Reducing School Violence Through Conflict Essay

It is alarming how more and more violent acts are being done by young students these days. A lot of factors can influence them and can be blamed but still there are not enough programs or ways to stop these acts. Everyone, including the media, community, and government, should be involved in this situation because these young people do not realize the graveness and seriousness of their outrages. There is an interrelation between preventing violence and resolving conflict (Johnson & Johnson, 1995, p. 5). This is seen with Project Schools Teaching Options for Peace (S. T. O. P) and The Safe Harbor Program. The former is a conflict resolution program while the latter deals with anti-violence. The two programs produced positive results in that it gave students the opportunity to change with regard to the way they see things. It gave them the chance to talk about what they were dealing and to resolve their conflicts. It made them understand themselves better, as well as to understand their environment and the people that surrounds them better. It made them feel that they are not alone and that there is help when they need it. Young adults or teenagers have a lot on their minds that most older people do not understand. At times, these young people are misunderstood and, therefore, ignored. The problem is, when they are ignored, it is the time when they would probably do things that they would soon regret. This is the reason why it is important that programs that would provide help and support should always be available especially to students. It may seem like a small step but to these young people, knowing that someone is there for them actually means a lot. Reference Johnson, D. W. & Johnson, R. T. (1995). Reducing School Violence Through Conflict

International Economics Gerber Study Questions Essay

The United States in a Global Economy 1.Outline Introduction Globalization in Perspective The Growth of World Trade Capital and Labor Mobility New Features of the Global Economy New Issues in International Trade and Investment The Role of International Organizations Regional Trade Agreements Trade and Economic Growth Twelve Issues in the International Economy The Gains from Trade Wages, Jobs, and Protection Trade Deficits Regional Trade Agreements The Resolution of Trade Conflicts The Role of International Institutions Exchange Rates and the Macroeconomy Financial Crises and the Global Contagion Capital Flows and the Debt of Developing Countries Crisis and Reform in Latin America Export Led Growth in East Asia The Integration of India and China into the World Economy 2. A Thumbnail Sketch of the Material Covered in Chapter One The re-emergence of international economic integration theme tries to put globalization in perspective. Most features of globalization aren’t new, and international economic integration could be described as re-emerging after a period of disruption during time periods surrounding WWI and WWII. There are three aspects of international economic integration considered: 1.The growth of world trade. World trade has grown over the last sixty or seventy years but is still fairly comparable in percentage terms to what existed 110 years ago. Trade has become a larger share of national economies as measured by the: Index of Openness (Exports Imports)/GDP This index does not tell us about a nation’s trade policies. Nations with higher figures for the index of openness do not necessarily have lower trade barriers. Large economies are less dependent on international trade and often have lower measures of openness than small countries. Figure 1.1 shows the openness index for six nations at different points in time. It shows the drop in trade from 1913 to 1950 and its growth (even above 1913 levels) for most nations by 2000. A trend obscured in the overall trade data is that in 1890 most U.S. trade was in agricultural products and raw materials, while today most is manufactured goods. The relative importance of capital goods has increased dramatically. 2.Capital and labor mobility. Labor is much less mobile internationally now than it was in 1900. For capital, it is somewhat more mobile. There is a difference between financial capital and physical capital. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is the flow of capital representing physical assets such as real estate, factories, and businesses. While capital flows to developing countries have increased over recent decades, the level of investment in any country is still correlated with its domestic level of savings, making national savings rates far more important than global capital flows. However, capital flows today are different from earlier periods in three ways. More types of financial instruments exist today, and flows of financial capital are likely much greater. In 1900, the world operated on a fixed exchange rate standard and much of today’s financial market transactions are aimed at protecting against exchange rate risk caused by floating exchange rates. Transactions costs associated with foreign capital flows have also fallen significantly. Volatility in international capital flows, while often a subject of intense attention today, is not new. 3.Movement of prices in different markets. The text does not develop this, but points out that in the late 1800s wheat farmers, meat packers, and fruit growers all produced for a global market where international rather than domestic supply and demand determined prices. News reports today could easily demonstrate this for most commodities. New issues in international trade and investment: Barriers to manufactured goods have fallen significantly as a result of a process that began at the end of WWII. As formal restrictions on imports  have been reduced, domestic policies on issues such as the environment, labor, and fair market conditions have become the barriers to further increases in trade flows. Reducing trade barriers has been the focus of negotiations between nations. Eliminating the traditional barriers to trade, tariffs and quotas, is referred to as shallow integration because it just changes policies â€Å"at the border.† Eliminating domestic policy differences that create trade barriers is much more complicated and is referred to as deep integration. International organizations created at the end of WWII play a key role and are an entirely new element in the international economy. Agreements between nations are not new, but there has been a significant increase in the number of regional trade agreements signed, especially in the 1990s. The formation of these regional trade agreements is controversial for different reasons for both trade opponents and trade proponents. The growth of world trade can potentially lead to a variety of consequences, but generally economists remain committed that the benefits outweigh the costs. This position is supported by the casual empirical evidence of historical experience, evidence supported by models and deductive reasoning, and evidence from statistical comparisons of countries. Open economies grow faster and prosper sooner than more closed ones. 3. What Students Should Know After Reading This Chapter Chapter 1 challenges the belief that the world has embarked on an entirely new and unprecedented era of globalization. Looked at from the long run, it seems clear that the period 1870 to 1914 was an earlier era with similar trends. Those years experienced rapid technological change in the form of railways, steamships, and telegraphs that all came into widespread usage and spanned the oceans; they underwent business and financial sector innovation through the rapid growth in the corporate form of business organization, the invention and spread of demand deposits, and the development of stockmarkets; trade policies were liberalized in many nations; and there were widespread protests against immigration and the global economy. In the United States, the protest movement was centered in populist movements that are reminiscent of some politicians and commentators today. This is not an argument about history repeating itself. Rather, i t is an attempt to get students to think of the period from World War I to the end of World War II as an aberration in the last 150 years of world history. The long run trend is toward  integration, punctuated by protests and nationalistic movements that halt or reverse the trend. When students are asked what they think is new about today’s economy, they inevitably answer: technology. E-mail, faxes, satellite systems, jet aircraft, and less visible forms such as container cargo transportation systems have each made significant contributions to increasing trade flows. It is useful to engage students in a discussion over the marginal impacts of these new technologies versus the marginal effects of steam powered ocean going vessels or trans-Atlantic telegraphy. Telegraphy cut the time it took information to cross the ocean from around three weeks to relatively instantaneously, and reduced the time it took to buy a foreign bond from around three weeks to about one day. It is us eful for students to realize there was a disruption for two reasons. First, much of what has happened over the last 50 years was aimed at fixing something that was broken, not creating a new phenomena. Second, the international institutions that deal with the global economy are new and were created because of some shared recognition that integration was important and helpful and needed to be encouraged. An important sub-theme of the text is the idea of deep versus shallow integration and the institutional process that nations go through to create deeper levels of integration. The chapter also points to some things that are new about today. Important ones for the text will be flexible exchange rates, regional trade agreements, and the changing mix of the types of goods nations produce. Domestic policies will be a key focus when trade barriers and capital flows are considered. Another important issue will be the evolving role of international organizations in negotiating and enforcing changes in domestic policies. 4. Assignment Ideas 1.I like to use the index of openness to contrast the importance of trade to various nations and to drive home the fact that relative value matters. The United States is a huge participant in trade in dollar terms, but it is not as dependent on trade as many other countries. Some countries’ entire economies are dependent on international trade. I find students need some practice calculating and interpreting the index of openness. The data below is from the World Fact Book and is 2006 estimated data in billions of U.S. dollars: Country Exports Imports GDP New Zealand 23.7 B 25.2 B 106 B Bahrain 12.6 B 9 B 17.7 B Brazil 138 B 95.8 B 1,616 B Cambodia 3.3 B 4.5 B 36.78 B Chad 4.34 B 0.823 B 15.26 B Nigeria 59 B 25.1 B 188.5 B 2. As homework very early in the course, I sometimes assign students each a nation, and one of the pieces of information they are to collect is its Index of Openness. I also ask them to find out its currency, current exchange rate with the U.S. dollar, primary exports, imports, major trading partners, and the trade agreements in which it participates. To compare with the U.S. historical data, you might ask them to track the nation’s trade figures over time. While these are basic matters of fact, I find it helps make what we are discussing more concrete. 3.The chapter also lends itself  to students developing some factual knowledge about U.S. trade history. One possibility is to look at U.S. trade policy in various time periods. The U.S. had relatively high tariffs (greater than 40 percent on average) throughout the second half of the nineteenth century. In 1890, Congress passed the McKinley Tariff, followed in 1897 by the Dingley Tariff. Both tariffs raised rates further fro m their already high base. Wilson tried to reduce tariffs but was thwarted by World War I. Rates in the 1920s fell, but the Tariff Act of 1930 (Smoot-Hawley Tariff) raised the rates back up to nearly 45 percent. In the midst of the Great Depression (1934), Roosevelt and his Secretary of State, Dulles, persuaded Congress to pass the Reciprocal Trade Agreement Act. The Act authorized Roosevelt to negotiate bilateral, reciprocal tariff reduction agreements. This piece of legislation marks an historic shift in U.S. tariff policy, away from protectionism and toward more openness. Answers to End-of-Chapter Questions 1.How can globalization and international economic integration be measured? Answer:The chapter offers three ways to measure globalization and economic integration: (1) trade flows; (2) factor movements; and (3) convergence of prices (goods, factors, and assets). 2.In what sense is the U.S. economy more integrated with the world today than it was a century ago? In what ways is it less integrated? Answer:The U.S.’s openness indicator is about sixty percent greater today than it was in 1890 ((25.3 – 15.8)/15.8 ï€ ½ 0.601), or almost one hundred and nine percent greater than in 1910. While this is a very significant increase, it is hardly the revolution in economic relations that many people claim. The sixty percent statistic might be considered misleading, however, in that a much larger share of total goods output is traded (more than thirty percent in 1990 versus less than ten percent in 1950). While we cannot compare the latter statistic to 1890 or 1900, it does appear that there is a clear trend toward a greater role for international commerce. This is consistent with the observation that world trade has been growing faster than world output, at least since 1950. Much of the growth in trade since then, however, simply brought us back to where we were before World War II. In terms of labor flows, the U.S. is probably less integrated with the world economy than it was in 1890 or 1900. At those latter dates we had an open door immigration policy (for all but Chinese citizens), and a larger share of our population was foreign born (fourteen and one half percent in 1890 versus less than eight percent in 1990 and twelve percent today). Capital flows are more difficult to generalize since they can be measured several ways. While the absolute volume of capital flows has increased dramatically, as a share of world GDP it is probably no more than it was at the turn of the century, and it may be less. While the absolute volume of capital flows to developing countries has increased, the level of investment in any country is still highly correlated with its domestic savings rate. What is different, however, is the ease at which capital can cross international boundaries (lower transaction costs) and the much greater variety of assets that are traded. The need to protect against exchange rate risk is a key component of today’s international financial markets and is a primary difference from the fixed exchange rate standard of the past. The incidence of financial crises has not increased and, as a metric of integration, it implies no increase in capital market integration. The growth of regional trade agreements is also an indicator of increased integration. A growing role for international institutions such as the IMF or the World Bank may also indicate an increase in international integration. 3.What is â€Å"openness†? How is it measured? Does a low openness indicator indicate that a country is closed to trade with the outside world? Answer:Openness is a measure of the relative importance of trade to a national economy. It is measured by the ratio of exports plus imports to GDP. A relatively small openness indicator does not necessarily mean that an economy is intentionally closed to the outside world. Large countries like the U.S. or China have big domestic markets that enable firms to specialize and produce in volume in order to attain their optimal scale. Specialization and high volume in manufacturing is often associated with increased productivity, so firms in large markets can achieve the highest possible level of productivity without having to sell to foreign markets. Firms  located in smaller countries have to trade their output across international boundaries if they want to have the same technology and the same level of productivity. Consequently, large countries tend to have lower openness indicators regardless of their trade policies. 4.Describe the pattern over the last century shown by the openness index for leading industrial economies. Answer:The indicators fell between 1913 and 1950, when it begins to rise relatively rapidly. The main caus es of the pattern shown in Figure 1.1 are the two world wars and the Great Depression of the 1930s and changes in trade policy that accompanied that period. In 2000, they are mostly higher than they were before WWI. Another pattern the chapter notes is that the index is smaller for the larger population countries of Japan and the United States, and higher for the Netherlands, with its small population. 5.Trade and capital flows were described and measured in relative terms rather than absolute. Explain the difference. Which term seems more valid, relative or absolute? Why? Answer:Absolute values are the dollar amounts of trade and capital flows. Relative values are the ratio of dollar values to GDP. Relative values are a better indicator of the importance of a variable. Large economies like the U.S. may have large export and import values, but the importance of trade to the national economy is not nearly as great as it is for other economies. The U.S. is the world’s largest e xporter and importer, but the national economy is so large that trade is much less important for the U.S. than it is for many smaller countries such as Canada, Belgium, or the Netherlands. 6.The relative size of international capital flows may not be much greater today than they were 100 years ago, although they are certainly greater than they were 50 years ago. Qualitatively, however, capital flows are different today. Explain. Answer:Major qualitative difference between late nineteenth and late twentieth century capital flows include the fact that there are many more types of financial instruments available now compared to a century ago. These instruments can be finely tailored to the income and risk preferences of investors. Secondly, a large share of the total flow of capital across borders is related to the need to protect against fluctuations in the value of currencies. This use of international capital markets was not as necessary when nations operated within fixed exchange r ate systems. And third, the transaction costs of participating in international capital markets is much lower today than it was a century ago. 7.What are the new issues in international trade and investment? In what sense do they expose national economies to outside influences? Answer:The new issues involve policy differences between nations that until recently were considered the exclusive responsibility of local or national governments. Examples include labor standards, environmental standards, competition or antitrust policies, and industrial support policies. Negotiations between nations potentially give foreign interests a voice in setting domestic policy. The scope and the depth of the negotiations determine how great a voice foreigners will have. It is often the case, however, that negotiations either occur or are proposed because some aspect of domestic policy is perceived by foreigners as a barrier to trade, and they seek to alter the domestic policy that creates it. 8.Describe the three kinds of evidence economists use to support the assertion that open economies grow faster than economies that are closed to the word economy. Answer:These are: (1) casual empirical evidence of historical experience; (2) economic logic and deductive reasoning; and, (3) evidence of statistical comparisons of countries. (1)The historical evidence examines the experiences of countries that tried to isolate themselves from the rest of the world. First, not only did trade protection exacerbate the depression of the 1930s, but it also led to the misery and tragedy of World War II. Second, an examination of countries such as the former West and East Germany, South and North Korea, and other countries with the same historical, economic, and ethnic background that were divided by war, indicate that those who closed their economies from the rest of the world suffered in terms of prosperity and environmental degradation. East Asia experienced an economic take-off when it dec ided to integrate with the rest of the world, while Latin America, which had the same economic background with East Asia but chose to remain partially closed, experienced mediocre growth. (2)The logic of economic theory also suggests a strong causal relation between trade and faster economic growth. The following is a summary of this linkage: Following Adam Smith, David Ricardo proved that comparative advantage leads to trade and this in turn leads to the reallocation of resources and the improvement of the standard of living of any nation, large or small. Modern trade theory also makes the case for exports and open trade as the causes for economic expansion. Exports and open trade foster competition, innovation, and learning-by-doing, and bring international best practices to the attention of domestic producers, spurring greater efficiency and export expansion. This helps domestic producers to realize economies of scale when they attempt to produce for the world market, rather than for their own limited domestic consumers. Larger markets create incentives for firms to engage in research and development, and allow countries to import important production inputs and foreign capital by minimizing the foreign exchange constraints. They facilitate the transfer of technology and managerial skills. It follows that open trade an d exports increase the demand for the country’s output and therefore contribute strongly to positive economic growth. (3)Even though the statistical evidence is not quite conclusive (mainly due to measuring trade policy), the evidence of statistical comparison of countries (cross-sectional time series) indicates that countries benefit from open trade.

