve already spent and what were using the money for and evaluate what we are receiving in return. Opening college doors to more high school students who don’t have the funds to pay for it themselves is also another way in improving education in our state, allowing more students to have the opportunity to receive a decent education. Offering more and specific work related classes that interest the student and offering high more challenging courses for the students as well. But its not just about what the state and community can do, but its also up to the parents. Parents and Guardians play a big part in helping improve our education systems. The role of parent and parental involvement in improving education in our state is being involved. Regardless of the family income or background students with involved parents are more likely to earn higher grades and test scores attend school regular basis. Students with involved parents tend to have better social skills, improved behavior, and graduate on time and attend college. Children who have parents who aren’t there to push and motivate them don’t make it quit far. Parental support is always needed and a big part of parental involvement. If your parent doesn’t care about your education or is involved regarding you education you’re going to feel as if it’s not so important. Parents can become more involved by talking to their child and the child’s teachers, making sure they know who is giving their child the education and to be sure the child is working to their best of their ability. Physical environment affect school climate and student achievement by depending on what goes on inside or outside of school of the school will the feelings expressed by students, teachers, staff and parents about school. If the child is placed into a negative environment outside of school there’s a big guarantee that it will be brought back into school by that child. There’s also a chance that other students may pick up vibes from another student rather its negative or positive. When the child is placed into a good positive environment outside of school more than likely he or she will feel more better about themselves and bring that attitude back into the school as well. A well disciplined environment, learning environment, social environment, and school-community relations all affect the schools climate and the achievements of the students who attend. When students have to travel outside their neighborhood to attend a great school their family looses time, money, and energy. To put your child in a school that is better than their neighborhood schools probably cost more and is a bit embarrassing to the community or area you reside in. You’re using more gas to provide your child transportation to attend this school. It also takes up more time to take and pick your child up from a school that’s more than 20 minutes away from where you live. Now with a lot of students coming from poorly educated schools to attend the good schools they are making the â€Å"good† public schools in that particular area look bad. Most Africa-American communities don’t care about attending school or getting a good education. Everyone wants to make it out on their own but it seems as if the younger generations don’t want to make the first step in receiving a good education. They don’t take getting a education as serious as they should. But not all African Americans in a community feel that way. I believe the African-American communities stand beside other communities in America with the problems in the system. I believe the African Americans stand beside other communities because most of them don’t care. From the looks of things I believe most African-Americans have the wrong mentality about school and life.

Human relations case study Essay

1. Chapter 7 distinguished between transformational, charismatic, and transactional leadership theories; which one of these best describes Kevin Plank? Explain and support your answer. Kevin Plank displays more of the transformational leadership theory. In each presentation that Plank presents he refers to passion, vision, and people. He had the passion to start up with a new product and to go up against a giant like Nike. He has the passion to build a great product and continue to make it better. The people, his team, are the backbone of his company. There is a trust between himself and his team members that carries over into the work that is expected to be performed. 2. What is the evidence in the case that job enrichment is a key part of the way work is done at Under Armour? At Under Armour, employees are known as teammates. They have a â€Å"get-it-done† attitude, no matter what obstacles stand in their way. Solutions to any problems are expected to be resolved with full support from the team. Under Armour has made the teammates have certain responsibilities and expectations of the work to be performed. They form natural working groups and they give the teammates more autonomy with the responsibilities that are set forth. 3. Go to the internet and look up â€Å"Good leadership traits†. In your opinion, what traits make a person a good leader? In my opinion, the traits I think of that make a person a good leader are honesty and integrity. No one can respect someone that lies and puts his or her needs first over others. It is important to have good morals and ethics. Another leadership trait that is important is communication. A leader has to know how to communicate with his or her employees. A good leader has good communication style and will recognize the need to be open to change with their style on an as need basis. It is also important to be able to listen  to others to get their insight. A positive attitude is also important. 4. Who is the best leader you know and why? The person that I consider the best leader that I personally know would be my mother. She started out at 16 with me. She has held two jobs in her lifetime and receives a great deal of respect from her supervisors, employees and peers. She worked her way up from dishwasher in the dietary department with no skills and only her GED. Now she is one of the main supervisors for Mercy Rehabilitation services. She has shown that with hard work and determination that someone can advance and move forward. She has always spoken to her employees with respect. She went to school through online courses to receive the necessary degrees to advance. She possess honest and integrity, she has her goals set and the drive and desire to attain those goals. She will work right alongside her employees scrubbing dirt off the ground if need be.

