Different Types of Business

1. Sole trader – the oldest form of trading there is, it’s also the simplest and the most common type of business you’ll find. The clue is in the name – meaning that you are solely responsible for everything the business does and you’re often known as the proprietor. This is the usual form for small shops and businesses that provide services such as beauticians, hairdressers, photographers, gardeners and so on. When you start out in business, most often you use your own money to fund the venture. However, as you start to grow, you may need to find funding elsewhere. When this happens you may want or need to enter into another kind of business model: 2. Partnership – these are made up of two or more people and any profits, debts and decisions related to the business are a shared responsibility. These are common for practices that offer services such as accountants, dentists, doctors, solicitors and so on. 3. Company – the correct name for this is a joint stock company and it’s made up of a number of people who put their money together to form a ‘joint stock’ of capital. These people are more commonly known as shareholders and, as the name suggests, they each own a share of the business and each expect a share of the profits too. Each shareholder puts money into the company and receives a portion of the company – shares – equivalent to what they put in. Despite each shareholder owning a piece of the company, in law it is seen as a legal entity – the same as an individual – that is entirely separate from the shareholders or members, as they are sometimes known. It can be sued, make a profit or loss, be held responsible for its employees’ actions and go into liquidation – the term used for companies that go bankrupt. Private Limited Companies Most small businesses are private limited companies with the shares only available privately, for example, to family members. The shares are not available to buy publically so they cannot be traded on the stock market. Public Limited Companies Being a Public Limited Company (PLC) is much more complex and is usually reserved for larger companies. To be called a PLC a company must have, amongst other things, more than one director and a trading certificate from Companies House. PLCs can sell their shares on the stock market so anyone can buy them. Whilst it is easier to raise money using this method it also means that the company accounts are in the public domain. The company must also be audited and make certain information available to Companies House. Plus, PLCs can be bought out by other shareholders. 4. Franchises A franchise involves you using another company’s successful business model to create your own shop, restaurant etc. Essentially, you buy the franchise and trade off the good name of the company you’ve bought into. For example Subway – you’d find a suitable location, Subway would provide you with their livery, food products and use of trademark. You make money because customers are already familiar with Subway; so you have an instant customer base. Franchises are for a fixed period of time – from five to 35 years – and cover a certain location known as a ‘territory’. You’ll have to pay fees to the franchisor: royalties for using the trademark ees for the training and advice received There are specific and complex laws relating to franchise contracts so entering into one is something that needs to be thought about very carefully. 5. Workers Co-operatives This is a truly egalitarian form of business that is formed to meet the mutual needs of the workers. Each person – from the managing director to the shop floor assistant – is equal ly important. All decisions are taken democratically and any profits are shared equally or ploughed back into the business. Co-operatives follow seven guiding principles: Voluntary and open membership Democratic control Member economic participation (financial interest) Autonomy and independence Education, training and information Co-operation among co-operatives Concern for the community http://www. ica. coop/coop/principles. html This should give you a pretty good idea of the ethical and moral stance of a co-operative. 6. Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) LLPs are a relatively new form of business as they’ve only been around since 2001. They are intended to benefit professional partnerships such as lawyers, accountants and the like, who are restricted from forming limited companies due to restrictions from their professional bodies. LLPs operate in much the same way as limited partnerships and allow the members to limit their personal liability if something goes wrong with the business. So, as you can see, businesses can be simple or complex but, once you know what all the terminology means, you should find it quite easy to decide which kind of business structure will best suit your needs.

Culture and Social Structure Essay

Culture is a difficult thing to strictly define. Such a large variety of societal aspects fall under its realm, that it’s sometimes complicated to draw a line between what is part of a culture and what is not. To put it in extremely vague terms, culture is a way of life. All the traits that make up a particular society, from religious beliefs to modes of dress to art to methods of farming, build up a culture. Culture includes the good and the bad, the old and the new, the strong and the weak – essentially it includes â€Å"everything†. Many varieties of cultures exist. There are the obvious ethnic cultures – African-American culture, Latino culture, Greek culture, etc., each with their own foods, art, religion, familial roles, and values. American culture, for example, is generally considered to be relaxed – apple pie, blue jeans, baseball and the like. Family roles are not set in stone, there is freedom to choose a religion based on one’s own comfort (or choose no religion at all), and while a certain level of morality is maintained, values are generally loose. Compare this to the culture of the remote parts of India. There, a woman is required to serve her husband and his family, even after his death. They are very devout, and there is only one religion to â€Å"choose† from. They are held to a strict moral code, and anyone who violates this code is considered an outcast. There are many other ways to consider culture. There is the culture of a particular age group. A septuagenarian has a way of life very different than that of a teenager. His music, dress, beliefs, and goals are generally dissimilar to those of his younger counterpart. Or there is the culture of a particular time period. Pre-historic culture is, through modern inventions and human development, very different than the culture of today. A very important part of any culture is the social structure within. The social structure is essentially the roles or positions that particular individuals or groups in a culture fall into. For example, in the American culture, the President takes on a leadership role, those in the armed forces take on a protective role, and everyday citizens take on the responsibility of keeping the economy alive. On a much smaller scale, the social structure exists within a family as well. In your â€Å"typical† family, the mother takes on a nurturing position, while the father takes on the responsibility of earning money and providing for the others. Similarly, on a sports team, the coach is the leader, charged with guiding and motivating his players. The players themselves are responsible for putting forth their best effort and taking the team as far as it can go. While culture can be hard to define using words, one need only look around to experience everything that culture contains. One’s everyday life is culture, from the worldwide culture that everyone lives in, down to the personal culture of one’s own house. Each person has a role in many different social structures, and each role is genuinely important. It is these roles, in these social structures that make up every part of every culture.

Analyzing the Similarities between “Hymn to the Aton” and “Psalm 104” Essay Example for Free (#104)

Analyzing the Similarities between â€Å"Hymn to the Aton† and â€Å"Psalm 104† Essay The thought that two different works of art written by authors of different countries, different backgrounds, living eight hundred years apart and centering on religion—more [specifically] their portrayal of God and how he is like the sun—[being similar] would [be] deem[ed] [as] impossible [or not likely by many]. [However,] the poems [â€Å"]Hymn to the Aton[† by Akhenaton] and [â€Å"]Psalm 104[† by David are examples of] this very occurrence. [Some scholars assert] that either the latter was copied from the former or that these two works are the result of a cultural split, [due to the] vast difference of [similar] elements [and subject matter that the poems share. ] the poems were fostered within, their similarities in content, and that the poems could not have been creative coincidence. The benefits in understanding that these works have some connection, whether by plagiarism or cultural dissect, provides scholars with more knowledge about the world we live in, helps to decipher some of the myths and mysteries of other cultures with similarities and shows the public all cultures may not be as different from each other as we think, helps to show that propaganda has been used since the earliest of times, and that if societies do not document their findings or creations people will eventually circle back and rediscover them. Collectively, if applied to the modern world, these benefits will advances in many fields of academia and help society at large to become more critical thinkers and problem solvers. [Based on your body paragraphs, I have simplified your thesis map to the following:] [The three clearest similarities of the two poems include their similar discussion of the power of the sun or the notion of the sun as a symbol for the power of God, the similarities of the daily activities of the two cultures and their link to their God, and the emphasis of monotheism.] [Now, provide one or two sentences that explain what current societal issue can be resolved or lessened through the realization of the similarity of these two poems.] The contrast between Hymn to the Aton and Psalm 104 are numerous. Hymn was written by Pharaoh Amenhotep IV around 1300 B.C.E. in order to help support his efforts to convert all of Egypt to monotheism and worship of the Sun, which called Aton. [First, it is uncanny the manner in which both poets use the sun as a point of reference for their God]. In [â€Å"Hymn to the Aton† Akhenaton proclaims] the actual Sun [as] god. â€Å"Thou living Aton the beginning of life!†¦Creator of seed in women, Thou who makes fluid into man, Who maintainest the son in the womb of this mother..† In the psalm, King David writes how God created the sun [to] reflect His greatness. [Provide a quote from â€Å"Psalm 104† that shows David discussing the sun.] â€Å"LORD my God, you are very great; you are clothe with splendor and majesty†¦ But at your rebuke the waters fled, at the sound of your thunder they took flight†. King David’s poem was written about eight hundred years after the hymn and David does not mention much about himself, instead he praises the Lord. â€Å"I will sing to the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.† Based on the time and purpose of these poems, they could not have been coincidence, that the poems are similar, there had to have been a purposeful connection between them. [While there are slight variations of how the sun is used, in both poems the writers explain how the sun meets the needs of the people and how that act is a symbol of the greatness and goodness of God.] Understanding this connection helps us to discover more and develop our perception about the world around us. [How so? Explain how it can benefit one group of people to be able to realize similarities with another group of people with whom they have historically seen no connection.] [Next, both poems] list almost identical daily activities in the exact order throughout the works. â€Å"[Provide quotes from both poems.]† Many of these [similarities] seem to be paraphrased and suggest that these writing come from the same source like two eye witness accounts of the same crime. After understanding the differences in the author’s cultures, religions, and time periods these similarities support the claim that the works are connected either by plagiarism or cultural split. This helps [readers] to realize that many cultures may not be as different from one another as [people often] think. [Yes, and how can this realization help our culture or society? What societal issue or problem can be solved or lessened with this realization?] Based upon detailed examination [of] the similarities of the [poems, many scholars assert that the shared elements, especially the support of monotheism, are not] by coincidence. [Provide a quote supporting monotheism from both poems.] Some researchers suggest that Hebrews fleeing from Egypt before the time of Moses, some of them wondered into temples where the hymn was written, and has the walked along the hymn was one songs they sang and it was carried throughout the generations, but not that the psalm is not a plagiarism of the hymn, this only leaves the notion that there was a cultural split. We are not sure at this point how the works are linked, [While scholars disagree on which group influenced the other into embracing monotheism, it is clear that a cultural exchange occurred between the two groups. Thus, this realization of the similarity is another example for scientists and anthropologists showing that cultures have always exchanged ideas. This exchange of ideas becomes even more interesting when we realize that the Jews were enslaved by the Egyptians.] but it could definitely give more light and support to how scientist and anthropologist other academic researchers and make strides in their fields, help us to understand how cultures are linked across the board. [Explain how discovering that these two ancient cultures exchanged ideas can provide a blueprint or inspiration for current cultures and how that blueprint or inspiration can help those cultures solve or lessen a current societal issue.] After deep analysis s of these two poems it is clear that one is either copied from the other or [that there was some mutual exchange of cultural ideas] at some point in history. [Using the two poems to realize this occurrence] helps historians and scientists to make deductions about connections [to] other cultures, [allowing more people to better understand the surrounding world]. [Yes, now explain how society can improve if more people are able to understand and connect to the surrounding world or the people surrounding them Analyzing the Similarities between â€Å"Hymn to the Aton† and â€Å"Psalm 104†. (2017, Feb 04).