Coopetition: “united we stand, divided we fall” Essay

When in 2004 I spoke in illywords magazine about coopetition, many people thought I had used a neologism. We said, that coopetition is not short on dissociated thinking as it entails being co-operative and competitive at the same time. It seemed to be absurd! Nowadays it would be hard to conceive a world divided with walls or any kind of barriers. What’s needed instead is bearing into mind and putting into practise the old but nevertheless true motto †united we stand, divided we fall† when we handle with a good idea that requires a strong commitment together with a considerable outlay of financial and human resources. Professor Yaneer Bar Yam, expert of complex models and President of the New England Complex System Institute said that in the near future ten billion of human beings will be linked one another in an ongoing exchange process able to create a sort of â€Å"hyper-individual† whose creative potential is at this point in time still inconceivable. I am firmly convinced that human evolution should benefit from the mutual exchange even if competitive. Today we celebrate the 7th billion new born. We are not so far from what professor Bar Yem predicted, but I have the feeling that we still face great competition and less cooperation in our way of working and living. Is there any young person or group of young people that is using the concept of coopetition in their life, studies or work? I’d like to hear your voice. Coopetition is a very interesting term. It brings to mind an aspect of business that you may not align with the seemingly cut-throat nature of the coffee wars. Yet, I found an article I enjoyed in The Economist (again!) recently titled â€Å"Head Barista† on that very subject. You would think a person in Andrea Illy‘s position, as captain of the family business that was started in 1933, would be shaking in his Italian leather boots about the rise of Starbucks over the past decade. He is not. He views this as healthy coopetition. He is quoted in Economist article as saying â€Å"Eight years ago people talked of coffee as a commodity; now, nobody does†. In a fast-paced world of drive-through swill, Illy stands out even more today as a distinct brand. In fact, as you can see their â€Å"Beauty has a Taste† tagline is perfectly aligned with what their brand represents and the expectation they have set. Illy espresso machines are pieces of art. And, their specially crafted limited-edition Espresso cup sets can fetch as high as several hundred dollars each. Many editions are already highly valued collector items. Why do I care about Illy? Well, I start each and every day with a home-brewed shot of espresso – albeit in a Starbucks Barista machine (if anyone at Illy wants to send me one of theirs to do a comparison test, I’d happily comply). That being said, I like my Starbucks a whole lot too. So, if you love coffee they way I do and know the difference between brews and beans, Illy is simply one of the best. They come by it honestly as the Economist article reveals, â€Å"Mr. Illy is a chemistry graduate – at university he wrote a thesis on the â€Å"Quality of Espresso from a Chemical Perspective†. Want to bet his Dad helped him a bit with that paper? The next phase for Illy is to open â€Å"Espressamente Illy† cafes worldwide as â€Å"advertisements for the brand† as well as remaining focused on sending a clear message that Illy produces coffee â€Å"according to the highest ethical standards† in terms of the fair-trade market. Andrea, if you are ever in Toronto, or plan to open an Espressamente Illy here, I’ll be there with cup in hand. Mr. Illy, you make good coffee.