The United Nations mission in Cyprus was initiated by the global Essay

The United Nations mission in Cyprus was initiated by the global community - Essay Example UNFICYP was initially developed by the Security Council in 1964 to avoid further hostility between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot population1. After the conflicts of 1974, the Council commanded the Force to execute certain supplementary functions. Without a political agreement to the Cyprus problem, UNFICYP has stayed on the island to supervise armistice lines, preserve a buffer zone, embark on humanitarian activities as well as sustain the proper offices mission of the Secretary-General. Subsequent to the 1974 Greek Cypriot overthrow and the Turkish offensive of Cyprus, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) expanded and enlarged the mission to avert the dispute spinning into war, and UNFICYP was dispatched to patrol the United Nations Buffer Zone in Cyprus and support in the maintenance of the armed status quo. Since its founding, the force has further worked in conjunction with the special envoy of the Secretary-General and diplomats of the two communities to inquire about an amicable discreet solution to the Cyprus row. Primarily, UNFICYP consisted of armed and civilian groups drawn from Finland, Sweden, Australia, Ireland, United Kingdom and Canada, though over its long history the force has been the theme of various UNSC declarations and restructurings, and currently encompasses contingents from Hungary, Croatia, Argentina, Peru, Italy, Australia, Slovakia, Montenegro, Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, El Salvador Netherlands, India, Canada, Ireland, United King dom, and Ukraine. This paper evaluates the Cyprus problem from the perspective of the UN mission and its mandate on the island. At the heart of the discussion is the argument that the UN mission in Cyprus was initiated by the global community as a way of resolving the problem. In essence, the increasing hostility between the two warring communities - Greek and Turkish Cypriots- after independence in the 1960 was escalating, and the

Implementing Strategies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Implementing Strategies - Essay Example The leader supervises activities within the organization and helps the employees to accomplish their objectives through generating enthusiasm and motivating them, which is important in enhancing their productivity. Jimmy Collins has devised a model of "Level 5 Leadership"(Collins, 2001). This essay is an evaluation of my style of leadership using this hierarchy as the frame of reference, which includes an analysis of various strengths and weaknesses. The behavioral theory of leadership has also been discussed. At level one is the highly capable person but he can work best as an individual than in a team. This kind of leadership style is useful in situations where personal output is needed rather than team work. The may only be required to supervise in order to ensure that the product is of good quality without intervening in the production stage. In the University where I work as an Admission and Recruitment Supervisor, team work is highly appreciated to supplement personal capabilities. This is because there might happen to be some weaknesses in recruiting as an individual. I therefore have to demonstrate level two of Collin’s leadership style whereby I participate in team work, contributing my abilities in one of my role as a leader of the Marketing Steering Committee in order to create and maintain a positive and consistent image of the University in the community by creating an integrated marketing strategy that aligns all University academic and services departments’ ma rketing goals upon the University’s Strategic Priorities. As a leader of my team, I demonstrate a high level of management capability through creativity, flexibility and adaptation. I have the strength of initiating new innovative practices and experimentation with new ideas. I have strong planning capabilities whereby I demonstrate competence in selecting the team which has to have good