Short Report on Current Information Technology (management information Essay

Short Report on Current Information Technology (management information system) - Essay Example Discussion of Key Points in the Two Articles, Comparison and Contrast The two articles both make good exposition of the business and technical promises and challenges of cloud computing both for the providers of cloud computing services and infrastructures, such as the Amazon cloud computing offerings, and those of Microsoft. The first article makes a point about the business promise of Amazon cloud services in the long term, pointing out that although the services rack relatively lower sales compared to the more mainstream businesses of Amazon, cloud computing services benefit from having higher profit margins as compared to Amazon’s other offerings. This translates to higher profitability for Amazon and an area that the company can exploit, given that there are few companies with the scale and the customer base, and the necessary long-term vision to execute on a cloud computing strategy and infrastructure, as Amazon does (Oursler, 2013). The second article on the other hand complements the discussion on the more business aspects of cloud computing that the first article focused on, to undertake a more technical discussion on what the components of a cloud computing architecture are, and what the key issues and challenges are relating to the way customers make use and leverage cloud computing for their own particular purposes (Sleit et al., 2013, pp. 35-44). ... While the first article is more oriented towards finance and business types, the second article focuses on the more technical and CIO-type issues relating to cloud computing (Oursler, 2013; Sleit et al., 2013). Going into the details, the first article notes that in reality, of the $61 billion dollars in business that Amazon generates as a whole from all of its businesses, cloud computing revenues is a small part, about five percent of the total revenues of the firm. This means that in all there is a small importance placed right now on the weighting given to the cloud business of the company relative to its other businesses when it comes to putting valuations on the Amazon stock price. These are financial considerations to be sure, but underneath these figures is a vote for Amazon’s technological prowess in the cloud. The article notes too that in a sector that is poised for dramatic growth in the coming years, from a base of $131 billion dollars this year. Amazon has a leadi ng position in this growing sector, with a number of notable accounts that have come to include the CIA. The CIA account for Amazon, in particular, is a vote for the technological capacity of the Amazon cloud services to take on the most complex and the most security-intensive activities. Moreover, given the leading position of Amazon, the article notes that it is in a position to capitalize on its growing technological capabilities to continue to lead the industry in the middle of sustained competition from the likes of Oracle and Hewlett-Packard. To be sure, at present, Amazon’s market share in cloud computing services is said to dwarf the combined shares of the next 14 competitors in the space by a factor of 5. Beyond the numbers, this overwhelming early lead and the quality

EconomicsSupply Chain Market conditions in Azerbaijan and how it Research Proposal

EconomicsSupply Chain Market conditions in Azerbaijan and how it affects ability to get and pay labor - Research Proposal Example (Maharramov, 2003). Recently, Azerbaijan has witnessed solid economic growth over the last 5 years. This growth has been driven by domestic demand including non-oil private investments, public investments, government expenditures, consumption expenditures or households and oil exports. Real GDP has also witnessed tremendous growth owing to growth in the non-tradables sectors including transportation, construction, and public utilities. The capacity constraints however did not enable the supply to grow as rapidly as demand leading to inflationary pressures. The objective of this paper is to provide a discussion of the labour cost drivers, labour demand drivers, and labour supply drivers in Azerbaijan. According to macroeconomic theory the wage rate usually depends on the price level. The higher the price level the higher will be the real wage rate demanded by workers. Azerbaijan is currently suffering from high rates of unemployment. As a result the wage rates are very low. According to the Human Development and Central Unit (HDCU) and European and Central Asia Region (ECAR) (2005) a vast majority of people in the city of Mingachevir an Industrial city have become redundant as a result of lack of demand for products, which has culminated in production stoppage, bankruptcy, liquidation and corporate restructurings. This has driven the wage rates to very low levels. Based on this one can say that a major determinant of labour cost on Azerbaijan is the demand. The demand for labour in Azerbaijan is currently very low and as such people are willing to supply labour at very low wage rates. The survey by the ECAR and HDCU (2005) suggests that only 3% of the unemployed left their job vo luntarily. While some workers are not being paid at all, there is also a high degree of wage arrears.s In 2001 exports accounted for 44% of GDP in Azerbaijan with hydrocarbon products being the dominant export activities, contributing to 91.5% of total exports in 2001. The remaining share of exports consists of raw and processed food products, mechanical equipment and chemical product. (Navaretti, 2003). The largest share of imports is made of machinery for the oil industry, food products, other mechanical equipment and luxury consumer goods for the high-income part of the population. Many of the country's traditional products in the domestic market have been replaced by imports because they are unable to withstand the competition of import products. (Navaretti, 2003). Figure 1 below shows that the real wages have taken a downward trend since 2005 to record low levels over the period 2001 to 2006. The figure also indicates that the non-oil sector is lagging behind. Since imports have become higher than exports, it is likely that the country is witnessing slow growth in aggregate demand, which in turn leads to a slow down in the growth in real GDP. This in turn creates a recessionary gap, high unemployment rate and therefore low wage rates. (CFA, 2008). From the foregoing one can therefore rightly say that the wage rate in Azerbaijan depends on the growth in Aggregate demand which has a multiplier effect on the price level, real GDP growth, and therefore wage rates. Figure 1 3. Labour Demand Drivers in Azerbaijan Macroeconomic theory posits that the demand for labour depends on three factors. These include the price of the firm's output, other factors and technology. The higher the price of the

Definition of Construction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Definition of Construction - Essay Example Construction is not restricted to new structures only; it encompasses even repairing and replacing worn out components for the already existing structures to resume their original functions. The distinction amid construction and maintenance is the extent and the area covered by either replacement. Construction entails renovation of large sections (more than 50%) contrary to maintenance whose action has small restriction and involves replacing small bits or components (OSHA, n.d). Chiefly, construction calls for appropriate and timely planning where activities have specified time set for them coupled with how they will be undertaken (OSHA, n.d). In addition, its activities usually affect large parts of the machine where it incorporates diverse changes that may emanate from the alteration of a single section. This has a core contribution in the working of the machine. Construction unlike maintenance requires competent specialists who will have ample knowledge to undertake the expected roles on the site meant to make everything to function normally. This will call for even contemplation of jobbing environment that will ensure workers undertake their responsibilities effectively. Maintenance due to its scope of operation entails just a restricted section meant to ensure that the whole system is in order and any further complications construction is implemented (OSHA, n.d). Occupational safety & health organization (OSHA). (n.d). Construction v maintenance. Retrieved on 12, Jan. 2012 from

Modern China Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Modern China - Essay Example Oftentimes, the economic model of development propagated by China today is described as â€Å"authoritarian capitalism† (Gat, 2007, 33). China has recently taken cautious steps towards the embrace of market-oriented principles and while capitalism and entrepreneurship remain relatively new concepts, these concepts are starting to take hold. How has China developed over the past century? What is the recent history of China and how does this history explain the model of development which it has decided to pursue? How has the Chinese economy grown under globalization and has the ideological underpinnings of socialism in China evolved or simply withered away? These questions, and many more, will be addressed in this exploration of China and its cautious embrace of capitalism and entrepreneurship today. An ancient civilization with an extensive tradition of dynastic and centralized rulers, China was been ruled by the Communist Party of China (CCP) since the successful overthrow of the Nationalist government in 1949. Establishing a socialist form of government through the creation of the People’s Republic of China, the Communist Party of China is avowedly socialist and sought to impart communist teachings throughout this vast country. Accordingly, the communist leaders initially saw capitalism through a skeptic’s lens and implemented profound overhauls of the economic structure of Chinese society. Thus, the implementation of a series of top-down economic initiatives such as a series of Five Year Plans, the Great Leap Forward and the often-times violent Cultural revolution, all paved the way for the establishment of a socialist society in which economic matters were dictated by the state and implemented accordingly. Significantly, socialism provided the ideological impe tus for the Communist Party of China to govern. Thus, while implementing an economic overhaul of the country, the socialist credentials of

