Outline some of the ways in which material deprivation may affect educational achievement Essay

Material deprivation is when people have insufficient physical resources to sustain life, and is common among lower-class households. It affects educational achievement in many ways, including a non-nutritious diet and inadequate housing. Howard (2001) claimed that poor nutrition leads to low achievement at school because poorer homes have a lower intake of vitamins, minerals and energy which reduces children’s health and lowers their energy levels, and will also weaken their immune system. Malnourished children will have more time off school due to illness, and their academic success will suffer as a result. Attendance is affected by playground bullying too, and this is sometimes caused by children not owning fashionable or popular items (for example, expensive trainers). If being stigmatised, children may fake illness in order to skip school, and again their grades will suffer. Some children may not have time to revise at home if they have to help their parents with chores and childcare while they’re at work- many parents can’t afford to give up work or cut down their hours if their income is low, so tasks often fall on the older children. Their revision and homework completion can also be affected by overcrowding in the household, as a study space is needed for each child in order to achieve academic success. Overcrowding can lead to illnesses spreading around the household easier as well, which again affects attendance. Many parents cannot afford to move location to be in a school’s catchment area, as a result a lot of children aren’t able to go to the better schools and have to make do with those in working-class areas. The chances of someone from a working-class family continuing education to degree level is made unlikely by the fear of debt installed in them from their poverty-stuck upbringings. University fees have become so high that many people can’t afford to go and, even with loans, commuting and accommodation can make university overly expensive. People are therefore put off the idea of continuing education and most lack ambition for their futures. An important consequence of material deprivation is that children leave school at 16 to begin working. This  allows them to become an economic asset through providing money to their family, instead of needing school resources for another two years. Hasley wanted to find out why so many children from working-class families leave school at 16, and looked at material and cultural deprivation. They found that the main cause was actually material deprivation, which says that it’s not a lack of culture and intelligence that prevents children’s academic achievement, but economic problems instead. These two forms of deprivation are linked, as both are at least partially caused by lack of income. Cultural deprivation includes a lack of educational activities within the family. For example trips to the theater may be common in middle-class families, whereas the working-class opt for cheaper option of entertainment- such as television. This inability to afford socially acceptable means of entertainment supposedly affects educational achievement as the children don’t learn complex language.

Veil of Roses

Book Report Noor-ul-ain Zar 4/29/12 8-10 The book I have chosen to do this month is Veil of Roses by Laura Fitzgerald. I have chosen this book because I think it describes some similar things, I have heard of and some things that happen in my country sometimes too. The genre of this book is realistic fiction. And realistic fiction means, it's not real but it could definitely happen to anyone. The book is basically about an Iranian-women named Tamila who has been basically stuck in Iran for the longest time and finally got to come to America for the first time.And she is so used to not having any freedom, America opens many doors for her. But only on one condition, she has to find a husband in two months, which is hard work. The setting on this book goes to America to Tucson, Arizona. It also takes place in, houses, coffee shops, English class and even outside. The mood of this book (or how the reader feels when reading the story) goes on and off. It goes from mysteries, to happiness, and sadness too. Usually, the tone of the book reflects the mood of the book. If the way the author writes the book, and a certain chapter is sad, then the reader will also feel sad.The point of view the book is in first person. And I know it's first person because it contains the words â€Å" I, and me†. The characters in this book are, Tamila Soroush or known as Tami Joon (the main character) basically she is fun, shy, and open to new things. She basically has been shut in a box because she hasn't had much rights and now that she is in America, she is very experimental. She has a family who cares a lot about her, but also are very protective. Maryam, Tami's sister is very protective. She loves Tami a lot, but always has an eye on her.She tries to get Tami the best husband as possible but needs to realize that Tami should be on her own to find one. Ardishir ( Maryam's husband) is very supportive, rich and also takes care of Tami. He seems Tami's point of view in things, and is very nice and not that important in the story. Ike (Tami's love interest) she meets him in America at a coffee place and at first they don't click but later they do. And the other character, Haroun who potentially wants to marry Tami. This story is basically about a girl named Tami, who comes from Iran to America to live with her sister Maryam and her husband Ardishir until she finds a husband.She only has a short period of time, and cannot live with Maryam and her husband for long because her Visa will expire. If she does not find a husband, who has a Visa she will have to go back to Iran forever. So she comes and lives with Maryam, and isn't adapting to change very well. When she gets to America, she is open to all types of things she never got to do when she was in Iran. She got to go out without her hijab (covering of woman's head) and got to do everyday things that are usually taken for granted like going out for coffee, which cannot be done in Iran.So as she searches for a husband one day she goes to a coffee shop on her way to her English class and meets an American guy named Ike. She doesn't try to talk to him, but when Tami gets confused because shes from Iran, Ike helps her out and they become friends, but she hides Ike from Maryam because she isn't supposed to engage a conversation with any other American guy. Then Maryam finds other people for Tami, and none are good and after tons of hardships Tami finally marries Ike. Yes, the story is very effective and powerful. I enjoyed the story very much.The strengths are that, the author made it so believable that she is from Iran even though it's realistic fiction. The weaknesses are that it could have been written more effective, and better words. My overall response to the book, is that I enjoyed it very much and mostly because I could relate to it being from a different country and knowing how hard it is to settle to a new country, and see how differently things are done and different places. I wou ld recommend this to people with the similar, country or someone who understands being from other places.But I would also recommend this to people who aren't from other countries so they can learn about new cultures and how things are done in Iran. Overall, I really did enjoy the book and I think If people actually didn't judge the book by the cover and read it, they would enjoy it. It teaches a lot of things, and opens you to new cultures. You will also start, to learn how we take little things for granted like simply walking down the street for granted. But, overall this book was amazing and I would recommend this, to everyone.

Newly Industrialised Countries Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Newly Industrialised Countries - Essay Example The Asian countries of India, China Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia are notable examples NICs and their dramatic successes in economic growth have often been referred to as the East Asian Miracle. Other Asian countries like China and India have also achieved successes in economic growth. The 'economic miracle' of these East Asian countries is however not exclusive to Asia as countries in the Americas like Chile, Brazil and Mexico have also achieved appreciably high growth rates in their economies and could thus be referred to as NICs as well. It must be said though the growth rates vary amongst all the NICs and as such some growths may be relatively higher compared to others in other NICs. Countries like China, India Singapore and Hong Kong however standout of the rest due to the rapid nature of their growth within a space of about 30 years. Also, the use of NICs is a matter of definition and as such a country like South Africa that was largely secluded f rom the international economy due to its apartheid policies may now be categorised as an NIC by some, while others may classify it as a developed country. This essay will first conduct a generalised or panoramic view of the features that underlie the development experiences of NICs before undertaking a closer look at the experiences of selected NICs. It must be said that though the development experiences may be very varied, some common cardinal features can be seen in the experiences of all NICs. Most NICs were able to achieve high growth rates by instituting market reforms that favoured exports. (Hamilton 1987) There was also a strong emphasis on value added manufacturing that changed their economies from predominantly agrarian economies into industrial and manufacturing based economies. Increased capital investments from foreign and domestic sources played a key role in the development experiences of NICs and so did the development of domestic corporations that could compete with other foreign corporations both on the domestic market and on the regional or international markets as well. (Bhagwati, 1996) Typical examples are the automotive, steel and ship building companies of Korea. Political leadership also contributed significantly to the high growths in the economies of NICs. As stated earlier, though the 'authoritarian' thesis is a disputed one, the fact that relative political stability pertained in the countries that recorded significant growths in their economies goe s to show that political leadership played a crucial role in the development experience of NICs (Combie, 2000). The next segment of this essay will undertake a closer look at selected country experiences of NICs. China has been undergoing a dramatic transformation to a market economy. As a result, it currently is the world leader in terms of economic growth, industrial expansion, and exports. It contains an array of potential consumers that far exceeds the markets in Europe or the Western Hemisphere, and it is rapidly emerging as a new epicentre for industry, commerce, and finance. In addition, the so-called "greater China" has substantial amounts of technology and manufacturing capability, outstanding entrepreneurial, marketing, and services acumen in Hong

Information Technology in Supply Chain Management Essay

Information Technology in Supply Chain Management - Essay Example This led way to the concept of forming a network of resources, raw materials, components and finished products rolling in and out of a factory, coined as supply chain management. Supply chain management is the discipline of managing the movement of raw materials into an organisation and the finished products out of the organisation. SCM is an approach that encompasses every process concerned in manufacturing a product, from source to consumption. There has to be a linkage between the suppliers that provide inputs, manufacturing and service support operations that transform the inputs into products and services, and the distribution and local service providers that localize the product (Chase. et al., 2003). This involves building a network that allows a flow of materials, without a break or hitch, throughout the process of production. This flow is fuelled by co-operation, and co-ordination among the diverse channel partners. Supply chain management thrives on improving efficiency and reducing cost of production by focusing on the core competencies of a company. Functions such as procurement of raw materials and distribution of products are outsourced to companies that are better equipped and more cost-efficient to perform them. Strategic planning is necessary to develop a network to monitor the supply chain so that it is efficient, costs less and delivers high quality and value to customers. Information technology has helped integrate the various components of SCM by building a network that aids in sharing necessary data between all supply chain partners within a system. 5. Information Technology in Supply Chain Management (800 words) Today the survival of most companies depends on intelligent supply chain decisions. Firms today have to take full advantage of the internet to become more responsive and to better penetrate customer markets (Chase. et al., 2003). With the advent of IT and internet, communication between supply chain partners has become easier and more cost-efficient. Internet has paved way for integrating the varied partners in the SCM system, to bring them closer through the power of electronic communication. Automating SCM is the process of building an electronic information network for transactions among supplier-manufacturer-retailer-customer in virtual space using IT. Every company in a large supply chain or distribution chain is dependent on each other. Thus, the unit of value creation has shifted from individual firms to value-networks that consist of partner firms and their close collaboration. SCM consists of choosing what work to outsource to suppliers (make vs. buy) and selecting suppliers to use and negotiating contracts - both the legalities and the culture of the supply chain relationships. (Milak, 2006) One area where Ford and Toyota have diverged is supplier relations. Armed with cost and quality control at the process level, Toyota can concentrate on a value-based enterprise product strategy focused on customer value. Instead of building and maintaining collaborative supplier strategies, Ford and other American companies concentrate their expertise on mere cost-cutting strategies. Toyota recognizes that fulfilling the enterprise potential of TPS requires a substantial

Philosophy of Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Philosophy of Education - Essay Example In order to compensate for the deficiencies pointed above, a lot of hard work from earnest educators is necessary. It is perhaps a reflection of my deep compassion for children that I have decided to be an educator. Moreover, I have thoroughly enjoyed teaching young kids, especially of elementary school level. With modern education technology much advanced than what it was a few decades ago, it would be an exciting time to be a teacher. For example, today there are overhead projectors, personal computer terminals, on-line library databases with extensive catalogs, sophisticated research methodologies, etc that are available to the instructor. Using all these, I intend to create for my students a wonderful learning experience in the classroom and beyond. At another level, I would like to contribute toward positive changes to our education system. At present, as research conducted on SAT score data reveal, there is a definite race-bias in many of these standardized tests. There is also the problem faced by Hispanic-American kids, whose mother tongue is Spanish. The way in which some schools get funded easily while others struggle to garner government support is also problematic. This is illustrated by the obvious failure areas of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act in the last few years. Despite so much social progress over the centuries, socio-economic background and race/ethnicity are significant determinants of academic success. And I am interested in working on viable solutions for these problems.