FINAL DAIVS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

FINAL DAIVS - Essay Example The deployment of intelligence officers as undercover agents may yield valuable information. The investigations are supposed to be carried out in North Korea shipping terminals, and airports. Though it is a dangerous undertaking, South Korean intelligence can be used. This is because the Koreans have similar culture and language thus detection would not be easy. In addition to human intelligence, signal intelligence can be useful this entails detection of signals of communication between North Korea and Iran. This would enable the agents to know the shipping lines, date and time. As such interception can be easy. Signal interceptors can be schemed to tap signals emanating from North Korea key leaders and also Iran leaders, especially the military leaders. To make sure that the technology is not transported by land, the agency is supposed to alert the various governments involved along the transport corridor to Iran. By doing this, the threat of land transport could be minimized. Agents working on the ground should also have a backup plan in case the plan fails. There should be reinforcement in case their cover is blown. An effective backup may be the US Navy which can extract the persons from danger. Moreover, the navy can also be instrumental in sea interceptions. 2. You lead an analysis team for Army Intelligence. Your team has been assigned the task of determining what conditions will be like in Afghanistan after we draw down our troops, and also to determine if the Strategic Partnership agreement President Obama just signed will hold. Describe what your analysis will cover and what key questions your team needs to answer. What assistance will you need and from what other members of the IC? Afghanistan is a highly tribal country with armed groups read to destabilize the country. Since the ouster of the Taliban, the US troops, alongside NATO has been instrumental in maintaining peace. Afghanistan has a democratically elected government; however, it is

Michael Porter, Competitive Advantage ( Please see the assignment Coursework

Michael Porter, Competitive Advantage ( Please see the assignment criteria ) - Coursework Example At a certain point of time (during the year 1981) the bank chose to capture the market of wholesale credit. The bank although succeeded in achieving its aim but the achievement of leadership position in this loan segment could not be transformed into competitive advantage. Conversely, this strive towards leadership made the bank grant even those loans which other banks were not granting at that point of time to the borrowers. Thus, the bank got involved in escalation of cost and gradually the bank became ineffective (Porter, 1998). The bank failed to transform its leadership strategy into competitive advantage because the structure of the industry did not support leadership (University of Pennsylvania, 2011). For achieving the competitive position, the bank should have focused on attaining both differentiation as well as cost leadership. Leadership indicated that the bank had to deal with various corporations which are quite large and are sensitive towards prices of the loans. The po or position of the bank made various wholesale operators withdraw their funds from the bank that left the bank in a situation of liquidity disaster.

Business Cultures Which Foster and Impede Product Development Research Paper

Business Cultures Which Foster and Impede Product Development - Research Paper Example New product development takes time and it is also quite risky and costly. The failure rate of new products is really high in the market. This happens due to several factors but the most common factor is lack of market research. The marketers should do a proper market research for their product. If they are successful then, after developing the product, another product research is also necessary. This will not only give a true picture to the market, but also save them from incurring huge losses before developing the idea or concept (Saxena, 2009, p. 266-268). The reason behind developing new products for the company is known and generally discussed aspect in business environment, but the significance of business culture in product development is a rarely discussed issue. However, organization culture plays a very important role in generation of innovative ideas, product designing or developing a whole new product. Ricks (2006), in his book â€Å"Blunders in International Business,â⠂¬  suggested that â€Å"The failure to understand cultural differences can bear serious consequences.† This means that culture of the company determines how it functions and this directly affects innovation and development of new product in the company or business. Objective of the Study In the highly competitive market it is very important to develop innovative new products and services for getting good responses from the customers. So the objective of this study is to analyze the different facets of business culture which promote and obstruct the development of new products. This would assist in understanding the right culture that organizations should maintain to integrate innovation as the permanent ingredients in the strategic framework of the organization. Outline of the Study The study was designed to evaluate the admittance and barriers of business culture in case of new product development. So the study initiated with a background study on product, development of n ew products in organization and the importance of such on the profitability of the organization. Then the objective for conducting the research study was ascertained. Next, the study moves on to the discussion of the past literature available, which supports the objective of the study and the argument. So it would focus on topics like organizational culture, contribution of culture in innovation, Encouraging pioneering culture for the development of new products, role of workforce diversity, and a case study which includes the real life example of innovative culture of a company, due to which it is a market leader and a developer of numerous innovative products, called 3M. After this the implications of the product managers in the organization would be also scrutinized and the study would be concluded by analyzing the different aspects included in the study to derive results. LITERATURE REVIEW Business or Organizational Culture The term management means getting things properly done with the help of other people. This theory is considered true all over the world. For achieving this mission, the management of the organizatio

