Reflective Account of Increasing a Persons Observations

Reflective Account of Increasing a Persons Observations on an Acute Mental Health WardThis essay will discus a decision that was made on a local male acute ward. Using this example, an analysis of the decision making process has been made and a reflective model has been used in order to generate personal knowledge that will inform further practice (Rolfe, 2011a). A pseudonym of Tim has been used for the discussed patient to maintain confidentiality in accordance with the NMC code of conduct (2010a). Observation is one way in which mental health nurses can protect acutely mentally ill inpatients from harm and is commonly implemented for patients who impose a risk of harming themselves, others and for those who are vulnerable (Bowers et al, 2006). Tim, who was on a local male acute ward, posed a risk of harming himself and became very vulnerable during his stay. On admission he was perceived to be at low risk of harming himself and vulnerability, therefore was observed on the minimum level of observation, general observation, which includes all patients and involves an hourly eyesight check on the patient (DH, 1999; NICE, 2005). The decision to increase his observation level was jointly taken by the mentor and the author by gathering information from bank support workers about Tim's current presentation. After a noted deterioration in Tim's mental health, it was decided to increase observations to within eyesight of staff. Justification for this was that he was becoming a serious risk of harming himself as he threatened to jump from the ward roof, as he was determined to leave. Tim was detained under section 2 or the mental health act (DH, 2007). He felt that he needed to leave in order to find his son who he had recently lost contact with. He had been stopped attempting to climb a drain pipe to leave via the ward roof and had been in a very distressed state. Eyesight level of observation is seen as the second highest of four levels and demands intense nursing, only within arms length is higher (DH, 1999; Jones & Eales, 2009; NICE, 2005). Close observation is an example of decision making which is exclusive to mental health nursing. The Chief Nursing Officer described observation as a key area where good practice is essential and that nurses should ‘demonstrate an understanding of the benefits and limitations of the use of levels of observation to maximise the therapeutic effect on inpatient units’ (DH, 2006). Additionally NICE (2005) recommends the use of observation in the short-term management of disturbed/violent patients. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC, 2010a) require nurses to be able to apply knowledge and an appropriate repertoire of skills that is indicative of safe and effective practice and based on the best available evidence. At the time of making the decision it seemed the right course of action. The mentor's final decision was taken for granted as he was an experienced nurse and a lack of personal experience meant that the author had limited personal experience to work with. Before undertaking this assignment it could not decided what could be done differently if faced with a similar situation on qualification. On qualification, such a decision will have to be well informed and made with confidence and one that has to be made in accordance with the NMC code of professional conduct (2010) which requires nurses to be accountable for their own actions and omissions in practice. By using the decision making tool below the advantage of hindsight can be used when analysing this decision to better inform future practice. Pritchard (2006) sees decision making as one of the most difficult processes that a nurse can undertake and one of the most important parts of nursing practice. Aitkin (2003) concludes that formal decision analysis can improve future decision making. The utilised decision making model, as described by Jasper (2003), asks the questions Who/What/When/Where/Why and How? These questions make a useful contribution to systematic, holistic, clinical judgement and enable evaluation and critical thinking about the made decision to take place Jasper, 2003; Standing, 2011). Tim has a long history of mental illness and was admitted to the ward following a deterioration in his mental illness after he lost contact with his son. His mood was elevated and he felt very restless and agitated. Prior to admission, he was found police in a very distressed state. Tim was placed on a section 2 of the mental health act (DH, 2007) and was originally observed generally where a member of staff would have to see him face to face on a hourly basis (NICE, 2005). Under section 2 of the mental health act Tim has lost the right to leave hospital at will and his responsible clinician has not granted him section 17 leave. A person can be detained for up to 28 days and treat against their will (DH, 2007). As Tim was detained it was important for staff to keep him on the ward. Increasing attempts by Tim to leave led to a change in observation level to within eyesight to make sure he did not leave the ward by any means. Staff levels were low, and for that reason it was felt that there was not enough staff to informally observe Tim. In addition there was a general feeling of fear that if Tim left the ward there would be inevitable consequences for the staff. The literature shows that the decision to increase a persons observations is common when faced with the above situation. Buchanan-Barker ; Barker (2005) are critical at the increase of observations on acute mental health wards following high profile tragedies placing practitioners in defensive mode to stop patient elopements and harm to patients. Organisations have responded to this risk by formalising observation policies to defend themselves against litigation. In addition, it is felt that observation policies dominate practice and reassure distant managers that ‘something is being done' (Horsfall ; Cleary, 2000). Equally, nurses use observation in ‘defensive mode' in order to prevent harm. Despite these measures, the effectiveness of observation to reducing patient risk and providing a therapeutic benefit is not at all clear (Mana, 2010). This indicates that observation is driven by risk culture and defensive practices concerned with physical integrity of the person and do little to address the origin of a person's distress (Cutcliffe & Stephenson, 2008; Buchanan-Barker & Barker, 2005). Tim was finding it hard to cope with the loss of his son and wants to leave the ward to find him. One study found that the most cited reason for ncreasing levels of close observations was the prevention of absconding from an acute ward which could lead to the patients self-harm, neglect vulnerability and violence (Dennis, 1997). During Tim's observation staff were tired and unwilling to engage with Tim. Staff were seen to be following Tim from one part of the unit to another which was aggravating him further. The observation was void of conversation which is in contrast to Peplau's (195 2) view that clinical observation should be carried out with the nurses attention to the interpersonal relationship with the patient. Likewise, Rooney (2009) reports that nurses acknowledged that observations were more about prevention than cure and keeping the patient safe was priority. On the other hand, Bowles et al (2002) found that distressed patients need both containment and engagement. In conclusion, there was a need to maintain a therapeutic relationship while considering the management of risk and the empowerment of the patient. The mental Health Act (DH, 2007) requires an appropriate package of treatment to be in place which includes one-toone time with staff which could have helped alleviate Tim's anxiety. Short staffing meant that Tim's one-to-one time had not taken place and from a personal view point a package that can only be theoretically provided is not be good enough. Bank support workers had been allocated to observe Tim as the qualified nurse had to complete paperwork. This is in agreement with the findings of Rooney (2009) who reported that observation was usually left to unqualified staff as nurses were often dealing with other matters. In contrast, NICE (2005) states that observation should be undertaken by registered nurses. Nurses may delegate to competent staff who have had the appropriate training. It is thought that the bank staff did not have the appropriate level of competence which created a poor skill mix on that shift which Aston et al (2010) see as a barrier to good decision making. In agreement Rooney (2009) found that staff acknowledged therapeutic work could take place during times of observation however, they felt that they lacked the relevant skills. Staff reported that no one had ever explained how to interact with the patient or had received any further guidance beyond the aspects of risk management and containment. Most nurses who took part in this study had no practical or theoretical preparation for observations. Tim attempts to leave by the door on the ward when it is opened for visitors and he will try several times a day to enter the court yard to leave by climbing onto the roof. The high level of staffing resources taken up by preventing Tim from leaving the ward prevented staff from engaging with other patients who felt that they were being ignored and neglected which in turn added further stress to staff. In agreement are a number of authors who have shown that formal observations consume nursing resources and that the patient being observed receive a disproportionate amount of nurses time (Mana, 2010; Bowles et al, 2002). Bowles et al (2002) argued that the time taken up by the demands of observation was to the detriment of of care of patients that were not seen as a high risk. To reflect on the above experience Rolfe's framework has been used which poses the questions what? , so what? , now what? (Rolfe, 2001; 2011a). This type of reflection which is done after and away from the actual event is referred to by Schon (1983) as reflection-on-action and the following discussion focusses on how the author and others did and what changes could be made. Despite this type of reflection being useful reflection-in-action is seen to have far more significance in professional practice. Reflection-in-action looks at the suitability of a particular intervention while it is been carried out. This is one of the distinguishing features as a nurse progresses from qualified status to an advanced practitioner (Schon, 1983; Rolfe, 2011b). In terms of clinical reasoning and decision making, reflection is seen as an invaluable resource for developing personal practice and learning from other people's perspectives (Aston et al, 2010). In addition to this, reflection can generate knowledge from practice rather than relying on external research findings (Rolfe, 2011a). Rolfe's (2001) framework allows the construction of personal theory and knowledge and how a similar situations outcome might be improved by future actions. The NMC makes it clear that nurses should take part in appropriate learning that helps develop competence and performance (NMC, 2010a). According to Benner's (2001) novice to expert the author recognises that as a management student working towards qualification he needs to be a proficient performer who looks at situations as a whole rather than their constituent parts. In strong agreement, Aston (2011), who uses a skills escalator approach, places a management student at level 4 which is a level where a student is expected to demonstrate they can draw on a wide range of resources using an evidence based rational for decisions. When the author collaborated with staff to assist in making a decision for Tim he felt equally involved in the decision making process however personal contribution was lacking due to limited knowledge at that time. The NMC (2010a) require that care is based on the best available evidence or best practice. The author's personal decision was not based on either. Furthermore, Aston (2010) recommends that confidence in making a decision is developed by a number of factors including relevant past experiences and practising using decision making skills. Pritchard (2006) argues that the process of decision making is learned gradually through practical experience of caring for patients and observing more experienced colleagues making decisions. Further inhibiting the authors ability to make a decision was a theory practice gap (Aston, 2010). This indicates that the author was practising at Benner's (2001) novice stage, in that he had entered a new clinical area and had a limited contextual understanding. The author was too inexperienced to made the above decision. Tim was placed on eyesight observations and the permanent presence of staff upset him. Tim was feeling distress and anger. There were no positive outcomes and the intervention was not effective meaning the wrong decision may have been made. Personal decisions and actions were not based on evidence or experience. One of the barriers to future decision making is making mistakes and reflection is one way of recognising what could have been done better. In addition, in the new clinical environment, the author should have been assisted to practice safely under constant supervision and possibly not able to make such a decision at this stage of nursing training (Aitkin, 2003). Despite this being the case a thorough theoretical knowledge before working on the ward would have better prepared the author for making the decision. In contrast to this is the notion that a nurse who is experienced in working with theoretical knowledge will find differences in practice that the formal theory fails to express (Benner, 2001). This indicates that a new understanding of the situation has been reached. Despite no real harm coming to Tim the author was not in a position to assist in making the decision. The author should have declined stating that he did not have the relevant knowledge. It is clear that the author had a low critical thinking capability at that time. It is argued that this is a problem faced by newly qualified nurses. Graduates do not meet expectations for entry level clinical judgement ability (Del Bueno, 2005). Similarly, Deuchester (2009) reports that newly qualified nurses go through a transition shock and have a poor ability to make decisions. Feelings of doubt, loss, confusion and disorientation for newly qualified nurses are reported along with a lack of knowledge that includes practical, theoretical and tacit. Despite this being the case the NMC (2010b) require students to demonstrate the ability to work as autonomous practitioners by the point of registration. Del Bueno (2005) concludes that newly qualified nurses should be expected to think critically and use clinical judgement in order to develop it. In conclusion the broader issues that have arose from this are that time needs to be taken to stop and think and consider whether whether the decision is meeting the patients needs. The main learning, for future practice, is to make sure that the author is exposed to as many situations as possible to gain practical knowledge. In addition, theoretical gaps in knowledge need to be eliminated in future practice. The best attempt to engage with the patient needs to be sought in the future. If observation levels needs to be increased the decision should be weighed up against the patient being allowed to move freely and not feel restricted and Mental Health Act (2007) requirements of offering one to one-to-one sessions.