Illicit Networks Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Illicit Networks - Assignment Example The spread of false ideologies that justifies violence is also a common aspect of the anarchist groups. Most of the people who join such groups are usually radicalized which makes them a threat to the government and the society as a whole. The anarchist groups have been responsible for several terrorist attacks in Europe that has led to several deaths. The paper thus discusses a hypothetical anarchists group in relation to a terrorism network operating in Western Europe. There are several transnational terrorism groups that have been targeting Western Europe and are likely to interact with the network. Al-Qaeda is one of the transnational organizations that are likely to interact with the network. The group has been involved in various terrorist activities and it has been seeking to recruit members from Western Europe to carry out terrorist activities in the region. The group is also interested in carrying out terrorism activities in western Europe since the governments in the region is heavily involved in the fight against terrorism and has killed several members of Al-Qaeda (Cronin, 2012). The group is therefore likely to interact with the network in order to infiltrate Western Europe and carry out terrorist activities in the region. On other hand, it is also important to note that Al-Qaeda is currently weak and associating with the network will give it a boost. Islamic State of Iraq and Levant is a terrorist group operating in Syria and Iraq and it may also interact with the network. The group has about a thousand members from Western Europe in its rank fighting in Syria and Iraq (Laub & Masters, 2014). The group is a transnational terrorist organization that has always expressed interest in carrying out its terrorist activities in Western Europe. The group is therefore likely to interact with the network for the purposes of recruiting members from Western Europe as well as plan and execute its terrorist activities in

What was the historical significance of the Great Railroad Strike of Essay

What was the historical significance of the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 - Essay Example If we look at this event from a historical perspective, it was the forerunner modern labour laws and unions ("Ohio History Central"). The working class began to realize that they were not just puppets of their employers and they could voice their rights. They also started thinking on the lines that they had a greater chance of having their demands met if they stood up collectively. More and more organized strikes were witnessed in succeeding years and it was not long before labour unions started to form. Even at the time, the most charismatic labourers of the lot started to take control of small groups of fellow labourers marking the first instances of present day union leaders (O. Stowell 128-137). And although proper labour laws were not adapted until after the great depression of the 30’s; the framework for such laws had already been devised due to excessive pressure. This was done by the labour unions via organized strikes, on President Roosevelt (Rhea Dulles and Dubofsky 319-388). The railroad workers of 1877 might just have seen their wage cuts restored, but this marked the beginning of a flurry of strikes across industries which evolved into more coordinated and structured ones over

The Freedom of a Christian Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Freedom of a Christian - Essay Example However, justification by faith can only be done through believing in Christ. Believing in Christ is the root of Christianity and thus justification using this mean would result to righteousness without slavery to the law. Section 2 Christian faith is very important in the life of a Christian. It is regarded to be among the virtues that could drive the life of a Christian towards achievement of righteousness and freedom. Christians have different levels of Christian faith. However, nobody should boast that he has sufficient faith. The author agrees in this treatise that he does not have a wealth of faith (Luther, 1970). However, temptations have to occur to test the degree of Christian faith that Christians have. Christian faith is attained through believing in Christ and grows through passing through temptations and overcoming them. The strength associated with it is great and an essential asset that could help Christians to grow in Christianity and become better Christians. Christi ans should not succumb to what other people say about them. They should behave like masters who are willing to please only Christ. It is always clear that a person cannot become what others say about him unless be makes himself a slave to it. In failing to become what others say, the Christian becomes what his faith demands him to become. Faith does not emphasize on the laws but requires a Christian what is right according to what Christ demands. As a result, the aspect of emphasize on Christian laws is eliminated when faith comes into play and emphasize on grace takes its place. As a result, Christians are made justified on by their actions but by their faith in Christ. This makes them free from the judgment and condemnation of others in terms of their actions. Although Christians are free from judgment and condemnation of law, they are required to be righteous and to serve other people. This is because righteousness and service to other people is a requirement of the faith in Chri st. However, they should do this because of a desire to serve others and to please Christ and not because it is a doctrinal requirement. Therefore, righteousness and freedom should come from within a Christian without being caused by external factors. However, even within an individual Christian, there are two opposing forces. This is because an individual is made up of two persons. One person is the inner person and the other person is the outer person (Luther, 1970). What pleases the inner person does not please the outer person and vice versa. Christian faith makes Christians to emphasize mainly on pleasing the inner person. Physical person of a Christian can have various abilities like preaching, praying, and reading of scriptures. However, when these are not accompanied by faith they are of no use. This is because it can also be done by the individuals who are pretending to be Christians. The spiritual person can also undertake various works like contemplation and meditation. H owever, this is also insignificant without faith. This is because it might have little or no effect to the life of a Christian. Christian faith is however very crucial in the Christian life of an individual. This is because it promotes both righteousness and freedom of a Christian. This helps a Christian to grow and be able to overcome the temptations that might come on his way.

Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 2

Report - Essay Example Figure 1 highlights that 40% of the world’s current population lives in arid regions (Balon and Dehnad, 2010). In developing countries in Africa and Asia, nearly a quarter of the population lives in arid and semi arid regions, compared to just 11% in Europe and 6% in Oceania. Figure 1 – Population Who Live in Arid and Semi-Arid Regions Source: www.water-asar.de/lang1/water_shortness_in_arid_and_semi-arid_regions_-_ar.html 3. Why Are There Water Shortages? The Welech Institute (2006) highlight many factors leading to water shortages. These include economic development, political and financial deficits, lack of information and education of population and lack of adapted technologies and know how. Figure 2 highlights several other key factors, and explains how this leads to water scarcity. Figure 2 – Reasons For Water Shortages Contributing Factor Explanation High Population Growth UN Population Division states population in developing regions (containing the most a rid areas) grew from 1.6 billion in 1950, to 4.5 billion by 2005, and is predicted to increase to 8 billion by 2050, which will put enormous stress on water supplies. Climate Change Increased temperature rise between 2-4Â °c, affecting climatic weather patterns with less rainfall and higher evaporation rates in arid regions. Higher Demand for Irrigation 70% of the world’s freshwater is currently used for irrigation, and agriculture is the biggest consumer of fresh water in arid regions. Groundwater Depletion Over pumping of groundwater (160 m? of non renewable groundwater extracted every year) Contamination of Water Resources Due to leaching of agricultural pesticides and fertilizers, domestic and industrial wastage, and untreated sewage. Adapted from Welech Institute Report (2006) 4. The Need for Action Figure 3 – Johannesburg 2002 Logo 5. South Africa and it’s Arid Regions Figure 4 – South Africa’s Arid Regions 6. Measures For Water Provision 6. 1. South Africa’s Demand For Water The National Water Resource Strategy documents of DWAF states that overall water demand is expected to increase by approximately 9% from 2000-2025 (DWAF, 2004). By 2025 DWAF states that there will need to be both reduced consumption and increase supply to maintain water security and allow for sustainable development. Therefore substantial investments are required for water infrastructure and other water management strategies. 6.2. Planning and Management The Development of a National Water Resource Strategy designed to address the management of the water resources to meet the development goals of the country; Identifies scarce water areas and constrains development as well as development opportunities where water resources are available Industrial users required to develop and submit their water directly from a water resource (DWAF, 2004) 6.3. Groundwater Extraction and Mixed Use of Surface and Groundwater Figure 5 – Groundwater Extra ction 6.4. Artificial Groundwater Recharge Refers to the process of transferring water into aquifers, such as rainfall and treated waste water. Advantages include; provides security during drought and dry seasons provides storage of

Illegal P2P File Sharing on Institutions of Higher Learning Research Paper

Illegal P2P File Sharing on Institutions of Higher Learning - Research Paper Example Facilitating parties such as P2P providers have been held secondarily liable for the infringing activities too. Institutions of higher learning such as colleges and universities have been targeted by the efforts of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) to eradicate illegal file sharing rampant among students (Tanaka 22). Even though Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) limits the level of liability of Internet service providers (ISPs) who may provide internet connection to infringing user of P2P file sharing, RIAA argues that there is a special relationship between college networks (ISPs) and their students different from that commercial ISPs have with their customers. This is aimed at increasing the liability which colleges carry from infringing activities of students (Varian 48). There is a possibility of high financial and academic cost of restriction of P2P file sharing in campuses. The following paper explorers the solutions to illegal P2P file sharing activiti es in colleges. 2. Response to Illegal P2P File Sharing by the Music Industry Mora than 50% of college students download music illegally. In the year 2010, 1.6 billion illegal music downloads were associated with students of higher learning. Such statistics are the reason why RIAA decided to concentrate on deterring illegal P2P file sharing in college. ... of the music industry, has also introduced an education bill which ensures that colleges follow certain guidelines aimed at eradicating illegal music downloads. If these institutions fail to comply with such procedures, they risk losing all or part of federal fund assistance. According to Gopal, Sudip and Lawrence (81), â€Å"the procedures in the education bill include; (1) make college policies regarding illegal downloading and distribution of other copyrighted material publicly available for all students and employees, and (2) develop a plan to offer alternatives to illegal downloading as well as offer â€Å"technology-based deterrents† to prevent illegal activity.† 3. Relationship between College and Students The relationship between colleges and their students can be said to be special. This is because colleges have a high tendency and ability to control actions of their students. This is possible through provision of resources such as security, food and sometimes housing (Gallaway & Douglas 37). Even though majority of student are adults in their own capacity, they remain under rules and regulations designed by colleges to control the conduct of students. With this fact, college-student relations are special and can therefore warrant a duty on the college to monitor their internet networks and make efforts toward reduction or minimization of infringing activities such as illegal music downloading (Castells 77). From the argument that colleges have a great impact on the structure of a student’s life by providing them with food, housing, security and controlling their activities through rules and regulations, colleges can be said to have a special relationship with their students. This relationship is justified by comparing it to that of a parent and a child.