Internet-Driven IS Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5500 words

Internet-Driven IS Development - Essay Example Information technology or information systems development in the organization relate to one such operational strategy that utilizes the organizational resources - physical and human - as also the processes for achieving the other strategies relating to a business or top-level corporate aims. Business-related IT initiatives are strategies that strive to achieve desired strategic objectives by applying the organization’s internal capabilities and external drivers in the immediate industry environment in which the organization operates. The organizational capabilities include competencies and resources that provide a competitive edge in countering competition from within the industry. In conjunction with external drivers in the industry environment, the strategy and operational decisions get integrated into a successful process delivery (Johnson, et al, 2008). The formulation of suitable strategy, choosing and acting upon available options for operational delivery and for attaining competitive position is a comprehensive approach most often sought to be driven by adopting the technology, particularly computer and internet technology. A strategic business information systems development is thus a critical necessity for an organization of repute and size to achieve in delivering on its competitive position. First, the firm has to understand where it stands with respect to the environment and its internal capabilities. The next step involves the actual choice of direction and method by which the strategy is affected. The analysis of the firm’s external macro-environment can help identify the key drivers in the industry that can determine the strategic choices made. In case of changes in the environment, such analysis can also be used to reframe the strategy. Among the external drivers, the state of technology and its adoption has a sig nificant effect in giving direction to the organizational strategies.

Comprehensive Education under re-evaluation Essay

Comprehensive Education under re-evaluation - Essay Example As a result, as is occurring across the western civilizations, the UK is experiencing significant decline when measuring the academic progress of its students. Specifics of the problem were discussed by Terry Hadyn in his essay on the death of comprehensive schools in England and Wales. He cites that although the comprehensive education system was established in 1965 with lofty ideals, the policy has failed to grow the desired fruit. Previous to the 1965 initiative, the country's secondary school system was divided. Students who were more suited for an academic career path were sent to Grammar schools, and those for whom an academic career did not seem suitable were sent to what was called a secondary modern school, or the equivalent of a trade school for apprenticeship, and transition into the lower class working social strata. (Haydn, 2004) However, since the passage of this educational policy, educators have come to realize much more about the educational needs of the children with which they have been entrusted. The modern educational system recognizes that children learn at different rates, just as they mature physically and emotionally at differing rates. Therefore putting children of different levels of educational abilities together, and expecting them to mutually benefit, as if by osmosis, is a policy that is coming to be understood as a bit short sighted. The children are not building social networks across the educational and social differences. Rather the opposite is occurring, and has been occurring increasingly over the past 15 years. The divide between the educational 'haves' and 'have - nots' is growing. The social order that is present outside the classroom is only becoming reinforced in the classroom. As a result, the more academically able children are being slowed down in their progress, and the less academically inclined are no more encouraged to make better progress. If anything, they are becoming resentful, along with their parents, at being bussed 25 miles or more in order to facilitate a quota system for the schools. At the same time comprehensive school policy was being put into place, influences blew across the educational ponds which included linking the educational institution to social trends. The school organization, as seemingly the single most influential element in the child's life, shifted its focus too. The social fabric of the family and close community was breaking down in the post war era. As a result schools picked up the responsibility to address cultural and social learning issues, in addition to their primary goal of creating educated and intelligent students. The result, as mentioned, was a steady decline in the educational quality as measured in academic progress of the student. The student was learning how to feel better, but not taught how to read better. In the UK, by mixing the more academically inclined with those who may prosper better in a trade school environment, educational policy makers expected to bridge socio-economic patterns. If the wealthier, more academically inclined students were allowed to co-exist in a school setting with lower income, more academically challenged students, the belief was that the barriers would be breached, and lower performing students would

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Assocation (APA) 5th Essay

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Assocation (APA) 5th edition book report - Essay Example The book also gives special attention to the treatment of numbers, statistical and mathematical data, tables, and figures to present data in reports or presentations. The manual is divided into nine sections that are further divided into sub-sections, each duly labeled with page numbers so that the user can quickly access the required information. The APA manual is a well organized and user-friendly book that guides writers in all aspects of writing a paper - starting from designing the research and evaluating the content to preparing the manuscript for publication. Some of the major points of the book are mentioned below: The most important point that is highlighted in the book is the position taken by the American Psychological Association on plagiarism. According to the APA (2001), it is important to ensure that psychologists do not present substantial portions of another’s work or data as their own, even if the other work or data source is cited occasionally. The entire book revolves around rules and conventions that have been set by the APA to ensure that the writer gives due credit to the authors of the sources that have been used in writing the paper. The two important items that help in referencing the sources in a paper and that have been addressed in detail in the book are (a) in-text citations, and (b) referencing. The manual guides writers in using parenthetical reference citations wherein the sources are briefly identified within the text using the author’s surname and year of publication enclosed in parenthesis at the point where the information is used (APA, 2001). These citations direct the readers to the reference section at the end of the paper, which provides the complete information of all the sources that were used in writing the paper. All the topics in the book are explained in such detail that

Tasks that can be performed by Self-Managed teams Essay Example for Free

Tasks that can be performed by Self-Managed teams Essay Many organizations are enabling self-managed teams so that the costs of hiring senior managers and supervisors to handle the team are removed. The organization should also be aware that only some and not all of the tasks could be performed using self-management means. All autonomous jobs and tasks can be performed on a self-management basis. As one member is able to acquire and develop skills, the other members would be learning through interactions. In this way the entire team would be competent with performing several tasks in the organizations. Some of the difficult tasks, which are highly unstable and need use of highly specialized skills, may be difficult to be performed by self-managed groups. It may also be difficult for temporary teams and committees to perform self-managed tasks. In the field of nursing and medicine, the management has to ensure that the self-managed teams are not temporary or transient teams that are working for some kind of temporary project. The skills that a self-managed team possesses should be permanent and involve the much routine work (Silverman, 1996). Roles and Responsibilities of Self-Managed teams A self-managed team would be having several roles and responsibilities in the organization. These roles and responsibilities have to be met at various stages of development of the team self-management development. The organization’s culture should be supported by the seven roles of the self-managed team. The seven roles of the self-managed team include: Ensure that the principles and values of the organization are constantly met – these include performance of several tasks such as demonstrating behavior, making decisions and communicating with the customers and suppliers keeping in mind the basic values and principles of the organization. The team member has to also demonstrate personal behavior and values that are in track with those of the organization when communicating with other team members. All conflicts and problems should be handled keeping in and the principles and the values of the organization. Ensure that the various team-related processes are handled in an effective manner – This is closely related to the organization’s culture. The team that is functional should ensure that the characteristics of teamwork and team spirit are incorporated in all work performed. The team should identity the functions and processes that are needed for the work to be performed. The roles, responsibilities, areas of helping one another, etc need to be performed. The team members should know the rules, regulations, decision-making approach, etc, so that any barriers cannot hamper the work. Between the members of the team a mutual trust and understanding should exist. Each member of the team should be available to take over the functions of his fellow team member in case the need is required. The team would also have to closely evaluate and monitor its performance so that any obstacles that may be existent with the workflow is identified and addressed appropriately. Ensure that the team environment is conducive to work Complete the team’s work – Each of the team members should be aware of the various responsibilities of the members and the various processes that are existent. A team member should identity his responsibility and should complete it. They should priorities the work based on the urgency and ensure that all tasks are completed on time. The team members should be able to gather in a group and discuss the tasks and responsibilities to be shared by each team member. They should also be aware of the resources necessary to complete the work, and the manner in which the resources have to be obtained. Each staff member has to schedule his/her work accordingly, and obtain all necessary information to complete the tasks efficiently. The staff members should be able to respond to the information presented to them. They should be able to understand the information and accordingly act. The staff should participate in the organization wide-system – This is a linkage-directed work to ensure that the staff members are able to participate in examining organization-wide processes. The staff members would have to perform certain standardization functions such as purchasing the logistics, paying the taxes, etc. They would also have to collect the data regarding the organization-wide data, analyses it and provide it to the appropriate authorities as and when required. The team members should also give the organization ideas of any changes required in the policies. The other activities in this purview include participation in training and workshops, assessments, appraisals, audits, etc. The staff should participate in the organization wide-strategies – This is a vision-directed work and ensures that the organization’s vision is kept in mind. A team member would have to gather data regarding the environment the organization is functioning in. An organization would be having several inherent strengths and weakens. This would relate to the external environment in the form of opportunities and strengths. The vision statement of the organization should consider the opportunities that are existent in the future, as it has to be realistic and able to function in the external environment. The self-managed team would be the first to interact with the patriot, and hence data regarding the external environment would be available on a first hand basis to the self-managed team. The team would be able to relate the data regrind the external environment to the internal capabilities. In the future, this data could be utilized by the organization whilst strategizing. The self-management teams should be involved in the management by attending meetings conducted for business plans. (Silverman, 1996 Moss, 1996).

