School Leadership

Introduction In today’s era of heightened expectations, school leaders are in the hot seat to ensure effective and excellent educational outcomes. The multi-levelled pedagogic school leaders highly determine the mode of teaching students in schools and the effective application of the learning process.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on School Leadership specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Not only are they curriculum leaders but they are also educational futurists, disciplinarians, instructors, assessors, analysts, field experts and society builders (Davies 2005). They are involved in the core running of the school and act as a go-between in case of any arising conflicts between the parents, students, teachers, education participants such as unions and the society itself. This requires them to not only be sensitive when meeting student’s demands and needs but to also be critical thinkers so as to deliver valid judgments based on logic. School leadership is currently a complex concept with most leaders failing to balance their roles. It is evident that they are heavily inclined towards school management and accountability hence disregarding the effective mode of impacting knowledge to students to ensure quality teaching and learning. The outcome greatly reflects the quality of the school leaders’ pedagogy and their ability to give credible teaching instructions to improve learning in schools. Teachers need to have adequate knowledge of how to teach students and be able to implement and design the school curriculum. The following paper will therefore discuss the current change in pedagogical and instructional roles that seem to create imbalance in their competing roles and how the same can be reclaimed. School Leadership Previous studies have attempted to define the concepts, models and practises that characterise the effect of leadership in educational outcomes. Several conte mporary leadership theories have come up as a result. According to Davies and Ellison (2001), the distributional and transformational leadership theories are examples of such theories.Advertising Looking for essay on education? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More These two theories have been discussed by many scholars in an attempt to draw an understanding on the nature of school leadership and how it affects learning and teaching in schools. They also create a link between the leaders and the teachers themselves with an attempt of establishing the student outcomes that is derived from this relationship. Though the study on effective leadership based on this theories have not been concluded, it is evident that school leaders have a big role to play. Student performance is therefore attributed to the influence impacted through effective leadership. Successful school leaders give support and knowledgeable instructions to the teacher s, a practise that develops their inner intellectual powers. In addition, they also implement an effective organisation model that helps them strike a balance in their competitive roles. The studies on educational leadership draws a clear conclusion that school leaders requires to be actively involved in the institution’s learning and instructional programs. Principals need to balance the instructional and pedagogical roles together with their managerial roles to ensure exemplary student performance. The main goal in any learning institution is assuring parents and the society in general that their children are receiving quality education. Though managerial and compliance accountability roles play a big role in running a school, student performance should be made the core business, a concept that is ignored by many school leaders. Leadership Crisis In order to discuss how school leaders can become instructional and pedagogical leaders rather than just mere managers, it is imp ortant to look at the challenges facing school leadership. There has been increasing demands for effective schools and the achievement by students is entirely based on the key roles played by school leaders. Leadership challenges have played a big role in the transformation of quality teaching and learning (Duke 2010). The school leaders need to address these challenges as a step of regaining the lost glory. One of the main challenge relate to the leadership styles adopted by the leaders.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on School Leadership specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Most school leaders lead through manipulation that tends to intimidate teachers. A research conducted indicates that 80% of school management is characterised by dictatorial leadership (Duke 2010). This can be due to various reasons such as nepotism or favouritism by the leader. Dictatorial leadership can also be applied in instances where the le ader is involved in unscrupulous dealings and is afraid of being exposed by a certain teacher. In such cases, the dictatorial management style instils fear in such teachers who steer away from the leader’s affairs. This challenge begets teachers who in turn fail to perform in their role of impacting knowledge to students. The other challenge is the limited capacity by school leaders to qualify as effective leaders. There has been an increase in unqualified selection of leaders due to the lenient selection process. The mode of screening, selection and admitting the leaders have been ill-defined and lacking in its application. As a result, most school leaders are easily admitted based on their academic background only and not their knowledge experiences or skill disposition required to making an effective leader. In addition, there are inadequate training programs for principals. The training is important to upgrade their competence and qualification to effectively run a school . Lack of dialogue between leaders and other participants in decision making is also a leadership crisis that has led to a decline in students’ performances. Such leaders fail to take criticism from teachers, students or even the society itself positively. This leads to such leaders applying the direct approach instead of a facilitative approach while making their decisions. This approach is bureaucratic in nature and tends to leave out important factors that can result to a disastrous decision. The other challenge worth noting is the lack of ownership in the mission and vision statements of the school. These statements play a big role in achieving the goals set by the school’s administration. In most schools, leaders have failed to expose the vision and mission to both teachers and students as an inspiration for them to work towards achieving the set goals and objectives. Most school teachers are up in hands to retain their position thus compromising the performance o f students.Advertising Looking for essay on education? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Instead of engaging both students and the teachers, they are busy pleasing the school board in a bid to secure their managerial positions and disregarding problems faced by teachers to facilitate effective learning (Grace 1995). The quality of education has declined over the past few years. It is important to note that most of these challenges were not faced twenty ago hence they can be resolved. The challenges not only lead to the leader’s disorientation but also affect the teachers and the students as well. Instructional And Pedagogical Leadership Versus Administrative Leadership An oration by William Walker during a conference held by educational leaders in Australia gives a clear analysis of who qualifies as a pedagogical leader. Delivered by Viviane Robinson, the article seems to focus on educational leadership and their ability to give instructions rather than just being mere managers (Robinson 2007). The roles in this kind of leadership are differentiated from that of a school administrator in various ways. One distinctive role is the mode of discharging their administrative duties. While the administrators apply a rather strict approach, a pedagogical leader has clear set goals that involve all the participants. The latter is more involved in the implementation of the curriculum, monitoring process and evaluation of teachers and allocation of resources to make the program successful. They also encourage team work and transparency as opposed to their counterparts through delegation of powers to their juniors, a tactic that enhances learning growth. Recent definition of an instructional and pedagogical leader by Pont, Nusche and Moorman (2008) has shifted to include teaching and learning. Some of the scholars have further defined this kind of leadership as ‘learning leadership’. The community in such a learning environment uphold team work as the guiding principal. This entails constant meetings by staff members to discuss, reflect an d modify the learning process together as a team. To further avoid any future conflict that may arise, the members are armed with a problem-solving model to come up with a solution. The community creates a learning culture that leads to student’s success. Administrative leaders on the other hand are more attentive to the general running of the school as regards its finances, school projects and other factors affecting the general management of the school. They isolate themselves from the learning and teaching process leaving it entirely to the juniors to device their own curriculum. This leads to teacher’s laxity which in turn leads to a decline in students’ performances (Anderson and Cawsey 2008). Striking a Balance between the Administrative Role and the Pedagogical/Instructional Role For school leaders to be classified as effective leaders, they need to get deeply involved in the learning and teaching process while at the same time managing their administrati ve role. While this seems to be a challenging task, it is possible through application of various workable solutions. While teaching and learning has been termed as the core business in any learning institution, the school’s management needs to be kept running to ensure success in the said core business. Failure to effectively manage one can render the other one futile. Several scholars have proposed some workable models that can help strike a balance between these competing roles hence reclaiming the lost pedagogical and instructional roles of school leaders. This balancing model can be analysed through five strategic dimensions that play a big role in impacting quality knowledge to students. One of the dimensions is through promotion and active participation in teacher learning development. Crowther, Ferguson and Hann (2008) argue that a school leader needs to be actively involved in all activities pertaining to professional and developmental learning. This has proved to ha ve great impact on the student’s performance outcome. The school leader can be involved through formal or informal contexts. Formal context entails organising and participating in staff meetings and formal professional sessions. The informal context requires the school leader to not only initiate team building sessions that bring together all the members of the staff but to actively participate in them too. Team building session helps the members to identify problems that hinder the learning process and to come up with solutions to these problems through rigorous discussions. Scholars have suggested that such leaders who take this initiative begin to develop a focus in the learning and teaching process. They further get to learn their staff and how they operate. This helps the leaders to know the problems that the staff members are likely to face hence helping them with adequate support ranging from teaching resources to coming up with a valid timetable. Lastly, they learn to appreciate all the stages and time-line involved in the transformation process. The dimension not only involves itself in the learning process but also the administration role. The leader learns to involve the members of the staff in matters that affect the general running of the school hence helping to strike a balance between the two competing roles. The other dimension is through planning, evaluation and implementation of teaching curriculum. The school leaders need to be directly involved in the teaching process through regular attendance in classrooms. Recent study has indicated that giving a feedback to the teachers regarding their teaching tactics in class has played a key role in positive student outcomes (Mullen 2007). Such leaders play a vital role in coordinating an effective school curriculum to be used in all the levels. They also work together with staff members to plan, evaluate and implement their teaching curriculum. The curriculum also ensures a monitoring policy that closely follows the progress of student’s performance and evaluating the results in order to enhance future teaching programs. An effective teaching curriculum not only ensures exemplary performance but also help to create a good image of the school’s administration to the society. The image is an indication that the school head has the managerial abilities to run the school’s administration. Another dimension requires the leaders to come up with goals and expectations. This is by establishing an effective and workable vision and mission statement and to own it. The mission and vision statement encompass the goals and expectations set by both teachers and the students. It is therefore important to actively involve them in setting up these learning goals. Though it can be argued that this dimension plays a very minimal role in student outcome, it has significant learning impact to the students and staff by allowing them develop a specific focus. The school l eader is able to give priority to student achievement by ensuring that the goals are met and that the teaching curriculum correlates with the set school objectives. On the other hand, the goals and objectives also oversee the general running of the school by acting as the guiding principles. Strategic resourcing is also another dimension that the leader should actively be involved in. Strategic decisions concerning allocation of resources to aid in the learning and teaching process have an indirect impact in the student performance outcomes. The resources cover the school staffing and provision of teaching materials that facilitate the learning process. What is important is the ability of the leader to secure adequate resources that relates to the pedagogical set goals and objectives. The school leader on the other hand gains an additional skill to allocate resources required in the managerial role as well. The last dimension is to make certain that an orderly and supportive learnin g environment is maintained. School leaders should ensure a safe and caring haven for both its teaching staff and the students. The intervention mode by school heads to ensure such an environment helps to create a balance between the competing roles. Some of the interventions include setting up a standard discipline code, ensuring minimal conflicts that tends to disrupt the learning process and to protect the teaching staff from undue pressure from outside participants such as the parents or the school board. Implications Of The Dimensions The final question that requires to be answered is whether the dimensions play any key role in striking a balance in a leader’s competitive roles so as to ensure quality learning and teaching process. The dimensions seem to create a link between the leaders and other participants involved in the learning process. This creates an implication of team work that helps in solving problems. It further helps to strike a balance by ensuring key eva luation in student performances that effectively embeds positive experiences. The dimensions also include all the key areas in the school environment and serves as a focal point of leadership that ensures flexibility in affecting decisions made by the participants. Conclusion In order for school leaders to strike a balance between being both administrative and instructional/pedagogical leaders, they need first to focus on effective mode of leadership rather than the bureaucratic approach. The school head should then apply the dimensions in order to effectively get involved in the teaching and learning process on one hand and the managerial role on the other. This makes the heads partake the student’s performance as their core business hence meeting the ultimate requirement as an instructional or pedagogical leader. Reference List Anderson, M and Cawsey, C (2008) Learning for leadership: building a school of  Professional practice. Camberwell, Australian Council for Educatio nal Research Press. Crowther, F., Ferguson, M and Hann, L (2008) Developing Teacher Leaders: How  Teacher Leadership Enhances School Success. London, SAGE Publications. Davies, B (2005) The essentials of school leadership. London, Paul Chapman Publishing and Corwin Press. Davies, B and Ellison, L (2001) School leadership for the 21st century. A competency  and knowledge approach. New York, Routledge. Duke, D.L (2010) The Challenges of School District Leadership. New York, Routledge. Grace, R.G (1995) School leadership: beyond education management: an essay in  policy scholarship. Bristol, The Falmer Press. Mullen, C (2007) Curriculum leadership development: a guide for aspiring school  leaders. Sydney, John Wiley Sons Australia Ltd. Pont, B., Nusche, D and Moorman, H (2008) Improving school leadership: Policy and  practice. New Zealand, OECD Publishing. Robinson, V (2007) William Walker Oration: School Leadership and Student Outcomes  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Identifying What Works and Why. [Online] Available at: www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/series/2515/13723. This essay on School Leadership was written and submitted by user F1sher to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