Resistance of a wire coursework Essay Example for Free

Resistance of a wire coursework Essay Then we measured the first measurement of resistance at 100a c, increasing the temperature too over 300a c. Taking s measurement at every 10a c. At one point in the investigation the heat started to melt the plastic coating around the wires, we quickly noticed this was a problem so we attached the wire to a clamp, this was to stop the bare wire touching the metal sand tray, as this would cause the resistance in the metal of the tray to be measured as well, this would cause the ammeter to short circuit. After collecting results, we plotted a scatter graph, drawing a line of best fit, we also indicated any anomalies. I took the photo myself Safety When doing our investigation we had to take into consideration the safety aspect, this is because we were using very high temperatures up to 300a c. We used safety goggles to protect our eyes from the heat, and in case of spitting from the water in the preliminary work, to the sand in the main experiment. We also kept or distance from the experiment to protect from heat and spitting just like the goggles. After we’d finished we left the equipment to cool before the technicians to clear away, with a safety sign. We also used heatproof mats so the worktop was protected, as well as this it protected glass or porcelain pieces of equipment from thermo-shock (high to low temperature, very quickly) http://www. amazing1. com/Graphics/oly-lsg-4-1. jpg Obtaining Evidence Before we began our real experiment we carried out preliminary work to find out what was the best was to test the resistance of a wire, or how we could. So we tried using temperature as something that would either increase of decrease the resistance. In our preliminary work we found that the resistance started to change when the temperature exceeded 90a c. However we found that this was a problem because we were using water to heat the coiled wire. Waters boiling point is 100a c so we had to discard the idea and change it. So we used a sand tray as sand has a much higher melting point then water. We also repeated many of the experiments as well as the preliminary work to find out whether or not this was just a case of human error, and that we didn’t need to change the experiment. Also in the temperature experiment we used Copper at first; we then used Nichrome as this has a much higher resistance so the results would not be as high. In my results we identified outliers, and also calculated a mean, or the average for all of the results for the change in length of wire/thickness. In the first experiments for length of wire we didn’t specify a length of time that we were going to measure resistance on the wire for, we just laid the wire on the other wire, however this would have heated the wire giving us less accurate results. I decided to change this by only touching the wire for 2 seconds at every 10cm, allowing enough time to obtain results, but not long enough for the wire to be heated. http://reprap. org/mediawiki/images/9/99/Blunt_step10. jpg Patterns In Results In our results there were many patterns shown, for example as the length of wire increased in the length/ width experiment so did the Resistance of the wire. As well as this as the temperature increased further and further, the resistance of the wire increased as well. These patterns both show that our predictions were correct. However in both of these experiments’ there were a few anomalies. For example lengths 130cm on 28 gauge wire, and 150cm on 36 gauge wire. In the temperature test, temp 140a c and 250a c were anomalies. Conclusion My results show that as the length and the thickness of the wire increased, so did the resistance, which supports what my prediction. This is shown because when the length of wire was 40cm long (28 gauge) the resistance average was 2. 9 ohms, at 100cm the resistance average was 5. 4 ohms and finally at 160cm the resistance average was 7. 9 ohms. This is then supported by the 36 gauge wire, at 40cm the resistance was 9. 2 ohms, at 100cm the resistance was 19. 2 ohms and at 160cm the resistance was 27. 7. This clearly shows that there is an increase in resistance when there is an increase in length. In the temperature experiment my results show that as the temperature increased so did the resistance of the wire, however there were a few anomalies in the experiment. At 100a c the resistance was 1. 5, as the temperature increased to 220a c the resistance was 3, however at 240a c the resistance was 2. 9, this shows an anomaly in the results. After the temperature increase again so did the resistance e.g. at 300a c the resistance was 3. 6 Overall I think that my conclusion supports what I wrote in my prediction. This is because I predicted that as the length/temperature was increased so would the resistance of the wire. My experiments were a success. However if I were to do this again I would repeat each of the experiments more times to eradicate any anomalies that may have occurred through the investigation. Evaluation I think that my investigation went well, this is because my results that I have gathered support what i wrote in my prediction. However they were a few problems in the experiment for example, when we increased the temperature one of the connecting wire began to melt, this was due to the wire been too close to the Bunsen’s flame. This made our experiment short circuit, meaning we had to start the investigation from scratch. Also in our length experiment the wire began to heat higher than we wanted because of the current in the circuit, this could have made our results less accurate. Although the wire may have heated more than we wanted I still believe that the results were very accurate, as we only had 4 outliers in all of our results. I think that the level of accuracy in my results is very high because we repeated each one of the experiments more than once. To increase the level of accuracy in the results I think that if I were to repeat the investigation I would repeat them more than just once; this allows you to eliminate any anomalies that occurred. There were a few anomalies in my experiment these were: 1. 130cm on 28 gauge wire 2. 150cm on 36 gauge wire 3. In the temperature test, temp 140a c and 250a c were anomalies I think the anomalies for the length experiment will have occurred because of human error e. g. not reading the results correctly, or touching the two wires together for too much time, this would cause the wire to heat up, causing a false reading of the resistance. In the temperature experiment, I think the anomalies may have also sprung from the connecting wire becoming too hot, meaning that the resistance would not have been the right reading. As well as this, if the connecting wires touched the side of the sand tray, this would cause the reading to be lower so this may have occurred at some point during the experiment. In the investigation we repeated some of the experiments more than once; this allowed me to make my results more reliable. Also it allowed us to eliminate anomalies. I think that I should have taken more results because I still have anomalies in my results. However I did check if my results were correct by repeating each of the experiments more than once. When I did repeat the experiments the results I got were identical apart from the anomalies which some of them did not occur more than once. This proves that by repeating them it reduced the number of mistakes made. I also think that the range of results I collected was sufficient to give me answers for my prediction and conclusion. If I had to use my results to as evidence to back up my conclusion then I would be very confident. This is because my evidence supported my prediction, and all of the evidence was clear and easy to show in many different ways, whether in a table, bar/line graph or in any other form of data representation. I believe that I could use my results as evidence because it clear, concise and is very easy to understand. Thing that I could do to improve my investigation would be to make sure that there was only one variable (one thing I was changing) and to ensure that all aspects of human error were eliminated before starting the experiments. One further experiment that I would do would be to use a wider range of material for the coil of wire to give me more evidence, such as how the material changes the resistance. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Electricity and Magnetism section.