Principal Intern Essay

As I embarked into this higher education path I wanted nothing more than to be an administrator of an Elementary or Middle School in Texas. I was able to even envision myself in the school district I currently work in working in school administration at one of the schools I have taught at. I was fortunate on my internship year to have the position of being the instructional technology facilitator and was able to help more in depth with the administrators of my campus and learn the in and outs of the administration side of the school. Looking at all of this and having experienced it I am now thinking I am leaning towards more working towards becoming a department head or maybe the head of a academic department for the district. I am hoping the first step to this will be to become the department head for fifth grade on my campus and then moving towards becoming the English Language Arts and Reading department head. Eventually over time I hope to move into a more Reading Specialist position for a campus or even possibly a district. My ultimate goal is to move into the administration building and become a curriculum director for a district. As a leader I hope to accomplish many things to my employee’s and staff like being stronger leaders in the classrooms, stronger teachers, and being able to empower students for long term success. I have always wanted since I entered education to see the end result of my students to be a positive one and love to see the academic growth my students show over the course of a school year. I think that being able to show teachers and staff how to be and become strong leaders in the classrooms will help to majorly accomplish this goal. For me a leader is someone who listens and empowers its learners to learn in a way that fits their own personal needs and not necessarily the needs of the teacher themselves. I also think that using these techniques it will help teachers to become stronger educators in life and in the long run. Helping teachers, just like students, create a solid foundation is a great way to start them in the right direction and therefore it will be easier for them to lead themselves one day. And finally I would love to see in teachers, like I do with my students, long term success over the course of a year, two years and even ten years as they grow academically with the students. In Texas we are constantly changing the way things are being tested and handled. Being able to be a leader that is open to those changes will help me to accomplish my goals to the best of my ability while creating successful teachers and students. Reflective Practice In the beginning of these courses reflective writing did not seem to be an influential part of my learning process as a student myself. In my own classroom I did not use much reflective writing for my students because I saw it as time that I could be using on something else related to the content. Throughout the courses related to my master’s degree through Lamar University I have had to reflect in every course on what I learned throughout the class. At first I was skeptical about the reflective writing but as the course progressed I realized that by writing reflectively I was able to take the course material and transpose it into my own words. This helped me to have a clear understanding of what I learned and make it my own. One of the meaningful things that I feel I should have walked away from these courses is that the best way to become a leader is to create ownership for the staff, and I relate that to reflective writing. In my reflective writing I am walking away with a sense of ownership from my courses, and this helps to realize the main facts of what the course was about. Reflective writing now has a new meaning to me; it is now more of me creating my own ownership to the material presented in the course. I have even now find myself using reflective writing more and more in my own classroom and finding it a useful tool to assess what the students are walking away from my lessons with. To me reflective writing is a great tool to check students understanding of what was taught and what was learned. Reflective writing has had a significant influence on my practice currently in my classroom. Instead of using traditional quizzes and test I find myself using more reflective writings in my own classroom. It is a great form of writing to use to allow the students to use their own words to explain what they have learned in the classroom. In my future I plan on using reflective writing more and more in a leadership role for my staff to obtain information on how well the school is operating and working as a team. I feel that if my current principal used more reflective writing in our faculty meetings then he would have a better understanding of what is going on inside the campus. When I am a principal with my own campus I plan on using reflective writing responses in order to check if my staff walked away from staff developments with what was intended for them to learn and to also make sure that the training was effective or not to use on our campus. I would also like to implement a feedback process that involves reflective writing, which will allow staff to respond to any procedures implemented on campus that might need to be adjusted. By using this reflective writing process in the future I can make sure that my staff walks away with the knowledge they need in staff developments and in-services. This will prove to be an effective form of feedback for me and reflection on what skills they acquired. In Examining what we do to Improve our Schools Tool 8.1 the CARE Model: Planning Tool uses four steps to address change for the future the final step Evaluate allows the staff to reflective on the prior steps they have created (Harris). In this process the staff or administrator is to take steps into identifying and solving problems they are facing on campus. The first three steps are steps on how to implement and strategize the problem at hand. The fourth step in the CARE Model is to ‘identify the best ways to evaluate the implemented recommendations’ which is a way for the person(s) making the decisions can reflect on what they have created. In the same book Tool 8.2 (Harris) provides a list of reflective type questions to be answered to examine school improvement. These are great questions to guide someone’s reflection or at the very least jump start their reflection process so they have a starting point. An example of one of the questions asked in Tool 8.2 is ‘What am I doing to sustain improvement?’ These types of questions allow me as a future administrator to use for myself and others to reflect upon what we are doing as a team to create positive school improvement. Competency Development DOMAIN I School Community Leadership Competency 001- The principal knows how to shape campus culture by facilitating the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship of a vision of learning that is shared and supported by the school community. In this competency I learned many things on how to create a vision for my campus and how to make it happen. I found it is not only important to make your school have a vision or just a common goal but the process of getting to that vision is equally important. Competency 001 is the foundation for that solid house you want to build, without the foundation a house will eventually fall and break, just like a school would without a solid foundation. As a leader of my campus it is my duty to look into creating a climate that promotes higher level thinking and teaching. When I do obtain my own campus I will be using this competency to ensure that higher expectations are required. It is not just enough to create higher standards and expect people to follow them it is equally important to create them in such a way that they can become obtained. In order to make these goals and visions obtainable and reachable it is important not to just let one person make these decisions, but to allow all stakeholders to have a say in the creation and implementation of them. I found throughout all of my courses that the most important factoring in leading your staff and students in any direction is the ownership that they have in the school. It is important that all stakeholders have a clear understanding that each party involved was and is clearly represented. I know that I feel better implementing a plan that I took part in planning or know someone in the plan that had my best interests and the student’s best interests at heart. I found myself spending 23 hours on this competency with my principal and assistant principal. The majority of the time was spent prior to school helping the committees to set up the vision and goals. We then revisited the vision in the middle of the school year to adjust to the changes our campus faces. It was also important that my principal have me sit in on grade level meetings to see if each grade level had a clear understanding of what the vision meant for them and what it looked like in their classrooms and for their students. I would say in this section of the domains I believe that I am walking away with the most mastery because of all of the actual hands on time I got to spend working with my campus vision and missions. Competency 002 The principal knows how to communicate and collaborate with all members of the school community, responds to diverse interests and needs, and mobilizes resources to promote student success. In this section I learned the importance of correctly communicating with all staff, students, and community stakeholders for my campus. Although it was difficult at times to get parents to communicate and participate at school functions I was able to learn a lot about the process of correctly communicating with them. I was able to assist in almost every letter we sent home with students explaining our events. We not only had to have a copy in English but we also had to translate all letters in Spanish as well. Over the course of the year, logging over seven hours, as paper became more and more precious I was able to focus more on call outs over the phone system and also to work on maintaining accurate information on the schools website. I had a bit of the upper hand in comparison to others in these course because I was able to find ways through our website to communicate effectively with the community. In our many multicultural events we held on campus (Hispanic Heritage Art Contest, Black History Writing Contest, Math Night, and Science Night) I was able to have exposure to the positive effect it has on students through multicultural awareness. On this competency I spent around seven hours of internship time (I believe more logged hours were possible). Another wonderful thing I learned during this lesson was how to correctly manage school wide communication that took place on campus. I was very fortunate to have a very supportive principal who was willing to take me under her wing and allow playing a huge role in all activities on the campus. My principal always told me anything you would not say out loud make sure you do not put it in writing. She taught me through example and doing how to effectively write and create e-mails to be sent to the staff. I know now the importance of tone in my writing to ensure the way the e-mail is received it is received correctly. Competency 003 The principal knows how to act with integrity, fairness, and in an ethical and legal manner. One of the most memorable things I will walk away from this course is the question to always ask myself â€Å"Is the decision to the question in the best interest of the child(ren)?† My mentors (principal, assistant principal, counselor, veteran teachers) taught me this valuable lesson that any decision, no matter the size, has to have the student’s best interest at heart. This is a great way to keep you in check to make sure you are being ethical and act with integrity in everyday decisions as a campus administrator. The legal portion of this competency comes with the knowledge of making sure to follow all state guidelines set for by the Texas Education Agency. One of the best ways I found to make sure you are following the rules legally is to ask questions. My internship supervisor, Sherry Gore through my eighteen internship hours, taught me to never be afraid to ask questions or research the answer before making a decision. The way she taught me this was not in a direct manner but more indirectly. By demonstrating to me on topics that she was unfamiliar with how she asked other principals or administrators to solve her problems I learned his valuable lesson. With the ever changing ways of education in the State of Texas, and the Country for that matter, it is important for an administrator to make sure they are up to date with all their knowledge about the laws concerning the education of the children in their school. It is also the responsibility of the principal to make sure their staff knows about any changes in laws and procedures. Making sure the staff knows of these changes it will make the transition to the new ones a smoother one for their campus and thus make the impact less stressful on the children. DOMAIN II Instructional Leadership Competency 004 The principal knows how to facilitate the design and implementation of curricula and strategic plans that enhance teaching and learning; ensure alignment of curriculum, instruction, resources, and assessments; and promote the use of varied assessments to measure student performance. One of the major witnessing to competency 004 was that of how our campus was having year after year to adjust to its ever growing numbers of bilingual and ESL students on our campus. Each year we a faced with the challenge of how to adjust to the growing numbers not only with resources but also with the staffing of these new positions needed. In all campus purchases, technology or academic workbooks, we find ourselves looking as administrators on the campus at what kind of Spanish and ESL supplements were available and how well they will work for our students needs. I found it very interesting in choosing our new reading textbooks in how different the Spanish supplements are for the different adoptions. As a person on the committee, logging over twenty-three internship hours, for our school to help us choose our next adoption it was made very clear to us at the beginning of the process that we needed to make sure we are considering not only the English portion of the textbook but the ESL materials are equally important. I knew going into it that the ESL supplements were important but it never crossed my mind how important it is to our campus. With my campus being one of two bilingual campuses it was important to my principal that our vote was heard at the district level when choosing the newest adoptions. The next step in this was implementing a new reading textbook while adjusting to the new district wide curriculum CSCOPE. It was my principal’s job to make sure that all of her staff was well aware of how to use the materials mandated by the district for our new instructional focus always keeping the students best interests at heart when training the teachers to prepare for our school year of academic success. Competency 005 The principal knows how to advocate, nurture, and sustain an instructional program and a campus culture that are conducive to student learning and staff professional growth. All too often there is going to be a change in policy or educational law, and with these changes there is always going to be changes in educational practices that have proven to be effective. The older methods of teaching are not necessarily the best methods to be used to reach the students of 2011. This competency ensures that the principal keep up with the best practices and methods out in the world to use for the success of our students and staff. This includes making sure that the staff is up to date on the latest practices in teaching in new and exciting ways to reach children. I spent close to twenty-one hours working with my principal and instructional facilitators to ensure that our campus had what we needed to implement new teaching practices in our classrooms. This section requires a lot of research into the newest needs of the students and then the needs of the staff to meet those needs. One example of a staff development that I was part of implementing with the principal and instructional facilitators was when we had to move into a new online lesson planning system. This system was completely online and making paper lesson plans not necessary. It was my responsible to make sure the staff was trained in how to use this new system to its full potential. I had to attend training provided by the company ht owned the software as well as district training to show me how to show the staff how to use this new system. It was essential that the staff knew how to implement this program because it was soon to become a mandate by the district to improve district lesson plan sharing throughout the entire district. The essential great thing for the teachers was that of making teachers resources more readily available to district employees across the di strict. Competency 006 The principal knows how to implement a staff evaluation and development system to improve the performance of all staff members, select and implement appropriate models for supervision and staff development, and apply the legal requirements for personnel management. With this area I feel I need a little more practice, and that is my fault in the internship hours and plan. I do however plan on using my current principal to help me to understand the evaluation process of a staff member. With only putting in eight hours into this area of focus I feel that I need to focus more on the PDAS system. I know the system as a teacher but I feel I need to works towards better understanding of the administrator side of the evaluations. I did focus my attention on part of this aspect as determining the needs of the staff and creating a staff development for the staff to grow from. With the help of the assessment specialist on my campus I found that we as a staff needed more focus on how to properly prepare the kids to take tests for a long period of time. We gathered information and tips for the staff to use while preparing the students for their long awaited TAKS tests. We then used a simple evaluation survey at the end of the training to evaluate the effectiveness of the training to meet the needs of the teachers and students. We produced a lot of reflective time for teachers to share their own experiences in the classroom that allowed students to work to their best potential. With the knowledge of the results of the survey we used the knowledge we gained to conduct follow mini-trainings to assess the needs of the staff after they implemented the practices. The reason we conducted the mini-follow ups was because of the survey evaluation at the end of the training said they enjoy the trainings we have but they need further help after we implement the training in our classrooms. Competency 007 The principal knows how to apply organizational, decision-making, and problem solving skills to ensure an effective learning environment. Spending close to eighteen hours working on this competency it clear to see that this competency is an important one in relationship to the effectiveness of a campus. One major thing I learned from my principal was that you need to be organized enough to make sure you put together a quality interview to ensure that you put together a quality staff. I was fortunate enough to be able to sit in the interview process of one of our future teachers. The before part of the process was the preparation in getting ready for the interview, my principal using the Gallup interview process so she must be organized and ready. During the interview quality questions prove to be the most effective in choosing future staff members. Following the interview there is a debriefing with the hiring committee to ensure that the newest staff member would be a good fit for our campus and our students. We then moved onto working with the staff and interviewing them on what needs to be improved on campus. The next step in this process for my principal and I was to look towards the staff and see how well they internalized or resisted change in our continuous improvements implemented at the campus. We had to look at what changes were the best for the students as a whole and the needs of our at risk students.