Web Software Testing Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Web Software Testing - Research Paper Example Moreover, all the applicable tests are performed according to approved test procedures on approved test cases. However, the software testing process can be assisted with software tools that can be used in order to make the software testing process automated (Mustafa, Al-Qutaish, & Muhairat, 2009; Pressman, 2001). Web based software applications are one of the most evolving type of software systems now a days. In addition, these web applications have been built to support wide range of activities such as business related transactions such as product sale, transactions and delivery, scientific processes such as information transfer and sharing, and medical related activities such as expert system-based diagnoses. Because of the significance of these activities in everyday life, faulty web applications may have negative impact on businesses, economies, scientific evolution. For these reasons, a web application must be completely tested to guarantee that the web application is reliable and complies with its original requirements (Qian, Miao, & Zeng, 2007; Mao, 2009). The properties of web applications include distributive nature, hypermedia, and multi-platform, dynamic, the possibility to generate software components at run time (web services) and interaction with a large number of users. Additionally, web applications are different from the traditional software in the sense that their operating environments are always diverse, heterogeneous and independent. In this scenario, web applications should be tailored to such heterogeneous and diverse client environments, to satisfy the different requirements of the users. However, the main focus of web applications remains usually on the information publication, searching, and indexing as compared to the traditional software. This makes their functionalities comparatively weaker but requires faster up-dating speeds in their contents and