Organisation Learning Essay Example for Free

Organisation Learning Essay Where Argyris and Schon were the first to propose models that facilitate organizational learning, the following literatures have followed in the tradition of their work: Argyris and Schon (1978) distinguish between single-loop and double-loop learning, related to Gregory Batesons concepts of first and second order learning. In single-loop learning, individuals, groups, or organizations modify their actions according to the difference between expected and obtained outcomes. In double-loop learning, the entities (individuals, groups or organization) question the values, assumptions and policies that led to the actions in the first place; if they are able to view and modify those, then second-order or double-loop learning has taken place. Double loop learning is the learning about single-loop learning. ?March and Olsen (1975) attempt to link up individual and organizational learning. In their model, individual beliefs lead to individual action, which in turn may lead to an organizational action and a response from the environment which may induce improved individual beliefs and the cycle then repeats over and over. Learning occurs as better beliefs produce better actions. ?Kim (1993), as well, in an article titled The link between individual and organizational learning, integrates Argyris, March and Olsen and another model by Kofman into a single comprehensive model; further, he analyzes all the possible breakdowns in the information flows in the model, leading to failures in organizational learning; for instance, what happens if an individual action is rejected by the organization for political or other reasons and therefore no organizational action takes place? ?Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995) developed a four stage spiral model of organizational learning. They started by differentiating Polanyis concept of tacit knowledge from explicit knowledge and describe a process of alternating between the two. Tacit knowledge is personal, context specific, subjective knowledge, whereas explicit knowledge is codified, systematic, formal, and easy to communicate. The tacit knowledge of key personnel within the organization can be made explicit, codified in manuals, and incorporated into new products and processes. This process they called externalization. The reverse process (from explicit to implicit) they call internalization because it involves employees internalizing an organizations formal rules, procedures, and other forms of explicit knowledge. They also use the term socialization to denote the sharing of tacit knowledge, and the term combination to denote the dissemination of codified knowledge. According to this model, knowledge creation and organizational learning take a path of socialization, externalization, combination, internalization, socialization, externalization, combination . . . etc. in an infinite spiral. ?Nick Bontis et al. (2002) empirically tested a model of organizational learning that encompassed both stocks and flows of knowledge across three levels of analysis: individual, team and organization. Results showed a negative and statistically significant relationship between the misalignment of stocks and flows and organizational performance. ?Flood (1999) discusses the concept of organizational learning from Peter Senge and the origins of the theory from Argyris and Schon. The author aims to re-think Senges The Fifth Discipline through systems theory. The author develops the concepts by integrating them with key theorists such as Bertalanffy, Churchman, Beer, Checkland and Ackoff. Conceptualizing organizational learning in terms of structure, process, meaning, ideology and knowledge, the author provides insights into Senge within the context of the philosophy of science and the way in which systems theorists were influenced by twentieth-century advances from the classical assumptions of science. ?Imants (2003) provides theory development for organizational learning in schools within the context of teachers professional communities as learning communities, which is compared and contrasted to teaching communities of practice. Detailed with an analysis of the paradoxes for organizational learning in schools, two mechanisms for professional development and organizational learning, (1) steering information about teaching and learning and (2) encouraging interaction among teachers and workers, are defined as critical for effective organizational learning. ?Common (2004) discusses the concept of organisational learning in a political environment to improve public policy-making. The author details the initial uncontroversial reception of organisational learning in the public sector and the development of the concept with the learning organization. Definitional problems in applying the concept to public policy are addressed, noting research in UK local government that concludes on the obstacles for organizational learning in the public sector: (1) overemphasis of the individual, (2) resistance to change and politics, (3) social learning is self-limiting, i.e. individualism, and (4) political blame culture. The concepts of policy learning and policy transfer are then defined with detail on the conditions for realizing organizational learning in the public sector. Organizational knowledge What is the nature of knowledge created, traded and used in organizations? Some of this knowledge can be termed technical ? knowing the meaning of technical words and phrases, being able to read and make sense of economic data and being able to act on the basis of law-like generalizations. Scientific knowledge is ?propositional; it takes the form of causal generalizations ? whenever A, then B. For example, whenever water reaches the temperature of 100 degrees, it boils; whenever it boils, it turns into steam; steam generates pressure when in an enclosed space; pressure drives engines. And so forth. A large part of the knowledge used by managers, however, does not assume this form. The complexities of a managers task are such that applying A may result in B, C, or Z. A recipe or an idea that solved very well a particular problem, may, in slightly different circumstances backfire and lead to ever more problems. More important than knowing a whole lot of theories, recipes and solutions for a manager is to know which theory, recipe or solution to apply in a specific situation. Sometimes a manager may combine two different recipes or adapt an existing recipe with some important modification to meet a situation at hand. Managers often use knowledge in the way that a handyman will use his or her skills, the materials and tools that are at hand to meet the demands of a particular situation. Unlike an engineer who will plan carefully and scientifically his or her every action to deliver the desired outcome, such as a steam engine, a handyman is flexible and opportunistic, often using materials in unorthodox or unusual ways, and relies a lot on trial and error. This is what the French call ? bricolage, the resourceful and creative deployment skills and materials to meet each challenge in an original way. Rule of thumb, far from being the enemy of management, is what managers throughout the world have relied upon to inform their action. In contrast to the scientific knowledge that guides the engineer, the physician or the chemist, managers are often informed by a different type of know-how. This is sometimes referred to a ? narrative knowledge or ? experiential knowledge, the kind of knowledge that comes from experience and resides in stories and narratives of how real people in the real world dealt with real life problems, successfully or unsuccessfully. Narrative knowledge is what we use in everyday life to deal with awkward situations, as parents, as consumers, as patients and so forth. We seek the stories of people in the same situation as ourselves and try to learn from them. As the Chinese proverb says A wise man learns from experience; a wiser man learns from the experience of others. Narrative knowledge usually takes the form of organization stories (see organization story and organizational storytelling). These stories enable participants to make sense of the difficulties and challenges they face; by listening to stories, members of organizations learn from each others experiences, adapt the recipes used by others to address their own difficulties and problems. Narrative knowledge is not only the preserve of managers. Most professionals (including doctors, accountants, lawyers, business consultants and academics) rely on narrative knowledge, in addition to their specialist technical knowledge, when dealing with concrete situations as part of their work. More generally, narrative knowledge represents an endlessly mutating reservoir of ideas, recipes and stories that are traded mostly by word or mouth on the internet. They are often apocryphal and may be inaccurate or untrue yet, they have the power to influence peoples sense making and actions. Individual versus organizational learning Learning by individuals in an organizational context is a well understood process. This is the traditional domain of human resources, including activities such as: training, increasing skills, work experience, and formal education. Given that the success of any organization is founded on the knowledge of the people who work for it, these activities will and, indeed, must continue. However, individual learning is only a prerequisite to organizational learning. Others take it farther with continuous learning. The world is orders of magnitude more dynamic than that of our parents, or even when we were young. Waves of change are crashing on us virtually one on top of another. Change has become the norm rather than the exception. Continuous learning throughout ones career has become essential to remain relevant in the workplace. Again, necessary but not sufficient to describe organizational learning. What does it mean to say that an organization learns? Simply summing individual learning is inadequate to model organizational learning. The following definition outlines the essential difference between the two: A learning organization actively creates, captures, transfers, and mobilizes knowledge to enable it to adapt to a changing environment. Thus, the key aspect of organizational learning is the interaction that takes place among individuals. A learning organization does not rely on passive or ad hoc process in the hope that organizational learning will take place through serendipity or as a by-product of normal work. A learning organization actively promotes, facilitates, and rewards collective learning. Creating (or acquiring) knowledge can be an individual or group activity. However, this is normally a small-scale, isolated activity steeped in the jargon and methods of knowledge workers. As first stated by Lucilius in the 1st century BC, Knowledge is not knowledge until someone else knows that one knows. Capturing individual learning is the first step to making it useful to an organization. There are many methods for capturing knowledge and experience, such as publications, activity reports, lessons learned, interviews, and presentations. Capturing includes organizing knowledge in ways that people can find it; multiple structures facilitate searches regardless of the users perspective (e. g. , who, what, when, where, why,and how). Capturing also includes storage in repositories, databases, or libraries to insure that the knowledge will be available when and as needed. Transferring knowledge requires that it be accessible to everyone when and where they need it. In a digital world, this involves browser-activated search engines to find what one is looking for. A way to retrieve content is also needed, which requires a communication and network infrastructure. Tacit knowledge may be shared through communities of practice or consulting experts. It is also important that knowledge is presented in a way that users can understand it. It must suit the needs of the user to be accepted and internalized. Mobilizing knowledge involves integrating and using relevant knowledge from many, often diverse, sources to solve a problem or address an issue. Integration requires interoperability standards among various repositories. Using knowledge may be through simple reuse of existing solutions that have worked previously. It may also come through adapting old solutions to new problems. Conversely, a learning organization learns from mistakes or recognizes when old solutions no longer apply. Use may also be through synthesis; that is creating a broader meaning or a deeper level of understanding. Clearly, the more rapidly knowledge can be mobilized and used, the more competitive an organization. An organization must learn so that it can adapt to a changing environment. Historically, the life-cycle of organizations typically spanned stable environments between major socioeconomic changes. Blacksmiths who didnt become mechanics simply fell by the wayside. More recently, many fortune 500 companies of two decades ago no longer exist. Given the ever-accelerating rate of global-scale change, the more critical learning and adaptation become to organization relevance, success, and ultimate survival. Organizational learning is a social process, involving interactions among many individuals leading to well-informed decision making. Thus, a culture that learns and adapts as part of everyday working practices is essential. Reuse must equal or exceed reinvent as a desirable behavior. Adapting an idea must be rewarded along with its initial creation. Sharing to empower the organization must supersede controlling to empower an individual. Clearly, shifting from individual to organizational learning involves a non-linear transformation. Once someone learns something, it is available for their immediate use. In contrast, organizations need to create, capture, transfer, and mobilize knowledge before it can be used. Although technology supports the latter, these are primarily social processes within a cultural environment, and cultural change, however necessary, is a particularly challenging undertaking. Learning organization The work in Organizational Learning can be distinguished from the work on a related concept, the learning organization. This later body of work, in general, uses the theoretical findings of organizational learning (and other research in organizational development, system theory, and cognitive science) in order to prescribe specific recommendations about how to create organizations that continuously and effectively learn. This practical approach was championed by Peter Senge in his book The Fifth Discipline. Diffusion of innovations Diffusion of innovations theory explores how and why people adopt new ideas, practices and products. It may be seen as a subset of the anthropological concept of diffusion and can help to explain how ideas are spread by individuals, social networks and organizations.