Explication of “Siren Song” by Margaret Atwood Essay

Margaret Atwood’s â€Å"Siren Song† is a lyric that consists of nine three-lined stanzas that neither possess any recognizable rhyme scheme nor rhythm. The speaker of this poem is a mythical creature, a Siren, who addresses us, the audience, when she speaks of the victims whom she lured through the enticing song she sings. The overall tone of this poem is sarcastic and quite sinister. The title itself immediately depicts the theme and speaker of the poem. The whole poem is an example of classical allusion, referring to Homer’s Odyssey. The Sirens within the Odyssey are said to be captivating women who sit on an island and lure men with their tantalizing song and beautiful voices, causing them to jump out of their ships and die. The title of the poem forewarns us, and with a name like â€Å"Siren†, the audience should comprehend its literal meaning: â€Å"Danger! Warning! Avoid if you can!†, but we, as readers, want to know more about the Siren’s song, anyway. With naà ¯ve arrogance, we approach the subject, thinking we are strong enough to turn away if things take a turn for the worse, after all, it is just a song. In the first three stanzas, the Siren introduces and briskly elaborates on her tempting song. â€Å"This is the one song everyone would like to learn: the song that is irresistible†, she says. She begins to lure us into her trap as we become curious as to why the song is so compelling. The Siren explains how men jump overboard after hearing her song, even though they see the skulls that are scattered around the island. Most would think that this is an obvious indication as to the outcome for the â€Å"squadrons [of men]† as well. Her song is one that â€Å"nobody knows because anyone who has heard it is dead†, which should also deter the audience from wanting to hear her song, but we are still, of course, tempted. These first three stanzas serve as an â€Å"alluring warning†, in a sense. Through the next five stanzas, she continues to say that if we assist her â€Å"out of [her] bird suit†, she â€Å"shall tell [us] the secret†. We are left, curiously, to find out what the secret is. The image of a â€Å"bird suit† is a symbol for the conformity the Siren endures, or rather, what she wants us to believe she endures. She says she doesn’t enjoy â€Å"squatting on [an] island, looking picturesque and mythical, with two [other] maniacs†. She makes us believe that all she wants is to be freed from being trapped in her â€Å"bird suit†. She tries to convince us to â€Å"come closer†, and continues to make us feel special, saying that we are â€Å"unique†, and that â€Å"only [we]† can help her. She insists that her song is really â€Å"a cry for help†, and that she’ll tell us her secret – all we have to do is lean in and continue to listen to her tantalizing song. â€Å"Alas it is a boring song but it works every time†, says the Siren in the final stanza. Her song, her cries for help – they all have been a ploy to lure in her next victims. Maybe, her promise to reveal her secret was kept, after all. Perhaps her secret was the fact that her song will always work. She describes her song as â€Å"boring†, and seems almost amused with the outcome of her trap, as though her devious ways are second nature. Regrettably, however, we fell victims to her conniving personality and enthralling song, even after being warned from the moment we read the title. â€Å"Siren Song† by Margaret Atwood is a beautiful poem that cleverly describes the method the Siren uses to catch her victims. The poem takes on a sinister and seductive nature, which leaves us to be quite the opposite of â€Å"unique† – another victim of the Sirens.

CRM Go Digital Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

CRM Go Digital - Dissertation Example The researcher states that the sampling is one of the major areas on which the success of any study is dependent. There are various types of sampling. For doing the statistical studies, the methods of sampling that we generally use are probability and non-probability sampling. Among them, various other subdivisions are present that are used to distinguish the study according to the requirement. Here, the study is about the relative impact of the CRM digital techniques on the industry. According to me, there are multiple problems with the sampling technique used here. It is not all adequate by any stretch of the imagination. To begin with, the data was sent out to the selected names from the particular database. The sampling technique was basically destined to be probability sampling, but the sampling technique acquired the attributes of non –probability sampling due to the data collection methodology in place here. The survey was answered in various phases, which would have ad ded to the redundancy of the data. The other factor, which is extremely important here is the sample size that is taken. Given the importance and the vast scope of the subject, the sample size should have been much larger with a larger number of participants. Secondly, the sample population should have been taken from more than one of the databases so as to reduce the redundancy in the collected data. The other factor where it would help out is the reduction of the sampling errors over a particular population and also lead to a reduction in the bias that would be obvious if only one set of the population is taken into the account. Therefore, the errors that have been noticed here are the selection bias and the sampling bias. Both of these biases are detrimental to the integrity of the collected data. One of these causes the collected data to lose out on the accuracy, whereas the other one creates redundancy. The applied statistical technique is the best and the most adequate one for the current study. The advantages, the disadvantages of the technique are discussed in particular details here. The statistical method applied here is being deconstructed here to understand and comprehend the associated features. The statistical method used here is the probability sampling. The advantages of probability sampling are the lesser tendency to be biased due to the greater variety and size of the sample. This is also expedited by the fact that the probability of each element of the sample to be selected is more than one. The other advantage is that the sampling error can be determined, which makes it possible for the statistical changes to be accounted for the various indicators. The problems, however, for the methodology used are manifold. The process used here is too lengthy, the expedition takes a lot of the time, very little flexibility, judgmentally small numbers cannot be chosen for the process. This also necessitates that all the samples are present for the proces s. But, looking at it from a wider point of view, it could be understood that the sampling methodology used id not all pervasive. Lastly, the regression technique of the analysis of the data can only be used if the data population is small in number.