Canadian Business and the Law Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Canadian Business and the Law - Assignment Example 1. Human resources Pre-employment screening Most companies carry out pre-employment screening before employing a potential applicant. During the process, the employer examines and analyzes an applicant’s background to screen and justify the accuracy of the information provided. However, Seneca College in Toronto has been accused of failing to conduct pre-employment screening on some job applicants. For instance, the company does not look into relevant information and qualification of the job application (Smith & Hodges, 2009). The recruitment department must not fall into discriminating directly or indirectly potential candidates during the whole process of recruitment and selection. Management contract An institution will be considered the best if it has met the pre-qualification conditions and it offers the best cost, which in this case will be the lowest cost. Under the law, an institution is a legal person and hence a separate legal entity from the owner. If there is breac h of the contract, then the person to be sued is the company but not the owners. If after the execution of the contract Jerry wants to sell the company, there is no legal barrier restricting him from selling the company. The custom transportation company will not seize to exist after the departure of Jerry. The new management can be sued on behalf of the company, and they should make any corrections after the completion of the contract. In a contract setting, the person offering the contract is left with retention money, which can be used in case a fault in work done is discovered after execution of contract. In a contract, the ethical behavior is right of lien for both the contractor and the contracted. The commission has a right to stay with the retention money if the company does not do the work correctly and use it to pay another contractor who will do the part not done well (Smith & Hodges, 2009). Contract laws emphasis the fact that agreements made between or among parties in a transaction must be honored. This has mechanisms in place to ensure that parties uphold their terms of agreement thought the transaction session. These laws protect mostly those transactions that are long term in nature. For example, an infrastructure contract between a company and the government. Such contract may span for several years, which qualifies the need for mechanisms to be put in place to guide both parties during work progress until it is completed. Violation of any of these terms by any of the trading partners means that a contract law has been broken and this necessitates a further step from the affected partner. Contract laws give a contracting partner the constitutional right to know if the other partner is credit worthy. This factor plays a role in preventing future payment disputes in case of defaults from any of the parties. This law ensures that there are mechanism and measures, which are in place to enable debt recovery in circumstances of payment defaults. Th is may apply to scenarios where payments are made through cheques that bounce. Contract law empowers the courts to collect debts if such scenarios of payment default arise. Seneca College might face legal risks in contract management since its contracts lacks the above information (Smith & Hodges, 2009). 2. Student services Admissions Seneca College needs to handle the issue of student admission because it enrolls students from local area and discriminate other places. The College

The nurse as a professional (mental health) Essay

The nurse as a professional (mental health) - Essay Example For instance, children who obtained psychological treatments for psychosomatic and behavioural problems experienced hardly any primary care visits and received less healthcare services after treatment (Finney, Riley, & Cataldo 1991). There are also indications that group counselling enhances the functioning of the immune system, pregnancy rates, and the quality of life of cancer patients. This fact is known to a large number of mental health nurses (Aldridge 2004). Even though the significance of the emotional health of patients and its connection to physical well being has been supported for several years, practitioners have been disappointed in determining how to enhance access to mental health (Hemmings 2000). Mental health equality, which needs insurance companies to offer reasonable coverage for mental health and physical care, has currently been the major goal for enhancing such success. Integrated Care in Mental Health Contexts Inopportunely, mental health equality may not be a universal remedy, as several professionals think. Insurance companies, for example, if obliged by government policy to give equitable coverage, will transfer the extra costs to the public through co-payments and higher premiums, which will also restrict mental healthcare access, although indirectly (Kent & Hersen 2000). Per se, the main objective of this essay is to draw the attention of mental health nurses to a materialising development, integrated care, and recommend techniques for taking part in an integrated care process. Integrated care, a new development, gives much assurance to patients and all healthcare employees. Integrated care is the enhanced cooperation of mental health practitioners within primary care contexts (Lesser 2000). More particularly, integrated care is quite successful when services are given through co-location, specifically, when mental health nurses work collaboratively with primary care physicians in the same office (McCulloch, Friedli & Parker 2002). In this form of integrated set up, mental health nurses and PCPs discuss frequently the needs and demands of patients, in several cases, visit a patient together to identify the most suitable treatment process (Keady, Clarke & Page 2007). Research on integrated care has shown major positive outcomes, such as: reduced despair and improved quality of life of adults in relation to a ‘treated’ control group, and anxiety-free periods for individuals with panic disorder, reduced in-patient admissions, and reduced patient depression levels (Knapp, McDaid, Mossialos & Thornicroft 2007). Furthermore, evidence indicates that patients choose to receive mental health care within their primary care environment, reveal fewer stigmas about obtaining psychiatric help, and feel comforted by the thought that their nurses are involved in therapy (Knapp et al. 2007). Ultimately, in a current analysis of more than 60 integrated care investigations, Blount (2003) discovered that, generally, integrated care generated enhanced medical outcomes, enhanced provider and patient satisfaction, and enhanced cost effectiveness. Grounds for the effective outcomes involve the ease of mental healthcare access within a common context, but also involve the involvement of nurses in the mental healthcare needs of patients as well as the reprieve of nurses by the thought th

Howard Carter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Howard Carter - Essay Example Perhaps Howard Carter's artistic abilities were never fully cultivated because his family did not have much money, or perhaps it was because Carter spent much of his early life as a very sickly, weak little boy (10). Whatever the reasons were, Carter never saw himself as good as his father, who taught Carter all he knew about drawing (11). However, Carter was good enough to get a job as an assistant copyist with Percy Edward Newberry (20). The recommendations of a family friend, Mrs. Margaret Tyssen-Amherst also helped to secure this position (22), thus began Howard Carter's career as an archaeologist. In the autumn of 1891, when Carter was just 17 years old, he made his first trip to Egypt and experienced sea-sickness for the first time (Reeves and Taylor 1993, 23). The voyage across the Channel is vividly - although not too fondly - remembered by Carter in his autobiographical sketches: It was then that I discovered I was not physically fitted for a sailor; that an appetite for food oozy with oil, and the motion of the ship caused very adverse sensations which centered around the sensitive nerves of the solar plexus, and which in my case resulted in a complete 'knock-out' (23-24). Carter was extremely relieved when the ship at last landed in Alexandria (24). From there, he journeyed to Cairo, where he met the famous archaeologist William Matthew Flinders Petrie (24). A few days later, he joined Newberry's archaeological work in Beni Hasan (24). Howard Carter soon proved his merit as a copyist. As Newberry wrote to one of his acquaintances: I never reckoned on getting done so fast. It is astonishing how much can be done by two men working hard when the hands are willing. I believe that Carter and I could almost trace all the tombs in Egypt in five years!!! On Sunday last I tried Carter at painting and found he could copy things here very well indeed (Reeves and Taylor 1993, 27). Not only did Carter copy quickly, he also copied with great attention to detail. A sketch he did of a relief in a tomb at Deir el-Bersha shows a complex and faithful rendering of how a gigantic stone statue was transported from the stone quarry where it was carved (31). When it is compared with other copies of the same picture, there is no doubt that Carter's is far superior (31). Carter's successes at the excavation of Queen Hatshepsut's tomb in Deir el-Bersha earned him a position as the first Inspector General of Monuments for Upper Egypt at the very young age of 25 (Warren 2005). He was responsible for supervising all archaeological activities that went on in the Upper Nile Valley, including the ancient city of Thebes (Warren 2005). During his tenure, he conducted extensive excavations and preservations, and established electric lighting in the Valley of the Kings and the temples of Ramses II and Nefertari at Abu Simbel (Warren 2005). Carter also made a significant discovery at the Tomb of the Horse, or Bab el-Hosan. He found a sepulchre with what he thought was a human body, but it turned out to only be a statue (Reeves and Taylor 1993, 66-67). The usually meticulous Carter informed the British Consul-General in Egypt, Viscount Cromer, of the discovery before he had actually examined it closely. His friend and employer, Gaston Maspero, describes the inci dent in this way: [Carter] had announced his discovery too soon to Lord Cromer. Lord Cromer came

Navis SWOT analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Navis SWOT analysis - Essay Example Several forces control the performance of the shipping industry. One of them is the seasonal nature of the business, whereby some times of the year have more goods for transport than other seasons (Boyd, 2007). The industry is also dependent on the weather whereby poor weather conditions may affect the navigation of ships. The strengths of these forces are that they may positively increase the quantity of goods for transport and because of a higher demand, push up the prices. However, they also result in other weaknesses, such that firms are always found unable to foresee an unsustainable rise in demand, which makes it difficult to control the sector during high seasons. Additionally, instead of companies focusing on the provision of new services through innovation, it only considers increasing the size of its fleet, which at times is unsustainable, considering the fact that the industry is sometimes seasonal (Boyd, 2007). Other than the weather, inflicted cause, over the years, the nature of the forces has been dependent on the performance of the economy. Since the recovery from the economic recession, the industry has significantly experienced a positive improvement with the companies sharpening their strategies to gain significant controls of the market share in the industry (PWC, 2011). From the analysis, companies that will be able to use data mining tools to foresee rising demands of services at different times of the year will have a competitive edge over others. Consequently, those who consider implementing innovative solutions to their services are also likely to record a positive performance over those that do not. Navis as a firm tends to have various resources and skills that tend to relish value and quality. The instance implies that the company is capable of giving peculiar services to customers that tend to hold a real return. The firm thus does not only handle products but also handles

NCLB Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

NCLB - Essay Example This essay declares that NCLB will bestow significant benefits to the education system. An inherent feature of the whole program lies in linking every stakeholder in the education system towards a common goal of improving education. Significant reports claim that education standards have been falling in the USA. In spite of exceptional enrollment rates, students have registered low performance even in key areas such as Mathematics and English. Solving such problems requires measurable standards that teachers, students, and the state strive to achieve. The NCLB program, hence, unite all the stakeholders in designing unique policies that work towards a convergent direction. In this sense, it recognizes that achieving a comprehensive education requires the unique efforts of every party. This paper makes a conclusion that the NCLB program recognizes that states and districts possess unique problems and needs in education. In spite of the overall needs of education, the NCLB program recognizes that certain factors differentiate the state of education of one state from the other. For instance, education and income is a critical issue because it determines the nature of education that a student receives. In this sense, a state will have to examine the income groups in its communities and ask for proportionate funding levels. In addition, each state will examine the differentials in terms of the suburban schools and the inner city schools. In the end, it becomes essential to design tests that cater for all the communities in a state.