Different Cultures And Traditions Essay Example for Free

Different Cultures And Traditions Essay Using texts from different cultures and traditions discuss how free will or determinism in form of development or outcome of the stories. (1500 2500 words) I believe that we are not so free in this world even though most people would like to think we are. Our lives are controlled by many factors which we do not seem to notice. Some people accept what their future is and live with it, with out even attempting to change it. Fortunately thought there are also the same amounts of people who can see their own future but strive to do what ever they can to change it for the better. Now through out this essay I will compare two stories which are Veronica and Country Lovers. There are many instances in these stories of how if the main character in the story made a different decision than the outcome of the story would have been completely different. So we will see what might have happened if the character made a different choice later on in this piece but first I will talk about the different points of view brought out in these stories. We shall start of with the story of Veronica. This story is of a girl and a boy who are best friend and they live in quite a poor village in Africa and the boy Okeke gets a chance to go to the city and study at university due to a scholarship which he had won and Okeke asks Veronica to come but she decides to stay. When Okeke, after finishing his course at university as a doctor comes back to the village he sees Veronica in her dying moments. When Okeke asks to save her she refuses because her husband had died and her son had died also so she had nothing else to live for. Now Okeke thinks Veronica should have left with him and become his secretary and should have attended night classes where as Veronica thinks she should stay because she hates to leave her family behind even though her father was a brute and beat her. If we were to compare the points of view established in the story Veronica with the raised in the story of Country Lovers. (This is the story of Thebedi and Paulus.) This story introduces Paulus Eysendyck, a white farmers son, and Thebedi, the black daughter of one of the farm workers. As children, Paulus and Thebedi played together, but when they are teenagers they begin a sexual relationship. They have tender feelings for each other, even though their relationship is ultimately doomed in the end. Thebedi marries Njabulo, a kind young black man who has loved her for years. Two months later, Thebedi gives birth to a light-skinned child.à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½Ãƒ ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ That Thebedi is pregnant when she marries is not considered scandalous because men in this culture often insist on finding out before marriage if their women are barren. The childs light skin, however, reveals who the father really is. Still, Njabulo treats the baby as if the child were his own. Paulus learns that Thebedi has married and has a light-skinned child. He panics about the child and visits Thebedi in her hut. He asks her to give the baby to someone else to raise, but she does not. Two days later, he asks to see the child alone. Waiting outside the hut, Thebedi hears soft groaning sounds, and the baby soon dies. Officials discover that the baby was poisoned, and Paulus is arrested. Initially, Thebedi says that she knows he poisoned the baby, but when the trial comes, she claims that she does not know what he did in the hut. Paulus is set free. There are clearly two separate points of view which you can clearly see. The point of view of Paulus and Njabulo. Now Paulus is very judgemental and slightly racist. I say this because he wanted to and did kill the baby just because it was light skinned. I can also say this because of the following quote you must give it to someone this proves he is quite racist because he is calling the baby an it who is quite disrespectful. Also there is also a quote which suggests that he could have been the one to kill the baby I feel like killing it myself this also adds some extra evidence against him for killing the baby. And then there is the point of view of Njabulo which is he loves the baby so much he uses the small wages which he gets from his farm work to buy the baby what ever it needs and could ever want. He is such a devoted father. But then again though I suspect that Njabulo might not believe that the baby is not his, I say this because of what he says for Thebedis birthday notice he says Thebedis baby and not their or his birthday which makes me say that he does believe within himself that the baby is his own. I suspect he may think that because the baby has got light coloured skin and because they are both black he would have thought that the baby would have had the same coloured skin as the parent and because the babys skin is light coloured he might suspect that Thebedi might have had an affair with a white man and got pregnant and had a baby. Now we can move on to analyse the language which is used in these texts. Now the language which is used in these two stories are very expressive, they allow us to feel what the character are feelings. I will start to analyse the language used in the story of Veronica. And then I will move to analyse the story of Country Lovers. This in my opinion is a very heart felt and emotional story and I feel it is quite sad that the baby died in the end and that no body was convicted for the death of the baby if there was a murderer. But before we get to that lets start with the language used in Veronica. There are many persuasive words use in this particular text. The language which I have encountered in this text I have never seen or heard of before. Many people have commented on the language which is used in these texts and it is considered to be quite complex but I shall persevere and try to unravel the language in this text for you so that you may understand it as well as I have tried to. There are persuasive words a plenty in this story to help us to understand what the characters in the text are feeling. Now if we move on to analyse the language which is used in Country Lovers. The language which is used in this text is quite complex also so I will try to impart with you the knowledge which I have learnt about the language of this text. Many may say that the words are quite simple but the thing which is hard about the language in this text I the inner meanings within these words which means there is a meaning within a meaning. Now I have scrutinised the language, I will now go on to analyse the structure. There are two main things in the structure which need to be discussed and they are story and characters. I shall start by discussing the story in both of the stories. I have explained at the beginning of this piece the main story lines of these stories but in this paragraph I will go more in to depth about how the author of this story has kept the reader interested and leaving them wanting more. In Veronica for example this story is quite short, even though the story is short does not mean that the story is not interesting or boring. Short stories are just as interesting as novels or long novels. In this story the author has not used many difficult or hard to understand words and all the long / hard words are necessary to give the effect which is given. The author also made it easier for the readers understand what the characters in the story are feeling. For example we said goodbye and she hurtled away. I thought I saw a tear in her eyes as she turned to go. From this quote I can tell that Veronica was really sad about Okeke leaving her and she wanted to avoid a long goodbye because she probably knew the longer she stayed with him the more upset she would get about the thought of him leaving. Now I will move on to analyse the story in Country Lovers. This story is slightly longer than Veronica but is still very interesting. The author of this text does not use many long/ hard words but she does not need to the story is powerful enough and gets the point across without the need to use long and difficult words. This story is quite descriptive, for example: Hidden by the mesh of old, ant eaten trees the more descriptive a story is the better picture of what is happening in the story. If the author is too descriptive it is boring and if there are only few words of description then it isnt very good to get a picture of what is happening in your head. But the author of this story has found the right limit. Now I move on to talk about the characters in these stories. In Veronica there are only two main characters and they are Okeke and Veronica. Now these characters are very well made up and they were designed to play off each other. Where as Veronica is quite resistant to move Okeke is quite happy to try to persuade Veronica to move with him to the big city. Where as in Country Lovers there is Thebedi, Njabulo and also Paulus. Njabulo is quite a shy and retiring type where as Paulus is the alpha male and is more demanding and quite mean and strict. And Thebedi last of all is quite laidback but when she was required of it she was not afraid to stand up for herself. Finally I will analyse if the main characters had main a different choice then what would have happened and how the ending would have been changed. I will start with the story of Veronica. If Veronica had decided to go with Okeke and work as a secretary to him and goes to night classes then she probably would have led a happier and fuller life and also would not have died as early as she did and she would have had a happy and rich family life. In the story of Country Lovers what would have happened if different decisions were made. If Thebedi did not have a sexual relationship with Paulus in her teenage years then he probably would not have come back in her life and Thebedis baby would not have died. Also Njabulo and Thebedis relationship would have been stronger and better. To bring a conclusion to this piece both pieces are brilliant in the way that they are written and put together. They are fantastic short reads which I would recommend to any one to read and also if you wanted to read about different cultures and traditions.