Evaluate the differences in social relationships on the Internet and Essay

Evaluate the differences in social relationships on the Internet and conventional, face to face relationships - Essay Example ome of interested observers on the same influential nature of internet on the social life of the society have noted that the influential, and the heavy use of the internet may be alienated from the usual social contact. Additionally, they claimed that the internet use may as well predominant the society’s social lives. Although there are numerous, yet partially unknown, negative effects of the internet relationships, there are two main factors for consideration. Considerably, the internet relationship has adversely displaced some of the vital social activities, especially among the communities and individuals who have intensively indulged into the internet as their sure means of communication. In most cases, persons spend a lot of time online interacting that incapacitates them from face to face interaction or activities. Moreover, the internet is an effective venture of displacing the ever known strong ties that had ever been built by face-to-face interactions. It worth notin g that the relationship that has been built out of the internet interactions are of low quality compared to the quality of face to face relationships. Therefore, intensively concentration on the online or the internet relationships weakens or replaces the strength of the face-to-face relationship. Some scholars have proposed that proper use of the internet is actually associated with deterioration of an individual. The use of the internet is blamed of diminishing of an individuals’ social circle; thus, leading to such individuals to depression and high rate of loneliness (Gross et al 75). In the case, of one on one or face to face relationship, an individual may as well get engaged by the other party present in his or her life; thus, breaking any kind of loneliness in either poor or acceptable ways. However, the internet relationship or interactions may be as well beneficial and productive only if such interactions and relationships are kept at their normal navels. Nonetheless, the

Wildlife exploitation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Wildlife exploitation - Essay Example Some of the incentives that can be provided to conserve marine biodiversity include encouraging local people in their limited and managed development. Thus the best and most successful policies that encourage conservation of wildlife and marine biodiversity have been those that encourage the locals’ limited and managed development. This implies that allowing the local communities to make restricted use of wildlife encourages them to view the surrounding wildlife as an asset for development rather than a threat. Allowing utilization of restricted reserve lands along riverside and coastal regions allows the local people to make use of the available land while at the same affording other uses by wildlife. Afterall, at any given time, it is always important for the benefits accruing from wildlife conservation to trickle down and be distributed amongst the whole community. This takes the form of sharing tourism incomes from the reserve with the local community and maintaining a spe cific share of the available jobs in the reserve for the local community. Such policies, therefore, act as an encouragement for the locals who view the designation of the reserve for wildlife purposes as a particular kind of local development policy for their benefit.The other important incentive that can really assist in marine biodiversity conservation is the use of taxes/charges and tradable quota or rights and subsidies. This means that harvesters are subsidized to lower their harvest rate.

Operations Management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Operations Management - Case Study Example Considering the initials sales for Britlon to be carried out in the year 2009, the expanding facilities need to be initiated soon. As the forecasts have shown slightly decreasing level of sales volume during the periods for 2006 to 2009, the full capacity of operation of the existing facilities are not required. Hence, reasonable levels of capacity estimation need to be undertaken for supporting the expected business volumes to be generated. This capacity forecasting is necessary because of the following reasons (Beasley, n.d.). The purchase of raw materials and their procurement process is to be analyzed properly to estimate the stock required to be maintained at each of the production locations. Thus the control on the inventory, planning the production process and its schedule all depends on the capacity that is available. This could also help the sales and logistics to plan their operations to ensure the support systems to meet the target volumes set from each plant. This could also help to give the feed back of possibility of future expansion or necessity in the reduction of the production for the overall operational efficiency. Capacity forecasting would also help the human resources department and financial department to ensure the allocations of resources at specific time to ensure smooth flow of operations. Also this would help to review the operations and help the top management to take strategic decisions that are vital for viable performance of the company. Based on these factors the, overall capacity at DSF is estimated as 40 million Kg of production capacity, which includes 30 million Kg of Britlon and 10 million Kg of Britlene. The production capacity for Britlene is planned to lower from the 5 fully working plants in 2006 to 3 fully working plants in 2009. With the information for the year 2006, the number of plants required would be five. But in 2008, at the existing rate of production, only four full capacity plants are needed. Thus the initial works of modification of facilities could be initiated during this time. One of the plants could stop the production and the necessary modification works could be started. This is expected to consume two years of time and by 2009 one fully operational plant for Britlon would be in place. Thus the expected sales of Britlon would be able to meet with this capacity. Thus in 2009, three plants for Britlene and one plant for Britlon would be in operation. Earlier to this, erection of two new facilities for the production of Britlon would be initiated at two different places attached to the existing sites. This project could be totally separate from the current production patterns. As it involved setting up of new facility, this might not hinder the operations at the above project locations too. This could be initiated in 2006 itself and hence by 2010, it would be possible for DSF to have three fully functional plants for production of Britlene and Britlon. Then the capacity available with DSF would be 15 million Kg of both Britlon and Britlene. Thus as per the forecast this capacity be enough to meet the expected volume of the sales. In 2009, one more Britlene plant could be modified to the have the capacity for the productio

Cross-Cultural Analysis Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Cross-Cultural Analysis Report - Essay Example The purpose of writing this report it to analyze the issues that Bran Company may face while venturing into the international market. Bran Company which is located in Australia and whose cultural perspectives used in the company relates to those of Australians plans to venture into the American market. The company deals with the manufacture of food products. I was appointed as a human resource team member in studying the market environment of the target country. The team identified various cultural issues in the other country. Some of these issues include differing social classes, religion, education background, social institutions etc. The team also carried out a market survey in order to establish the culture of people living in the regions where the company is to open up more business stores. It was found out that the American market is comprised of people from different races. Their consumption behavior depends on their social class, family set up and the level of education. Due to the prevailing market competition, businesses have been forced to expand through merging or through joint ventures. They mingle and associate with other individuals from different countries possessing different cultural backgrounds and language but participate well in business matters. Hofstede (1997) describes that it is important for managers in a particular company to be aware of the culture of that other country before venturing into the market. This is because being unaware about the culture and beliefs of the people in a country results to differences and misunderstandings between the customers and the sellers. It also makes the business environment unstable. To avoid this occurrence, it is necessary to involve intercultural training before planning to venture into the American environment (Aaker and Maheswaran, 1997). In this intercultural training, the participants or the company’s manager

Finance and accounting internship paper Term Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Finance and accounting internship - Term Paper Example Ibrahim, one of the finance managers, who directly reported to the Vice-president Finance department. However, the received my daily tasks and assistance from the financial executives who were in Mr. Ibrahim’s team. Mr. Ibrahim evaluated my performance, which my senior provided me. I assisted financial executives in different accounting and financial management functions associated with the construction of few projects for eminent clients of Abu Dhabi. I assisted my managers in tasks ranging from posting expenses, and other transactions, calculating payroll, planning payment schedules, internal auditing, tax compilation, etc. It was a great learning experience because I could explore and actually understand various financial functions practically. Acknowledgement I would like to express my gratitude to Wahat Al Wafa General Construction and Maintenance Company, and Mr. ... They have been my mentor throughout my internship. Last but not the least; I thank my family and friends, as without their motivation I would not have been able to achieve success through my internship. Chapter 1: Introduction This section of the study aims at introducing the readers to the industry of general contracting and maintenance of Abu Dhabi, so that they can understand the nature of work the company does, and its position in the market. 1.1 Brief Insight of the General Contracting and Maintenance Industry in Abu Dhabi The maintenance and construction sector includes establishments primarily construction of highways, buildings, or utility system. The establishments are mainly engaged in preparation of new sites for construction and sub-dividing various plots of lands for sales. The construction work that is generally done includes maintenance, repairs, alterations, etc. In the next few years Abu Dhabi is going to lay out a fully developed plan for becoming a global leader in maintenance and construction sector. Even after the global recession and real estate crisis in Dubai, Abu Dhabi was not knocked off, and it succeeds in registering a growth of 33.5 percent in the year 2008. According to the records stated by Emirates, the maintenance and construction sector also showed an escalating growth in 2007, when the rest of the world stated facing the heat of financial crisis (Campbell, 2007; Weygandt, Kimmel, & Kieso, 2010). The major reason which this industry is flourishing in Abu Dhabi and other Gulf countries is due to increasing interest of tourist in the country. Construction and maintenance of hotels, villas, parks, sports facilities, luxury pent houses, etc have increased in the

The Harm Of Smoking Speech or Presentation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Harm Of Smoking - Speech or Presentation Example I will not scare you out of your wits about the gory diseases caused by smoking. There is already a lot of literature about that and I am sure you have already read those. Just call this the cost-benefit analysis of smoking with a solution and reward should you quit.If this piece has made you reconsider the habit of smoking and decide to quit, it is not really as hard as you would like to believe it is. There are many ways to kick the habit out but you have to decide first that you do not want the habit anymore. Let me begin getting your attention smokers by telling you that you stink. I do not mean figuratively but literally. The smell of cigar sticks and it stinks. Of course, you cannot smell that yourself but for people around you, the nicotine’s smell annoyingly stinks. People may not tell you in consideration to you but you can be an inconvenience to people around you. So if you are dating someone and the other person does not even want to get close to you, I think you al ready know the reason why. It is inconvenient not only to other people but also to you. The smokers’ world is getting smaller and smaller because non-smoking areas are already pervasive. I am sure you have been through it before that you have to walk a mile just to look for a smoking area. I wonder if it crossed your mind that could not have been necessary had you stopped the habit. And you have to pay for the walk and the inconvenience because cigarettes are getting expensive by the year.... And you have to pay for the walk and the inconvenience because cigarettes are getting expensive by the year. And for what? To satisfy a craving that is not really necessary. Or maybe a â€Å"kick† that you can get somewhere else less the hassle and the cost with the incentive of getting a higher batting average for a date. And boy! There are smokers who told me that they cannot think unless they smoke. That’s pretty disturbing. Kidding aside, what I am telling you is that smoking is not really necessary. You just got hooked on it because nicotine is addictive. It makes you weak, that includes your sexual stamina, and deducts on your capacity to spend in addition to your capacity to have fun. Do you know that the amount of money you spend with cigarette in a year is equivalent to a vacation to that nice tropical island in Coron, Palawan? Yes, the package already includes the white fine sand and the blue waters with the ski and sunlight. And mine you, that place is no che ap exotic vacation, it’s one of the best visits in the world. It is hard to believe? Let’s do the math. A pack of cigarette costs an average of $5 a pack. Smokers normally consume a pack a day. Multiply that by 365 days and that will give you $1,825. More than enough for a week vacation. Of course you do not realize it because you are only spending an average of $5 a day. And oh! If you are an incorrigible smoker, you have to add another $5 savings for your medication and hospitalization when you contract a disease from smoking. The catalogue is long that ranges from heart disease to pulmonary diseases to cancers that you cannot even pronounce and the medication is expensive. But let us say you want to take that vacation instead and decided to get your â€Å"kick† from smoking somewhere else, it