sickle cell disease essays

sickle cell disease essays The genetic disorder I was told to research was the Sickle Cell Disease. I will explain what mutation causes this disease, the characteristics of it, and what has developed in the area The Sickle Cell Disease is an inherited disease. The gene for hemogoblin-S (which causes the disease) is the most common inherited blood condition in America; although most people only inherit one copy of the gene for HbS, while the other gene, hemogoblin-A, is normal, and can override HbS, blocking the disease. These people have the HbS trait, but not the disease, therefore leading a normal life. For an offspring to acquire the disease, both parents must have the HbS gene, yet the child only has a 25% chance of having Sickle Cells. You cannot catch the disease, you are born with it and it is There are many complications and harmful effects as the result of the Sickle Cell Disease. The disease causes hemoglobin in the red blood cells, when it does not receive sufficient oxygen, to form into long, sickle shapes with a sticky, chemical surface. When blood cells are this form, they cannot go through the capillaries, blocking off both blood and oxygen. Fortunately only 20% of all red blood cells become Sickle Cells; the sickle cells have a shorter life span; and most blood cells go through the capillaries before becoming sickle-shaped. The most painful effect known from Sickle Cell Disease are episodes of pain called Sickle Cell Crisis, where the body is in need of oxygen, either from physical activities or a sickle blood cell blocking blood passages that lead to organs. The first day is the worst, where devastating pain goes to the arm, leg, and back, along with the shortness of breath. The other symptoms of Sickle Cells include: strokes, increased infections, early gallstones, yellow discoloring of eyes and skin, low blood cell counts ...

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Analysing the Concept of and Impact of Culture