Prepare a persuasive speech on the importance of alcoholism Essay

Prepare a persuasive speech on the importance of alcoholism prevention. your audience is a group of 20 high school students and their parents - Essay Example Chemical properties of alcohol are such that it affects your Central Nervous System (CNS) which includes the â€Å"brain.† Alcohol in your blood decreases the brain activity and depresses the expression of certain anxieties. As a result, you feel better about yourself and less worried. Therefore, you feel more socially skilled. Even the physicians prescribe CNS depressants such as alcohol to treat anxiety, muscle tension, pain, insomnia and panic attacks. There are many other drugs that have similar effects to alcohol, example: narcotics, barbiturates, benzodiazepines and chloral hydrate. We need to understand why people crave for alcohol. It is not merely a person’s fault. Alcohol has the â€Å"addicting effect† on human beings due to its chemical properties. And also, individuals under the influence are usually violent. You may feel tough after you have had a beer. But the sad truth is â€Å"alcohol is controlling you†, not the other way around. Intoxicated individuals may neglect and abuse children, harm women and disabled or put their lives at risk. In many cases people have confessed that they were under the influence when behaving violently. Alcohol related violence is a severe social problem in the world. Over 100,000 students of age 18 to 24 are victims of alcohol-related sexual assault or rape. Another 400,000 students had unprotected sex while too intoxicated to know if they consented to having sex. If you are not concerned about the society at large you should be concerned about your own well being. Alcohol impairs your judgment, creates beer bellies and leads to hangovers. One day you might wake up from hangover to find out that you are a teenage mother, single parent, need an abortion, having AIDS or sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Alcohol consumption weakens the immune system. In other words alcoholics are more likely to die from AIDS, tuberculosis and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) compared to the

Cultural Sensivity Essay Example for Free

Cultural Sensivity Essay The manner in which color is employed in an international context is a significant factor which is frequently maltreated or neglected by the developers of Web sites and instructional material. What is more, its application is even more complicated due to the notion that perception of color is conditioned not merely by ones physical competence to see it. It is even more important for a designer to understand the meaning of a color in terms of cultural preferences. Following are some recommendations in regards to the worlds attitudes toward the basic colors. So, the developer of a site oriented on an international viewer should keep in mind that blue is the best-tolerated color worldwide. Blue is one of the colors that is unobjected in the majority of ethnical traditions. Therefore, a designer can employ it for all sorts of sites, no matter what its audience, purpose, or placement are. In regards to the pleasant perception of this color specialists state that on our planet you cannot find anything that would be isolated from the surroundings – that is, excluding the sky. This may be the cause for prevailing religious beliefs place their deity somewhere above, while evil usually resides under the ground. There is a group of colors that possess somewhat indistinct characteristics and meanings. Among those one should mention pink. When developing sites for citizens of East India, it is recommended to avoid pale version of this color for the reason that male audience consider it as having a feminine attribute. In some states, on the other hand, representatives of both genders favor pastels; the perfect example is Japan. But the most important category for the designer to remember is the group of unsafe colors. The most noteworthy example is purple, which is received negatively in all around the world. Catholic-dominated countries, for example, have this color as a representation of death and crucifixion. Moreover, it symbolizes mystical teachings and practices that oppose the tenets of Christianism, Judaism and Muslimism. It is crucial for instructional designers to realize that all material is unseparatable from culture. Thus, Web site developers must take some special aspects of culture like, for example, color preferances, and integrate them into the project in order to create culturally sensitive presentation. Reference List 1. Design at Work Leaning Network. (April 2003). A brief introduction to information design. Retrieved on February 23, 2007, from http://http://www. christiania. edu/iforum/iforum/ePaper_no_4_3003. pdf.