The Story of the Stuff by Annie Leonard Essay Example for Free

The Story of the Stuff by Annie Leonard Essay The Story of the Stuff which is made by Annie Leonard was very interesting and enlightening. It made me realize that no matter how small the stuffs we use in our everyday life, it should not be taken for granted because the economic system is in crisis and we cant continue to run on a linear system since we live on a planet of limited resources. People become obsessed with consumerism, especially when it comes to new technologies. Things that we buy and then discard go through different phases: extraction, production, distribution, consumption and disposal. Corporations have become bigger than our government and the first limit to the system is exploitation of our natural resources. We are consuming products to the point where 1/3 of our natural resources are already used up with 30% of our waste being shipped to other areas of the world. Due to these instances, almost all of our forest have already been cut down, and yet this corporations who still wants to cut them have no â€Å"corporate environmental responsibility†, what they want is always earning more profit. They should think that if all the resources in earth runs out, even money can’t revert the damage they have done to these non-renewable resources. Also they can’t already buy these resources from the over-exploited third world countries. Yet the government hasn’t done enough actions to address these problems. I find it appalling and irresponsible of our government. Maybe just maybe they are doing actions or made rules and regulations to minimize these occurrences but still it wouldn’t be enough since corporations can lend money to those corrupt officials whose minds are obsessed with money then poof, the corporations will continue its operations. It is not merely the fault of the corporations or the government, each indiv iduals also contributed on consuming the limited resources the earth have. In today’s time, consumers has become the new evil of the society, consumption has turned from necessity to excessiveness. Through planned and perceived obsolescence we have turned against everyone including ourselves. Consumerism led to tremendous increase in the variety of products. Each product life cycle from raw material extraction to its consumption has an  effect on the ecosystem as a whole. For example, due to toxics like dioxins and furans, there is change in the atmosphere thus affecting both flora and fauna of our planet. To cater to this growing hunger, production house does not maintain any standards in the degradation of human, social and economic capital. Rather than playing the role as a regulator, the governments are playing the role as a promoter. But there is a way forward, we and planet are complimentary not supplementary. We should start focusing on closed production loop, renewable energy, zero waste. Sustainable development is the way forward for sustainable life. We cant just start fresh with a whole new system, however I believe we can take the current system and revamp it in a way that we become more responsible as consumers and citizens. We need to take back our government and unite to see the big picture. By unity we create equity, boost our local living economies and promote sustainability!

How to Write a Poem About Lacrosse Essay Example for Free

How to Write a Poem About Lacrosse Essay The general purpose of this speech is to demonstrate. The specific purpose is to show how to shoot a lacrosse ball, catch a lacrosse ball and cradle the lacrosse ball. I am going to show you the proper way to shoot the ball, the right way to catch the ball and the correct way cradle the ball. Everyone chill-lax, i’m going to tell you about lax. I am the best person to give this speech because I have played lacrosse almost all my life and I am very good at it. This demonstration will be useful to you because if you ever want to try lacrosse, you will know some of the basics. The first part of lacrosse I am going to tell you about is how to shoot the ball. There are three main points on how to shoot the lax ball. The first is to keep your elbows and hands out and away because you can get more power on the ball. Also it helps you aim the ball more precisely and hit the corners of the goal. Second is to take a big drop step and twist your hips is to create more power on your shoot. Lastly you need to follow through your swing. It’s just like in basketball and how you need yo follow through on your shoot or in soccer and how you need to follow through on your kick. Another part important part of lax is how to catch the ball because if you can’t catch the ball you can’t really score. The most important part of catching the ball is keeping your hands in front of your body. If you do this you can catch the ball from almost anywhere. How you actually receive the ball is another crucial technique. When the ball is going into your stick, you need to bring the stick towards you so the ball won’t pop out. If you just keep your stick out there the ball will hit your mesh and fly out of your head. The last thing I am going to tell you about is how to cradle the ball. If you cannot cradle the ball, when you are trying to move down the field, you will get the ball knocked out and taking away. A way to not let that happen is to bring your stick up strongly and bring it down strongly.

Improving Communication in an Organization

Improving Communication in an Organization Rationale This research was to show how communications, knowledge and information can be improved within an organization. Planning, organizing, and controlling the financial activities such as procurement and utilization of funds of the enterprise. To determine how to carry out work are more effective than others. For example clientele may learn faster and they may more ready adopt proposed technology when certain teaching methods are used opposed to others. The determination of how is being spent often is best made by staff members who are directly involved in programmed delivery. This suggests that decision making decentralized, with resources being sub-divided among the various units of the organization. Background CSC consultancy is a start-up consulting firm, focused that has been recognized over six years now in Clarendon, Stalks Street Avenue. CSC offers advice to store owners, business owners and customers towards environmentally and sensitive buildings as well as recommendation. CSC offers a list services for businesses owners to choose from depending on their particular business needs and wants. This includes sales, finance, discipline and management. CSC offers a wide variety of services for clothes/ business solutions, needs and wants, requirement. This includes business and marketing plan preparation, financial, search and procumbent, consulting service management development, human resource advising. Established by: Oregon based with two principals; partners: Miss Camille Davis, Mr. David and Everton Dailey. Which each of whom owns 30% share in the company. Camille’s Fashion House This company was established in August 21 2002, owned by Camille Davis and her husband Winston Davis. This company is a small fashion house that carters for every household wives, husbands, boys and girls, early childhood. This company has a good customer care service, which entails 13 males, and 14 females. Ten women work in the clerk area, and the other four are cashiers, eleven males’ works in the packaging area, and the other three works in the shoe department. Camille fashion house is located in May Pen, Clarendon, at Evans Street. There is a security at the front of the door when walking in, our staff in my company they are very friendly and corporative. This company provides 27 employees in my establishment, a manager; Carnet Grant. The competition level in our area is very hectic, so therefore we have to advertise our business on the television, broadcast on the radio and the internet. There are a wide variety of clothes, from Italian, to leather, and cloth materials, we also provide shoes from heals to flat sandal shoes, from originally made shoes and internationally shoes. We also provide a wide variety of hand-bags, from both locally ware to international. We also provide children wares from kids to teenagers, from clothes to shoe ware. The company aims to provide quality services, good customer care, value of goods and services. This will improve more shoppers coming in to buy, whether on promotions or otherwise. CSC co-owners Camille D, David B and Everton Dailey, will each provide 30,000 that will each provide the bulk of the start-up business expenses. This other fund will come from the small business administration year loan. Objectives To ensure regular and adequate supply of funds to develop the communication process. To ensure adequate returns to the shareholders this will depend upon the earning capacity. To ensure optimum funds utilization, if the funds are procured however they should be utilized in maximum possible way at least cost. To identify a sound plan of capacity structure, there should be invested in safe venture so that adequate rate of return can be achieved. Methodology A survey was carried out in the street using observations and interviews with fellow citizens and residents in my district and country. This survey was carried out to understand to recognize the communications which takes place effectively in organization. Also to understand the interaction between communication, knowledge and information. However, a qualitative evaluation will be utilized for this research project of subjective methods such as interviews and observations to collect relevant data. A SWOT analysis was used which includes; strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to analyze how best to customize the course to the target citizens. I have established collaboration with fellow citizens from the communications and knowledge department. Working at this institution will be an opportunity for me to work on a very insightful project. Literature Review What is communication? According to â€Å"Skills You Need Helping You Develop Life Skills† at www.skillsyouneed.com ,communication is simply the act of transferring information from one place to another. Although this is a simple definition, when we think about how we may communicate the subject becomes a lot more complex. There are various categories of communication and more than one can occur at any time. Different categories of communication are: Spoken or verbal communication, face-to-face, telephone, radio or television and other media. Non-verbal communication; body language gestures, how we dress or act even our scent. Written communication such as letters, emails, books, magazines, the internet or other media. According to the Journal of Communication Management, ISSN 1363-254x, the management of knowledge goes far beyond the storage and manipulation of data, or even of information. It is the attempt to recognize what is essentially a human asset buried in the minds of individuals, and leverage it into an organizational asset that can be accused and used by a broader set of individuals on whose decisions the firm depends. The ability to manage human intellect and its conversion into useful product is perhaps, the most critical management skill in our age, providing the ultimate in competitive edge. At www.enotes.com , where how to assess internal and external sources of information and understanding was defined clearly. Managers in organization need information on what is happening within the organization as well as about the external environment within which the organization operates. People at lower level of organization need more of the internal information and less of external information. But with increasing level of external information increases and the quantity of internal information increases. The managers at the top management level thus need a large amount of external information on the environment within which they operate. Findings Discuss the range of decisions to be taken Decisions are apart of the managers remit. Difficult choices may have to be made for the common good of the organization. Information is used by businesses to assist in the decision making process at different levels such as: Strategic decisions are long term complex decisions made by senior management. The decisions will affect the entire direction of the company for example to become: The market leader in the field. Azan super-center might discontinue the sales of utensils in Ohio Rios as went down in the past year. Tactical decisions are medium term, less complex decisions made by middle management, they follow on form strategic decisions and aim to meet the objective stated in any strategic decision. Operation decisions are day to day decisions made by Junior managers that are simple and routine. This may include the regular auditory of supplies or the creation of a staff master. The manager of Azan’s supercenter decides that he or she would advertise for a new sales representative in the local newspaper. Assess internal and external sources of information and understanding Every organization has a formal communication network which ideas and information flow along the lines of command. Downward , horizontal and upward direction, these are the three ways in which formal communication flows. Downward communication flows from executive to employees , conveying executive decisions , and providing information that helps employees to their jobs. Providing insights into problem , trends , opportunities , griviances and performance, thus allowing executive to solve problems and make intelligent decisions. Horizontal communication close between department to help employees share information , coordinate task and solve complex problems. Smart managers know that particularly active grape is a sign that formal communication network is not providing the information employees believed they need: External communication flows into and out of the organization by both formal announcement and informal contract at industry galleries or networking and social events. Informal external changes are now considered so important that a new class of technology has sprang up to enable them. Internal source of information, that you use in your business can be primary information that you obtain from inside your own company. There are different types of internal information such as: Financing information Marketing information Purchasing information Sales information Administrative information Personnel information Justify recommendations for improvement Identify stakeholders for a decision making process Stakeholder relationship that are unmanaged or mismanaged have a number of consequences for any given company. These include unnecessary expenses , and a lack of buying to processes and initiatives aimed of transforming the company. However , stakeholder management is a difficult understanding for an organization because it requires investment and commitment to long term structured process. In order to develop business strategies one should or must: Identifying your stakeholders Particularly in large organizations this process is a critical one because the network of stakeholders with an investment or interest in your business is broader than others. Prioritized them, however noble your intentions, regarding stakeholder relationship management there unfortunately have to be some individual and group whose needs are more important and who require prioritization if you intend to maintain their support. Understand their needs, stakeholders require consistent and regular communication and service. However, their individual distinctiveness. Requires that this communication be personalized and targeted. Engage with them, you must find innovative and effective manner in which to communicate with these stakeholders. Whatever tactics you use , it is helpful to have a communication plan in place so that the process runs smoothly without negatively impacting on productivity. Monitor your engagement efforts, it is important to track and monitor your efforts and gage the responses to them. Speak to individuals directly , encourage feedback and through email tracking assess whether people are reading the information that you are deciminating. Make contact with those identified and develop business relationships The most important way in which you can make contact with your stakeholders is by identifying the target audience. These ways include; meetings , conference calls , news , letters or emails or posters which could be a means of a formal method for communicating. While on the other-hand, hall- way conversations , lunch meetings, drinks at a bar after work and sport events could be a means of a formal method , in which to make contact and develop business relationships. Has you build your network you need to nurture your contacts so that you can be a valuable network resource. They are as follows: Stay in-touch Connect with your contact Ask how you can help Share resources Include and collaborate Attend social events Call your contact Update your social media sites Send a news letter or a blog post