Analysing the Concept of and Impact of Culture More than a half century ago noted American poet T. S. Eliot eloquently expressed the complexity of the term culture, a term that is used so freely and with so little aforethought today. As Eliot learned, culture is quite difficult to define. He succeeded in describing the term, as Lord Evans (2001) noted, but a definition eluded even someone with Eliots gift for words. But Eliot was not alone in wrestling with defining culture; experts in a variety of disciplines have yet to agree on a consensus definition and some even contest the concept of culture itself. As this essay will demonstrate, controversy surrounding the concept of culture can be attributed, to a large degree, to the failure by those who study the topic to adopt a widely-accepted definition that adequately captures the complexity of the term. After presenting the results of a literature review on various definitions of culture and the topic of culture as a contested concept, the focus of the essay turns to the significance of culture in conflict resolution, demonstrating that culture is a critical factor in successfully resolving conflicts and, further, that a consensus definition for culture that reflects the realities of modern society would facilitate the conflict resolution process. Culture Defined Experts may not be able to agree on a definition for culture, but they apparently experience no difficulty in agreeing that culture is a difficult term to define (Edensor 2002; Hall 1980, cited in Park 2005). Susan Wright (1998) reports the existence of at least 164 definitions for culture. Noted sociologist and anthropologist Clyde Kluckhohn (1949) defined culture eleven different ways in his book Mirror for Man, and he and his colleagues (1952) catalogued more than 160 definitions for culture into six categories – descriptive, historical, normative, psychological, generic, and incomplete. Raymond Williams writes that, in the term culture, history has bestowed â€Å"one of the two or three most complicated words in the English language†, adding that culture can be used to refer to a wide range of phenomena and that the concept of culture has produced major political and philosophical disagreement (Williams 1983, cited in Chay 1990). Kluckhohn (1954) developed one of the most often cited definitions for culture in writing that it â€Å"consists in patterned ways of thinking, feeling and reacting, acquired and transmitted mainly by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievements of human groups, including their embodiments in artifacts†. Culture has also been defined as â€Å"that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society† (Tylor 1871, cited in Kluckhohn 1952); â€Å"the human-made part of the environment† (Herskovits 1955, cited in Earley and Randal 1997); â€Å"shared meaning systems† (Shweder and LeVine 1984, cited in Earley and Randal 1997); â€Å"the sum total and organization of the social heritages which have acquired a social meaning because of racial temperament and of the historical life of the group† (Park and Burgess 1921, cited in Kluckhohn 1952); â€Å"th e mode of life followed by the community or the tribe [including] all standardized social procedures† (Wissler 1929, cited in Kluckhohn 1952); â€Å"the sum of mens adjustments to their life-conditions†¦attained only through the combined action of variation, selection, and transmission† (Sumner and Keller 1927, cited in Kluckhohn 1952); and â€Å"a product of human association† (Groves 1928, cited in Kluckhohn 1952). In the aggregate, the various definitions just presented express the theme of shared meanings acquired then passed from generation to generation. They also describe culture at group and societal levels. Other experts describe the term from the perspective of the individual or otherwise provide for differences in cultural attributes within a group or society. Hofstede (1980, cited in Earley and Randel 1997) defines culture as â€Å"a set of mental programs that control an individuals responses in a given context†. Park (2005) describes culture as a â€Å"marker for difference† in society. And Rohner (1984, cited in Earley and Randel 1997) defines the term as â€Å"the totality of equivalent and complementary learned meanings maintained by a human population, or by identifiable segments of a population, and transmitted from one generation to the next†. The phrase â€Å"equivalent and complementary learned meanings† is critical to an understanding of Rohners definition, according to Earley and Randel, because it provides for individual variances in interpretations of â€Å"learned meanings† within a culture. Although these definitions represent only a small portion of those revealed from a review of the literature, they provide some insight into the range of thought on the topic of culture, especially perspectives on assessing culture at various levels – societal, group, and individual. As will be suggested, the difficulty experts have experienced in defining culture helps to explain why culture is a contested concept and why a solution to the definitional problem is important to resolving the debate about the role of culture in conflict resolution and, ultimately, to facilitating the conflict resolution process. Culture as a Contested Concept Fantasia and Hirsch (1995, cited in Ellis and Thompson, 1997) write, with a hint of sarcasm, that cultural theorists can take pride in their creation of a â€Å"contested terrain† in the study of culture. The literature review indicated that most experts who contest the concept of culture base their disputes on the belief that, in the modern world, there is no all-embracing culture in which everyone in a given society blindly holds precisely the same shared meanings, which is suggested by most traditional definitions of culture. The concept of culture has long been contested (Cooper and Denner 1998; Mathews 2000). Bhabha (1993) writes that, as people have increasingly migrated to other lands in modern times, they have only taken part of their total culture with them. The culture of these migrants becomes a mixture of the cultures from their native societies and those found in the society in which they entered. Heath (1997) writes that experts no longer consider culture to be a viable concept â€Å"in a world of volatile, situated, and overlapping social identities†, contending that various disciplines have taken issue with culture as a concept for various reasons. She writes that educators protest the concept on the basis of â€Å"its transmission of connotations of objectivity, discreteness, essentialism, and ahistoricism†; sociologists challenge the concept on the grounds of â€Å"production, mass consumerism, and popular entertainment†; and experts from the human sciences contest the â€Å"totalizing universalizing perspectives† of culture, replacing these â€Å"arbitrary constructions† with â€Å"permeable membranes† that are not â€Å"predictable or deterministic†. Heath (1997) also points to the â€Å"fuzzy boundaries† of culture, arguing that specific cultures are hard to isolate and claiming that variations are becoming apparent within groups that have been traditionally viewed as possessing unique cultures. Edensor (2002) writes that popular culture is having a major cross-cultural effect on traditional cultures. Childs and Storry (1999) claim that cultures are changing so quickly that â€Å"a snapshot of current cultural practices is inevitably going to be blurred†. Mathews (2000), in noting that even anthropologists are increasingly avoiding the term culture, poses the question as to whether â€Å"in todays