Leadership Management and Motivation in Organisation

Leadership Management and Motivation in Organisation As the century unfolds, new realities are becoming clearer. New models of Leadership and Management are blossoming, some with unfounded success. For instance, focusing on working better as teams and empowering those closest to the customers to make important decisions have led to great accomplishments (Kurtzman, 2010). Management is often referred to words like efficiency, planning, paperwork, procedures, regulations, control, and consistency whereas Leadership is often associated with words like vision, creativity and risk-taking (Yukl, 2005). It has also been said that management is basically a control-laden activity; whereas leadership is basically a value-choosing, and thus a value-laden activity (Bass et al., 1990). Overall Management is defined as The organizational process that includes strategic planning, setting objectives, managing resources, deploying the human and financial assets needed to achieve objectives, and measuring results (Burgoyne, 1989). Leadership is defined as A process in which leader and followers interact in a way that enables the leader to influence the actions of the followers in a non-coercive way, towards the achievement of certain aims or objectives (Rollinson and Broadfield, 2002) In Kotters (1996) view Management relates to planning, controlling and organising whereas leadership relates to visioning, networking, creating, coping with change and building relationship. Leadership is often considered grander, more lucrative and admirable, in a word: better, than the less visible, fundamentally based, management (Hughes et al., 2009). The relationship between management and leadership is summarised in Appendix 1. From this we can argue are managers leaders or vice versa. As Zaleznik (1977) claims that in a bureaucratic society which breeds managers may restrain young leaders who need mentor and emotional interchange to develop. But Raelin (2004) argued that managers are not excluded from leadership. He says there is a potential for leadership to emerge from any individual under the right sets of circumstances. I would argue from my personal experience that managers can be leaders and vice versa depending on individual capabilities, skills and adapting change, as in Lloyds banking Group (LBG) we have managers as our team leaders and are quite successful in switching their roles and understanding the responsibilities of both managers and leaders. The concept was that as managers have some formal authority to influence subordinates behaviour they can easily occupy the role of leadership. However, just because the authority was there, it did not mean that subordinates will willingly assent to its use. There had been issues initially when they find it hard to switch over and look from leaders point of view, which caused problems in bonding with employees and lack of motivation. This resulted in getting all the managers trained on leadership programmes and understanding the needs or requirements of employees from their leaders. This was again based on how individual managers reacted to situations where they were able to keep their managerial ego aside and think as a team. Some of the managers were very good at switching over and thinking from a team perspective whereas some struggled. Overall we can argue that Zaleznik argument regarding management and leadership requires different types of people can be true, if an individual cannot cope with the changing organisation requirements. But in LBG we have seen that managers successfully play leaders role and vice versa to save cost or to adapt change and thus falsify Zalezniks argument. But as Rollinson and Broadfield (2002) often focus on managers can be leaders, this is not an inevitable state of affairs. Even though it is widely assumed that leadership can be taught to anybody, it is probably far more realistic to regard management and leadership as two complementary activities (Kotter, 1988), each one having its own unique functions. Motivation Quality work being top priority in organisations all over world as the use of contingent workers is on the rise. Managing knowledge workers continues to perplex experienced managers across divergent industries. And globalization and the challenges of managing across borders are now the norm instead of the exception. These changes can have a profound influence on how companies attempt to attract, retain, and motivate their employees (Steers et al., 2004) Motivation, in contrast, results when the person believes that engaging in the behaviour will result in some desired experience or outcome. Motivation is then differentiated into intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation (Herzberg et al., 1957) Intrinsic Motivation is where people may be motivated by the relationship between the worker and the task. It takes place when people feel that the work they do is interesting, challenging and have opportunities for advancement and growth. Extrinsic Motivation takes place when people may be motivated by factors in the external environment such as pay, supervision, benefits, and job perks The process of motivation is broadly based on a number of motivational theories. In this paper we will asses few motivational theories (Appendix 2) and asses these theories to identify what motivates people. Instrumental Theory: Initially in the second half of 19th century a concept of Instrumental Theory stated that people work only for money. Motivation using this approach is exclusively based on system of external control and fails to recognise a number of other human needs (Armstrong and Stephens, 2005). Maslow Needs Theory: The basic of this theory is the belief that an unsatisfied need creates tension and disequilibrium. Maslow (1954) formulated the concept of hierarchy of needs and believed that reasons people go to work changes. It starts from the fundamental physiological needs and leads through safety, social and esteems needs to the need for self-fulfilment. He believed that only an unsatisfied need can motivate behaviour and the dominant need is the prime motivator of behaviour. Herzbergs Two-Factor Model (Motivation-Hygiene): Herzbergs (1957) theory sates that the factors giving rise to job satisfaction are distinct from the factors that lead to job dissatisfaction. His research led him to conclude that hygiene factors such as pay, status, security, company policies and administration were rarely high motivators. People tend to take fringe benefits and good working conditions for granted, but when they are removed they had a highly demotivating effect. A salary increase had a short-term motivating effect when it was felt to be deserved, while what was felt to be an unfair salary was a long-lasting demotivator. Overall all these theories adopt a psychologically universal view, which assumes that everyone has a common set of needs and conveys the impression that people are predictable in terms of what motivates them. Moreover all these theories mostly ignore the crucial issue of individual differences and also to the potentially powerful effects of different national and organisational cultures as factors that can shape human needs (Bagher, 2010). In a work environment, it is sometimes viewed as the difference between what people can do and what they will do. In the practical workplace LBG uses various motivation models one of the highly used motivational models is Support and Challenge Principles Model. Support and Challenge Principles Model (Sheppard Moscow, 1980): This model suggests that to achieve working relationship requires a balance of appropriate and agreed supportive and challenging behaviours. The two axes of support and challenge when put together create four potential workplace environments as shown in fig below: High Support Comfortable high S performance performance U environment environment P P O R T apathetic stressful performance performance environment environment CHALLENGE High Challenge To get the most from your working relationships, it is important to agree how best to work together to maximise performance and minimise tension. One way of thinking about this is to think of in the terms of developing a way of working that is both challenging and supportive. The list of behaviours in each of the categories is detailed in Appendix 3. Different roles and situations will use different mixes of these two categories and depending upon the situation, the same individual can find any of these conditions or characteristics supporting or challenging. If the workplace situation remains very comfortable or alphabetic for a long time, then additional challenges will stimulate the move towards high performance. On the other hand if the workplace situation remains very stressful for too long, then support to help manage the implications is highly effective. Though, there will be times when short periods of high challenges or high support are appropriate e.g. at the end of a particular busy period, comfort is a reward and high challenges can be very stimulating and energising in short bursts (LBG, 2011). Managements main interest in motivation is in the prospects it offers for bringing employee behaviour under tight control. Thus what interest managers most is not the process of motivation but employee behaviour. However we can hardly blame managers for believing that motivation theory offers this opportunity, because content and process theories both imply that if we know o persons needs, the person can be motivated (Armstrong and Stephens, 2005). Thus from the above we have seen different aspects of motivation and it might appear that there is an element of contradiction in what they say. Content theories deal with the needs that give rise to motivated behaviour, but perhaps oversimplify matters because they tend to portray human beings as having a homogenous set of needs. Nevertheless, as long as due allowance is made for individual differences, this does not detract from their potential usefulness. Process theories have a different emphasis: they seek to explain the dynamics of the motivation process and so much greater account is taken of individual differences (Bagher, 2010). Leadership Historically, leadership has been conceived around a single individual in a specialised role, the relationship of that individual to subordinates or followers, and the individuals actions. There are several major paradigms of leadership (Appendix 4), such as the traits (great man), skills and styles approaches, situational and contingency approaches, charismatic and transformational approaches (Northouse, 2007, p2; Bass, 1990). Action-Centred Leadership The action-centred theory of leadership is based on extensive research by John Adairs (1984), which focuses on the group and the needs that leader must meet. Adair argues that there are eight functions you must carry out, to meet these needs. These functions can be learned, practised, observed and refined. Source: (Bagher, 2010: 186) Task need: A team leader needs to bring together the group to achieve a task by providing clear instructions and reasons so each member must know and understand what is expected of them. Team need: Good leaders create groups which function best when they share the sense of purpose along with collaborating work efficiently, effectively, with a sense of pride and responsibility by maintaining or setting new standards. Individual need: People or individuals are heart of any team but they have physical and psychological needs like better working conditions, status, opportunities to develop, build confidence and motivation. From this it follows that being effective as a leader is not just a matter of choosing a specific style of behaviour, but arriving at an appropriate balance between the three functions. Encouraging communication between team members is key to creating a team that will continue to work well when the leader is absent. This resilience is valuable and might be referred to as team sustainability. Leadership Power The link between leadership and power is a strong one and many of the theories of leadership can equally be framed as theories of power. Effective leading depends on relying on different power bases at different times as per need. At its simplest, the way you wield power to get compliance can be appropriate or inappropriate. Appropriate use of power can be described as influence, while inappropriate use can be described as bullying. Source: French and Raven (1960) References Armstrong, M. and Stephens, T. (2005) Employee Reward Management and Practice, London: Kogan Page Limited. Bagher, M. (2010) Organisational Behaviour: a contemporary approach, 2nd Edition, Harlow: Pearson. Bass, B., Bass, B. and Stogdill, R. (1990) Bass Stogdills Handbook of Leadership, New York: Simon Schuster. Burgoyne, J. (1989) Management Development: Context and Strategies, Aldershot: Gower. Herzberg, F., Mausner, B. and Snyderman, B. (1957) The Motivation to Work, New York: Wiley Hughes, R., Ginnett, R. and Curphy, G. (2009) Leadership, 6th ed., Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Kotter, J. (1988) The Leadership Factor, New York: Free Press. Kotter, J. P. (1996) Leading Change, Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. Kurtzman, J. (2010) Common Purpose: How Great Leaders Get Organizations to Achieve the Extraordinary, San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Maslow, A. (1954) Motivation and Personality, New York: Harper Row. Raelin, J. A. (2004) Dont bother putting leadership into people, Academy of Management Executive, 18(3): 12-28. Rollinson, D. and Broadfield, A. (2002) Organisational Behaviour and Analysis: An Integrated Approach, Harlow: FT Prentice Hall. Steers, R., Mowday, R. and Shapiro, D. (2004) The Future of Work Motivation Theory, Academy of Management Review, 29(3): 379-387. Yukl, G. (2005) Leadership in Organizations, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Zaleznik, A. (1977) Managers and Leaders: are they different?, Harvard Business Review, (May/June) 55(3): 67-77. French, J. P. R., and Raven, B. (1960) The bases of social power. In D. Cartwright and A. Zander (eds.), Group dynamics (pp. 607-623), New York: Harper and Row. Appendix 1 A Comparison of Management and Leadership Competencies. Source: Northouse, 2007, p. 10. Appendix 2 Summary of Motivation Theories and their practical implications Theory Theorist Summary of theory Practical implications Instrumentality Taylor People will be motivated to work if rewards and penalties are tied directly to their performance. Conceptual basis of incentives and pay for performance schemes. Needs Maslow Unsatisfied needs create tension and disequilibrium. To restore the balance a goal is identified which will satisfy the need, and a behaviour pathway is selected which will lead to the achievement of the goal. Only unsatisfied needs motivate. Identifies a number of key needs for consideration in developing total reward policies. Two-Factor Herzberg The factors giving rise to job satisfaction (and motivation) are distinct from the factors that lead to job dissatisfaction. Any feeling of satisfaction resulting from pay increase is likely to be short-lived compared with the long-lasting satisfaction from the work itself. Makes a distinction between intrinsic motivation arising from the work itself and extrinsic motivation provided by employer, e.g. pay. A useful distinction is made between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation which influences total reward decisions. The limited motivational effects of pay increases are worth remembering when considering the part contingent pay can play in motivating people. Expectancy Vroom Motivation is likely only when a clear perceived and usable relationship exists between performance and outcome and the outcome is seen as a means of satisfying needs. Provides the foundation for good practice in the design and management of contingent pay. The basis for the concept of the line of sight which emphasises the importance of establishing a clear link between the reward and what has to be done to achieve it. Goal Latham and Locke Motivation and performance are higher when individuals are set specific goals, when the goals are difficult but accepted and when there is feedback on performance. Provides a theoretical underpinning for performance management processes to ensure that they contribute to motivation through goal setting and feedback. Equity Adams People will be better motivated if they are treated equitably and de-motivated if they are treated inequitably. Emphasis the need to develop an equitable reward system involving the use of job evaluation. Source: (Armstrong and Stephens, 2005) Definitions of key Job Dimensions Job Dimensions Definition Work Satisfaction: The extent to which an employee is satisfied with work, including opportunities for creativity and task variety, allowing an individual to increase his or her knowledge, changes in responsibility, amount of work, security, and job enrichment (Balzer and Smith et al, 1990; Smith et al, 1969) Pay Satisfaction: The extent to which an employee forms an attitude toward pay based on perceived difference between actual pay and the expected pay. Expected pay is based on the value of perceived inputs and outputs of the job and the pay of other employees holding similar jobs or possessing similar qualifications (Balzer and Smith et al, 1990) Supervision Satisfaction: The extent to which an employee is satisfied with his or supervision, as measured by consideration and employee-centred actions of the supervisor and the perceived competency of the supervisor by the subordinate (Balzer and Smith et al, 1990, Herzberg et al, 1957) Satisfaction with promotions: The degree to which an employee is satisfied with the Companys promotion policy, including frequency of promotions, and the desirability of promotions (Balzer and Smith et al, 1990, Herzberg et al 1957) Co-workers Satisfaction: The work-related interaction and the mutual liking or admiration of fellow employees (Bazler and Smith et al, 1990, Smith et al, 1969, Alderfer, 1969) Overall Job Satisfaction: The extent to which an individuals desires, expectations and needs are fulfilled by employment (Szilagi, Sims, and Terrill, 1977) Appendix 3 WHEN SUPPORTING EXPLORE Ideas Build on STRENGTHS Offer HELP and guidance Ask OPEN questions LISTEN actively Give PRAISE DISCLOSE similar experiences TRUST intentions WHEN CHALLENGING Ask PROBING questions Point out AVOIDANCE behaviour Offer ALTERNATIVE opinions Tell people what you EXPECT Share FEELINGS State COSEQUENCES Set STRETCHING targets ASSERT your views Having Things Like Resources Time Funding Direction Guidance Assistance Ideas Tools or Methods Willing collaborators A climate of openness and honesty Emotional support Having Things Like Confronting feedback from others New opportunities Unfamiliar grounds Doing things in a different way Working with fresh people Learning new behaviours New tools or processes Demanding stakeholders High work volumes Tight timescales Personal ambition