Observation of Challenging Behaviour by Child

Observation of Challenging Behaviour by Child ECE 214 Observations and Child Development Early Childhood PORTFOLIO ASSIGNMENT 40 % Sociogram Write an anecdote that describes the behaviours that concerns you. You may include more than one example from different instances. Child’s name: Alisha Observer: Meng Ting Yu (Angela) Age/D.O.B: Date: March 3, 2014 Time of Observation: 4:30 p.m. 5:00 p.m. Setting: Bayview fairway public school Purpose: The purpose of this observation is to identify the child’s challenging behaviour. Context: It is afternoon free play time in the gym; there are 11 children in total and three adults. Two boys are playing basketball; three are running around and six girls are playing roller cart game with teachers. Observation: I was playing the roller cart game with Alisha in the gym, she cross her leg and sat on a cart. She held a Hula in her hand and asked me to hold on the other side to drag her around. After a while, C came and asked â€Å"can I join?† I said â€Å"sure†. Then Alisha started pushing at her, said â€Å"no, I don’t want you to play here†. C looked at Alisha then looked at me. Then I looked at Alisha and ask â€Å"She is your friend, we don’t push our friend. She would like to play with you. Can you tell me why you don’t want her to stay?† â€Å"Because she’s been mean to me all the time† Alisha answered. C continued keep silence and looked at Alisha, â€Å"Alisha, I didn’t been mean to, because you didn’t be nice to me†. Then I said â€Å"but she didn’t be mean to you today. She loves to be your friend, why don’t we forgive her past and try to build a friendship with C?† Alisha looked at C, thought about it and said â€Å"ok, I’ll try†. Alisha walked toward to the shelf from her table, she then bend her knees down and took out her favourite board game â€Å"Candy Land† with her both hand. She then stand up and jumped quickly back to her table and ask S, â€Å"S let’s play Candy Land together†. Alisha and S walked to the back of the room; they sat down on the floor face to face. Alisha opened the box with her both hands and took out the ice cream character for herself. S took out the board map of the game from the box, she opened and put it between them, and then she put the candy shape spinner on the top of the map with her right hand. Alisha looked in the box and found a marshmallow character and hand it over to S and said â€Å"Here S, you can be marshmallow†. S looked at the box and said â€Å"No I don’t want the marshmallow, I want the Gingerbread man†. Both of them put the character at the bottom of the map and ready to start the game. â€Å"I’m first because I’m the youngest† said Alisha. She took the spinner into her left hand and rotated the spinner between her right thumb and index finger. The spinner pointed at the edge of color green and almost at peanut area, so she moved her â€Å"Ice Cream† on the peanut area. S looked at the spinner and said â€Å"Alisha, you suppose to move to one green, is pointing the green area†. â€Å"No, is peanut† Alisha replied. S took the spinner in her hand and start to show Alisha, â€Å"Look its green!† â€Å"No, you moved it, give it back to me† Alisha start yelled at S. S did not give back the spinner to Alisha, â€Å"No is my turn now†. S rotated the spinner, she rotated it with her left thumb and index finger and the spinner stopped and pointed at the cupcake. She moved her Gingerbread man to the top of the map almost near the end, and then Alisha became angry. She yelled at S â€Å"No! You are cheating! You s upposed to be red!† Alisha took the Gingerbread from the top to the bottom and put beside her ice cream man. â€Å"Look Alisha, it pointed at the cupcake, you have to follow the rule† said S by showing the spinner. Then Alisha stood up and bent her elbows beside her body and yelled â€Å"No, this is not fair, you’re cheating†. S stood up and took the game tutorial sheet from the box and showed to Alisha, â€Å"Look Alisha, it says move the character to the next space, to matches the colour.† I have already talked to you in the hall way about my situation. The problem of the child in my placement is playing games. Write a developmental inference based on the sociogram where you describe the child’s problem in developmental terms. Provide an in text citation to support. Inference: According to the observation, Alisha seems to have trouble in social, emotional and behavioural. Children misbehaviour are based on their own perspective, for example, when Alisha think C’s arrival into the game is being mean to her, so she started to push C around with addition of a loud voice. Both verbal and non-verbal behaviour comes up in her mind without thinking, and she did not realize that her word and action can hurt other’s feelings. As children enter the school years, they become much more selective about whom they choose as friends. Just as kids compares themselves to others, they also start making judgments about other children (Cherry), just like Alisha judge that C is not her friend because they contain different personality. She observed C by looking her outfit, appearance and her friends, then think about it whether this person can be friend or not. Children at the age 6 to 8 try to convince others that their views are right, just like Alisha judged with S about the spinner. The child did not have enough ability to identify or understand the rule of the game. In order to achieve her goal of winning the game, she would rather use cheating strategies to succeed. The biggest problem is that the child is ego-centrism; she thinks that her own behaviour is correct instead of allowing others to do the same. Base on Piaget’s levels of moral reasoning, she did not know that the rule of the game is unchangeable, she think maybe change the rule will be more enjoyable, but her action might cause cheating without telling other about her own rule at the beginning of the game. Create a developmental goal based on your inference. These goals are to be written in paragraphs. Outline your rationale or reason for your goals. This should be the detailed evidence to back up your goal. Why is your goal developmentally appropriate for this child? Ensure you follow APA formatting. My goal for Alisha is to develop her social and emotional skills base on activities. The reason is because she needs to learn self-regulation and empathy for another’s feelings while interact in the game. In Erickson’s second stage, children are trying to master skills at home, school and in their community. When they are successful they get the tools they need for important social tasks such as getting along with others. When they are unsuccessful, they feel inferior—set up a pattern for possible failure throughout life (Santrock, 2012) Games with Rules Record an anecdote of a child playing a game with rules. Child’s name: Alisha Observer: Meng Ting Yu (Angela) Age/D.O.B: Date: March 10, 2014 Time of Observation: 4:30 p.m. 5:00 p.m. Setting: Bayview fairway public school Purpose: The purpose of this observation is to identify the child’s behaviours during the game. Context: It is afternoon free play time in the classroom; there are 20 children in total and three adults. Four boys are chatting with each other, five girls are knitting, three boys are playing blocks beside the window, five boys are playing words puzzle game, and three girls are playing board game. Observation: Alisha walked to M and pulled her hand, said â€Å"Let’s play games together†. She pulled M to a table with games. They took out the game board together and four chess pieces with different colour. Alisha took the entire green colour and placed them one by one at her side, â€Å"Here you can be the yellow side† she said by picking all the yellow chess and handed over to M. â€Å"I like red; I want to play the red side† M replied. â€Å"No you can’t have red, you must be yellow† Alisha began to rise her voice up. Then M asked â€Å"why†, â€Å"because this is my game, you must follow my rule† she answered. M said â€Å"no, I don’t like yellow, if you don’t give me red, I’m not play with you†. Alisha looked around the room then said â€Å"fine, you can be red†. Alisha placed all four colours of chess on the board and started to do the dice. After few turns, Alisha continued took her green chess and began to move. When she moved to the yellow area, she substituted for yellow chess and continued move on. M saw it and said â€Å"hey, Alisha, you can’t do that. You suppose to use the green one; you can’t switch it during the game.† â€Å"Oh yes I can. This is my rule for this game† Alisha looked at M and answered. Write a developmental inference which explains the child’s knowledge of games with rules using course resources. Base on this observation, Alisha seems to having trouble playing games with others. She usually likes to make up her own rule while playing board games. She did not understand that the rule of the game must set up before the games begin; also she will play in her own way without telling others about her rule at the beginning, this sometimes makes people confuse or think she cheated the game. Before they start the game, the hierarchy of roles is established for individuals and roles. Alisha always goes first without asking the other child, she often self-talk â€Å"I’ll go first† and others just keep silence. In Erickson’s theory, for middle childhood it is important to be good at something in school. For example, Alisha is the girl who takes seriously about winning, in her world, winning means â€Å"I am the best†. If Alisha win a game, she will raise her voice in front of the other child and said â€Å"oh yeah, I win†, then the child will tell Alisha that playing game is for fun not about winning. She did not understand the process of playing a game is more enjoyable social with other children; also this is not appropriate way to express her feeling. Create a developmental goal and how you would implement it based on your inference. Outline your rationale or reason for your goals. Why is your goal developmentally appropriate for this child? Ensure you follow APA formatting. My goal for Alisha is to let her understand that participant in the game will be more interesting than winning the game. According to Piagets research and theory, convince constructive educators of the value of group games for intellectual and moral development as well as for social and physical development (Piaget J., 1932/1965). Social and moral development is promoted as the child tries to figure out how to cooperate and negotiate with partners in order to play fairly (DeVries) such as group games. Playing in a group will lead the child to learn to problem solving and cooperate from each other, for example, one child can read about the rule at the beginning of the game, then decide the role of who will go first; another child can be the referee which avoid foul. The reason I plan to set up the group game is because Alisha often like to cheat in the game in order to win the game, but this may cause the game finish faster, and also she did not show respect to other children. From th is point, group game can help the child learn to empathize other’s emotion and express her feeling in proper ways. When conflicts arise, other child and adult can support and help (scaffolding) Alisha discuss rules and reach mutual agreement about how to play the game by following the rule, and learn to negotiate and compromise. Self-Concept and Stage of Friendship Interview your child for the purpose of understanding the child’s Stage of Friendship according to Selman. In order to avoid any negative effect on the children’s relationships in the room, ask the child to think of a friend, but not name them! Then ask the child to describe what makes that person of friend and what friends do with each other. Write up what happened in the interview using an anecdotal format including your questions and the child’s answers. After snack time, I took a chair and sat beside Alisha, â€Å"hi Alisha, do you have any homework today?† â€Å"No† she answered. Then I said â€Å"okay, can I ask you some questions?† She nodded and replied â€Å"sure’. I asked â€Å"the first question is who do you usually or like to play with? Think of the name in your mind, and do not speak out.† Alisha stood up and looked around the room, â€Å"Okay I got one in my head.† I asked â€Å"is it a girl or a boy?† â€Å"Of course is a girl† Alisha replied. I continued asking â€Å"So why do you think she is your friend?† â€Å"Because we are in the same class, and we are cousin. Her mom and my mom are sister, and we live really close. Oh and she help me to do my homework sometimes. Can I go get some water? I’m really thirsty†. I stop my writing and looked at her, said â€Å"sure, go ahead†. When she came back, she asked â€Å"can you play Candy Land with me?† â€Å"I just have three more questions for you to answer it, and then I will play with you, okay?† I answered. Alisha seems fidgeted in her seat, but she still listened to my questions. â€Å"Alisha, what do you think a friend is?† She said ‘I don’t know, someone I like and doesnt been mean to me†. â€Å"How do you treat your friend?† I asked, she then answered â€Å"we play games together†. â€Å"Okay the last question is how many friends do you have?† Alisha stood up and count the number by pointed other child with her left index finger, said â€Å"Hmm, I guess everyone is my friend†, she sat on her chair and continued â€Å"except A and BS, they are the oldest, especially they are boys. Can we play now?† â€Å"Yes sure, go get your game and set up on this table.† I said. What can you infer regarding the child’s stage of friendship according to Selman? According to Selman’s five stages of friendships, the children at the age between 3 to 7 years old like to play with a friend who lived nearby, such as Alisha’s cousin. They went to the same school, live in the same area, their age are close and as well as family relationships. At this age, Alisha view her cousin as momentary playmate, it shows that they both are having fun while playing with each other. However, Alisha always likes to play in her own way and expect others to follow her rule, she have very limited ability to see other perspectives, she will think that other child will have the same thought as her. If other children do not agree with her, she will get upset very easy. Alisha is the girl who likes to do things in her own way, and she changes frequently. For instance, she might say â€Å"C is my best friend, I like to play with her† for today, and the next day when she find out S is playing a game that she interested in, she will say â€Å"S is my best friend now†. On the other hand, Alisha likes to play with a child who has similar cultural with her. For example, C is a nice Chinese girl in our room, but Alisha does not like to play with her because she think that C always be mean to her. Base on a third person’s point of view, C always friendly to Alisha and never have any misbehaviour to her, all the things come up in Alisha’s own perspective. I also find out that she usually sit with her cousin and her other friends instead of Chinese. Analysis of self-concept Ask the child a series of questions that will let you infer the child’s understanding of sense of self ; Self-concept (p. 370) class notes During homework time, I interviewed Alisha again. I sat in front of her but she continued eating her snack. So I began to ask â€Å"what do you think about yourself?† she took a carrot in her hand and said â€Å"I’m the best, because I always win†. I continued asked â€Å"do you like your cousin S? What do you usually do with her?† she said â€Å"we do almost everything together. But we usually play games.† After I took note of her sentence, and asked â€Å"another question, who do you think is the leader? And who is the follower?† â€Å"Me, I’m the leader because I’m the youngest. She has to listen to me† Alisha pointed to herself. In the early years as kids realize that they are independent individuals and progressing to a firm understanding of whom they are and what they like. (Santrock, 2012) Works Cited Cherry, K. (n.d.). Social and Emotional Development in Middle Childhood. Retrieved from Psychology: http://psychology.about.com/od/early-child-development/a/social-emotional-development-in-middle-childhood.htm DeVries, R. (n.d.). How to Promote Childrens Development Through Playing. Retrieved from Moral and Intellectual Development Through Play: http://www.uni.edu/coe/regentsctr/publications/Moralandintellect.pdf Kelly. (n.d.). The Cognitive Developmental Theory. Retrieved from Moral Development in Children: http://ehlt.flinders.edu.au/education/DLiT/2000/KESPres/cog.nit Piaget, J. (1932/1965). The moral judgment of the child. London: Free Press. Santrock, J. (2012). Children. New York: McGraw-Hill. Please submit this page with your assignment.