world of global flows and interactions† cultural â€Å"labels† are appropriate and claims tha t individuals personally select which elements of a given culture to apply in their behavioural decisions. Brightman (1995, cited in Mathews 2000) notes that some experts are enclosing culture in quotation marks to indicate their â€Å"ambivalence, self-consciousness or censure† about the term. In closing, perhaps Earley and Randel (1997) offer the one of the more revealing insights into the controversy over the term culture: â€Å"We suggest that while the romance of culture as a grand concept capturing the complexity of society and life is tempting, this conceptualization is both limiting and misleading†. The Significance of Culture in Conflict Resolution Conflict resolution and culture are intrinsically intertwined. Rubin and colleagues (1994, cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry 1997) define conflict as â€Å"perceived divergence of interest, or a belief that parties current aspirations cannot be achieved simultaneously†. Hopmann (1998) contends that, in a complex world, conflict is unavoidable. Conflict is an inevitable consequence of the interdependence inherent in human interaction (Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry 1997). Processes used to resolve conflicts must be considered within a larger cultural context (Just 1991). Conflicts are cultural events in every sense of the word, according to Lederach (1991). Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry (1997) write that â€Å"conflict resolution is a cultural phenomenon†. Avruch (1991) refers to conflicts and conflict resolution approaches as â€Å"cultural events†. Various studies have confirmed that conflict resolution processes are culture-specific (Avruch and Black 1991; Avurch, Black and Scimec ca 1991, cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry 1997). Ross (1993, cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry 1997) originated the term culture of conflict to describe the norms and institutions that a society applies in conflicts. Beliefs, attitudes, and patterns of behaviours about conflict are internalised by people in their cultural settings and, in turn, strengthened by cultural norms and institutions. And, because conflict is a cultural phenomenon, the methods used to perceive and respond to conflict are typically transparent to those involved because these methods are based on assumptions that they do not question. (Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry 1997) Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry (1997) urge caution in applying conflict resolution approaches across cultural lines. For instance, they recommend that generic manuals prescribing conflict resolution procedures to be used in all cultural settings should be avoided (Avruch 1991). People involved in conflict resolution should be flexible and sensitive to cultural differences, according to Lederach (1991, cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist) and Benvenisti (1986, cited in Avruch 1991). Benvenisti chastises conflict resolvers â€Å"who believe that communal conflicts are like a chessboard where one can think up the best arrangement of chess pieces and move them all at once†. Cultures vary in the mechanisms they use in resolving conflict with some applying formal mechanisms such as court systems and others using informal approaches such as gossip, teasing, and exclusion (Black 1993; Fry 1992, 1994; Hollan 1988; White 1991, cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry 1997). Versi (2002) suggests that â€Å"if you know where the other person is coming from culturally†, you can develop a more effective approach to resolving conflict. Rubin (1994, cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry 1997), articulates four generic strategies used in conflict resolution: (1) contending, which involves a high level of concern for ones own results and a low level of concern for the others results; (2) problem solving, which involves high levels of concern for ones own results and those of the other party; (3) yielding, which involves a low level of concern for ones own results and a high level of concern for the others results; and (4) avoiding, which involves low levels of concern for ones own results and those of the other party. Of these, the authors argue that problem solving is the most effective strategy because it permits both contenders to win. Fortunately, the problem solving strategy is effective across a broad spectrum of cultures. In problem solving, the use of a non-partisan third-party facilitator has also been found to be effective across cultures (Black 1993, cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry 1997). The Culture Definition Dilemma and Its Effects on Optimal Conflict Resolution Outcomes The debate about culture, specifically the controversy surrounding the validity of culture as a concept, is important to the field of conflict resolution because cultural factors are so inexorably linked to conflicts and their effective resolutions. Results of the literature review of definitions for the term culture and the review of literature on culture as a contested concept suggest that definitions describing culture as a group or societal phenomenon without allowing for variance within the group or society may be at the root of the cultural concept validity dispute. As Bhabha (1993), Childs and Storry (1999), Edensor (2002), Heath (1997), and Mathews (2000) proffer, modern societies are increasingly integrating and, as this occurs, their members are mixing their unique cultural attributes with one another thereby blurring the distinctions that once defined individual cultures. But does this mean that the concept of culture is invalid? The answer to that question lies in the definitions of culture that allow for individual variance in cultural attributes. For instance, the definition offered by Rohner (1984, cited in Earley and Randel 1997), who defines the term as â€Å"the totality of equivalent and complementary learned meanings maintained by a human population, or by identifiable segments of a population, and transmitted from one generation to the next†, provides for individual variances in interpretations of â€Å"learned meanings† within a culture. This definition seems offer the flexibility to adequately define culture within the context of modern intermingled societies, thus revalidating the concept of culture. How, then, would a definition for culture that provides for individual variance relate to conflict resolution? Although a definition that considers everyone within a particular culture to share precisely the same cultural attributes would help to make conflict resolution a much more predictable process, such a definition does not reflect the realities of modern societies. However, knowing that members of a culture share â€Å"equivalent and complementary learned meanings†, as proposed by Rohner, permits a certain degree of predictability whilst simultaneously providing needed flexibility to accommodate individual variance. There may even be an additional benefit in this condition for practitioners in conflict resolution. Individual variance may actually serve to weaken strong cultural barriers that have, in the past, obstructed successful conflict resolution. For instance, as cultures integrate more fully, their members typically become more understanding of each others cultur al attributes. This understanding should provide an enhanced common basis for resolving conflicts and may even reduce the incidence of conflicts themselves. Conclusion In the modern