An Analysis Of Glocalization And Social Welfare Politics Essay

An Analysis Of Glocalization And Social Welfare Politics Essay This term paper is on the topic Glocalization and Social Welfare. In this paper, the focus is what glocal means and how it works in the delivery or upholding social welfare. The term Glocal basically refers to the merging or blending of local and global forces: global in local or local in global: either way it refers to the forces of global and local acting together. By social welfare it is understood that it means something affecting the society, public goods as in something that the society needs or is affected by it. In the context of glocalization; social welfare is understood as how local and global actors or forces come together to uphold social welfare aspects like health, the people, the ecology, women and working class, specifically aiming towards the third world countries. This paper takes into account glocal forces as actors like NGOs and other organizations formed with the initiative of local and global forces to counter the ill effects of globalization on society and uph old social welfare from the local and in the global context. INTRODUCTION: To understand the concept of Glocalization, an understanding of globalization as a process is to be gained. Since glocalization has basically two positions, both defined by the concept of globalization. The two statuses of Glocalization are: Firstly, glocalization can be seen as a result of and an alternative to globalization, and secondly, it may also be referred to as an opposition to globalization. Since most of the scholars involved in explaining glocalization, has often taken the understanding that it emerged because of the grave problems and the negative impacts or consequences of the globalization process. Globalization as a process of integration and interconnectedness in terms of economic, social and political forces has led to various outcome. It has led to greater interaction among states and also led to the increase of non-state actors like transnational corporations and multinational corporations in the economic sector all around the world. And it also brought a decrease in the role of the state and led to the emergence and proliferation of a number of NGOs (non-governmental organizations) and non-state actors in the economic, political and social sectors which operated and had implications on the global and the local arena. Such interaction of the global and local forces is termed as glocalization, the interaction of local-level government with the state and the interaction of this state and its representation in the international/global arena is what glocalization captures. Glocalization basically refers to the interaction or a blending of the local forces with the global forces, or vice-versa, impacting and influencing the other sector. Glocalization in terms of the social aspect basically refers to the impact of globalization on social aspects such as culture, and also in terms of social welfare it relates to the forces involved in the matters of rights, education, women and children and also the ecology. Insecurity is what its based on; earlier insecurity existed only in military terms; of one country going into war with the other; however the concept of security and insecurity now deals with other sectors i.e. the non-traditional security relating to the environment and others. Globalization increa sing the interaction among nations and bringing about a homogeneous notion of culture, security and economy has now led to a proliferation in matters of insecurities. It has added more problems to the world today. Globalization and increasing economic interconnectedness was supposed to be directed towards the entire world contributing to world economy in order for everyone to be well off, however such economic accomplishments have only been diverted mostly towards the developed or the rich countries, thereby it is felt that globalization has increased the level of poverty mostly in the already poor developing or underdeveloped or undeveloped countries, especially the third world countries. When the arguments of the hyper globalists are taken we see that globalization was intended on creating one world, a homogeneous entity. Homogeneous in terms of economy, political and socio cultural aspects, glocalization on the other hand has been seen to emphasize heterogeneity; mainly in terms of culture the term associated would be Creolizaiton- referring to the evoking of cultural fusion and the emergence of new cultures across the globe. Other synonyms for glocalization of culture, and creolization would be mixture or hybridization. On cultural terms we see glocalization to stand contrary to what globalization advocates. One definition of glocalization to be noted is; Glocalization can be defined as an interpretation of the global and the local, resulting in unique outcomes of different geographic areas, it emphasizes global heterogeneity and tends to reject the idea of the West/ Americanization. The concept of glocalization is seen to be contrary to Modernization Theory, which dealt with issues of central concern in the West and the rest of the world to blindly follow the West. Tony Blair, Globalization as a process has been termed as an irreversible and an inevitable process: Bill Clinton, Globalization is not a policy choice, it is a fact. This shows that the west had too much faith in the process of globalization and its impacts. Therefore, it is here that glocalization provides for a critique and an alternative to the globalization, since globalization now is taken as an important process and many have ignored the problems caused by it, glocalization theorists point out to these problems and therefore formulate their idea of the concept that developed. Economically, glocalization would mean the local control of the economy and fair distribution locally. Technology and Information to be encouraged to flow when and where they could strengthen the local economies. The problems of globalization, first would be that with its idea of liberalization, increases the integration of markets and also increases interference. Colin Hines mentions that this leads to reduction of democratic controls over economic affairs, international competition leads to increases interference and therefore leads to erosion of social welfare standards and an environmental regulation with regard to international trade is lost. The burden basically falls on the third world developing countries. In this context what Hines suggests is localization, that is the seen as an alternative to the problems created by globalization, by localization, Hines means which reverses the trend of globalization by favoring the local. Why the critique of globalization emerged, was because with the principles of integration and interconnectedness globalization was to provide an overall development, that is development of countries all over the world, a global process of development was to foster growth in the economic, political and social sector of the entire nation states. However this was not so, instead it has been pointed out that there was a global rise in inequality, declining social and environmental conditions and a loss of power by the sovereign state, local governments and citizens and the major beneficiaries of these processes were the Transnational Corporations (TNCs) and the multinational corporations (MNCs), there was a sharp increase in underdevelopment and underpayment. In the 1 960s the income of the richest fifth of the worlds population were 30 times greater than that of the poorest fifth, and in 1991 it was over sixty times and the 1998 report by United Nations, it was seventy-eight times high. In the 1990s the International Labor Organization reported that one third of the worlds population were underemployed. The 1990 report by the International Labor Organization mentioned that one-third of the worlds population were underemployed.1 Globalization therefore was seen to have negative impacts on nation states, the gap between the rich and the poor were widening. Globalization stands for delocalizaiton i.e. displacement of activities which were local and turning it into a world-wide activities. Globalization stood for the lifting of social activities out of the local knowledge and placing them in networks in which they are conditioned by and condition world-wide events. The process of globalization stands for homogenization, where the processes around the world become one and the same for all the countries. Global actors or institutions like the TNCs engage themselves in different countries, however they do not totally bring about homogenization, certain companies do get involved and adapt to local conditions to maximize local demand for products and service and to minimize their chance of being discriminated against by trade and investment. This is known as Glocalization, defined as a companys attempt to become acc epted as a local citizen in a different trade bloc and little control is given to the area of strategic concern. On economic matters, due to globalization the delocalization gaps between the rich and the poor countries are widening. GLOCALIZATION AS A PROCESS: Glocalization involves the blending of the global and local forces. Its evolution was based on a Japanese term Dochakuka which meant the adoption of farming technique to ones local condition. In the business world the term actually mean global localization, according to Wordspy, glocalization refered to the creation of the products or services intended for the global market, but customized to serve the local cultures, in social sciences the term used or a synonym for glocalization is indigenization. 2 Ronald Robertson has been an important figure in the study of globalization. For him, globalization was not a recent phenomenon, it has existed as a part of the modernization theory, with its emphasis on convergence and homogenization (basically westernization), and he mentioned globalization as the interpenetration of the universalization of the particularization and the particularization of universalism. Globalization and glocalization was to be thought of as interdependent processes, Robertson argued that local and global instead of constituting analytical opposites locality can be regarded, with certain reservations, as an aspect of globalization. 3 Hines, Colin. 2000. Localization: A Global Manifesto, London: Earthscan. Khondker, Habibul.H. Glocalization as Globalization: Evolution of a Sociological Concept, Bangladesh e-journal of Sociology, Vol.1, No.2. July 2004. Eade, John. Living the global City: Globalization as a local process, Routledge Publ. Robertson mentions glocalization to be an accurate term to describe the global/local relationship. There exits the globalization of the locality and the localization of what is global. As such the processes are that of macro localization and micro globalization. Habib in his work Glocalization as Globalization: Evolution of a Sociological Concept, cites examples of such micro globalization and macro localization. For the former he cites the example of social movements like the feminist and the ecological movements which start in small local spaces and then gets expanded to a larger area, also a global arena. Contrary to this view of globalization and glocalization being interdependent processes is the view of the likes of Midgley, who view globalization to be harmful for local economies, as they undermine the role of the sovereign states and uphold the roles of corporations and also create unemployment and poverty in various parts of the world. They believe that globalization leads to a lack of accountability in the new emerging era and as increased economic forces and complex international relations make it difficult to identify the source of the problem, as such so assigning of little responsibility to nation state or companies for any harm that maybe inflicted upon society as a whole and therefore scholars prefer glocalization to enhance the social welfare of citizens. In the era of globalization the role of the state in the social arena is decreased and therefore glocalization here presents a potential to create new social actors and structures that are essentially local in spirit and global in character capable of responding to local social problems brought on by neglect of welfare state in a format backed by global insight and power. Philip Hong and In Han Song suggested development of a globalized social policy assisted by and international organization that together can establish and advocate a common set of solutions to increase global pressures and create opportunities for investing more in such things as education, employment and vital public services. Through this top-down approach of global forces acting at local levels, authors argue that glocalization of social work might offer a means for advancing local welfare and contribute the strength needed to comfort increasing complex global social problems more pronounced into the future. Glocalization and social welfare can be assessed through the analysis of civil society organizations and the Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs). Glocalization for social welfare through NGOs etc. means pressing for certain rights, protecting the local globally/from global to local/going local. Local government officials have been the most useful when they have supported local problem solvers. What Hines suggested was localization which mean de-globalization i.e. the reversal of the process of globalization, turning back everything under local control and local management, which now seems quite possible since globalization has been an age old phenomenon and has brought about innumerable changes which cannot be reversed, as it is difficult to reverse or its removal or reversal is undesirable since globalization has not only had negative effects but positive ones too. As such its reversal would not really be feasible. So glocalization serves as a suitable policy process, since it doe s not demand for a reversal of the globalized process but emphasizes the combined functioning of both the local and the global forces, neither complete globalization nor completes localization, it serves as a neutral policy, gaining from both aspects. It is said that glocalization provides for a blend of local and global forces and in the name of such a blend an example that can be cited is that of the United Nations (UN). The UN being an international/ global organization comprised of member countries from all over the world provides policies for social welfare sectors like that of health, education, environment, rights, the question of women and children and culture. The impact of UN policies are great, it looks into matters which have effect on local levels as well, citing example of the Millennium Development Goals(MDGs), formulated in terms of eradicating poverty, promoting proper health and education, ecological protection and others have been adopted by member nations and these MDGs have also been taken up on state level. According to Scholte, glocalization involves the formulations of certain rules and regulatory institutions for better governance of local agendas with respect to global matters. It is argued that the global governance institutions lack the kinds of formal accountability that national and local governments can provide. World bodies like Commonwealth, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) and the World Bank, they all lack popularly elected executive and therefore this hampers accountability. Insufficient accountability compromises most problems like poverty, inequality, environmental defense, disease and violence are not effectively addressed or eradicated. Therefore through civil society organizations help could be provided, however the sceptics argued such civil society organizations run by elites would further increase the problem of accountability. Contemporary society operates through global frames alongside social spaces. Along with local NGOs