Fahrenheit 451: The Meetings Between Montag And Clarisse Essay

Fahrenheit 451: The Meetings Between Montag and Clarisse   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is about a futuristic society that has banned books. Firemen that start fires are used to burn the books when they are found. One fireman, Guy Montag, remembers a time before book burning and tries to right this horrible metropolis of zombies. An important part of the novel Fahrenheit 451 is the meetings between Montag and Clarisse.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The meetings between Montag and Clarisse begins a series of events and changes in Montag's way of thinking and lifestyle. Clarisse remarks " Are you happy? " (10). Montag begins to realize that he is not happy after Clarisse asks the question and arrives in his home. Montag observes " Darkness. He was not happy. He was not happy. He said the...

Important Formative Experience That Made Me The Adult I Am Today :: essays research papers

Important Formative Experience I have had many theater-related experiences. Every chapter that I have read in my theater book has allowed me to make a connection to my past experiences with theater performances. I have also seen many plays and could relate to things an audience sees by reading the book. My first theater experience ever is when I was in the Nutcracker. We did a ballet performance for this play. I was very young when I did this, but I remember my instructor always saying that we must make contact with our audience through movements. Since in ballet you can not talk, you have to express the emotions that you are feeling to the audience through movement. This was very difficult. I must say that acting with words is a lot easier than acting through dance. In chapter one of my theater book, I was able to make the connection of "theater" is "work" to my experience of work in a theater with school plays. I know that I did not work as hard as professionals do, but I did work hard. For three months, we practiced everyday except for Saturday and Sunday, from 3:30 to 6:30. I helped with a lot of the choreography, so that made my days even longer and harder. However, this was also an enjoyable work experience for me. While reading the passage, I was able to relate with some of the "theater times" because of my play director. My high school director was very talented in directing plays. He would talk to us as if we were professionals and made us put more into what we were doing. That would be impersonation. When the passage talked about art, I thought of my art teacher who would always design all of the sets and made them look so lifelike. When the passage said that there are more behind the stage workers than on stage workers, I knew that that is very true. We had the front and backlighting, the designing people, who cleared the sets and put on new ones, the directing and the building crews. I was able to relate most of the passage through my own past experiences. Chapter 3 talks about "the actor". I found this chapter very interesting. I found out that actors had to go to college too. I also found it compelling to learn that in the passage on page 76, under the picture, it talks about how playing "ordinary people" in a realistic play is often the biggest challenge for an actor.