global village, as opportunities increase for people and their cultures to interact, the need for effective conflict resolution has never been more critical or more difficult, yet experts in a variety of disciplines are engaged in seemingly endless philosophical arguments about the validity of culture as a concept, diverting their energies from what seem to be more productive endeavours such as developing new techniques for conflict resolution that could lead to a more peaceful world. Adopting a more flexible definition for culture – one that recognises individual variances and the realities of the modern world – would be a first step in achieving this worthy goal. References Avruch, K. (1991) Introduction: Culture and conflict-resolution, in K. Avruch, P. W. Black, and J. A. Scimecca, eds., Conflict Resolution: Cross Cultural Perspectives, Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood. Avruch, K., and Black, P. W. (1991) The culture question and conflict resolution, Peace and Change 16. Cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry (1997). Avruch, K., Black, P. W., and Scimecca, J. A., (1991) Conflict Resolution: Cross-Cultural Perspectives, Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. Cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry (1997). Benvenisti, Meron (1986) Conflicts and Contradictions, New York: Villard Books/Random House. Cited in Avruch (1991). Bhabha, Homi K. (1993) Cultures in between, Artforum International 32:1, September 1993. Bjà ¶rkqvist, Kaj, and Fry, Douglas P. (1997) Cultural Variation in Conflict Resolution: Alternatives to Violence, Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Black, D. (1993) The Social Structure of Right and Wrong, San Diego, California: Academic Press. Cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry (1997). Brightman, R. (1995) Forget culture: Replacement, transcendence, relexification, Cultural Anthropology 10:4. Cited in Mathews (2000). Chay, Jongsuk (1990) Culture and International Relations, New York: Praeger. Childs, Peter, and Storry, Mike (1999) Encyclopedia of Contemporary British Culture, London: Routledge. Cooper, Catherine R., and Denner, Jill (1998) Theories linking culture and psychology: Universal and community-specific processes, Annual Review of Psychology 49. Earley, P. Christopher, and Randel, Amy E. (1997) Culture without borders: An individual-level approach to cross-cultural research in organizational behavior, in Cary L. Cooper and Susan E. Jackson, eds., Creating Tomorrows Organizations: A Handbook for Future Research in Organizational Behavior, Chichester: John Wiley Sons. Edensor, Tim (2002) National Identity, Popular Culture and Everyday Life, Oxford: Berg. Eliot, T. S. (1949) Notes Towards the Definition of Culture, New York: Harcourt Brace and Company, 62. Ellis, Richard J., and Thompson, Michael (1997) Culture Matters: Essays in Honor of Aaron Wildavsky, Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press. Evans, Lord (2001) The economy of the imagination, New Statesman 130:4544, July 2, 2001. Fantasia, Rick, and Hirsch, Eric L. (1995), Culture and rebellion: the appropriation and transformation of the veil in the Algerian Revolution, in Hank Johnston and Bert Klandermans, eds., Social Movements and Culture, Minneapolis, Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press. Cited in Ellis and Thompson (1997). Fry, D. P. (1992) Female aggression among the Zapotec of Oaxaca, Mexico, in K. Bjà ¶rkqvist and P. Niemelà ¤, eds., Of Mice and Women: Aspects of Female Aggression, San Diego, California: Academic Press. Cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry (1997). Fry, D. P. (1994) Maintaining social tranquillity: Internal and external loci of aggression control, in L. E. Sponsel and T. Gregor, eds., The Anthropology of Peace and Nonviolence, Boulder, Colorado: Lynne Rienner. Cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry (1997). Groves, E. R. (1928) An Introduction to Sociology, New York. Cited in Kluckhohn (1952). Hall, S. (1980) Cultural studies: Two paradigms, in F. E. N. B. Dirk and S. B. Ortner, eds., A Reader in Contemporary Social Theory, Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. Cited in Park (2005). Heath, Shirley Brice (1997) Culture: Contested realm in research on children and youth, Personality and Social Psychology Review 1:3. Herskovits, M. J. (1955) Cultural Anthropology, New York: Knopf. Cited in Earley and Randel (1997). Hofstede, G. (1980) Cultures Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values, Newbury Park, California: Sage. Cited in Earley and Randel (1997). Hollan, D. (1988) Staying cool in Toraja: Informal strategies for the management of anger and hostility in a non-violent society, Ethos 16. Cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry (1997). Hopmann, Terrence (1998) The Negotiation Process and the Resolution of International Conflicts, Columbia, South Carolina: Columbia South Carolina Press. Just, Peter (1991) Conflict resolution and moral community among the Dou Donggo, in Kevin Avruch, Peter W. Black, and Joseph A. Scimecca, eds., Conflict Resolution: Cross-Cultural Perspectives, Westport, Connecticut: Praeger. Kluckhohn, C. (1949) Mirror for Man, New York: Wittlesey House. Kluckhohn, Clyde (1954) Culture and Behavior, New York: Free Press. Kluckhohn, Clyde et al. (1952) Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Peabody Museum. Lederach, John Paul (1991) Of nets, nails, and problems: The folk language of conflict resolution in a Central American settting, in Kevin Avruch, Peter W. Black, and Joseph A. Scimecca, eds., Conflict Resolution: Cross-Cultural Perspectives, Westport, Connecticut: Praeger. Mathews, Gordon (2000) Searching for Home in the Cultural Supermarket, London: Routledge. Park, R. E., and Burgess, E. W. (1921) Introduction to the Science of Sociology, Chicago. Cited in Kluckhohn (1952). Park, Yoosun (2005) Culture as deficit: A critical discourse analysis of the concept of culture in contemporary social work discourse, Journal of Sociology Social Work 32:3. Rohner, R. R. (1984) Toward a conception of culture for cross-cultural psychology, Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 15:2. Cited in Earley and Randel (1997). Ross, M. H. (1993) The Management of Conflict, New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. Cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry (1997). Rubin, J. Z., Pruitt, D. G., and Kim, S. H. (1994) Social Conflict: Escalation, Stalemate and Settlement, New York: McGraw-Hill. Cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry (1997). Shweder, R. A. and LeVine, R. A. (1984) Culture Theory: Essays on Mind, Self, and Emotion, New York: Cambridge University Press. Cited in Earley and Randel (1997). Sumner, W. G., and Keller, A. G. (1927) The Science of Society, New Haven, Connecticut. Cited in Kluckhohn (1952). Tylor, E. B. (1871) Primitive Culture, Boston. Cited in Kluckhohn (1952). Versi, Anver (2002) Coping with culture clash, African Business, May 2002. White, G. M. (1991) Rhetoric, reality, and resolving conflicts: Disentangling in a Solomon Islands society, in K. Avruch, P. W. Black, and J. A. Schimecca, eds., Conflict Resolution: Cross-Cultural Perspectives, Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood. Cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry (1997). Wissler, C. (1929) An Introduction to Social Anthropology, New York. Cited in Kluckhohn (1952). Williams, Raymond (1983) Keywords, London: Fontana. Cited in Chay (1990). Wright, Susan (1998) The politicization of culture, Anthropology Today 14:1.