Inherit The Wind Essay -- essays research papers

Matthew Harrison Brady, of Inherit the Wind by: Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, never fooled anyone. He may have seemed strong in the beginning but he no substance under the shell. Such a false front can be compared to water behind an earthen dam. It may hold some water for a time but once the water finds a weak point, the whole structure comes crashing down along with the fury of all the water behind it. Within brady, the water represents the gooey inner core of his personality. Once he loses his composure in front of his once adoring audience the entire fluid of his persona comes crashing out. The only strength of Matthew Harrison Brady is his power in deliveringh his ideas. As in the earthen dam example, the townspeople represent the city protected from the water by the dam. Once the dam breaks, all the townspeople below get wet and are shaken to their foundations. Matthew Harrison Brady, without a doubt, deserves no sympathy. One example of Brady’s overly self-confidence would be "No†¦I believe we should welcome Henry Drummond." (P g. 25). Ha! What a shock he is in for. His own "high and mighty" thinking is going to lead to his downfall. Even Brady is taken a tad aback by the news that Drummond will be joining the trial "Brady: (pale) Drummond?" (Pg. 25) While he basks in his loving audience of townspeople, he will yet be pulled down from his high throne to be questioned and scorned. While the town feels much stri...

The Moral Lessons of Shakespeares Macbeth :: GCSE English Literature Coursework

Moral Lessons of Macbeth "Your hand, your tongue: look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under't." (Shakespeare 1.5. 64-66) Throughout Shakespeare's Macbeth, things are not always as they seem. Deception in this play is always present, especially with the main characters - Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is the most skilled at persuading others, especially her husband, into believe things that are not true. The above quote, spoken by Lady Macbeth to her husband, shows exactly how manipulative and deceiving she can be. She is telling Macbeth to look and act pure, but to be evil inside. Macbeth, evidently led by his wife, but also by his own ambitions, is likewise guilty of deception. He deceives his best friend Banquo, King Duncan, as well as his public. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth also try to use denial and rationalization to deceive themselves. This self-deception leads to grave circumstances for them both. Macbeth is forced into further and further lies, making life difficult and u nbearable. Lady Macbeth is also caught in the depths of deception and eventually kills herself. Therefore, it is obvious that the main characters of Shakespeare's Macbeth are all negatively affected by the recurring theme of deception. Throughout the play, Lady Macbeth uses her ability to mislead others in many ways. First of all, she decides to use deception to push her husband's ambition to be king. ...Hie thee hither, that I may pour my spirits in thine ear, and chastise with the valour of my tongue all that impedes thee from the golden round...(1.5.25-28) Lady Macbeth believes that, to be successful in his ambitions, Macbeth must rise above his goodness and accept her evil ways. She knows that the process of making her husband believe what she wants may not be easy. Lady Macbeth has to be cunning, and she is up for the challenge. The thought of being in power - the King and Queen of Scotland - drives her and she cannot be stopped. Lady Macbeth often has to reinforce her immoral beliefs to her husband, giving him a boost. Was the hope drunk, wherein you dressed yourself? hath it slept since, and wakes it now, to look so green and pale at what it did so freely? From this time such I account thy love.

Killer Angels Essays -- essays research papers

The Killer Angels The Battle of Gettysburg brought the dueling North and South together to the small town of Gettysburg and on the threshold of splitting the Union. Gettysburg was as close as the United States got to Armageddon and The Killer Angels gives the full day-to-day account of the battle that shaped America’s future. Michael Shaara tells the story of the Battle of Gettysburg through the eyes of the generals and men involved in the action of the battle. The historical account of the Battle of Gettysburg gives the reader a chance to experience the battle personally and not the history book manner taught in schools. A historical novel gives the facts straightforward and provides no commentary by the people involved in history. The historical account of the Battle of Gettysburg, as seen in Killer Angels, provides the facts of the battle as seen through the eyes of Generals Robert E. Lee, Joshua Chamberlain, James Longstreet, and John Buford. The feelings and inner-thoughts of each General and the conditions of the battle are seen, heard, and felt by the reader in the historical account. Shaara takes historical license with letters, the words of the men, and documents written during the three hellish days of the battle. Shaara avoids historical opinion and provides his own opinion towards the Civil War and the people. The historical account of the Civil War, the Battle of Gettysburg specifically, in Killer Angels conveys the attitude to toward war, attitude towards the Civil War, and cause for fighting the war of General Robert E. Lee, Joshua Chamberlain, James Longstreet, and John Buford. General Robert E. Lee gained stoic and legendary status as the heart and soul of the South in the Civil War, but many did not know his reasons and feelings for fighting the war. War and the slaughter of others did not interest Lee and he felt compassion for the Union. Lee had contradictory feelings towards war and says, â€Å"He was not only to serve in it but he was to lead it, to make the plans, and issue the orders to kill and burn and ruin†¦he could not do that† (Shaara 263). The Civil War is not in the taste of General Lee, but feels it is his duty, and he cannot just stand by and watch the war pass him by. Michael Shaara says of Lee’s reason for fighting the Civil War â€Å", He found that he had no choice†¦Lee could not raise his hand against his own. And so what then? T... ...eiving recognition for saving the high ground and perhaps the battle. Colonel Joshua Chamberlain is given a brigade after the battle of Gettysburg but is wounded six times. He is regarded as one of the greatest soldiers in American history, and receives numerous medals for honor during the Battle of Gettysburg. Ulysses Grant gives him the honor of Major General for heroism and is chosen by Grant as the officer to receive the Southern surrender at Appomattox. Chamberlain is elected the governor of Maine and eventually elected President of Bowdoin College. He dies from his wounds in June 1914 at the age of eighty-three. General Longstreet asks to be relieved of command after the Battle of Gettysburg, but Lee makes him stay. After the war he blames Lee for the loss of Gettysburg, and this does not sit well with people. His theory of defensive war is very advanced for the time. He serves as President of Washington College until his death in 1904. General Lee remains the symbol of all that is proud and noble in the South. He asks to be relieved of his command but it is denied. After the war he asks for pardon from Congress and it is denied until 1970. Lee dies of heart disease in 1870.

Stefan’s Diaries: Origins Chapter 32

I turned my back to the estate and began walking, then running, on the dirt road into town. Somehow, I felt that my feet barely touched the ground. I ran faster and faster, but my breath stayed the same. I felt that I could run like this forever, and I wanted to, because every step was taking me farther and farther away from the horrors I'd witnessed. I tried not to think, tried to block the memories from my mind. Instead I focused on the light touch of the earth as I quickly placed one foot in front of the other. I noticed that even in the darkness, I could see the way the mist shimmered on the few leaves that still clung to the trees. I could hear the breath of squirrels and rabbits as they scampered through the forest. I smelled iron everywhere. The dirt road changed into cobblestone as I entered town. Getting to town seemed to have taken no time at all, though normally I traversed the same distance in no less than an hour. I slowed to a stop. My eyes stung as I glanced slowly from left to right. The town square looked different somehow. Insects crawled in the dirt between the cobblestones. Paint flaked off the walls of the Lockwood mansion, though it had been built only a few years ago. There was disrepair and decay in everything. Most pervasive was the smell of vervain. It was everywhere. But instead of being vaguely pleasant, the scent was all-consuming and made me feel dizzy and nauseated. The only thing that countered the cloying scent was the heady smell of iron. I inhaled deeply, suddenly knowing that the only remedy against the vervain-induced weakness was in that scent. Every fiber of my body screamed that I had to find the source of it, had to nourish myself. I looked around, hungrily, my eyes rapidly scanning from the saloon down the street to the market at the end of the block. Nothing. I sniffed the air again, and realized that the scent–the glorious, awful, damning scent–was coming closer. I whirled around and sucked in my breath as I saw Alice, the pretty young barmaid from the tavern, walking down the street. She was humming to herself and walking unevenly, no doubt because she'd sampled some of the whiskey she'd been serving all night. Her hair was a red flame against her pale skin. She smelled warm and sweet, like iron and wood smoke and tobacco. She was the remedy. I stole into the shadows of the trees that flanked the street. I was shocked by how loud she was. Her humming, her breathing, each uneven footfall registered in my ear, and I couldn't help but wonder why she wasn't waking up everyone in town. Finally, she passed by, her curves close enough to touch. I reached out, grabbing her by her hips. She gasped. â€Å"Alice,† I said, my voice echoing hollowly in my ears. â€Å"It's Stefan.† â€Å"Stefan Salvatore?† she said, her puzzlement quickly turning to fear. She trembled. â€Å"B-but you're dead.† I could smell the whiskey on her breath, could see her pale neck, with blue veins running beneath her skin, and practically swooned. But I didn't touch her with my teeth. Not yet. I savored the feeling of her in my arms, the sweet relief that what I'd spent the last moments insatiably craving was right in my hands. â€Å"Shhh †¦,† I murmured. â€Å"Everything will be all right.† I allowed my lips to graze her white skin, marveling at how sweet and fragrant it was. The anticipation was exquisite. Then, when I couldn't take it anymore, I curled my lips and plunged my teeth into her neck. Her blood rushed against my teeth, my gums, spurting into my body, bringing with it warmth and strength and life. I sucked hungrily, pausing only when Alice went limp in my arms and her heartbeat slowed to a dull thud. I wiped my mouth and looked down at her unconscious body, admiring my handiwork: two neat holes in her neck, just a few centimeters in diameter. She wasn't dead yet, but I knew she would be soon. I slung Alice over my shoulder, barely feeling the weight and barely feeling my feet hit the ground as I ran through town, into the woods, and back to the quarry.