The Celtic Appreciation of Nature Essay -- essays research papers

The Celtic Appreciation of Nature In doing this assignment, I was looking forward to becoming more appreciative of nature, and all that it has to offer us, wanting a better understanding of it all. It seems that we take all of the beauty of our earth for granted, we are spoiled and it shows. In completing this practicum, I hoped to return to a state of mind where everything I see has beauty in it, like a baby seeing things for the first time, when everything is so fascinating, that touching it in complete awe is all I want to do. The Celtic appreciation of nature is what influenced the path I took with this day of reflection. The way they loved it as though it was their child, the way they respected it as though it was their mother, and even the way they feared it, as if it was their school principle (for lack of a better term). They held Mother Earth’s gifts in such high regard, and that is what, to me, is so wonderful about them. Throughout the day I told myself repetitively that, â€Å"The world was not created for us, but us for her.† I felt that personifying earth was more appropriate, considering it’s so alive with so many things that are, and possibly will forever be, unfathomable to us. This was my Lorica, I also wrote a poem that is at the end that meant a lot to me and reflects the way I felt while the sun was descending.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I referred a lot to the Thomas Berry video, recognizing the fact that his feelings are another inspiration for this day. He too, feels that we are way to ungrateful of our natural surroundings, and that we should alter our ways to preserve what is left. I also used an internet article by Carl McColman titled, â€Å"Celtic Spirituality: an Interfaith Approach – What is Celtic Spirituality?† he also describes the Celtic Faith as being: â€Å"†¦earthy, natural, of the soil, of the clay. This is true whether your particular flavor of Celtic wisdom is Pagan, Christian, New Age, or some hybrid thereof. Celtic spirituality is the spirituality of land, sea, and sky; of the rocks and the trees and the animals; of holy wells and standing stones and windswept tors. The earth is our mother; we must take care of her . . . this is not only a native American sentiment, it is a truly Celtic sentiment as well.† (www.druid.org) I felt this was a wonderful statement, because it was what I was thinking the majority of the time ... ...beautiful.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  But through all this wonderful mental â€Å"working out,† I had one fear, the fear that sticks with me no matter where I go, the fear of failure. Whenever that thought crept into my mind, my body became so paralyzed with fear that I would get this immense sensation of being hot. I could feel my face turn a bright shade of crimson, and my eyes welled up with tears to the point that one time all I could do was break down.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I have to admit; coming into this assignment I was very apprehensive. It seemed really â€Å"out there† and a big waste of my time to sit alone for 5 hours straight. Even in the beginning, while I was there I was wary of it all. I almost had to laugh at myself at some points. But as my day carried on, I learned, felt, and absorbed so much, that now I feel ashamed for ever doubting it. And now I have this grasp of nature and spirituality as one common ground that I thought I would never have. I take the time to stop and think about if what I have been taught, or everything I believed to be true ever was. I question things instead of just accepting them. I go beyond the surface of everything in life now.

Digging-Seamus Heaney

The message in this poem is Heaney is feeling slightly Guilty for not following the footsteps of his father in becoming a farmer instead he became a writer. The guilt is brought arcross as Heaney is breaking a agricultural tradition in his family. The techniques Heaney uses in this poem are onamatopoeia â€Å"Squelch† for example. Also in the second last verse Heaney uses a listing device. Also he uses lieration â€Å"curt cuts† whichgive added ethisis. Heaney also uses roots to describe his family roots. Heaney is effectively â€Å"digging† his memories at the instant he begins to write, he looks out his window and starts reminiscing about his past, he then becomes enthralled in guilt because he did not follow his grandfather, and fathers path, which leaves him feeling guilty and below them, he feels his forefathers were great men and he is not, however he still speaks of his pride in his own choice in a â€Å"pen is mightier than the sword† kind of way This poem compares his life to that of his father. He looks at the skill of his father and sees that he can never do what his father is so skilled at â€Å"digging†. He describes in fine detail the art and mechanics of digging potatoes and the ease at which his father can do it. He compares the skill of his father digging potatoes to that of his grandfather digging in the bog, a completely different skill. Again he described in fine detail the art of digging turf and the sights and sounds that are part of it. The wonderful line that shifts time lines from the present , where he looks at his father perhaps clearing up a gravel path â€Å"comes up twenty years away† to him digging potatoes. In the second last verse a line from each generation is compared and tells him that his that his only skill is to â€Å"dig with his pen† He knows that he can never be as good with a spade and feels that he is more comfortable with a pen. (snug as a gun) Repeating the lines in the last verse confirms this comfort and confirms his only way to match their skill is to â€Å"dig with his pen† I like to think this poem has that simple message. I hope you agree ! Someone asks about â€Å" Toners bog† This is the name of a local bog, (a family name called Toner ) Seamus Heaney tries to explain a change in time with this poem. He uses a good choice of language within this poem to effectively illustrate his views on an old tradition in many English towns. The mining off coal, gold and earth which is used to burn fires, these are all things that were apart of most common families that did this day in day out as a living. a change in time and of course educational circumstances and the fact that the mines and these methods of work have become irrelevant in modern times have made the person in the poem change, thus allowing him to have a different future through the pen, a good life not a hard one like his father and grandfather before him who used the spade. He says within the poem that he has ‘no spade to follow men like them' this is because that way of life has now become history and change has come by. For me, Heaney uses ‘the squat pen' as his intricate tool of choice, the use of which for him, transcends that of a spade. the free verse style of the poem is used to enable this professed deviation from this traditional ancestral manual labour. Throughout the poem, Heaney displays nothing but respect for his ancestor's particuarly his grandfather, of whom his memories are particuarly fond. One can find examples of Heaney's admiration and aspiration to the man when he depicts his inferior actions ‘corked sloppily with paper' compared with his grandfather's ‘nicking and slicing neatly. ‘ The use of assonance here also serves the emphasise the importance of his grandfather's skillset. Heaney however in the penultimate stanza, realizes that he can never spark a passion for the ‘cold smell of potato mould' and ‘soggy peat' and the diction reflects this mood shift to disillusionment. Overall, Heaney realises that in choosing ‘the squat pen' over ‘the spade' he is in fact ‘digging' up memories of his ancestors, complementing and helping their work to be realised in this sense. So all in all, he draws the conclusion that whilst we must not forget our roots,we must pursue our passions and dreams in life. For Heaney, it is writing in which he finds solace, which enables him to transfer memories onto paper, giving old thoughts the power to transcend time.

Miss Ferenczi in “Gryphon” by Charles Baxter Essay

In the short story Gryphon, Charles Baxter creates a far-from-perfect character, the substitute teacher Miss Ferenczi, who lives in a fantasy world without boundaries and tiresome limits. Her arrival has a great influence on the whole rural Five Oaks community. Miss Ferenczi’s appearance and behaviors, portrayed through her student’s eyes, place her as a symbol of reformation and immerses her students into a rich and fascinating world. Charles Baxter introduces Miss Ferenczi into the fourth grade class of Five Oaks community in a mysterious way. Unlike other boring normal substitute teachers the children are used to, she comes in with her purple purse and checkerboard lunchbox signaling the beginning of an unusual experience. As she walks to the blackboard, picking up pieces of white and green chalk, she draws a large oak tree on the left side of the blackboard saying the class needs this tree in it. This first scene alone has already created a mystic fog about the new teacher’s behavior and personality. She then tells the class about her royal Hungarian ancestor, which adds more to the strange atmosphere. She was proud of her mother being a famous pianist who succeeded her first concert in London for â€Å"crowned heads.† The way she nostalgically looks up to the ceiling, makes the students follow her eyes but see nothing except for ceiling tiles. Her actions are far more than what fourth graders can possibly understand. This is the start of strange events following in the plot. However the most remarkable detail is her physical appearance: â€Å"her face had two prominent lines, descending vertically from the sides of her mouth to her chin.† This abnormal feature is foreshadowing for what happens later on and also a hint at an unreal, numinous personality. The two lines remind Tommy, the little narrator, of Pinocchio. The comparison of Miss Ferenczi to this character is foretelling of her later unreliability of her words, since, like Pinocchio, her nose is also prone to extend. The students later on question on the truthfulness of Miss Ferenczi’s lessons. Moreover, Pinocchio is a product of imagination, as Miss Ferenczi living in her unreal world. Miss Ferenczi is also well portrayed through her lectures. The first incident is when John Wazny is doing the multiplication table. As another boy pointed out Wazny said six times eleven is sixty eight, and the right answer should  be sixty six. Miss Ferenczi on the other hand tells them the answer of sixty eight is also right, â€Å"when I am in the room.† She encourages the children to form their own perspective of life and tries to make them break out of the rules and norms other adults created. Mr. Hibler, as well as any other teacher would tell the kid that math, as a science, is facts which cannot be bent. In contrast Miss Ferenczi simply states â€Å"It’s more interesting that way† to explain her odd answer. She exposed her class to â€Å"substitute facts,† things perceived out of ordinary and accepted by the minority or even just an individual. Being with the majority does not mean it is right; there is always another solution for every happening in the world. The utmost influential image is the gryphon when Miss Ferenczi talks about the Egyptians. The magical creature is half lion half bird, which represents Miss Ferenczi herself in this story. The things she tells the students are half truth, and half myth or even unreal. She tells them about the plant that eats meat, which is a fact. She mentioned the sea creatures that are as thin as pancakes and cannot be studied as they will explode in the normal pressure air, which could be the truth. However there is other information which remains to be doubtful, such as Beethoven pretending to be deaf, the Hope diamond’s curse etc. Some are even personal views or beliefs, for instance the comment on the genders and planets control over behaviors. The point is gryphon makes people imagine and long for the other side of the dream world, and broaden their mind, like how Miss Ferenczi makes the children start to form their own thinking. In addition, Miss Ferenczi is unique in her behaviors and reaction with the class. She seems to be strict at the first moment when she first gathers the boy to settle for lecture. However she reveals her sweet side when choosing to have lunch with the kids. She claims other teachers seem to lack ideas, which means they are boring and all the same. She gently warns the children about choosing their food and she tells the stories to them because she knows they like â€Å"these secrets†. Miss Ferenczi’s appearance, throughout the three times she teaches in class, gradually changes as well. She first had an elegant chignon, and then on the second day her clothes were of bright green blouse and pink scarf with her hair done into a pigtail held by red rubber bands. Finally the last day she goes to the class, her hair â€Å"hung  straight down and seemed hardly to have been combed.† The way her appearance changes shows as she goes on the more she gets away from the reality and the ordinary. The climax of the story is when Miss Ferenczi read the fate for the students through her Tarot cards. She reads the cards for several children, and when it comes to Wayne Razmer, the little boy gets a Death card. She tells him the card means he will soon face his fate, but as she mentions earlier, death is not the end; it is just a new beginning. Her motivation on telling to boy about his fate is not to scare him, but to tell him not to fear of what will come on his way. However this action is to the extreme and inappropriate with elementary children, despite her good intentions. At the end of the story Miss Ferenczi has gone too far from the reality world, where the boundaries trap her dream. She lives in a different world, of Gryphon, Sphinx and all beautiful miraculous creatures. Perhaps she does not belong to Five Oaks, where people like Tommy’s mom, Mr. Hibler and others cannot accept such imaginative and individualistic thinking and ideas. Miss Ferenczi is fated to leave the school, as the society not yet realizes the importance of her innovative dreams. As Miss Ferenzci said to the children, â€Å"angels live under those clouds† and they are among us. Angels are everyone inside these children, if they allow their imagination to fly; they will soar up and reach the peak of understanding of themselves and the world. Though she may not be perfect, Miss Ferenczi symbolizes change and creativity that human beings should not put limits on. Dreams and beliefs are the only resources that we never lack, and the teacher in Gryphon changes her fourth grade students, help them wonder and reach out to new concepts. Works Cited Baxter, Charles. Gryphon.1985. Rpt. in Compact Literature ReadingReacting Writing. By Kirszner and Mandell. 6th ed. 2007. â€Å"Gryphon: Often Asked Questions.† Rev. of Gryphon, by Charles Baxter. CharlesBaxter. 3 June 2009 .