A Study On Employee Engagement Strategy Management Essay

A Study On Employee Engagement Strategy Management Essay Engagement is about creating opportunities for employees to connect with their colleagues, managers and wider organisation. It is also about creating an environment where employees are motivated to want to connect with their work and really care about doing a good job. Why is employee engagement relevant to ITC? Almost all examples quoted in the consultant findings demonstrate an out-and-out lack of employee engagement; moreover, the opposite appears to be the case. At this point, it is important to note that a global survey by BlessingWhite Intelligence (2008) on the state of employee engagement found that that â€Å"Indian workers are among the most focused and satisfied in the world†. In the Asia-Pacific groupings, full engagement for Indian employees reaches 34% in comparison to the lowest of only 10% for China. Moreover, over 65% of respondents said ‘yes when asked if, assuming they had the choice, they would hope to remain within their organisation in 2008. From this, the apparent lack of employee engagement and retention issues apparent within ITC would appear to point to something we are doing wrong as a company. The first question should be: Why is employee engagement important? Links between employee attitudes, employee management and business performance have been repeatedly demonstrated in CIPD (2009) research, and the Aberdeen Group (2009) reported only this year that 82% of ‘Best-in-Class organisations attributed employee engagement initiatives directly to transformations in revenue and / or profitability. Employee engagement spills into the concept of the ‘psychological contract. The ‘psychological contract is a popular framework within which aspects of the employee relationship can be studied (Bratton Gold, 2007; 14). Guest and Conway (2002) define it as â€Å"the perceptions of the two parties, employee and employer, of what their mutual obligations are towards each other†. These obligations tend to differ from individual-to- individual and are often imprecise / unspoken and inferred â€Å"from actions or from what has happened in the past, as well as from statements made by the employer†(CIPD; Employee engagement; RevisedNovember 2009). This contract forms the basis for employer brand (The psychological contract. Revised January 2009) and often employed to promote in staff retention and recruiting drives. For all of the latter reasons, ITC should pay close heed to this contract. After all, taking account of the emotional needs of the employee ought to be a consideration when we consider they are the only resource within our organization that can simply â€Å"walk out†, taking their skills and possible opinions of negative employer brand with them. Customer service issues With regards the consultant reports of customer service issues, several studies have found that employee engagement is an important variable on this front. The CIPD (2009; 2) reported that Visa Europe figures show that employee engagement levels ran parallel with an increase in customer satisfaction. Likewise, it seems institutive that an increase in customer satisfaction would henceforth lead to an increase financial performance. In a recent study within the customer service industry by Chi and Gursoy (2009), empirical support for this link was indeed presented. On the engagement level, while they found employee satisfaction did not appear to impact on financial performance directly, they did find an indirect relationship between the latter, with customer satisfaction acting as the mediator. Storey, on the other hand refers to engagement as EIP (employee involvement and participation) and stated that it is â€Å"thought to contribute to improved levels of worker satisfaction and commitment and, subsequently, organisational performance.† From this it would appear that engaged and satisfied employees are a requirement for customer satisfaction, with customer satisfaction being the strongest indicator in financial performance. It would also appear, however, that all three variables are required to be woven into the same fabric for overall business success. For ITC, without employee engagement / satisfaction, there will little customer satisfaction, and without customer satisfaction there will be no success. The obvious lack of ITC employee engagement at this moment in time is a worrying factor with regards this tripartite equation. Therefore, the obvious question should be how do we tackle employee disengagement, how do we go about driving employee engagement? Employee engagement drivers According to the CIPD (Employee engagement; Revised November 2009), there is no absolute list definitive of engagement ‘drivers. Their research has shown, however, the key employee engagement drivers are: Opportunities to feed employee views upwards Feeling well-informed about what is happening in the organisation The employee believing that their manager is committed to the organisation Most writers agree that one of the most important factors at play with regards employee engagement is reciprocal communication between management and the requirement to keep all employees well informed, etc. As you might imagine, these factors are also very much involved in the psychological contract; it is also suggested that, in a crisis, â€Å"mutually recognised expectations are best shaped by honest communication and solid information† (Dietz 2009). At this moment in ITC history, we might be described as being on the verge of crisis point. Intranet 2.0 One suggestion that appears oddly lacking in ITC since its inception is our lack of corporate Intranet. All of the key engagement drivers suggested above can to some end be addressed with the implementation of an Intranet solution, this of course would not solve all of our problems, but it would at least supplement any other measures we ultimately put into place. This Intranet should not be of the antiquated variety, that is, one where static pages existed, with the sole purpose of providing information. We should be embracing all that Web 2.0 tools have to offer (i.e. highly dynamic / interactive internal social networking tools, instant messaging, wikis, blogs, discussion forums, and RSS feed technologies, etc.). Intranet 2.0 is still very much in its infancy, so the ability to introduce a rich networking environment is very much in line with core business strategies of innovation and creativity. We also have a largely young workforce, and Web 2.0 technology tools are something the younger generation have grown accustomed, and this acquaintance can be employed to our advantage in the recruitment field. When it comes to the employees call to connect with managers, the desire to believe in their commitment, and having the opportunity to have views fed upwards, the sharing medium of Intranet 2.0 is ideally suited to help facilitate these key engagement drivers. Web 2.0 tools flatten company hierarchy by providing a transparent path of communication between employees at all levels, from the Company Director down to the shop floor worker. It can provide staff across geographical location, irrespective of position or intellect, the opportunity to ‘float ideas on new products ranges, best practices, working procedures, etc. via live suggestion boxes. These ideas can appear in real time and will open to further comments / suggestions by all staff. Intranet 2.0 can also provide a channel for feedback on organisational news announcements, strategies, etc. This type of feedback can help â€Å"managers to gain insight into the needs and motivations of employees† (BlessingWhite, I nc. 2008). Indeed, employee attitude surveys[1] can be a regular feature of the system, the results of which can used to measure employee engagement and gauge feeling amongst the workforce, all of which can help ITC identify areas to focus improvement towards. The ability of such an Intranet to training and development tool cannot be underplayed. It can provide the workforce with the most up-to-date product information, tutorials, and marketing material, etc. This information does not have to appear in the way it did pre-Web 2.0, where static pages were displayed across the organisation, meaning each employee would be required to wade through pages in order to arrive at the relevant ‘nugget of information. Intranet 2.0 provides levels of personalisation to the point of providing â€Å"each employee with news updates focused on their job role† (Nielsen, J. 2009). This would be of particular benefit when it comes to areas such as the customer complaints we have been receiving from the call centre regarding staff not being â€Å"up-to-date† on products. For example, this type of system has capability to consistently display individual staff with the most â€Å"up-to-date† products details and Q A scripts, etc. As this Intranet 2.0 proposition is based on helping the flow of communication across the entire organisation, then logically, we would require all staff to have appropriate access to such a system. Head Office, call centre and retails staff are likely to have ready access to PC, laptop, mobile phone technologies in order to do this. In the factory, however, such access is very likely limited. To get around this, deployment of PCs / touch-screens at specific locations throughout the factory is recommended; perhaps inviting factory floor staff to use the system during lunch breaks, etc. Following the suggestion that we allow all employees across the site access the canteen, situating access in this area would also make sense. Web 2.0 technologies and business performance Beyond the obvious communication-flow benefits of Web 2.0 technologies, recent findings by the Aberdeen Group also provide positive figures for their business performance benefits. Saba (2009) reported that they found that 52 % of organisations who employed social networking tools, blogs, and wikis achieved ‘Best-in-Class compared to only 5% for those who did employ them. They also provided figures for Web 2.0 tools relation to employee engagement. They found an 18% average year-on-year increase in employee engagement for organisations employing Web 2.0 technologies in comparison to a mere 1% for those who did not Bratton, J. and Gold, J. (2007) Human Resource Management: Theory and Practice BlessingWhite, Inc. (2008) The State of Employee Engagement 2008 PDF download under heading of ‘Asia Pacific Overview Website: http://www.blessingwhite.com/research.asp?pid=1 Chi, C. G. and Gursoy, D. (2009) School of Hospitality Business Management, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-4742, United States International Journal of Hospitality Management 28 (2009) 245-253 Website: http://www.sciencedirect.com CIPD (2009) An HR directors guide to employee engagement; Discussion paper PDF file available at: http://www.cipd.co.uk/NR/rdonlyres/8DD2561A-D3E3-4E63-9F63-EF74736A17B1/0/hr_director_guide_employee_engagement.pdf CIPD (Revised January 2009) The psychological contract http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/empreltns/psycntrct/psycontr.htm CIPD (Revised November 2009) Employee engagement -How do employers build an engaged workforce? Website: http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/empreltns/general/empengmt.htm Dietz, G. (2009) The psychological contract during the downturn Website: http://www.management-issues.com/2009/8/10/opinion/the-psychological-contract-during-the-downturn.asp Guest, D.E. and Conway, N. (2002) Pressure at work and the psychological contract. London: CIPD Lombardi, M. (2009) Human Capital Management; Employee Engagement is Critical for Organizations Today Website: http://research.aberdeen.com/index.php/analyst-insight/human-capital-management?start=8 Nielsen, J. (2009) Jakob Nielsens Alertbox: 10 Best Intranets of 2009 Website: http://www.useit.com/alertbox/intranet_design.html Saba, J. (2009) Web 2.0 in Talent Management Website: http://research.aberdeen.com/index.php/human-capital-management/86-human-capital-management-insights/588-web-20-in-talent-management

Free Affirmative Action Essays - Affirmative Action is Against the Bibl

Affirmative Action is Against the Bible America was known as the Land of Opportunity. Then it became evident that "opportunity" was only available to white men. Later, laws were passed to ensure equal opportunity regardless of race, sex, or religion. These Affirmative Action laws were set in place by our government with the intent of correcting the social evil know as prejudice; but in doing so, they created a monster. Affirmative action has become an ineffective, outdated, and socially harmful policy that is weakening our great nation. "The adoption of Affirmative Action programs in the 1960s reflected our national aspiration to overcome long-entrenched injustices and become a society where equal opportunity, or at least a fair opportunity, was a reality for more of our citizens. These programs were a response to economic, political and cultural circumstances that demanded, then encouraged, and then tolerated widespread discrimination on the basis of such factors as color, gender and ethnic background. The common hope was that these programs would be transitory in nature and would enable us as a society to reach a point, at some future date, when they would no longer be needed" (Shapiro). It is my opinion that we have now reached that date. Continued use of the policy is much like continued use of a strong medication. When a patient is suffering from a terrible disease, as was the United States suffering from discrimination, strong medication is sometimes needed to cure the problem. But once the disease is taken care of, further use of the medication does not help... ...e right course of action. This is an ideal that has always been true, but is quite often broken, resulting is negative effects and more problems. A course of action that is morally wrong, ethically wrong, and economically wrong, is not the correct way, but an easier way. Often, the correct way is more difficult and requires more work, but nevertheless, it is the correct way. Two wrongs do not make a right, but they do make more problems and prolong an actual resolution to the problem. Works Cited Shapiro, Harold. "Affirmative Action: A continuing discussion / A continuing commitment" Internet Source. Available at: http://humanitas.ucsb.edu/projects/aa/docs/shapiro.html Websters Dictionary Harbor House Publishers Inc. Baltimore. 1984