there also exists inter-regional associations like the European Union, Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR), ASEAN ( Association of South East Asian Nations), Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) which has been termed as the most developed interregional arrangement. Along with this there exists trans-localism, with groups like UCLG- United Cities and Local Governments, ICLEI, local governments for sustainability. Therefore global governance involves international institutes, inter-regional institutes and trans-local institutes, and good governance in this respect means that these institutes as actors are answerable for its action to the beneficiary for whom they are acting. Glocalization brings out the best in dealing with the local problems with tis reference to global issues though civil society. Such CSOs as human collectivity, people relate to one another on the basis of openness, tolerance, respect, trust and non-violence. Secondly, also a political space where citizens congregate to deliberate upon actual and prospective circumstances of their collective life. The qualities of civil society initiatives like peace movements, human rights advocates, advanced dignity of disabled persons, indigenous populations, outcasts, people of color, sexual minorities and women, citizen campaigns for animal rights and ecological integrity. Certain NGO staff members have represented several small island states in multilateral negotiations on climate change- in china and parts of Africa the relationship between civic groups and the state has sometimes been so close that the associations in question have been dubbed as GONGOs-Government organized NGOs. Some environmental organizations have held observer status in the body that oversees implementation of 1987 Montreal Protocol on substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, the Codex Alimentarius Commission- a Rome based supra-state agency on world food standards and the International Organization have consulted global companies in the process of setting norms. Each country, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child- has always received an alternative report from civic groups. By 1990, most major UN organs had established a special division for liaison with NGOs. Marrakesh Agreement establishing WTO provided for appropriate arrangements for consultation and cooperation with NGOS. Suggestions for proposals regarding a Peoples Assembly or chamber of companies to be created in the UN alongside General Assembly of States have been made. NGO forums exercised notable influence on declarations and programs of action at various UN sponsored global issue conferences of 1990s. New politics emerged when several civic groups channel important part of their efforts to shape official policy though supra-state agencies as through governments. This has been apparent in environmental regeneration, autonomy of indigenous people, position of women, opportunities for the disabled and world peace. E.g. Movement for the survival of the Ogoni people (MOSOP) created in 1990. MOSOP used support of trans-border environmental, religious, human rights organizations. In other words, it is possible in contemporary politics for grassroots groups to advance their causes though coalitions with NGOs, global governance agencies and even global companies. Two private sector policy makers have been influential in influencing many programs at low levels, these are namely: Ford Foundation and World Economic Forum. Ford Foundation established in 1936 to fund social programs in Michigan. Its funds and grants were to go to NGOs and were to be free from the scrutiny of the state governments. 1960s, ford foundation played a major role in educating development economists, promoting Green Revolution in agriculture, sponsoring population control programs and linking environment and development policies. World Economic Forum, was launched in 1971 was instrumental in launching the Uruguay Round of World Trade negotiations and helped forge links between local and global capital in China, India, Latin America and Russia and post-apartheid South Africa. World Economic Forum also addressed inter-state conflicts with conciliation attempts in affairs as the Arab-Israeli and Greeco-Turkish disputes. Non-official initiatives in environmental regulation are the Ford, Packard and Rockefeller foundation supported major conservation programs. In 1980, World Conservation union (IUCN) and WWF collaborated with UNEP to launch a World Conservation Strategy that developed guidelines for states. World Resources Institute (WRI) formulated the Tropical Forestry Action Plan in 1980 jointly with the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and UNDP. International Council of Science Union plays an advisory role to the World Meteorological Organization and UNEP in setting up and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 1988. The Secretariat for the Convention on International Trade in endangered species of wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) has worked in close cooperation with the IUCN and the WWF. IUCN, WRI and UNEP jointly organized the Bio-Diversity Conservation Strategy Program. NGOS and emancipatory new social movements provide a progressive way forward to more effective and just regulation. Lena Dominelli mentions that initiatives have to be taken to engage in mutual exchanges between local and global players. Locality specific versions of social work was directed to be a resistance to the homogenizing trends embedded in social relations driven by profit motives and the desire of entrepreneurs to appropriate other peoples labor, material resources, geographic spaces and intellectual property. Human, social and environmental degradation is increasing and despite government rhetoric about equal opportunity, elimination of poverty particularly among children within the UK, and on a global scale of twenty-eight billion people expressed and agreed at World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen in 1995 and Millennium Development Goals pronounced at the UN. The roles of associations like the IASSW International Association of Schools of Social Work, International Council on Social Work (ICSW) and the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW), promoting cross border solidarity in matters of this kind. The benefits of globalization have been contested by anti-globalization movements which demanded economic growth should sustain human beings and the environment in which they live rather than gathering profits for the few. International organizations include such as the Red-Cross OXFAM, and the Save the Children are NGOs that practice on issues like poverty, disasters and health matters, mostly associated with aid and relief. The American New Deal under Franklin D. Roosevelt was nearest the USA could come to guaranteeing provision for families with dependent children and for older people. The concerns with extreme levels of deprivation and threat of social disorder and devastation by second world war especially Europe were picked by Roosevelt and other at United Nations and led to an agreement around Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). UDHR covered civil, political and social rights including the right to welfare. In addition to the organizations of the UN system and the Washington-based financial institutions, such as the international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) like the Human Rights Watch and CARE, such transnational corporations as Shell and Citibank, and global media like the BBC and CNN exerted a growing influence on state policies, and also brought to a large extent the proliferation in the number of NGOs. The involvements of such actors are basically a part of the good governance agenda. They help especially in the Third World and Eastern Europe to bring about changes, certain scholars have been critical of the World Bank intervention in these countries, and mentioned that instead of good governance, what World Bank policies have led to is bad governance. As such, UN commentary on good governance has led to certain ideas namely, the universal protection of Human Rights; non-discriminatory laws; efficient, impartial and rapid judicial processes; transparent public agencies; ac countability for decisions by public officials; devolution of resources and decision making to local levels from the capital and meaningful participation by citizens in debating public policies and choices.4 A report from UNDPs Regional Bureau for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States emphasized the prerequisites for equity, legitimacy and efficiency: A legitimately strong government can be described as one that commands sufficient confidence in its legitimacy to allow for a strong civil society, and for a network of non-governmental institutions and regulations that ensure the development of a well-functioning economic system, the strengthening of democratic procedures and a widespread participation by people in public life. Giving the state a role to play in the domestic arena may lead to capacity building; in such a way there may be more effective partnerships and institutions internationally and at home, emphasized by the World Development Report 1997. UNDP has since the early 1990s shifted from traditional public sector management to addressing sensitive issues of governance as the human rights etc. And thus emphasized on capacity building; with this emphasis on capacity building for civil Weiss, Thomas.G. Governance, Good Governance and Global Governance: Conceptual and Actual Challenges, Third World Quarterly, Vol. 21. No.5. (Oct.2000).pp. 795-814. society and the private sector has mean that the UN system has a comparative advantage in many of the developing countries. Good governance entails the working of state and civil society actors closely together, Mahbub ul Haq has given the concept of good governance as to be directed towards the notion of human development and thereby leading to Humane Governance. This humane governance has also been emphasized by J.A. Scholte in his book Globalization: a critical introduction, he has mentioned the various issues as insecurities, basically as a result of globalization. Such insecurities are not that of traditional security in terms of the military security and defense but this includes that of Ecological integrity, Health, Poverty, Employment, Working conditions and identity and local knowledge. We can make out from these various insecurities that Scholte talked in aspect of social welfare. The emphasis is on the negative impacts of contemporary globalization on human security. ECOLOGY INTERGRITY: The global environmental issues have become a very critical source of insecurity, global capitalism or global races for capital and development have been particularly harmful for the ecology. Such race have particularly been harmful for the countries of the South, since most ministries have abandoned the environmental projects and policies in an effort to achieve the fiscal targets connected with globally sponsored structural adjustment programmes. Environmental issues are a very good example of how local and global forces interact with each other or affect each other. Various movements at the local level for environmental protection have been raised against the global forces which push countries towards the process of development which are harmful to the ecology of the country. To cite an example would be the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) in India. A fight a dam Sardar Sarovar Dam to be built on the river Narmada in Central India, this NBA consisted mostly of peasants and tribals, le d by people like Baba Amte and also later activists like Medha Patkar were successful in fighting against the project which was to be funded by the World Bank. They were successful in stopping the Bank from funding the project and thereby got the project banned. This NBA was able to succeed in their efforts since they were able to well-establish links with environmental groups overseas. The Japanese environmentalists persuaded their government not to advance money for the Narmada Valley Project and also US groups were sympathetic to the cause and were also able to persuade their government to do the same. Support from environmentalist from both these countries also helped to persuade the World Bank to give up on the project.5 Environmental issues in industrialized countries had to do with the quality of life, whereas in Africa, Asia and Latin America it mostly was based on survival, the rights to live and work in a healthy environment, the responsibility to protect habitats, livelihoods and systems of life support from contamination, depletion (extraction), and destruction, and also the determination to restore or rehabilitate what has already been harmed. These are the issues that the countries of the South face in terms of ecology, and more sensitive to this issue have been women, ecofeminism as can been referred to. There are inter-linkages in the experience of grassroots environmental movements worldwide namely: the struggle to save old growth forests in Europe, womens initiatives to secure Rangarajan, Mahesh. Environmental Issues in India, Chap.22. Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd. safe food supplies in the industrial core of Poland, community efforts in Spain to fight toxic waste dumping, womens movements to retain access to land and forest resources in Kenya, and womens participation in the struggles of the rubber tappers union to protect their forest homes and work places in the Brazilian Amazon.6 Women carry a disproportionate share of responsibilities for resource procurement and environmental maintenance however they have very limited rights to determine the future of resource availability and environmental quality. Women have been at the forefront of emerging grassroots groups, social movements and local political organizations engaged in environmental, socio economic and political struggles. These phenomena are not localized; it is taking place around the world. Sound environmental policies and practice are required in order to achieve sustainable development. In this respect there are certain assumptions that are given: firstly that the involvement of women in collective action around the world, there are critical linkages between global environmental and economic processes and the recent surge in womens participation in public for a, particularly in relation to ecological and economic concern. This surge in womens activism is a response to actual changes in local enviro nmental conditions as well as to discursive shifts toward sustainable development in national and international political circles. Secondly, relates to women are beginning to define their identities and the meaning of gender through expressions of human agency and collective action emphasizing struggles, resistance and cooperation, and also have now included womens knowledge, experience and interests as a worldwide phenomenon, and that the process and results in any one place reflect historical, social and geographical specificity. There are various victories claimed by womens participation in environmental protection at local levels; namely the widespread planting of tress by the Womens Green Belt movement of Kenya, the protection of the Himalayan forests from timber concessionaries by the Chipko Movement in India, in North America grassroots movements led by women have prevented the disposal of toxic wastes. International level organizations that bridge the gap between local and the global have been Womens Congress for a Healthy Planet, WEDO- Women, Environment and Development Organization; WEDNET- Women, Environment and Development Network; and Worldwide Network for women all bring concerns of these locally based movements to national and international policy fora. Global Governance of ecological matters has made notable advances, even though the UN Charter of 1945 did not mention environment, but UN-