Insight: the Death of Ivan Ilych Essay

I’m young and filled with dreams. Dreams that sometimes obscure the truths I have to face. Dreams that are like morphine that departs us from reality. But what’s really ironic with most of our dreams is that it’s not from us but from the society, the society dictates our dreams, what the society thinks is best for us is the thing we dream to be even if sometimes it does not correspond our beliefs and values, at least, for me. I am a victim of this notorious dictator worse than any dictator who have altered the course of the world. I realized that most of my dreams are not my dreams but the society’s. I see myself in the character of the young Ivan Ilych who is filled with dreams, complacent, and seems to be sure of the future. Together with my dreams is a deep and blind veneration to people who have made great achievements in the field I’m trying to pursue. Society, dreams, and influential people, these are things that sometimes keep us from realizi ng and seeing the truths in life or maybe we know them, but just deny them to tolerate our blind dreaming and living. Dreaming is part of living but living shouldn’t be boxed by this dreaming. When was the last time we or I paused to think, introspect, and contemplate about the things happening in our life, about the paths we are taking, and the decisions we are making. I like how Socrates puts it â€Å"An unexamined life is life not worth living†, truth is we know where to go and we know what we do but more often than not we don’t know why, especially to us, the youth. Most of us live according to what the society or the public tells us even if it’s not what we know we ought to do, I like how an anonymous guy puts it â€Å"We never grow up, we just learn how to act in public†, I believe it is because most of us lacks purpose in life or maybe we have but it is a very mundane one. Indeed, most of us are entangled with the vines of society with venoms that turns us to heartless machines and eventually kills us leaving us with regrets and extreme unhappiness, this is very evident in the life of Ivan Ilych who lived a life with almost nothing but hypocrisy trying to build a strong position in the society through accumulating more wealth, blindly enjoying his luxuries in life and yet he never experienced true love and happiness. I have heard the saying â€Å"life is short† countless of times but until now I still fail to imbibe this gospel truth. Death is an inevitable thing here on earth, all good things even the bad must come to an end but we fail to realize this because of all the worldly things that keeps us busy and departed from what is real, true, and important. Dreams are good but a dream in consonance with reality, with your belief and values, with what our conscience dictates to be good, and what love tells us to pursue is the best dream that would lead us to a life beyond what we have dreamed of. One truth is that we just don’t have enough time to actualize all of our dreams but I believe it is still important that we dream for it is the thing that keeps us moving and when the time comes where the truth of death is almost sinking in in our consciousness, when we see that soon this life is about to end, we of course do not want to end up like Ivan Ilych who just realized how wasted his life has been, we do not want to see people around us being indifferent about our imminent death especially our family, and we do not want of course that at the time where we’re already withering due to our illness or due to aging and we now don’t have even an iota of energy to say â€Å"sorry† or â€Å"I love you†. Will we wait till we’re lying at our death beds and we can’t do anything now to make this life a little better before we decide to pause and introspect and contemplate how we are living? Let us ask ourselves, if I die now, are the things happening are really the things that would leave me content and happy? Now, if not let’s have the courage to pay off all the sacrifices and the hard work in order to rearrange and make this life we are living better. Let’s be in-charge of our lives and keep the dictations of the society out of our minds. Life is short, let us love and live OUR dream.

Esperanza of The House on Mango Street Essay

The House on Mango Street is a collection of musings of a young female named Esperanza. The main character and the direction of the stories is revealed in the first story. It is in The House on Mango Street that Sandra Cisnero sets Esperanza up as a young girl dreaming of a brighter future and yet floored on the realities of her situation. The first story introduces Esperanza as someone who plans on escaping the place where she is growing up. She is old enough to understand that the promises of her parents about the temporariness of their house are not going to be fulfilled any time soon. She is, however, young enough to believe that physically leaving Mango Street will mean a complete escape from the things that Mango Street and their house represent. The youthfulness of Esperanza is shown in Hairs where she describes her family and herself through a description of the type of hair each had. She tells about still being comforted by her mother’s presence beside her in their bed. It is also in this story that one understands Esperanza’s personality. She is free-spirited and hard to tame, like her hair. But she is clearly in the process of developing into a woman as she expresses her emotions for her mother’s hair – the hair of a truly ladylike woman. Esperanza is shown here to be in the transitional period of developing from a child into a complete lady. She most probably would be in her teenage years. The emotional and personal development of Esperanza is also seen in My Name. When she speaks of not wanting to be like her grandmother – a woman beside the window, trapped – she shows that she is already capable of deciding for herself the future she wants to have. She also shows her knowledge about the outside world when she speaks of the Chinese culture and its possible similarities with the Mexican culture. She also shows a deeper understanding of society when she explains how Chinese culture and Mexican culture do not want their women strong which is why they do not give them strong names. Her reference to women being suppressed and kept from being strong also shows that she is aware of this bias. She is clearly developing emotionally because she can formulate for herself judgments about the things that occur in the society she lives in. In this part of the stories, My Name, Esperanza demonstrates development from being the young girl who dreams of escaping her house because she wants more space to the teen who wants change because she no longer agrees with the things around her. She wants to change her name insisting that it does not refer to the â€Å"real her†. She wants a life that is different from her grandmother’s. The aspirations of Esperanza in this part have developed. From a house with more bedrooms and bathrooms, Esperanza now aspires for more abstract concepts – independence, choice, freedom. In the final parts of the stories, Esperanza seems to have finally developed into a wiser and more practical woman. She realizes that escaping Mango Street is not something she can do physically for the moment. She decides to write instead. This allows her release from the frustrations she feels for the place she lives in. Esperanza understands now that Mango Street is a part of her life and will continue to be so even after she leaves it. She seems to have made peace with herself and instead of continually trying to push for a way out, she now focuses on ways to improve herself. This is, according to her, the way to finally be able to leave Mango Street. Her wisdom is seen when she states that only in leaving Mango Street, improving herself somewhere else, and coming back to Mango Street can she truly be able to help those who do not have the ability to leave. Her goals are now realigned to include those in her community. Esperanza completes her journey from childhood to young adulthood in the pages of The House on Mango Street. She forms a clearer view of who she really is through her experiences in her house and grows emotionally as well. The maturity of Esperanza is seen not only in her thoughts but in the observations she has made from her neighborhood. She has learned from the lives of those around her and has grown from the lessons she gathered.