Affirmative Action :: essays research papers

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION I. â€Å"We didn’t land on Plymouth Rock, my brothers and sisters – Plymouth Rock landed on us!† Malcolm X’s observation is brought out by the facts of American History. Snatched from their native land, transported thousands of miles – in a nightmare of disease and death – and sold into slavery, blacks were reduced to the legal status of farm animals. Even after emancipation, blacks were segregated from whites – in some states by law, and by social practice almost everywhere. American apartheid continued for another century.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1954 the Supreme Court declared state-compelled segregation in schools unconstitutional, and it followed up that decision with others that struck down many forms of official segregation. Still, discrimination survived, and in most southern states blacks were either discouraged or prohibited from exercising their right to vote. Not until the 1960’s was compulsory segregation finally and effectively challenged. Between 1964 and 1968 Congress passed the most sweeping civil rights legislation since the end of the Civil War. It banned discrimination in employment, public accommodations (hotels, motels, restaurants, etc.), and housing; it also guaranteed voting rights for blacks in areas suspected of disenfranchising blacks. Today, several agencies in the federal government exercise sweeping powers to enforce these civil rights measures.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  But is that enough? Equality of condition between blacks and whites seems as elusive as ever. The black unemployment rate is double that of whites, and the percentage of black families living in poverty is nearly four times that of whites. Only a small percentage of blacks ever make it into medical school or law schools.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Advocates of affirmative action have focused upon these differences to support their argument that it is no longer enough just to stop discrimination. Liberal Democrats feel that the damage done by three centuries of racism now has to be remedied, they argue, and effective remediation requires a policy of â€Å"affirmative action.† At the heart of affirmative action is the use of â€Å"numerical goals.† Opponents call them â€Å"racial quotas.† Whatever the name, what they imply is the setting aside of a certain number of jobs or positions for blacks or other historically oppressed groups. Conservative Republicans charge that affirmative action really amounts to reverse discrimination, that it penalizes innocent people simply because they are white, that it often results in unqualified appointments, and that it ends up harming instead of helping blacks.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The issue of preferences to address historical patterns of racial, ethnic, and gender discrimination has received a great deal of attention nationally.