Theories and Approaches to Learning

Theories and Approaches to Learning Write about helpful and unhelpful approaches to learning during your own education. What was positive about those approaches? Did they reflect or express any particular theories of learning? Life is a learning experience. When I was a young girl I was so confident and positive about what I wanted. Maths and Science were my favourite subjects but I was not given freedom to learn as I wanted to learn these subjects. I realized this after I gained a very good experience in teaching primary school children. Student motivation is rooted in students subjective experiences, especially those connected to their willingness to engage in lessons and learning activities and their reasons for doing so. (Brophy, 2004, p. 4) According to Brophy, I must say learning is, interesting fun and exciting when the curriculum is well matched to students interests and abilities and the teacher emphasizes hands-on activities in order to keep the students busy and engaged. When the teacher teaches the right things the right way, motivation takes place by itself. If students are not enjoying learning, something is wrong with the curriculum and teachers instruction. At times I felt my school life was boring and frustrating because I hated all subjects except Maths and Science. I had to sit and listen to longtime instructions and copy the notes from the chalk board. I managed myself for learning because I had to show the Progress Report with good grades to my dad. Ê »Science is like everything, I guess and I think everything has a science to it. [When] baking cookies you have to add the right amount of eggs and milk and stuff like that (Kaufman, Moss, Osborn, 2003, p. 48) As I agree with Kaufman, Moss Osborns point of view, these two subjects add lot of fun to learning as they contain lot of practical activities which are conducted in the school laboratory. I loved to learn through doing and touching, it is because I had trouble sitting still and learning. My worst day during Science period was when my teacher said no when I offered him my help to fix the Bunsen burner to the gas cylinder. He said ‘you are still young so must stay away. Now I understand that I was a kinaesthetic learner that time, my teacher could have engaged me in his work because I could be better able to understand information by doing hands-on activities. I am not going to blame my teacher for this because at the time of my learning teacher centred education was given importance by educators. If teachers are able to understand childrens learning needs, it will reduce lot of frustration like homework incompletion, failures in assessments and sports and speaking in public. A s long as I know sometimes kids are just doing what works for them but, the curriculum in practice when I was in school did not cater the childs individual needs and the educators did not consider the childs learning style. I know that cognitive focuses on the inner mental activities such as thinking, memory, knowing, and problem-solving so, I think at cognitive stage the children should be catered carefully according to their learning needs. I gained lot of experience in teaching, today I am an experienced teacher, I wish I was my teacher when I was in school because when I was a child I did not get what I give to the pupils in my classroom now. As a teacher, I work in my classroom according to my childrens expectations. I believe in group work, differentiated planning, reading a lot for fun, guided reading, shared reading, classroom policies, and ongoing assessments which help me know the level of progress frequently. The few hyperactive boys in my classroom are always my helpers; they are always engaged in classroom jobs. In a typical classroom, some children process information best by hearing the teacher explain it, some learn by seeing whats on the chalkboard, and others learn through hands-on exercises. Nowadays colleges have increasingly begun teaching new students about learning styles so they can develop effective study habits. Three basic learning styles are auditory, kinaesthetic, and visual. Auditory learners prefer listening to explanations over reading them and like to study by reciting information aloud. These types of learners may want to have background music while studying, or they may be distracted by noises and need a quiet space to study. Kinaesthetic learners learn by doing and touching. They may have trouble sitting still while studying, and they are better able to understand information by writing it down or doing hands on activities. Visual learners process new information by reading, looking at pictures, or watching a demonstration but, they may grow impatient listening to an explanation. I still remember the learning style and classroom setting when I was small which is mostly similar to what shown on the video clip of ‘The four UK teachers experience in a Kenyan school. At least for ten years my classroom strength was 35-40 children, our tables and chairs were laid in rows, teachers table and the chalk board was at the front of the class. The classroom layout was so congested, though we learnt how to move around without any incidents, our teachers never approached each table in order to assist the individual needs. Teacher instruction was mostly lecture based and activities contained more board work. We were never treated according to our learning styles which are auditory, kinaesthetic, and visual instead the whole class was given the same type of activities only the able children understood them and completed on time and the rest were neglected. Regret to say that our teachers failed to realise that all of us are designed to absorb information differently; each learning style results in people with various interests, desires and talents and learning is more fun and effective when the teachers look into multiple learning styles. Children learn more efficiently on their own way and can reach their potential by working smarter. Once a teacher identifies the childs learning style, she can give that child the freedom to learn which will support his work at home, at school, and in life. Once my English language teacher asked us to write a simple paragraph on ‘Good Schools, since I like role play activities, I wrote the paragraph and drew pictures of girls and wrote two dialogues in the speech bubbles as they speak the positive things in the school. My teacher saw my work and crossed out the picture and said ‘this is not required here. That time I took this as my teachers valid point of view but later when I became a te acher I thought my teacher should have appreciated my speech bubbles and corrected the sentences or showed me what rules I should follow when I write statements in the speech bubbles. In this way the teacher put a full stop to my desire in learning or trying new concepts. The educators should be able to understand the learning styles of the learners and should provide opportunities accordingly. A kinaesthetic learner should be given more activity based work, for an example- in maths lesson for addition; this type of a learner can be given counters rather than asking him to work out the sums mentally. Kinaesthetic learners should be able to experience and explore the learning aids/ models which are available in the classroom or lab. Learners with strength for visual learning tend to process information by visualizing and seeing it. During a PD training which I attended recently I learnt that about 65% of the population prefers to learn visually. Visual learners in schools can be given opportunities to use colors to organize, receive written instructions and lists, look at graphics like film, flow charts, or diagrams, use visualization when memorizing information, take detailed notes and draw graphics as they learn by looking. People with strength for a uditory learning tend to remember information they hear and discuss. According to what I learnt, about 30% of the population prefers learning with an auditory style. Auditory learners in the classroom can be given recordings of materials like video clips of rhymes or documentaries to be learned; can participate in discussions or discussion groups, have questions read out loud, receive verbal instructions and read written information out loud. It is very sad to say at the time of my learning in the schools I did not see teachers had any knowledge of the types of learners and teach them according to their needs but learning was on going in the classroom. If this is the case how did I learn? This is a very difficult question for me to answer. The learning theories of the school where I studied were forced me to learn in the way I did not want to, the classroom instruction in my school life was mostly suitable for visual learners as there were activities like reading text with pictures, key points of the lesson given on the chalk board and copying texts from the chalk board to the note books. There were hardly any resources around the classrooms; the teaching aids were the text books, chalk board and the chalks. I liked to spend more time in the Science lab its because of the laboratory equipment which our Science/Maths teacher used during practical lessons. I enjoyed these subjects though there were limited resources available in the school lab; the teachers conducted the lessons as for the whole class without realizing the individual needs of the children. I did not study the English language as the way I studied Maths/Science. English was taught through visualizing things, long instructions and reading paragraphs in tex ts. If teachers use a lecture style for instruction, the English language learner will not receive as much comprehensible input. (Haynes, 2007, p. 6) Haynes argument is right. I became impatient listening for long periods during English. Once my English teacher caught me reading my favourite story book in the class and said ‘you must spend time with your text books, you should never read story books it is a waste of time. I followed her instructions and never read story books ever since she told me. Why did not this teacher realize that reading open doors for many worlds? Had I read a lot or be encouraged to read that time I would have had a rich vocabulary when I entered the High school. Another day a story teller visited our school to read stories to each year group and involved the students in making story props and acting out the stories. This was the most enjoyable moment during my English lesson; I had an opportunity to learn new vocabularies too. Everyone had fun during this lesson because the story teller involved each and every student in a kind of activity. Another issue was no school policies were read to us on the first day of school as there were no many policies constructed for the school at that time. We knew how to go in a line to the library, hitting and verbally abusing the peers not allowed, wore neat uniform every day, respect the teachers and so on but we were never taught any of these. I think the hidden curriculum in my school was stronger than the curriculum which was in use that time. Then I moved to a college for my higher education. I can say from my college experience that many higher education instructors still do not realize that students vary in the way that they process and understand information or attempt to respond to those differences in their pedagogical efforts. Effective teaching cannot be limited to the delivery of information; instead it needs to be based on a model of minds at work. Effective instructors are those who understand the importance of involving all of their students in learning how to learn. Effective learners are created when instructors affirm the presence and validity of diverse learning. At the college level the cognitive development occurs at the same pace but the learners experience different kind of problems or issues due to many changes. One of them is ‘culture shock. Newcomers have usually left behind family members, friends, teachers, and pets. They are no longer surrounded by a familiar language and culture. Children often do not have the full support of their parents because the parents are experiencing culture shock, too. (Haynes, 2007, p. 2) I agree with Hayens because the greater the difference between the students new culture and the students primary culture, the greater the shock. During this stage, I as a newcomer was excited about the new lives. Everything was wonderful and we were having great time learning about the environment. For me the differences between the new culture and the old one become more apparent. I rejected my new surroundings because there was so much that I did not understand. At times I felt sleepy, irritable, uninterested, or depressed; there were few more students who felt the same as I did. In my college the English language learners were frustrated because they could not communicate and are bombarded with unfamiliar surroundings, unreadable social signals, and an unrelenting barrage of new sounds. I was homesick and missed my family, friends, and familiar sights and sounds but, our instructors failed to realise this and started their duty stuffing our brain with Physics, Chemistry and Biolo gy. I was compelled to listen and follow what they instructed but, I did not know how much I learnt at that stage. In fact, I was surprised and overwhelmed by the lectures though we were forced to learn what we were supposed to, because the instructors knew so much about the subject taught. At times I asked myself, how did the instructors prepare themselves so well in order to answer all types of questions asked by the students? I saw them as good role models from the way they socialized with others, and delivered the content of the subjects during lectures. Listening to a lecture involves active attempts to construct new knowledge but, most of the time I felt that the instructors could have included videos to their instructions, involved us in presentations or group discussions as I loved these types of activities. ACTIVITY 2: Why are theories of learning important? Write down some initial thoughts about your own priorities at this stage of your development as a (head) teacher. To what extent do your own current priorities coincide with the priorities mentioned above? There are many different theories of how people learn. What important and useful is to consider their application to how our students learn and we teach our educational programs. It is interesting to think about our own particular way of learning and to recognize that everyone does not learn the way we do. In my opinion one of the main points is a teacher should know that each student does not learn in the same way others do. This means if the teacher chooses just one style of teaching such as direct instruction or collaborative learning or inquiry learning the students will not be maximizing their learning potential. For sure a teacher cannot reach every student on the same level during one lesson, but implementing a variety of learning styles throughout the course allows all the students to experience the chance to learn in at least a way that matches their learning style. Most of the materials used to educate students beyond primary school are largely text and lecture based, which have significant limitations. Those students are not involved in group work or discussion activities. Reading is a very important learning mode but, not all students learn effectively from reading. There are students who do not like reading a lot but, respond better to visual and audio stimuli of lecture but often get lost in the material or lose interest in the presentation. In this type of a learning environment, students have limited opportunity to ask questions or may be uncomfortable asking a question in front of the class. So the learning theories we have should cater the individual needs of the children. I believe student learn best by trying to make sense of something on their own with the help of the teacher along the way. Therefore the learners should be involved in activity based learning and given the freedom to use the classroom resources around them. Another im portant point is that the best way to learn is by having students construct their own knowledge instead of having someone construct it for them. For an example, for giving them the concept of Addition they should be given counters or an abacus to find the sum of two numbers rather than explaining this on the chalk board. For the language development they should be given activities for listening and writing which will be an interesting activity too. Science and Geography can be taught through pictures, video clips, lab work with a lot of experiments and the use of internet. At times I did not get the clear concepts of the subject taught when I attended the lecture type classes but I had an opportunity to understand better when I was asked to teach the same concept to someone else on my own. An experienced teacher should always use cognitive terminology such as classify, analyze, predict, and create when assigning tasks to the students, this helps the students to explore and research to find lot of information about the subject. We should encourage student critical thinking and inquiry by asking them thoughtful, open-ended questions, and encourage them to ask questions to each other. Further, we should provide enough time for students to construct their own meaning when learning something new. We should acknowledge that, students understanding and prior experiences about a concept before teaching them, which is as vital as breathing. Group discussions that we organize should encourage communication between the teacher and the students and also between the students. All learning and some elements of non-learning begin with situations where there is a disjuncture between a learners biography (past experiences) and their construction of present experience. (Jarvis, Holford Griffin, 2003, p. 70) As Jarvis, Holford Griffin explain educators should pay importance to the childs prior learning experience in order to give them the proper foundation on learning. In the school where I work the children speak English as a second language therefore I had to construct my learning theories according to their past experience with the language of English. One of the word level objectives of English for first graders is ‘to represent in writing the three phonemes in CVC words, spelling them first in rhyming sets, then in non-rhyming sets. This is a very simple objective but difficult for a first grader in my school as their prior knowledge in English is zero due to use of no English at home. In that case if I as a teacher insist them to learn this objective then I will be committing a crime for not having any knowledge on their biography. So it is vital for me to spend correcting prior knowledge before new learning can occur, in fact we in our school where I work now spend at least 2-3 weeks at the beginning of the first term to learn the biography of the children. Teachers must be fair in distributing their praise and all students should receive praise. They should look for positive things to say about a students work even when pointing out problems or mistakes during lesson. Some might receive praise for bigger achievements than others but, even the lower performer needs a regular pat on the back. Teacher should also give praise or verbal rewards to the class as a whole to encourage the class and build team unity. True, the learning theories help support planning and teaching, help to critically evaluate classroom practice and help in the diagnosis of classroom problems but in my opinion the important person who constructs the learning theories in the classroom is the teacher who is not given enough opportunities to implement these in her classroom to experience the consequences. I hear teachers of other schools say that excess amount of paper work and work load do not provide enough time to engage the children on learning. In the school where I work our teachers are not given extra duties such as after school duty, snack duty etc in order to make sure that they spend more time in the classroom and prepare for students learning. We have special subject teachers for ICT, Physical Education and second languages so the class teachers can concentrate only on the core subjects like Literacy, Numeracy, Science and Geography. One may ask, why do our teachers are kept away from teaching ICT? In my opi nion ICT should be integrated in learning however, in some cases, teachers feel ICT increases their workload, with some tasks taking longer time to complete. This can often be traced to one or more of: a lack confidence or lack of ICT skills, ineffective networks or a lack of appropriate training or technical support. To reduce teacher workloads in our schools in future, ICT strategies will be included specific workload aims although this should not be at the impression of continuing to find ways in which ICT can raise quality and pupil performance. (We are planning to improve ICT strategic planning through strategic aims, hardware, software, connectivity, technical support and staff training and development in future and involve the teachers in integrating ICT to learning). Staff meeting or Curriculum meeting is conducted only once a week, which helps the