Demetrius, A Superbly Unique and Difficult Character Essays -- essays

In William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Demetrius is a character who’s personal characteristics are difficult to recognize except for his relation to the one whom he loves, or more principally, the one who is in love with him. His annoyance of Helena illustrates the first symbols of his unique characteristics; before being charmed in Act II, he even threatens Helena with bodily harm, coming off not as the affable lover he truly means to be. It is simple to understand his ungracious character, however, by how easily he was distracted from Helena by Hermia at the beginning of the play. It seems that he could, in fact, be a generous and loving man if he truthfully desired to be, but he is weak, and would rather be put in his place by others. In the end, still under the spell of fairy magic and therefore not seeing with true eyes, he is blankly laughing at the acted â€Å"lovers† in the play-within-the-play. Since Demetrius only has two lines throughout the entire first act, it shows that he cannot stand up for himself; similarly, this lack of dialogue shows his lack of self-confidence and the representation of himself: â€Å"Relent, sweet Hermia, and, Lysander, yield Thy crazed title to my certain right.† (I.i.93-94) He believes that because he has the approval of Hermia’s father Egeus, that she should surrender immediately to him and he only states that Lysander is going against his privilege. This is because Demetrius cannot win over and get Hermia to fall in love with ...

Joplin Scott’s The Entertainer

Joplin Scott’s The Entertainer is undoubtedly one of the most easily recognizable melodies in music. Its popularity can be considered part of popular culture that has lasted a century thanks to modern adaptations of the music. The piece created in the height of American rag time music, has a great history and is considered as an important cultural piece in African American art genre (French, 2007). Joplin himself is an icon of American music and proved himself devoted to his craft to develop ragtime music to a classical status. The Setting The turn to the 20th century is among the most critical times in history. Globally, the United States is becoming a leader, spearheading the industrial movement of internationalization of commerce. Within the United States itself, there was significant economic growth and social development in terms of rights and suffrage movements. Though African Americans were still subject to a significant amount of legal and social discrimination, they were beginning to organize interest and lobby movements and cultivate their identity in American society (Schafer et al, 1977, pp. 47-52). One of the fields that they gained recognition was in music. Strongly based in church and community musical traditions, composers like Scott combined it with European classical and romantic music to broaden its appeal. Ragtime music, shortened from its original ragged time, is a good example of the musical combination of African American style and contemporary ones. The music also was a means of displaying musical dexterity, a talent that often enjoyed significant success on country wide circuits (Sporre, 2003). The Song Written in 1902, The Entertainer is a rag time two step both enjoyed as music and for dance. Like other rag time music, it is not a metered piece and can be more appropriately considered as timed by its syncopation. The effect is however is that beats are emphasized even more which encourages movement from the audience. The piece requires that listener become in tune with the syncopation and pattern their movements thusly which encourages the audience to catch the rhythm of the song (French, 2007). The piece is written in the key of C but also has a section written in F. The primary chord pattern in A-B-A-C-D and repetitions become progressively higher in octave. Performers of the piece are given significant margin in its performance allowing for intricate melody detailing that will become popularized in jazz and rhythm and blues music. For a time, the song was lost to posterity together with ragtime music genre until it regained popularity when it adapted by Marvin Hamlisch for the movie 1973 Academy-winning film The Sting. The track reached the top three on Billboard magazine and since then has become the anthem for the sport of snooker, theme of several television and entertainment productions and a staple of the musical repertoire of musicians (Schafer et al, 1977, pp. 95-101). The Appeal The Entertainer’s appeal lies both in its artistry and its value in culture. The technical aspect of the song reveals a great deal of creative genius and facility in combining musical styles to appeal to a contemporary public (Sporre, 2003). At the same time, it gives insight to the social and cultural development of African Americans in the United States (Schafer et al, 1977, pp. 12-14). Most of all, it highlights the role of music in communication and society across races and beliefs overcoming discrimination and bigotry. As much as these perspectives remain important today, so does will the song. Its revival in the 1970’s reflects that good music is timeless. Like the people who first heard the tune a hundred years ago, The Entertainer challenges listeners to really listen to it, learning its melody beats and mood. It encourages listeners to experience music and to allow it to move them. For these reasons, The Entertainer fulfills its role not only as a musical piece but also as a cultural heritage that many generations will continue to love. Works Cited French, Christopher W. â€Å"Joplin Scott’s The Entertainer†. Rhythm on the Rock Productions. 2007. 31 May 2007. Schafer, W.J., and Riedel, J. The Art of Ragtime: Form and Meaning of an Original Black American Art, Revised Edition. Louisiana State University Press, 1977 Sporre, Dennis J. Perceiving the Arts: An Introduction to the Humanities New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc, 2003

Taking Sides

Tiffany Kwong : Taking Sides, Unit 4 Response I’m answering question number2, as to why government agencies are getting more conservative regarding drinking during pregnancy. I personally believe the government wants to be stricter on the drinking-during-pregnancy matter because of the outcomes and effects towards the community. Pregnant mothers that drink during pregnancy are already at a small percentage of risk for a child with developmental-defects.The more at-risk children, the more attention these children need in school, in the home environment, and in public. Specifically, the funding of schools is decreasing every year, and the more developmentally-impaired students are enrolled, the greater the need for teachers and supplies to help these children with defects caused by their mothers. If the government agency strengthens the alcohol ban for pregnant women, the lesser the risk for families and the community to fund these problems later on.Mothers can decide to do what ever they want when they’re pregnant; it’s the matter of whether or not they want their child to be healthy, which I’m sure, every expecting mother wants. But, I believe pregnant women should not have the right to make informed decisions on their own. Doctors have medical degrees; they understand the causes and effects of alcohol, specific foods and certain activities pregnant women should stay away from.Pregnant mothers should not make informed decisions on their own; rather, they should consult an expert and stay firm to the government and the doctor’s orders & recommendations. Even if â€Å"casual drinking† may seem to cause no harm, it’s better to not take the risk. This is an issue with the public, the government, the science, and the medical field. Expected mothers should take the time to consult a doctor, and make the best decisions for the health of their child.

Registered Nurse Essay

Every teenager normally decides what they plan to do with the rest of their life in the last years of high school. A statistic shows that 57% of high school teenagers want to become a registered nurse after they graduate. A registered nurse or RN is someone who treats patients, monitors and records their condition, helps establish a plan of care, educates patients or the public about a medical condition, and provides advice and emotional support to patients’ family members. A registered nurse has to contain special traits such as being caring, compassionate, highly observant, quick to catch things, calm in an emergency, detail-oriented, observant, enjoy interacting with people, emotionally and physically strong, and have outstanding communication skills. RN’s work in hospitals, physicians’ offices, home healthcare services, nursing care facilities, correctional facilities, schools, summer camps, and with the military. The starting salary for an RN is $65,950 a year and will increase if you decide to specialize in one or more than one types of medicine, but before making all that money you first have to complete the process of becoming an RN. A high school diploma is required along with the associates degree in nursing, a a bachelor’s degree in nursing, or diploma from an approved nursing program. Most RN’s have said that they took Biology, chemistry, physics, geometry, algebra II, pre-calculus, English, computer science, physiology, biomedical science, and foreign languages in their high school years. These subjects help the RN in their everyday jobs. Most registered nurses were a nurse’s assistant before going to college to get their degree. By doing that, you get to see hands on what they do everyday, but it is not required. The need for RN’s will increase 21% between now and 2020. Several RN’s in Dothan have said they loved their job, but wish the pay was higher. The pay depends on the state you work in, but is on average $65,950 a year or less. They have also said that mathematics plays an important role in their everyday work. From working with prescriptions to adding or subtracting a persons weight gain or loss. Technology is also another very important key factor in an RN’s everyday routine. They clock in and out on a machine. They use computers to keep up with patients files and to diagnose patients. If you are working with a patient in a rehab facility, you will use different types of technological machines depending on the persons illness or injury.