Assessing teachers by the quality of results they attain

Judging teacher quality on test marking is a extremely debated issue. Teachers are frequently assessed by the quality of consequences in which they attain. Policies and statute law in educational methods have changed dramatically throughout the 19th and 20th century. This is down to altering political parties being in power and their positions on how instruction should be taught, besides due to the economic alterations over the old ages. As new ideas and old pattern has been examined alterations have necessarily been made. Exam marking is a method which has been used for over a hundred old ages to judge teacher quality. However the inquiry which I intend to present is whether that is adequate to find how ‘good ‘ a instructor truly is. Should opinions on this be changed, have they started to alter and is it possible to alter the peoples view after a life-time of test mark being figure one? These are the inquiries that I intend to see through looking at old and current poli cies, international positions and policies and besides whether the course of study has a bearing on this position. History The method of tests and measuring kids was ab initio introduced in the 1870 Forster Act. This was besides when the authorities started to supply free instruction for all kids, nevertheless, with free instruction for all came the authorities saw that there needed to be a manner to turn out to the people of England that there money was being spent sagely: hence methods of proving the kids was instigated to demo that the kids were larning in schools. The manner in which kids were tested was via Her Majesty ‘s Inspectors, they would see schools in order to oppugn the category on how much they had learnt in their categories. The authorities besides gave instructors incentive to do certain that the kids could reply these inquiries as they were being judged every bit much as the kids. The better a category did in these reviews the more respectable the teacher wage would be. However this chalk and speak method was non without issue, as the kids were assessed merely on the inquiries tha t the inspector asked, which could be said to be an unjust proving method. Therefore schools jumped directly in with instruction to prove instead than learning to larn. ( Ward and Eden, 2009:87-88 ) Changes were brought approximately in 1902 with the Balfour Education Act, instructors were given more freedom to make their ain teaching method. The Early Old ages sector in peculiar was get downing to have more freedom within their instruction. There are many influences which supported this ideal. Possibly one of the earliest was Aristotle, his position that cognition came through experience was noted every bit early as 366BC ( Pound, 2008b ) . Followed on by Jean-Jacques Rousseau who believed that kids should believe otherwise about instruction, he believed in liberating up the kid ‘s head, promoting people to seek out new thoughts. ( Pound, 2008a:7 ) Maria Montessori believed that kids learned throughout their lives from the minute they are born. Montessori was another truster, like Rousseau, that observation was the key to a kid ‘s learning experience, besides she believed that kids should non be pushed to larn but excessively allow them larn at their ain gait. There fore from my position Rousseau and Montessori are opposing the thought of standardized testing as this is an impossible technique to verify good instruction if kids learn at different ages and phases. They believe in steering the kid in their acquisition instead than ‘teaching a kid ‘ what they need to cognize to complete scrutinies. Once once more the instruction system was changed dramatically ; the 1944 Education Act introduced the tripartite system, which in bend brought about the 11 plus scrutiny, one time once more proving the kids at certain age/stages to find what they have learnt. The 11-plus test aimed to find the intelligence of all 10s to eleven twelvemonth old kids, to set up which school they should go to, those kids that scored the highest would go to the grammar schools ; to learn extremely academic topics, where as the kids which scored the lower consequences would travel to either the secondary proficient schools ; for mechanical and scientific minded pupil or the secondary modern schools ; for kids taking for low skilled occupations and homecare. The kids that attended the grammar schools were seen to be the most intelligent ; the grammar schools brought in the better instructors therefore the kids that were in front were seen to be given the chance to acquire farther in front. Although, the in structor quality of the ‘best ‘ instructors should besides be up for argument, the instructor deemed the ‘best ‘ were merely so as they scored the highest on their tests. These tests did non integrate the aggregation of any cognition of the individual taking them. The testing does non enlist critical instructor quality issues such as whether the instructor has a good resonance with kids, nor does it prove if the instructor is considerate, sort or creative. Therefore it can be said that these kids are non truly accessing the ‘best ‘ instructors but simply being taught by an older coevals of in-between category people who has entree to the stuffs to win in tests. The 11 plus exam argument has many angles, it could be seen as carnival in some ways as the kids were tested on certain cognition, each kid was given the same trial with no exclusions, nevertheless did each kid have the entree to the same stuffs and the same chances to successfully take such tests? Social category is a large issue which should be taken into consideration when discoursing whether the test standards were a just proving method. Children from in-between category households ; kids of canvassers and physicians were more accustomed to the countries of involvement within the tests. Such things as anagrams would be tested seting some in-between category kids at an advantage as their parents are more likely to hold done things such as crosswords therefore the kids are more likely to hold come across this before, whereas the working category kids are much less likely to hold this experience. Reasoning that the authorities of the clip were still really much thought of doing the rich richer and the hapless poorer hence further spliting the societal categories. The 1967 Plowden Report one time once more changed the educational doctrines. The Plowden Report recommended that primary instruction became more like early old ages instruction, they called for more active scholars, kids should be larning through drama. The Plowden study besides called for the abolition of cyclosis, conveying about subject based larning for primary instruction instead than subject based acquisition. This was possible due to the abolition of the eleven-plus test therefore a broader course of study was possible, instead than the instructor to prove method. ( Ward and Eden, 2009:67/68 ) Parents protested the recommended alterations as they wanted kids to be taught specific lessons such as reading and authorship, the thought of kids traveling to school and playing was seen as unequal instruction. This position was one of which the parents were familiar, their instruction was one of command and work sheets, hence this is what the parents knew. This contention around the parent ‘s protests resulted in the authorities commissioning more research in the 1970 ‘s and 1980 ‘s. Even so, this testing was one time once more based upon exam tonss. Neville Bennett ( 1976 ) tested kids at the start and terminal of the academic twelvemonth. Bennett ‘s consequences found that the ‘traditional ‘ instructors produced better test consequences ; nevertheless Bennett ‘s consequences have been criticised as he merely tested the kids on the nucleus topic ‘s maths and English. Another unfavorable judgment of Bennett ‘s survey was his deficiency of detecting categories that he was researching. The bases of these consequences were strictly on the consequences they produced. This resulted in instructor quality once more being judged entirely on the consequences that they can bring forth. ( Ward and Eden, 2009:92 ) Course of study In 1988, the National Curriculum was introduced, it was at first really traditional but became more flexible with the debut of vocational topics. The national course of study was implemented with no authorities intercession in learning methods or teaching method, giving instructor ‘s freedom to make their ain teaching method and utilize their ain methods of learning. However the national course of study was to standardize school instruction to do testing and appraisal easier. Key Stage appraisals were implemented at ages seven, eleven and 16. These standardized trials have been used to categorize kids into ability groups. Ball ( 2003 ) claimed that the National course of study favoured in-between category groups, it has been said that it was besides bias against different cultural groups. For Example History lessons were based entirely on British history and the school twenty-four hours was covered in Christian traditions ; such as supplications before go forthing school and in school assemblies. The course of study has one time once more had a proposed alteration with the publication of the White paper 2010, this will be discussed subsequently on. Standards non Structures New Labour leader Tony Blair in concurrence with the educational curate Barry Gardiner recognised the demand to assist working category kids achieve. Blair believed in ‘standards non constructions ‘ . Rather than underscoring on grammar schools and school pick, Blair found it more of import to underscore acquiring good criterions out of all schools. Compulsory numeracy and literacy hours were introduced to do certain that all kids were ab initio being taught to read and compose decently, which in bend would foster their accomplishments in the hereafter. â€Å" Education should be about happening success in every kid. When I talk about elevation criterions, I do non merely intend what gets measured in external scrutinies. We have to be much more concerned about the quality and relevancy of instruction our immature people receive and with the scope of chances to let them to win in the universe of work in the twenty-first Century. † ( Gardiner, 2004 ) Standards non constructions is where kids are what affair, it is said that seting kids on the right way to lifelong acquisition is where they will see true success. Gardiner recognised that the procedure, in which the kid acquires these womb-to-tomb acquisition accomplishments, is much less of import than the devising certain the kid does achieve these accomplishments. Gardiner aimed for a more holistic attack to acquisition, besides a demand for more vocational topics in schools. Although the course of study was to be more holistic the kids ‘s accomplishments were scored on trial. ( Gardiner, 2004 ) International attacks In the United States, the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act stated that all instructors by 2005-2006 had to be extremely qualified, be a certified instructor and major in their specific capable therefore obtaining a certification. Thus the Centre of Assessment and Evaluation ( CAEL ) in pupil acquisition in America, noted in Tennessee, where there was an attack pioneered called the ‘value added ‘ attack. This was intended to measure the value teachers add to the pupils larning. Students are compared to their ain acquisition: pupil ‘s trial tonss are compared with their ain old tonss instead than being compared to other pupil ‘s tonss, therefore category or household income is non an issue. The instructors were judged on how the pupils they had had improved, besides they defined the instructors of best quality gained greater accomplishment from the lower achieving pupils, instead than the higher achieving pupils in which it is normally assessed. However it was stat ed that there ought to hold been some observation in schoolrooms to truly assess the pupil ‘s betterment. ( CAESL, 2004 ) In Wales conference tabular arraies were abolished in 2001, harmonizing to research workers at Bristol University this has severely affected the public presentation of pupils in Wales. In conformity to their research, this attack has decreased public presentation as there is no force per unit area for the pupils to better. GCSE consequences have been compared with England by comparing similar schools from each state ; this research showed that Welsh schools were acquiring up to two GSCE classs lower than the schools in England. Naming and shaming schools through conference tabular arraies in England is seen to hike overall classs due to the force per unit area to maintain league place. ( Loveys, 2010 ) However the NAS/UWT instructors brotherhood has clearly opposed this place in mentioning that Wales ‘s school public presentation is bettering twelvemonth on twelvemonth. ( BBC, 2010 ) â€Å" It handily fails to foreground the fact that overall school public presentation in schools in Wales additions during the period covered by the study. † ( BBC, 2010 ) These teacher Unions promote the abolition of League tabular arraies saying that schools are offering easier classs to better their conference place. Parents Choice It has been said that parents are non taking schools based on the school conference tabular arraies but are more interested in location for easiness of handiness, little category sizes and the attention that is given to the kids. John Bangs, the caput of instruction at the National Union of Teachers stated in an interview for The Times that parents choose schools for their ain grounds, he believes they would be better aided by a full position of school accomplishment instead than merely consequences of trials, public presentation tabular arraies and Ofsted reviews which merely focus on a few cardinal opinions. ( Sugden, 2010 ) The Departments for Schools has clearly set out to relieve this job, as a statement a interpreter at the Department for Schools has said in The Times interview, that they are presenting a new strategy which will present a new school study card, this aims to give a more clear and full position of the school including more than simply academic accomplishment. How ever, it is besides said that no apology will be made for seting a strong influence over academic consequences, as we have more good and outstanding schools than of all time before, giving parents a existent pick and the option to weigh out other factors. ( Sugden, 2010 ) Current ideals and statute law The alliance has brought about new ideals on instruction. Prosecuting new positions and combined positions of the conservativists and broad Democrats. OFSTED has upped criterions and the new authorities has publicised new thoughts of personality testing. First observing the recent OFSTED studies, that has stated that they are upping their criterions and have judged many schools as inadequate. This is due to the coming ideals that schools need now to be judged non merely on informations, as it was seen that OFSTED could merely phone in their consequences. ( Shepherd, 2010 ) It has been found that instructors are non good plenty equipped to learn pupils, their exanimate effort at learning pupils is go forthing pupils bored and unwilling or being inspired to larn. OFSTED have concluded that the hapless instructors that are fighting to hold on the pupil ‘s imaginativeness and are neglecting to animate the kids that they are learning, hence kids are being giving mundane undertakings, harmonizing to OFSTED ‘s main inspector Christine Gilbert. â€Å" There is excessively much instruction that is dull and uninspiring. This means that excessively many immature people are non equipped good plenty to do the best of their lives. † ( Gilbert, 2010 ) In correlativity with this the alliance has proposed alterations to the educational system. The White paper that has been published on the 24th of November is naming for more in-school preparation for instructors. The White Paper will besides get rid of clip bounds on the sum of clip schools are allowed to supervise schoolrooms, hence making more flexibleness, taking to make better instructors. ( Vasager, 2010 ) â€Å" The remarks came as the Coalition prepared to print a White Paper today that will toughen up tests, overhaul the national course of study, reform instructor preparation and give staff more power to train students. All schools will be forced to run into tough new marks or face being taken over. † ( Paton, 2010a ) Besides the White Paper has besides proposed that all manque instructors ‘ under-go personality showing and aptitude trials which all instructors must go through before modification, this method is already in usage in Finland. The national course of study is to be tightened up to halt forcing the ‘easier ‘ classs. The purpose of the new tightened up course of study is besides to set forward a more specific nucleus cognition, this go forthing more free clip for such things as humanistic disciplines, athletics and civilization. ( Paton, 2010b ) League tabular arraies are excessively be focused on the nucleus topics such as maths, English and Science so that schools can no longer acquire to the top of the tabular arraies by forcing pupils into the softer or easier topics, which are non found valuable by future employers. The focal point of future instructors will be that they have great capable cognition, and a love of learning and their maestro topic. ( Paton, 2010b ) Besides Broad Democrat leader Nick Clegg proposed the system of ‘Like-versus-like ‘ which the Tories have said to be unfastened excessively. This system will suggest that school conference tabular arraies will be compared to those in similar state of affairss for illustration hapless with hapless, in-between category with in-between category. ( Asthana & A ; Helm, 2010 ) Teacher quality is a construct which is difficult to specify, many factors such as observation, trial marking, personality testing and kid inspiring is needed in correlativity with each other to find if a instructor is truly a ‘good ‘ instructor. The history of instruction has evolved over the century, traveling back and Forth between ideals depending on the political party in power and the economic sciences of the clip. From the first oncoming of scrutinies, get downing from oppugning from Her Royal Highness ‘ Inspectors, to standardised proving. The eleven-plus tests were extremely respected in their clip, but as research continued it was found that these trials could be seen as favoring in-between category kids. The research has continually been extended until current thoughts that pupils need to be tested against pupils of similar backgrounds, which in bend provided more accurate histories of betterment and accomplishment. Through research of international ideal s of instruction, parts have begun to go intertwined within the English instruction system. International ‘failures ‘ ( harmonizing to some ) such as the Welsh schools get rid ofing conference tabular arraies has besides been taken into consideration. This research had the opposite consequence by turn outing the authorities with ground non to take on this attack. In decision throughout the last century instructor quality has basically been based upon scrutiny tonss, observation or kid inspiring yet none have put them all together, which could so give a better definition of the ‘good ‘ instructor. Quality of learning demands to be a holistic position, much like the instruction is taking towards.