teachers to spend more time with their work in the classroom and during their non contact periods they are supposed to prepare additional activities for the lesson they have planned. Progress Report for the pupils are being sent only thrice a year rather than every month, the teachers in our school have to spend less time dealing with behavioural issues because we have well constructed standardized policies for discipline, behaviour, uniform, food and bus and the Social worker is highly involved in implementing the policies. In our school calendar there are few days allocated as ‘Staff in Students out for professional development which is very important for the educators to upgrade their skills. I have seen few schools in this country utilize the student time I mean have shortened day in order to organise PD for the staff. In some schools teachers spend most of their time on disciplining the children and dealing with behavioural issues because of the weak hidden curriculum in place and no proper plan or policies to manage these types of issues there. Some educators want to expose themselves as good teachers or professional and show that they can manage the children very well, so they spend more time on putting up class displays, classroom management and less time on teaching the children. I have seen educators who work only for survival, their aim is to spend the days in the school and get monthly wage on time. The overall goal of the teachers should be to help and support students develop into self motivating learners. Students who are encouraged to become motivated lifelong learners will be more successful in and out of the classroom. When I worked as a teacher in other schools I had to teach all the subjects including IT and Physical Education, send monthly progress report home, prepare student portfolio for each child in my class, do after school duties and attend meetings with the Principal for four days in a week. I must say at that time I was frustrated for not having enough time to concentrate on the learning of my students and I was able to realise that they were not gaining anything according to their learning style. So, when I became as a head of a school I made sure that the teachers are given more time to spend for the children not with paper work and so on. The Social Worker and I are directly involved in solving behavioural issues in the school so the teachers will not have to spend time on this issue. The school policies and curriculum should be child centred and focus only on their learning. Educators should spend more time on pupils learning for which the strong hidden curriculum of the school should be helpful so that the teachers can construct proper planning for their teaching rather than wasting their time on other issues like behaviour and discipline. What I am trying to explain is that the learning theories we construct should focus on the childs academic and intellectual development. ACTIVITY 3: Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation List eight ways in which you motivate pupils in your classroom and school. Explain which motivational forms are intrinsic and which extrinsic. We know nothing about motivation. All we can do is write books about it. Peter Drucker I have read a lot about ‘Motivation in books and on websites. I think Drucker is concerned about the nature of understanding the term ‘Motivation. I know what motivation is but, I do not think that I have made a closer inspection to it ever in my career. I have motivated the learners to read a lot, work smarter, behave well and be a good role model through rewards and appreciation as the way the factory workers are encouraged by ‘end of year bonus so that production improves and absenteeism falls. No one can know the future at least in any detail. In preparing the future, students should be able to develop viable occupational skills. Learning a discipline and doing it well provides the foundation for a sense of purpose, security and confidence in adulthood. In addition to this the students should prepare for change. As we see, change is best handled and even welcomed, when individuals possess a well developed mental skills associated with original creative and independent thinking. Further, according to Martin V. Cavington, the greatest legacy of education is to encourage in our students a will to learn and to continue learning as personal circumstances-change in short to promote a capacity for self renewal. Today many students drop out of school without a single achievement for which they can feel uniquely responsible for it. More ever the majority of the students fail achieve their potential due to lack of motivation in schools and home. How to always be motivated? Keeping our motivation high is the key factor to achieve our goals. We all face setbacks in life but, the ability to turn it into a lesson and move through a positive direction should be our aim for which motivation is highly required. If we are not motivated, we will experience difficulties in turning our great ideas into great results, wake up in the morning without any desire, ask people around us for support, give up our tasks before finishing them, postpone important decisions and wish that we will have a set of helping tips to overcome our setbacks. If we as adults will have to face a great deal of inconveniences due to lack of motivation, what will happen to those who just started their life in schools as children? What will be the consequences for being not motivated by important factors? How motivation takes place in classrooms and schools? A primary concern for educators is how to balance the use of extrinsic incentives as needed to promote student task engagement while establishing a climate that also fosters intrinsic motivation. (Alderman, 1999, p. 213) The motivation comes from the pleasure one gets from the task he does or from the sense of satisfaction in completing or even working on it. As Alderman explains, we should equally balance extrinsic and intrinsic motivation in order to promote engaging students on task. According to what I understood intrinsic motivation means motivation which comes from inside an individual rather than from any external or outside rewards, such as money, trophies or grades. Extrinsic motivation refers to motivation that comes from outside an individual. The motivating factors are external, or outside, rewards such as money, trophies or grades. These rewards provide satisfaction and pleasure that the task itself may not provide. Is intrinsic motivation the solution for increasing student engagement? One perspective is that intrinsic motivation to learn is a necessary, but insufficient, component for academic achievement in classrooms; that is, one can enjoy learning or have an interest in a subject, but lack the strategies necessary for continuing motivation (Alderman, 1999, p. 218) According to Aldermans argument, an extrinsically motivated student will work on a task even when he has little interest in it because of the anticipated satisfaction he will get from some rewards. The rewards can be something as minor as a smiley face to something major like a trophy or free computer game. For example, an extrinsically motivated child who dislikes maths may work hard on maths problems because he wants the reward for completing it right. For me it is very difficult to agree with Aldermans point of views on ‘motivating extrinsically will result positively as I have teaching experience with children of some (sorry to say) arrogant parents, rich parents who are proud of their wealth and children who enjoy the most lavish life in this country which is completely different where I come from. I have implemented many strategies for motivating children in my class; I never had an opportunity to discriminate intrinsic and extrinsic motivation until I come across some readings on these topics by Jerome S. Bruner and Alderman. All I knew were about motivating children to be engaged on task. Two years back I had few children in my class, whose parents especially the mothers were not supportive at all; their children most of the time turned in completed homework, they had poor reading skills and had unacceptable behaviour in the classroom. In order to motivate them towards task, I used to tell them if they complete work on time or behave well they will get a smiley sticker or a badge but, I always had reply from these kids ‘I dont need I can buy them when I go out with my driver or ‘who cares of those cheap stickers or ‘I have got plenty of them at home. In such a place where I am in, most of the children are not attracted by those extrinsic motivations rather they would like to get motivated by intrinsic factors. I have spent a lot of time trying to think of ways to motivate my more reluctant students. I have tried fear† If you are late again, I will call home†. I have tried rewards â€Å"If you follow the classroom code of conduct you will earn points that you can redeem for a free homework pass or computer game. As a motivational support fear and rewards do work, for a while but, I did not want to threaten my students, and I did not want to bribe them. I want them to develop a will to come to class and learn. I wanted their motivation to be intrinsic. The question then was how I get my students to become more intrinsically motivated so that the classroom experience is more enjoyable for everyone. When Iencouraged mystudents self motivation by structuringmy class and my teaching I met their needs which are love, respect, emotional support and to move about the classroom freely. I followed many ways to motivate the children but now, I can differentiate them according to intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors. Intrinsic motivation takes place when there is a positive relationship between the learners and the educators. As Jerome Bruner (1966), explains that extrinsic reinforcement may lead to a desirable kind of activity and cause its repetition but will not ultimately encourage sound learning. His belief was that intrinsic rewards are more important than extrinsic rewards in the long term. Intrinsic motivational factors I implemented in my classroom and school were, 1- When I asked my students to volunteer to be my assistant and assigned jobs for them more learning went on than if I did all the teaching myself. 2- When I had those students who could not sit still for very long and lose focus easily did their maths questions on the board, they were more likely to stay focused and learn which develop the interest of involvement. 3- When I greeted my students at the classroomdoor early morning with a smile and allocate games and puzzles for them to d Theories and Approaches to Learning Theories and Approaches to Learning Write about helpful and unhelpful approaches to learning during your own education. What was positive about those approaches? Did they reflect or express any particular theories of learning? Life is a learning experience. When I was a young girl I was so confident and positive about what I wanted. Maths and Science were my favourite subjects but I was not given freedom to learn as I wanted to learn these subjects. I realized this after I gained a very good experience in teaching primary school children. Student motivation is rooted in students subjective experiences, especially those connected to their willingness to engage in lessons and learning activities and their reasons for doing so. (Brophy, 2004, p. 4) According to Brophy, I must say learning is, interesting fun and exciting when the curriculum is well matched to students interests and abilities and the teacher emphasizes hands-on activities in order to keep the students busy and engaged. When the teacher teaches the right things the right way, motivation takes place by itself. If students are not enjoying learning, something is wrong with the curriculum and teachers instruction. At times I felt my school life was boring and frustrating because I hated all subjects except Maths and Science. I had to sit and listen to longtime instructions and copy the notes from the chalk board. I managed myself for learning because I had to show the Progress Report with good grades to my dad. Ê »Science is like everything, I guess and I think everything has a science to it. [When] baking cookies you have to add the right amount of eggs and milk and stuff like that (Kaufman, Moss, Osborn, 2003, p. 48) As I agree with Kaufman, Moss Osborns point of view, these two subjects add lot of fun to learning as they contain lot of practical activities which are conducted in the school laboratory. I loved to learn through doing and touching, it is because I had trouble sitting still and learning. My worst day during Science period was when my teacher said no when I offered him my help to fix the Bunsen burner to the gas cylinder. He said ‘you are still young so must stay away. Now I understand that I was a kinaesthetic learner that time, my teacher could have engaged me in his work because I could be better able to understand information by doing hands-on activities. I am not going to blame my teacher for this because at the time of my learning teacher centred education was given importance by educators. If teachers are able to understand childrens learning needs, it will reduce lot of frustration like homework incompletion, failures in assessments and sports and speaking in public. A s long as I know sometimes kids are just doing what works for them but, the curriculum in practice when I was in school did not cater the childs individual needs and the educators did not consider the childs learning style. I know that cognitive focuses on the inner mental activities such as thinking, memory, knowing, and problem-solving so, I think at cognitive stage the children should be catered carefully according to their learning needs. I gained lot of experience in teaching, today I am an experienced teacher, I wish I was my teacher when I was in school because when I was a child I did not get what I give to the pupils in my classroom now. As a teacher, I work in my classroom according to my childrens expectations. I believe in group work, differentiated planning, reading a lot for fun, guided reading, shared reading, classroom policies, and ongoing assessments which help me know the level of progress frequently. The few hyperactive boys in my classroom are always my helpers; they are always engaged in classroom jobs. In a typical classroom, some children process information best by hearing the teacher explain it, some learn by seeing whats on the chalkboard, and others learn through hands-on exercises. Nowadays colleges have increasingly begun teaching new students about learning styles so they can develop effective study habits. Three basic learning styles are auditory, kinaesthetic, and visual. Auditory learners prefer listening to explanations over reading them and like to study by reciting information aloud. These types of learners may want to have background music while studying, or they may be distracted by noises and need a quiet space to study. Kinaesthetic learners learn by doing and touching. They may have trouble sitting still while studying, and they are better able to understand information by writing it down or doing hands on activities. Visual learners process new information by reading, looking at pictures, or watching a demonstration but, they may grow impatient listening to an explanation. I still remember the learning style and classroom setting when I was small which is mostly similar to what shown on the video clip of ‘The four UK teachers experience in a Kenyan school. At least for ten years my classroom strength was 35-40 children, our tables and chairs were laid in rows, teachers table and the chalk board was at the front of the class. The classroom layout was so congested, though we learnt how to move around without any incidents, our teachers never approached each table in order to assist the individual needs. Teacher instruction was mostly lecture based and activities contained more board work. We were never treated according to our learning styles which are auditory, kinaesthetic, and visual instead the whole class was given the same type of activities only the able children understood them and completed on time and the rest were neglected. Regret to say that our teachers failed to realise that all of us are designed to absorb information differently; each learning style results in people with various interests, desires and talents and learning is more fun and effective when the teachers look into multiple learning styles. Children learn more efficiently on their own way and can reach their potential by working smarter. Once a teacher identifies the childs learning style, she can give that child the freedom to learn which will support his work at home, at school, and in life. Once my English language teacher asked us to write a simple paragraph on ‘Good Schools, since I like role play activities, I wrote the paragraph and drew pictures of girls and wrote two dialogues in the speech bubbles as they speak the positive things in the school. My teacher saw my work and crossed out the picture and said ‘this is not required here. That time I took this as my teachers valid point of view but later when I became a te acher I thought my teacher should have appreciated my speech bubbles and corrected the sentences or showed me what rules I should follow when I write statements in the speech bubbles. In this way the teacher put a full stop to my desire in learning or trying new concepts. The educators should be able to understand the learning styles of the learners and should provide opportunities accordingly. A kinaesthetic learner should be given more activity based work, for an example- in maths lesson for addition; this type of a learner can be given counters rather than asking him to work out the sums mentally. Kinaesthetic learners should be able to experience and explore the learning aids/ models which are available in the classroom or lab. Learners with strength for visual learning tend to process information by visualizing and seeing it. During a PD training which I attended recently I learnt that about 65% of the population prefers to learn visually. Visual learners in schools can be given opportunities to use colors to organize, receive written instructions and lists, look at graphics like film, flow charts, or diagrams, use visualization when memorizing information, take detailed notes and draw graphics as they learn by looking. People with strength for a uditory learning tend to remember information they hear and discuss. According to what I learnt, about 30% of the population prefers learning with an auditory style. Auditory learners in the classroom can be given recordings of materials like video clips of rhymes or documentaries to be learned; can participate in discussions or discussion groups, have questions read out loud, receive verbal instructions and read written information out loud. It is very sad to say at the time of my learning in the schools I did not see teachers had any knowledge of the types of learners and teach them according to their needs but learning was on going in the classroom. If this is the case how did I learn? This is a very difficult question for me to answer. The learning theories of the school where I studied were forced me to learn in the way I did not want to, the classroom instruction in my school life was mostly suitable for visual learners as there were activities like reading text with pictures, key points of the lesson given on the chalk board and copying texts from the chalk board to the note books. There were hardly any resources around the classrooms; the teaching aids were the text books, chalk board and the chalks. I liked to spend more time in the Science lab its because of the laboratory equipment which our Science/Maths teacher used during practical lessons. I enjoyed these subjects though there were limited resources available in the school lab; the teachers conducted the lessons as for the whole class without realizing the individual needs of the children. I did not study the English language as the way I studied Maths/Science. English was taught through visualizing things, long instructions and reading paragraphs in tex ts. If teachers use a lecture style for instruction, the English language learner will not receive as much comprehensible input. (Haynes, 2007, p. 6) Haynes argument is right. I became impatient listening for long periods during English. Once my English teacher caught me reading my favourite story book in the class and said ‘you must spend time with your text books, you should never read story books it is a waste of time. I followed her instructions and never read story books ever since she told me. Why did not this teacher realize that reading open doors for many worlds? Had I read a lot or be encouraged to read that time I would have had a rich vocabulary when I entered the High school. Another day a story teller visited our school to read stories to each year group and involved the students in making story props and acting out the stories. This was the most enjoyable moment during my English lesson; I had an opportunity to learn new vocabularies too. Everyone had fun during this lesson because the story teller involved each and every student in a kind of activity. Another