Help Improve own and team practice in schools Essay

The ability to reflect on one’s own practice is crucial because you can evaluate your effectiveness and assess how well you think you are doing and identify any areas that need improvement or development. 1.1 Take a note of children and young people’s responses to own practice My placement is working with year 4 children who I engage with well and I get the general impression from their responses to my interaction with them that they enjoy working with me and that I assist their development. I had written feedback from one of the Teaching Assistants I work with and she has written; â€Å"Juley gets on well with the staff and has a natural rapport with the children†. This evidence supports my own belief that my practice is at the right level and style for 8 and 9 year old children. One of the more articulate children in my class said to me a 2 weeks ago â€Å"I really like working with you Miss. Hickman, you make maths fun†. One of the children I work with a lot who struggles with concentrating for any length of time asked me to help them read their book as I have done on a number of occasions. I asked him why he wanted me to help and he replied â€Å"I like how you explain things â€Å". My responses to any of the children when I sit down to work with them is always positive with lots of smiling and leaning in to me and at the beginning or end of class the children often come up to me to show me something or tell me something about their weekend which demonstrates to me that the children enjoy interacting with me. 1.2 Ask for constructive feedback on own practice from colleagues For this part of the assignment I produced a document which requested feedback from the Year 4 teacher I mainly work with and the TA I spend a lot of time working with. I handed this in last week and I collected the report this week when I attended school for my placement. I have included the two completed forms in this report . Read more:  Teamwork in Schools Essay The Year 4 teacher who I work mostly with also gave me a good feedback report including the comments â€Å"Excellent group and 1-2-1 work† and â€Å"great support to less able children†. The only development area he has highlighted is â€Å"to work with G&T (Gifted and talented) children more† which when I spoke to him he stated that this was not a failing on my part but down to him allocating me such groups to work with and he has written on the form in relation to  this goal â€Å"Teacher driven† so I know it is for him to allocate to me in the future. Again I am very encouraged by his feedback on the form and in person and this indicates to me that I am performing well and in the right manner. 1.3 Take notes of responses to own practice from others The Teaching Assistant gave me very positive feedback, including stating â€Å"She is very capable and willing to carry out any task give to her† and she also wrote â€Å"Juley gets on well with the staff and has a natural rapport with the children†. I am very pleased with this feedback which she has based on examples which she has given in her report. I feel I am performing to the best of my ability and the positive comments give me much encouragement that I am performing my role well and this motivates me to continue in the same vein. She did not highlight any areas for development but when I spoke to her she suggested that in order for me to get a wide range of experience I sometimes attend school for the afternoon sessions as this is when the children do other activities such as art and science which would be good experience for me. I currently only attend on morning sessions and hence my only experience with regards to subject matter is literacy and maths. I shall make a point next term of changing the sessions I attend to widen my experience and develop myself further. 1.4 Evaluate all aspects of own practice See attached job description and marked areas evaluating my performance. Section 2 Be able to improve own practice 2.2 Describe the importance of continuing professional development Continuing professional development (CPD) is almost always crucial in any position in any industry. In order to perform to the best of your ability as a school staff member a key aim should be CPD. This ensures that knowledge is developed and kept up to date and ones skills are honed and built upon. Within education teaching techniques are always changing and evolving and CPD assists in a fundamental way with keeping up to date with these changes. If a school promotes CPD then it is likely that it, as an institution, regularly reviews procedures and practices in vital areas such as safeguarding and Health and Safety. From an individual’s perspective being proactive in ones CPD gives a sense of achievement and confidence will be  instilled. This makes for a good and proficient teaching assistant who is prepared to seek feedback from colleagues and amend or change their own practices accordingly. In terms of an individual developing their career CPD is essential as investing in this demonstrates that there is an interest in progressing and developing the role. It is crucial that a written record is kept of one’s professional development in a file with dates, names of courses, certificates, appraisals and other relevant information. Appraisals are an essential part of CPD and are a way of identifying strengths, areas to improve and ways to improve. It can identify goals and targets which can then be worked towards and development measured using the SMART model. Section 3 Understand the work of the team 3.1 Describe why team work is important in schools In all areas of working life team work is of great importance. Team work means that a shared sense of purpose is felt and a common purpose is identified. This bonds individuals into a team and creates the ideal scenario for success and achievement. The identification and understanding of an individual’s role and that of the other team member’s roles is crucial as is the recognition of how the different roles complement each other and work together. Regular meetings with regards to roles and aims of the team are a very important part of the process of working as a team. The meetings enable the team to prioritise ways of working together, it enables the team to reflect on progress to date and to set new goals and identify other ways of getting the best out of being a team. A successful team can be represented by various characteristics which include respect for one another, a sense of purpose, commitment to the aims of the team which are demonstrated every day by each team member and regular communication between team members. Another very positive factor of a good team with members getting on well together is that it provides a good role model for children, they will recognise the respect the adults have for each other. 3.2 Describe the purpose and objectives of the team in which they work. The main purpose of team work is: -To promote children’s learning and behaviour. – To share both experiences and acquired knowledge in order to achieve better results with teaching and supporting children. -To promote equal opportunities and positive attitudes and to support diversity. – To provide a safe emotional environment for children. – To motivate children to use their full intellectual potential. – To support and respect one another. -To foster the good relationships and links already created with the local community and families. Within a work role it is highly likely that you will in fact be a member of a number of teams and they will have different specific objectives such as supporting a named child or to give general support within a specific class. However it is usually the case that the more general objectives of all the different teams have at least some, if not all, of the objectives listed above. 3.3 Describe own role and responsibilities and those of others in the team. Within any team in any industry it is crucial that each team member understands their own role, how it fits in with the team and other team members as well as understanding the role of other team members. Communication is a vital role for all team members and being able to liaise and interact with each other makes for a highly functioning team. All team members should feel that their opinion is valued and regular meetings enable the exchange of ideas and promote team objectives and create a sense of unity. Meetings also give a good idea of how what you are doing fits in with the school or team as a whole. The role of a Teaching Assistant is to work under the guidance and instruction of the teaching staff. Most work is carried out within the classroom during lessons but very importantly before lessons with preparation and the clearing up after classes. The support of specific pupils who may have special needs is also a key responsibility and working either one to one or in a small group is common place and key. This role description is a supporting role and different to that of a teacher whose main responsibilities include developing lesson plans, teaching, assessing pupils and tracking their development and fostering an atmosphere of learning, promoting essential personal character traits and setting a  good role model for pupils to emulate and aspire to. 3.4 Describe the importance of respecting the skills and expertise of other practitioners It is very important to respect the skills and expertise of other practitioners as it enables the development of good working relationships. The recognition that all team members bring something different but equally vital to the team is a core element to a successful team as is the acknowledgement that individuals can in turn learn from colleagues and thus develop. By listening to others, respect is demonstrated and usually reciprocated and in turn nurtures good working relationships. If all team members have the qualities of self-respect, self-esteem, confidence and the ability to do their role competently then the foundations of the team are strong and the performance enhanced. The fundamental point to be always kept in the forefront is that in order to have good working relationships with other team members you need to show that their opinions and expertise are considered, listened to and respected. A point to note however is that one should challenge and debate any opinions that one does not agree with as healthy debate is both rewarding and productive producing new ideas and solutions to problems. Section 4 Be able to support the work of the team 4.1 Support the purpose and objectives of the team The aims at Kingston Park Primary school are clearly laid out in the prospectus and on their website. These are â€Å"We aim to work together to provide a happy, caring, secure, stimulating learning environment in which children are treated as individuals, enabling them to become independent learners, with respect for each other, pride in themselves and in our school community. We provide a range of extended curriculum activities to develop the whole child and promote self-esteem and personal development â€Å" These aims cascade down to all levels and are seen in the purpose and objectives of the team in which I have been working at the school. Within my role I support many of these such as promoting positive behaviour by demonstrating consistent good behaviour myself, creating stimulating learning environments by preparing materials for use in class and ensuring a secure environment always being mindful of health and safety issues. I always try to promote a positive professional attitude whilst at school. I demonstrate a strong work ethic by always asking the TA’s if there is anything I can do and show  willingness to do even the most basic of tasks because it ultimately supports the schools objectives. I have attended every placement day I have said I would attend and have always been punctual and smart. 4.2 Carry out own role and responsibilities within the team. My role and responsibilities within the team include: – Supporting teaching and learning in the classroom. For example teaching a small group of less able children how to do multiplication in maths using the grid method. – Provide general support to the teacher in the organisation and management of the pupils and classroom. For example I set up the tables for the lessons by putting out the books and materials needed and ensure the children are sat at the correct tables. – Promote the inclusion of all pupils ensuring they have equal opportunities to learn and develop. For example last week I took two students for whom English was their second language and read a book with them and helped them write sentences about the book. They needed more focused help and would not have understood the tasks in the larger classroom setting. – To be responsible for promoting and safeguarding the welfare of the children. For example when there was a fire alarm I assisted in getting all the children in the class safely out of the building. A typical morning on placement involves the following: – Liaising with the teacher to find out the running order of the morning, what the lesson will involve and ways in which I can assist. – Setting up the tables with any equipment – Liaising with the TA to establish if there are any tasks to do – Working with a small group of less able children with maths or literacy – Working 1-2-1 with an individual child perhaps listening to them read or helping them with addition – Writing up in the relevant document the progress of the child I have been working with and giving the teacher feedback on their progress. – Clearing up after lessons and doing any admin. tasks allocated to me including mounting work on backing paper, putting up a display or filing work. Throughout all of these tasks good communication is key and I feel I communicate and interact well with the children and staff alike. Overall my placement allows me to support the purpose and objectives of the  team in a professional and helpful way and I promote the team ethos needed to work successfully in the school environment. 4.3 Communicate clearly with team members and others, making sure they have the information they need. Communication is a key skill in my role as a volunteer in school and my ability to communicate well contributes to and supports the work of the team. When I am given a task to carry out by one of the teachers or Teaching Assistants I will always ask questions if I am unsure or if I need to clarify something. I am often given the task to take a less able group of children in maths or literacy and not only communicate with the children well but also feedback how the children have done at the end of the lesson. I also work on a one to one basis with individual children and then not only feedback their performance to the staff but also write up about their progress in their books and in the official pupils record sheets. This good communication is essential for the team to be able to monitor children’s progress and then plan for the future. 4.4 Interact with others in a way that supports good team work My interaction with staff at all levels has been excellent to date. I have liaised effectively with staff from the Deputy Head to the kitchen staff and caretaker and have been able to support the school team in many small ways through this interaction. One example was whilst in the staff room on a break a few of the Teaching Assistants were folding up raffle tickets, of which there were hundreds, to put in the bowl for the Christmas raffle draw. I offered to help with this in order to get more tickets folded and did this on my coffee break. This interaction supported the school team and I was thanked by a few other staff members for volunteering. 4.5 Identify and suggest ways in which the team could improve its work, challenging existing practice where necessary. I have not yet identified an issue whereby I felt the need to suggest ways in which the team could improve its work. I do now feel confident enough to do so should the situation arise and I will submit a learning journal to evidence this as and when I have encountered the situation. 4.6 See attached case studies. 4.7 Seek advice and support from relevant people when needed. See learning journal