Education For Media Literacy Media Essay

Education For Media Literacy Media Essay Media literacy is an approach to education which provides a framework to analyze, evaluate and access messages in various forms and thereby building an understanding of the role of media in the society as well as self-expressions required for citizens of a democracy. Media literacy is the ability to know and understand how the mass media works. This includes how they are organized, how they produce their meanings and how they use them wisely. A person who is media literate can clearly describe the role of media in their lives. He or she understands the basics of various media and enjoys using them deliberately in a conscious way. He or she has full recognition that protects them from being unnecessarily frightened and therefore has a full control of his or her media experiences. Often, the media is lumped together as a single entity but in reality it is actually many forms of communication like the newspapers, billboards, television, radio, magazines, video games, computer games and videocassettes. Education for media literacy uses the inquiry-based pedagogic, model which encourages the people to ask questions in relation to what they read, hear and watch. Media literacy provides tools which help people analyze messages and offer them opportunities to broaden their experience of media. It assists them develop creative skills in coming up with their own media messages. Critical analysis includes identifying the author, his purpose and point of view, examining the construction techniques and genres, patterns of media presentation and detecting any bias, censorship and propaganda available in the news and public programming. Media literacy explores how structural features like the media ownership and funding model affects the information presented. Media literate people are skillful in creating and producing media messages to facilitate understanding of specific qualities of each medium and at the same time create independent media and participate as active citizens. Media literacy has contributed to an expanded conceptualization of literacy which treats mass media, popular culture and digital media as types of texts that require critical evaluation and analysis. Due to the transformation process of media consumption into an active and a critical process, people have gained a bigger awareness of the potential for manipulation and misrepresentation through public relations techniques and get to know the role of mass media in constructing the views of reality. Sometimes, media literacy is viewed as a channel to address the negative side of mass media, digital media and popular culture which includes gender, media violence and racial stereotypes, concerns about loss of privacy, internet predators, the sexualization of children and cyber bullying. Media literacy provides a type of protection for children and helps them make good decisions in their consumption habits and the patterns of their use. Learning abilities linked to media literacy can be used to create learning and teaching methods for example through mobile phones, internet based learning and interactive whitboard. Media interprets the past and shows us what has made us into being the way we are. Like geography, it defines for us our place in the world. Media literacy also helps us understand the workings of our immediate world and also our places individually in it. The media is also a major source of modern culture and entertainment and also requires us to learn and use the critical thinking skills. Media literacy helps us define how we communicate with others and also helps us to adopt the edge of modern technological innovations. Media literacy also helps us determine much of the cultural diet and weave part of the fabric part of our lives. Media literacy also helps us to understand ourselves as well as misunderstand ourselves and others. It helps us interpret our world, its ideas to us and its values. Media literacy helps us understand how things work, because it has carefully planned constructed and designed products. By helping kids and teens to become media literate, we can help them protecting them against pressures from advertising and several others media forms to drink, use drugs, eat unhealthy foods and have sex. We also help them build good communication skills , put portrayals of others as well as themselves, encourage them to look into multiple interpretations of media messages and also improve their media usage habits like changing the ritualistic viewing behaviors. The goal of media literacy is not bashing or to ridicule the media because it is a dominant force in our culture and therefore should be evaluated fairly and not denigrated. Media literacy is also not a magic wand or a silver bullet to solve all our problems but rather our best defense to resist manipulation and to keep a perspective of the images and messages that are a part of the youth culture and the media. Media literacy is therefore about helping students to become competent and critical in the various media forms so that they are well equipped to control the interpretation of what they observe and hear instead of letting the interpretation to control them. To be media literate is not about memorizing or taking statistics about the media but rather learning to raise the appropriate questions about what is seen, heard or read, in other words it is the ability to think for oneself. Without this ability, an individual cannot have the full dignity to exercise citizenship in a society which is democratic.