Meaning of life †Human Essay

?According to Albert Camus â€Å"You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life. † People can define happiness in various ways, for ones it means achieving their set goals while for others happiness means serving for society, and finally some people interpret happiness as finding the meaning of their life. People can spend their whole time only searching for the meaning of life, and they forget or ignore the life and real time that passes by. Unfortunately, you can search for the meaning of life and still not find it, or it can come to you with age. Significant events such as surviving the airplane or car crashes or losing the important people in one’s life, force humans to reconsider their values or beliefs, and can help to find the true meaning of life. Meaning of life is something that comes with the age, wisdom or experience. It is also hard to define what the meaning of life is, for it can be easily misinterpreted with the goals or values. I do not have my own meaning of life yet, for I am young, I have not so much experience in my life, and I cannot actually define what the meaning of life is. To begin with, I am not fully mature as a person because I am only twenty years old and my life has just started. Consequently, wanting to enjoy all the charms of my young life I try not to think about difficult topics such as meaning of life. I value my time that I have now, so I want to spend it learning and gaining an experience. The only thing I can figure out in this research on meaning of life, is that people value one thing – time. Having time we can find something or someone, develop ourselves and etc. Theoretically, we can do everything when we have time, but when we have time and do not have someone for whom we can spend it – our life becomes meaningless. Life becomes meaningful when we can spend time on objects and subjects that are important for us. As I am living with my parents, I do not even think about how to earn money, rise future generation and become independent person. I do not have to be a breadwinner at home, and I do not have to work yet. I do not have children, so I do not take the responsibility for treating my children right. However, it would be helpful to find out the meaning of life before I become a parent, for it would help me to raise my children right. My life is easier now, so I do not stop to think about the meaning of my life. Although I am dependent on my parents because they give me shelter, food and opportunity to get an education, I feel that being independent also would lead to thoughts about the meaning of life. Being a young adult give me the opportunity to gain an experience that could help me find the meaning of life. I am learning at the LCC university where professors from different countries tell their stories about their own life experience, and it seems that the person should have an experience in order to have a meaning of life. The experience of meeting different people, being introduced to different cultures, beliefs and values, and seeing the real adult life, all these experiences bring an insight about the meaning that the person can find in life. It is very difficult to find the right definition of meaning of life. When persons speak about creation of family or being a successful in work, it seems like goals and it is, but some people see it as the meaning. I can also assume that being happy and appreciative person has the real meaning in life, but is it the meaning of life? Maybe we should find the meaning that would lead us to feel happy and appreciative. I think that meaning of life does not even exist. There are only purposes. Love, family, friendship – are only purposes, and purpose is not the meaning. Why? Because they answer the question of approachability, we can reach it or not. Theoretically, if these things were meaningful, life would end when we reach all of them. Meaning is sort of general idea, which is accessible and equal to all. It cannot answer the question of feasibility. Actually, the meaning of life should by absolute verity. Overall, this is the topic that brings many thoughts to my mind. For now I can say that I do not have any specific meaning of my life so far. I am young, rebel, adventure seeking person, and the spirit that now lives in my soul gives me the opportunity to live and enjoy the fruits of my young adulthood years, and I rarely stop to think about the real meaning of life. I do not know whether it is right or wrong that I do not pay much attention for such topic. I believe that people become wiser with years, and that wisdom would bring the need to evaluate the life and to seek and find the meaning of it. I also cannot actually define what the meaning of life is, and I think that some people cannot find out it through their life. Overall, life is already meaningful as the person lives and breathes.

the child and society essays

the child and society essays Growing up in Brooklyn was never always an easy thing to go through; however, it did have its moments. There were the summer time games of stick ball and rat tag, corner cards and dice, but what brought a smile to Tonys face the most as he sat reminiscing the days gone by, was the people. The people were always great, they had their faults and issues, but they were his people, and this was his home. And, as Tony sat on his balcony in the same old wooden chair his father use to sit on all those years ago, he felt at ease, a surge of wisdom running thru his mind as he stared onto the streets of his neighborhood. Some children gathered around a fire hydrant shooting water out of one spout, in their shorts, as he had at the same hydrant all those years ago. That hydrant was always easy to open. The old men sat out side Vitos Deli playing checkers and talking politics. Vito died many years before, but the men still came and the name never changed. The younger men, slicked back hair, leath er jackets and smoking non-stop sat out side the local pool hall and bar, whistling at the young girls walking to the market. This was the same Brooklyn he had run away from. It had never changed, clothes hanging from the balconies and rooftops, the shops were the same, and even the old cars were still driven and parked along the streets. Most of all, the people were the same, maybe they were the sons and daughters of the old generation, but they were still the same people. How strange the world is, Tony thought, you can never know what to expect. He remembered what his mother said to him when he was sixteen, he never understood it then, he thought she was just trying to translate some old Italian proverb, but now he understood, now he knew what she meant, if he only he had realized then, things would have been so different, but how was he to know, he was only a kid, and kids were not expected to know adult things at that age. Children were at ...