Essay on the Nature of Trade in General’

In the excerpt from R. Cantillion ‘Essay on the Nature of Trade in General’ relationship between price and costs of production are being described and explained. Author emphasizes that price of a commodity is a ‘measure of the Land and Labour which enter into its Production’. In other words, price consists of labour and manufacturing costs and should reflect the quality of these two factors. In the excerpt, author makes some accurate assumptions.Firstly, he notices the difference in value of land and labour: ‘One Acre of Land produces more Corn or feeds more Sheep than another. The work of one Man is dearer than that of another’. I am interpreting land as the quality of materials to produce a commodity and consider only labour included in manufacturing. So the fertility of land (which is equal to the quality of the good, as the more fertile land is, the tastier, nicer and bigger fruits it will produce) and quality of labour should be included in the price.Author uses example with wool suite to illustrate his observations : ‘If the Wool of the one Acre is made into a suit of coarse Cloth and the Wool of the other into a suit of fine Cloth, as the latter will require more work and dearer workmanship it will be sometimes ten times dearer’. So the suit of fine cloth will be more expensive than the one from coarse cloth even thought the price of materials used for these suits are the same. It means that price difference of the costumes is determined by the price of labour. Fine cloth suit requires more skilled work and at the same time more expensive work.Skilled workers, with more knowledge are more efficient so their labour costs more. Same relationship between price and quality of materials exist: ‘the price of the Hay in a Field, on the spot, or a Wood which it is proposed to cut down, is fixed by the matter or produce of the Land, according to its goodness’. Author uses phrases such as ‘land fertility’ and ‘quality of the produce of the land’, but for simplicity, let’s assumes that it is the quality of materials used for production or the quality of the good itself it is a raw material.The price of billets is determined by the quality of timber, the price of hay is determined by the quality of the grass cut. In this case the difference between two identical piles of wood or two rolls of hay is determined by the quality of the materials. This given example proves that relationship between the price and quality of the materials do exists. Another accurate observation was made about the surplus and the shortage influence to the price. Author used an example with corns: ‘If the Farmers in a State sow more corn than usual

Crimes that deserve the capital punishment Essay

Nowadays when one hears about recent news, filled with constantly growing reports of crimes and atrocities he may wonder whether we live in a world where strong moral principles and justice fades. The causes of such situation may be diverse, ranging from weak and incompetent law or the state of society which promotes the pursuit of material wealth at all costs. It is often highlighted that punishment sentences are not adequate to the crimes and it’s not uncommon to see brutal and outrageous felonies penalized with a mere few years of imprisonment. That said, aside from whether these unlawful offenders manage to rehabilitate themselves, the fact that after the incarceration, the most hardened murderers and thugs are at liberty again raises doubts about the effectiveness of law and may lead certain individuals to think that they are practically unpunishable. This problem doesn’t concern prevailing part of the States of America, because in 32 out of 50 States the death sen tence is a possible method of dealing with the most ignoble cases of trespassing a law. Historically speaking the death sentence was a part of common English law and as such became a part of the English colonies law, but as soon as the Declaration of Independence was proclaimed and United States began to form, certain States had different views on this punishment. Offences that were penalized with it and methods of the executions also varied. The breakthrough in the judicial treatment of this matter was a case ruled in 1972, known as Furman v. Georgia. The defendant charged robbery and murder was sentenced to death, but the verdict was never carried out. That’s because the opinion of court was that the current death penalty is in this case a cruel and unusual punishment. This led to the mortification of capital punishment for 4 years, until the Greg v. Georgia in 1976 and unification of the death penalty. As for now, in almost every big state, death penalty is legal. Texas is currently known as having performed the highest number of executions, which is not surprising, as it has the second highest population rate. The debate over capital punishment is continuing to this day, but is very controversial. There is a definite tendency to abolish this penalty over introducing it, as seen in  Connecticut and Maryland. These states abolished death penalty in 2012 and 2013. The moral issue is whether it is possible for human to decide over the other human death or life, but also if certain crimes deserve the capital punishment. Again, is it really just for certain offenders to live in confinement at the expense of the taxpayers even for the rest of their lives? In my opinion the feelings of the family and close acquaintances of the victims should be taken into account. It is only natural for them to wish the dangerous murderers dead. Furthermore I think that notorious criminals and particula rly brutal killers should be sentenced to death. Another moral controversy stems from the fact that there were cases in which convicts were posthumously proven to be not guilty. The contemporary judicial process allows for such wrongful convictions but this number is statistically low. On the other hand a system which allows execution when there is even a doubt about the defendant’s guilt can be considered inhumane and barbaric for such advanced and progressive country as the United States of America. The recent case of Troy Davis, who was believed of being innocent of murder brought much attention to the subject in 2011. The Death Penalty Information Center reported much higher than anticipated opposition to the current situation, because the American society was seen majorly as in favor of capital punishment. From the economical viewpoint the death sentence has its benefits and drawbacks. Firstly, the most felonious offenders could spend a set number of years or the rest of their lives doing the hard labor, but there is possibility that they will not work or deliberately do a bad job. Currently in the United States the penal labor is not required, b ut the convict who refused to work usually gets smaller food rations, longer sentence or other restricting sanctions. It seems like it’s the good solution but would it be enough to compensate for their sustenance, particularly when they live to the old age and can’t work? Next issue is connected with the high costs of exceptionally long trials. If there is insufficient evidence about the defendant who is in the death row the law is in a fix. There is little to do in such situation unless the new methods of interrogation or criminal research become viable. To summarize, this topic offers a great number of controversies and has no easy and direct approach. In the past the capital punishment was a part of every society, but now in almost every country in the world it is abolished or under the moratorium,  which shows that we, the human kind are progressing as a sentient and civilized beings. The United States of America is one of the most industrialized and populous countries today that still practice the death penalty, others being for example China, Japan and India. This makes one wonder if these countries can be considered civilized, but the capital punishment still has a very strong support. One of the most reasonable argument is that under the threat of the most severe consequences people will not commit crime. In the end, whether it is justifiable to take the other’s life in the name of law or not, I am in favor of such possibility and America’s approach. In my opinion there are some crimes that deserve the capital punishment.

Foreign students and their experiences Coursework

Foreign students and their experiences - Coursework Example The researcher states that foreign students, otherwise known as international students, continue to form a greater percentage of the learning elite in countries with world-renowned educational systems in the West. Over the last one decade, the number of foreign students in the world has more than doubled, and analysts expect the figure to reach about 7 million by the year 2020. Some of the key destinations for international students are the major English speaking countries: UK, US, and Australia, which enrol nearly 1.5 million students every year, according to 2009 statistics. The major sources for the international students are the emerging economies, where improvement in the economic situations in has led to an unprecedented rise in the number of enrolments in western higher learning institutions. Major non-native English speaking source countries for the foreign students are India and China. Given the differences that exist in the English proficiency between non-native and native English speakers, many analysts believe that English proficiency affects the way students relate with their supervisors. A number of factors push the demand for foreign education. Likewise, a combination of issues and challenges are attributable to non-native English students. Besides issues to do with visa acquisitions, student loans, and cultural clashes, foreign non-native students face significant hardships adjusting to the use of native English as the dominant mode of instruction. (Wehrly, 1986). The challenges of non-native speakers and their use of English language defines the premise for this research, with a particular bend on understanding how English language proficiency affects the way students relate to their supervisors. Consequently, the cultural inclinations of native English speaking supervisors with regard to their teaching methods have overarching implication on the process, and effectiveness of learning for non-native English speaking students (De Wit, 2004). Wit h such an intricate interplay of factors the significance of English language use, against a backdrop of other factors forms an area of concern for many researchers on the subject. The goal of this report is to discuss the importance of English language for non-native students in their communications with their supervisors. Literature Review Previous research on the issues on foreign students and their experiences in Western higher learning institutions offer a good backdrop for subsequent research interest on the subject. For instance, Schmitt (2005) observes that non-native English speaking university students have about 10% the English vocabulary native speakers possess. On the other hand, non-native Englis