issue was no school policies were read to us on the first day of school as there were no many policies constructed for the school at that time. We knew how to go in a line to the library, hitting and verbally abusing the peers not allowed, wore neat uniform every day, respect the teachers and so on but we were never taught any of these. I think the hidden curriculum in my school was stronger than the curriculum which was in use that time. Then I moved to a college for my higher education. I can say from my college experience that many higher education instructors still do not realize that students vary in the way that they process and understand information or attempt to respond to those differences in their pedagogical efforts. Effective teaching cannot be limited to the delivery of information; instead it needs to be based on a model of minds at work. Effective instructors are those who understand the importance of involving all of their students in learning how to learn. Effective learners are created when instructors affirm the presence and validity of diverse learning. At the college level the cognitive development occurs at the same pace but the learners experience different kind of problems or issues due to many changes. One of them is ‘culture shock. Newcomers have usually left behind family members, friends, teachers, and pets. They are no longer surrounded by a familiar language and culture. Children often do not have the full support of their parents because the parents are experiencing culture shock, too. (Haynes, 2007, p. 2) I agree with Hayens because the greater the difference between the students new culture and the students primary culture, the greater the shock. During this stage, I as a newcomer was excited about the new lives. Everything was wonderful and we were having great time learning about the environment. For me the differences between the new culture and the old one become more apparent. I rejected my new surroundings because there was so much that I did not understand. At times I felt sleepy, irritable, uninterested, or depressed; there were few more students who felt the same as I did. In my college the English language learners were frustrated because they could not communicate and are bombarded with unfamiliar surroundings, unreadable social signals, and an unrelenting barrage of new sounds. I was homesick and missed my family, friends, and familiar sights and sounds but, our instructors failed to realise this and started their duty stuffing our brain with Physics, Chemistry and Biolo gy. I was compelled to listen and follow what they instructed but, I did not know how much I learnt at that stage. In fact, I was surprised and overwhelmed by the lectures though we were forced to learn what we were supposed to, because the instructors knew so much about the subject taught. At times I asked myself, how did the instructors prepare themselves so well in order to answer all types of questions asked by the students? I saw them as good role models from the way they socialized with others, and delivered the content of the subjects during lectures. Listening to a lecture involves active attempts to construct new knowledge but, most of the time I felt that the instructors could have included videos to their instructions, involved us in presentations or group discussions as I loved these types of activities. ACTIVITY 2: Why are theories of learning important? Write down some initial thoughts about your own priorities at this stage of your development as a (head) teacher. To what extent do your own current priorities coincide with the priorities mentioned above? There are many different theories of how people learn. What important and useful is to consider their application to how our students learn and we teach our educational programs. It is interesting to think about our own particular way of learning and to recognize that everyone does not learn the way we do. In my opinion one of the main points is a teacher should know that each student does not learn in the same way others do. This means if the teacher chooses just one style of teaching such as direct instruction or collaborative learning or inquiry learning the students will not be maximizing their learning potential. For sure a teacher cannot reach every student on the same level during one lesson, but implementing a variety of learning styles throughout the course allows all the students to experience the chance to learn in at least a way that matches their learning style. Most of the materials used to educate students beyond primary school are largely text and lecture based, which have significant limitations. Those students are not involved in group work or discussion activities. Reading is a very important learning mode but, not all students learn effectively from reading. There are students who do not like reading a lot but, respond better to visual and audio stimuli of lecture but often get lost in the material or lose interest in the presentation. In this type of a learning environment, students have limited opportunity to ask questions or may be uncomfortable asking a question in front of the class. So the learning theories we have should cater the individual needs of the children. I believe student learn best by trying to make sense of something on their own with the help of the teacher along the way. Therefore the learners should be involved in activity based learning and given the freedom to use the classroom resources around them. Another im portant point is that the best way to learn is by having students construct their own knowledge instead of having someone construct it for them. For an example, for giving them the concept of Addition they should be given counters or an abacus to find the sum of two numbers rather than explaining this on the chalk board. For the language development they should be given activities for listening and writing which will be an interesting activity too. Science and Geography can be taught through pictures, video clips, lab work with a lot of experiments and the use of internet. At times I did not get the clear concepts of the subject taught when I attended the lecture type classes but I had an opportunity to understand better when I was asked to teach the same concept to someone else on my own. An experienced teacher should always use cognitive terminology such as classify, analyze, predict, and create when assigning tasks to the students, this helps the students to explore and research to find lot of information about the subject. We should encourage student critical thinking and inquiry by asking them thoughtful, open-ended questions, and encourage them to ask questions to each other. Further, we should provide enough time for students to construct their own meaning when learning something new. We should acknowledge that, students understanding and prior experiences about a concept before teaching them, which is as vital as breathing. Group discussions that we organize should encourage communication between the teacher and the students and also between the students. All learning and some elements of non-learning begin with situations where there is a disjuncture between a learners biography (past experiences) and their construction of present experience. (Jarvis, Holford Griffin, 2003, p. 70) As Jarvis, Holford Griffin explain educators should pay importance to the childs prior learning experience in order to give them the proper foundation on learning. In the school where I work the children speak English as a second language therefore I had to construct my learning theories according to their past experience with the language of English. One of the word level objectives of English for first graders is ‘to represent in writing the three phonemes in CVC words, spelling them first in rhyming sets, then in non-rhyming sets. This is a very simple objective but difficult for a first grader in my school as their prior knowledge in English is zero due to use of no English at home. In that case if I as a teacher insist them to learn this objective then I will be committing a crime for not having any knowledge on their biography. So it is vital for me to spend correcting prior knowledge before new learning can occur, in fact we in our school where I work now spend at least 2-3 weeks at the beginning of the first term to learn the biography of the children. Teachers must be fair in distributing their praise and all students should receive praise. They should look for positive things to say about a students work even when pointing out problems or mistakes during lesson. Some might receive praise for bigger achievements than others but, even the lower performer needs a regular pat on the back. Teacher should also give praise or verbal rewards to the class as a whole to encourage the class and build team unity. True, the learning theories help support planning and teaching, help to critically evaluate classroom practice and help in the diagnosis of classroom problems but in my opinion the important person who constructs the learning theories in the classroom is the teacher who is not given enough opportunities to implement these in her classroom to experience the consequences. I hear teachers of other schools say that excess amount of paper work and work load do not provide enough time to engage the children on learning. In the school where I work our teachers are not given extra duties such as after school duty, snack duty etc in order to make sure that they spend more time in the classroom and prepare for students learning. We have special subject teachers for ICT, Physical Education and second languages so the class teachers can concentrate only on the core subjects like Literacy, Numeracy, Science and Geography. One may ask, why do our teachers are kept away from teaching ICT? In my opi nion ICT should be integrated in learning however, in some cases, teachers feel ICT increases their workload, with some tasks taking longer time to complete. This can often be traced to one or more of: a lack confidence or lack of ICT skills, ineffective networks or a lack of appropriate training or technical support. To reduce teacher workloads in our schools in future, ICT strategies will be included specific workload aims although this should not be at the impression of continuing to find ways in which ICT can raise quality and pupil performance. (We are planning to improve ICT strategic planning through strategic aims, hardware, software, connectivity, technical support and staff training and development in future and involve the teachers in integrating ICT to learning). Staff meeting or Curriculum meeting is conducted only once a week, which helps the teachers to spend more time with their work in the classroom and during their non contact periods they are supposed to prepare additional activities for the lesson they have planned. Progress Report for the pupils are being sent only thrice a year rather than every month, the teachers in our school have to spend less time dealing with behavioural issues because we have well constructed standardized policies for discipline, behaviour, uniform, food and bus and the Social worker is highly involved in implementing the policies. In our school calendar there are few days allocated as ‘Staff in Students out for professional development which is very important for the educators to upgrade their skills. I have seen few schools in this country utilize the student time I mean have shortened day in order to organise PD for the staff. In some schools teachers spend most of their time on disciplining the children and dealing with behavioural issues because of the weak hidden curriculum in place and no proper plan or policies to manage these types of issues there. Some educators want to expose themselves as good teachers or professional and show that they can manage the children very well, so they spend more time on putting up class displays, classroom management and less time on teaching the children. I have seen educators who work only for survival, their aim is to spend the days in the school and get monthly wage on time. The overall goal of the teachers should be to help and support students develop into self motivating learners. Students who are encouraged to become motivated lifelong learners will be more successful in and out of the classroom. When I worked as a teacher in other schools I had to teach all the subjects including IT and Physical Education, send monthly progress report home, prepare student portfolio for each child in my class, do after school duties and attend meetings with the Principal for four days in a week. I must say at that time I was frustrated for not having enough time to concentrate on the learning of my students and I was able to realise that they were not gaining anything according to their learning style. So, when I became as a head of a school I made sure that the teachers are given more time to spend for the children not with paper work and so on. The Social Worker and I are directly involved in solving behavioural issues in the school so the teachers will not have to spend time on this issue. The school policies and curriculum should be child centred and focus only on their learning. Educators should spend more time on pupils learning for which the strong hidden curriculum of the school should be helpful so that the teachers can construct proper planning for their teaching rather than wasting their time on other issues like behaviour and discipline. What I am trying to explain is that the learning theories we construct should focus on the childs academic and intellectual development. ACTIVITY 3: Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation List eight ways in which you motivate pupils in your classroom and school. Explain which motivational forms are intrinsic and which extrinsic. We know nothing about motivation. All we can do is write books about it. Peter Drucker I have read a lot about ‘Motivation in books and on websites. I think Drucker is concerned about the nature of understanding the term ‘Motivation. I know what motivation is but, I do not think that I have made a closer inspection to it ever in my career. I have motivated the learners to read a lot, work smarter, behave well and be a good role model through rewards and appreciation as the way the factory workers are encouraged by ‘end of year bonus so that production improves and absenteeism falls. No one can know the future at least in any detail. In preparing the future, students should be able to develop viable occupational skills. Learning a discipline and doing it well provides the foundation for a sense of purpose, security and confidence in adulthood. In addition to this the students should prepare for change. As we see, change is best handled and even welcomed, when individuals possess a well developed mental skills associated with original creative and independent thinking. Further, according to Martin V. Cavington, the greatest legacy of education is to encourage in our students a will to learn and to continue learning as personal circumstances-change in short to promote a capacity for self renewal. Today many students drop out of school without a single achievement for which they can feel uniquely responsible for it. More ever the majority of the students fail achieve their potential due to lack of motivation in schools and home. How to always be motivated? Keeping our motivation high is the key factor to achieve our goals. We all face setbacks in life but, the ability to turn it into a lesson and move through a positive direction should be our aim for which motivation is highly required. If we are not motivated, we will experience difficulties in turning our great ideas into great results, wake up in the morning without any desire, ask people around us for support, give up our tasks before finishing them, postpone important decisions and wish that we will have a set of helping tips to overcome our setbacks. If we as adults will have to face a great deal of inconveniences due to lack of motivation, what will happen to those who just started their life in schools as children? What will be the consequences for being not motivated by important factors? How motivation takes place in classrooms and schools? A primary concern for educators is how to balance the use of extrinsic incentives as needed to promote student task engagement while establishing a climate that also fosters intrinsic motivation. (Alderman, 1999, p. 213) The motivation comes from the pleasure one gets from the task he does or from the sense of satisfaction in completing or even working on it. As Alderman explains, we should equally balance extrinsic and intrinsic motivation in order to promote engaging students on task. According to what I understood intrinsic motivation means motivation which comes from inside an individual rather than from any external or outside rewards, such as money, trophies or grades. Extrinsic motivation refers to motivation that comes from outside an individual. The motivating factors are external, or outside, rewards such as money, trophies or grades. These rewards provide satisfaction and pleasure that the task itself may not provide. Is intrinsic motivation the solution for increasing student engagement? One perspective is that intrinsic motivation to learn is a necessary, but insufficient, component for academic achievement in classrooms; that is, one can enjoy learning or have an interest in a subject, but lack the strategies necessary for continuing motivation (Alderman, 1999, p. 218) According to Aldermans argument, an extrinsically motivated student will work on a task even when he has little interest in it because of the anticipated satisfaction he will get from some rewards. The rewards can be something as minor as a smiley face to something major like a trophy or free computer game. For example, an extrinsically motivated child who dislikes maths may work hard on maths problems because he wants the reward for completing it right. For me it is very difficult to agree with Aldermans point of views on ‘motivating extrinsically will result positively as I have teaching experience with children of some (sorry to say) arrogant parents, rich parents who are proud of their wealth and children who enjoy the most lavish life in this country which is completely different where I come from. I have implemented many strategies for motivating children in my class; I never had an opportunity to discriminate intrinsic and extrinsic motivation until I come across some readings on these topics by Jerome S. Bruner and Alderman. All I knew were about motivating children to be engaged on task. Two years back I had few children in my class, whose parents especially the mothers were not supportive at all; their children most of the time turned in completed homework, they had poor reading skills and had unacceptable behaviour in the classroom. In order to motivate them towards task, I used to tell them if they complete work on time or behave well they will get a smiley sticker or a badge but, I always had reply from these kids ‘I dont need I can buy them when I go out with my driver or ‘who cares of those cheap stickers or ‘I have got plenty of them at home. In such a place where I am in, most of the children are not attracted by those extrinsic motivations rather they would like to get motivated by intrinsic factors. I have spent a lot of time trying to think of ways to motivate my more reluctant students. I have tried fear† If you are late again, I will call home†. I have tried rewards â€Å"If you follow the classroom code of conduct you will earn points that you can redeem for a free homework pass or computer game. As a motivational support fear and rewards do work, for a while but, I did not want to threaten my students, and I did not want to bribe them. I want them to develop a will to come to class and learn. I wanted their motivation to be intrinsic. The question then was how I get my students to become more intrinsically motivated so that the classroom experience is more enjoyable for everyone. When Iencouraged mystudents self motivation by structuringmy class and my teaching I met their needs which are love, respect, emotional support and to move about the classroom freely. I followed many ways to motivate the children but now, I can differentiate them according to intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors. Intrinsic motivation takes place when there is a positive relationship between the learners and the educators. As Jerome Bruner (1966), explains that extrinsic reinforcement may lead to a desirable kind of activity and cause its repetition but will not ultimately encourage sound learning. His belief was that intrinsic rewards are more important than extrinsic rewards in the long term. Intrinsic motivational factors I implemented in my classroom and school were, 1- When I asked my students to volunteer to be my assistant and assigned jobs for them more learning went on than if I did all the teaching myself. 2- When I had those students who could not sit still for very long and lose focus easily did their maths questions on the board, they were more likely to stay focused and learn which develop the interest of involvement. 3- When I greeted my students at the classroomdoor early morning with a smile and allocate games and puzzles for them to d