Weimar Republic Essays - Politics Of Germany, Germany, Free Essays

Weimar Republic Essays - Politics Of Germany, Germany, Free Essays Weimar Republic A path to a dead end: the Weimar Republics inevitable failure and the rise of Hitler to power. There were various factors that contributed to the failure of the Weimar Republic of Germany and the ascent of Hitlers National Socialist German Workers Party into power on January 30, 1933. Various conflicting problems were concurrent with the eventuation of the Republic that, from the outset, its first governing body the socialist party (SPD) was forced to contend with. These included the aspect of German imperialism, the unresolved defeat of 1918, financial collapse and the forced struggle against the activities of the National party as well as inflation. Other factors which influenced the failure of Weimar were the structural weaknesses induced by the constitution and the basic lack of support for the Republic among the German people particularly amongst the elite. All in all, these aspects were the major causes which doomed the Weimar republic to ultimate failure and the eventual ascent of Hillers nationalist party to power. The new socialist government of Weimar (SPD), whose constitution was adopted on July 30, 1919, entered a situation they by no means created. The period during which they were appointed to rule was associated with defeat and misery, and when disorder was nationwide. The situation then, was that of revolution. However, rather than to make a socialist revolution they co-operated with the liberals and with the catholic centre party to lead Germany in a reformed version of her old self. In June 1919, they voted to comply with the treaty of Versailles (the vindictive settlement imposed by the Paris peace conference). However, the signing of the Treaty served to promote protest and unrest amongst the soldiers, sailors and the German people generally, and democracy thus resulted in becoming an alien device. The imperial army, for instance, never got over the humiliation of surrender which they felt was a stab in the back by their own countrymen. The sailors at Kiel mutinied in a last despera te effort on October 28 and On November 9, 1919, the streets were filled with crowds marching to demonstrate at the centre of Berlin. Similarly, even before the contingency of these incidents, the centre party, a liberal group who were the coalition government of the acting SPD formed by Phillip Scheidemann, resigned rather than sign the Treaty of Versailles. Besides, German patriotism was strong, in particular because the German people believed they had fought a defensive war and were told their soldiers were unconquered in the field. Therefore, the humiliating Treaty came as a rude shock to the German people who, correspondingly, blamed the politicians for betraying the soldiers in signing the armistice and saw them as compounding their treason by accepting the peace settlement. They spoke of the November criminals and protested A nation of seventy million suffers, but does not die. These factors propagated in the promotion of anti republican feeling, the conclusions of which were clearly reflected in the results of the election of June 1920. To illustrate, the SPD lost nearly half its seats (many to the USDP) and the right wing parties (DVP and DNVP) increased their share at the expense of the democrats. Defeated on the battlefield, defeated at the conference table, defeated at the polls, the republic embarked on its uncertain career. Furthermore, compliance with the Treaty of Versailles meant that Germany would have to make reparation payments it could scarcely afford. This fact placed a heavy strain on the already suffering economy of Germany which was bankrupted by four years of war thus ensuing in the ascend of inflation and the occasioning of the respite of payments by Germany in 1922. In January the already traumatic climate in Germany was exacerbated by its evasiveness and reluctance to pay overdue reparations. The French reacted by occupying the Ruhr, a major industrial area of Germany, in January 1923. This was felt a grave humiliation by the German people and eventuated in widespread discontent. The economic distress caused by the French occupation of the Ruhr and the German passive resistance was enormous. Consequently, workers in the Ruhr mines and factories resisted by striking. However, Germanys currency was already fragile, and in face of the occurring circumstances

Chapter 11 & 12 Review Questions and Bank of America CRM System Assignment

Chapter 11 & 12 Review Questions and Bank of America CRM System - Assignment Example The third motivation is the need for integration of all processes of a business in order to create value to stakeholders and customers. Another motivation is the need to save costs incurred in products or services provision processes. Also, it is extremely significant to offer goods and services of high quality to esteemed customers. Therefore, the motivation for quality assurance drives an organization to adopt a good supply chain management system. Besides, every company aims at satisfying the desires of its customers. It is this motivation for customer satisfaction that encourages an organization to take initiatives for managing the various components of supply chain and logistics (Lambert, D. M., & Supply Chain Management Institute.2008). Supply chain management can be said to be the process of managing storage and movement of raw materials, assemblies, work-in-progress inventory and the finished products from a set of the point of origin to the last point of consumption. The supply chain management entails the suppliers sourcing, procurement, inventory management, product production management, warehousing, distribution and customer relationship management. It is also composed of the whole logistics systems. That is inbound logistics, outbound logistics, transportation, distribution, warehousing of goods to the final consumers. Supply chain management can be depicted as the process of planning, designing, executing, controlling and monitoring the activities of supply chain with the aim of creating value, leveraging worldwide logistics, establishing a competitive infrastructure, measuring global performance and synchronizing demand with supply. The supply chain management uses the supply chain management software to integrate and monitor its various activities. There two major types of supply chain management software are execution applications and planning applications. Planning

Reading response 4 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Reading response 4 - Assignment Example However, when a learner is giving a speech, then errors in using language forms can lead to confusion. The authors have also pointed that â€Å"the identity of the researcher has an impact on the speech of second language learners† (Bayley and Tarone, 2013, p.43). For instance, a L2 learner uses more native accent in their second language speech when interviewed by their native people than by foreigners. It has also been stated that people living in a community have the same style of variations in their language. This theory is not clear since each individual may have difference in variation degrees. The authors have also used Liu’s longitudinal study of L2 variation on a five year old Chinese immigrant â€Å"Bob† to Australia (Bayley and Tarone, 2013, p.46). It was observed that in his developmental stage of learning English, Bob used more complex sentences when conversing with friends and peers, and simpler sentences when conversing with teachers. It proved tha t Bob’s L2 acquisition is faster in informal environment. In the fourth chapter which is on sociocultural theory (SCT), the author Lantolf has said that â€Å"although SCT is a general theory of human mental development, it has been productively extended to include the investigation of second language development† (Lantolf, 2013, p.57). The basic concept of this theory, according to the author, is how a speaker masters â€Å"narrative performance through private speech† (Lantolf, 2013, p.57). Therefore, it can be observed that the level of second language acquisition does not depend only on internal ability of the learner, but also the external interactions that have a major impact on the learner’s ability to learn. The major question explored in this chapter is the extent to which an individual uses his second language for cognitive thinking. It has been found from various