Organization of learning experiences Essay

There are a number of issues with this approach to curriculum theory and practice. The first is that the plan or programme assumes great importance. For example, we might look at a more recent definition of curriculum as: ‘A program of activities by teachers designed so that pupils will attain so far as possible certain educational and other schooling ends or objectives [4]. The problem here is that such programmes inevitably exist prior to and outside the learning experiences. This takes much away from learners. They can end up with little or no voice. They are told what they must learn and how they will do it. The success or failure of both the program and the individual learners is judged on the basis of whether pre-specified changes occur in the behaviour and person of the learner. If the plan is tightly adhered to, there can only be limited opportunity for educators to make use of the interactions that occur. It also can deskill educators in another way. For example, a number of curriculum programs, particularly in the USA, have attempted to make the student experience ‘teacher proof’. The logic of this approach is for the curriculum to be designed outside of the classroom or school. Educators then apply programs and are judged by the products of their actions. It turns educators into technicians. Second, there are questions around the nature of objectives. This model is hot on measurability. It implies that behaviour can be objectively, mechanistically measured. There are obvious dangers here: there always has to be some uncertainty about what is being measured. We only have to reflect on questions of success in our work. It is often very difficult to judge what the impact of particular experiences has been. Sometimes it is years after the event that we come to appreciate something of what has happened. For example, most informal educators who have been around a few years will have had the experience of an ex-participant telling them in great detail about how some forgotten event brought about some fundamental change. Yet there is something more. In order to measure, things have to be broken down into smaller and smaller units. The result, as many of you will have experienced, can be long lists of often trivial skills or competencies. This can lead to a focus in this approach to curriculum theory and practice on the parts rather than the whole; on the trivial, rather than the significant. It can lead to an approach to education and assessment which resembles a shopping list. When all the items are ticked, the person has passed the course or has learnt something. The role of overall judgment is somehow sidelined. Third, there is a real problem when we come to examine what educators actually do in the classroom, for example. Much of the research concerning teacher thinking and classroom interaction, and curriculum innovation has pointed to the lack of impact on actual pedagogic practice of objectives. One way of viewing this is that teachers simply get it wrong as they do not work with objectives. The difficulties that educators experience with objectives in the classroom may point to something inherently wrong with the approach, that it is not grounded in the study of educational exchanges. It is a model of curriculum theory and practice largely imported from technological and industrial settings. Fourth, there is the problem of unanticipated results. The focus on pre-specified goals may lead both educators and learners to overlook learning that is occurring as a result of their interactions, but which is not listed as an objective. The apparent simplicity and rationality of this approach to curriculum theory and practice, and the way in which it mimics industrial management have been powerful factors in its success. A further appeal has been the ability of academics to use the model to attack teachers. There is a tendency, recurrent enough to suggest that it may be endemic in the approach, for academics in education to use the objectives model as a stick with which to beat teachers. ‘What are your objectives? ‘ is more often asked in a tone of challenge than one of interested and helpful inquiry. The demand for objectives is a demand for justification rather than a description of ends. It is not about curriculum design, but rather an expression of irritation in the problems of accountability in education. [5]

Ethical Decision Making Paper

In this paper I will examine the relationship of a school psychologist and the relationship of his client and how boundaries were crossed when the school psychologist entered a sexual relationship with his minor client. To complete this assignment, the ethical dilemma will be discussed, the 14 steps in the ethical decision making process will be applied, further I will briefly discuss the importance of ethical decision making in professional psychology. Ethical Dilemma. A psychologist working in the Baltimore City Public School System with middle school students in the Promoting Respect Integrity Discipline Education (PRIDE) Program starts to develop sexual feelings toward one of the young male student’s. At first the psychologist could resist his temptations for wanting to engage in sexual activities with the young man, but the more time he spent with the student the stronger his desires became. The psychologist finds ways to meet with the student alone and he builds a trusting relationship with him and his mother. He accomplishes this by offering to be a mentor/big brother to the student because the mother is a single parent. The mother was appreciative that the psychologist was spending time with her son, by helping him with his homework, taking him to the movies, and helping to purchase school supplies. The psychologist convinced the mother to allow him to give the boy a cell phone claiming that the boy and his mother could stay in contact because the mother worked overtime, and the child would be home alone. The mother agreed to this, not thinking there was anything to the relationship. The psychologist continues to buy his client gifts and take him out to dinner and to the movies. The school psychologist finds that the boy loves dogs and asks the boy if he wanted a job after-school and on the weekends walking his dogs, he convinced the boy by taking the job they could spend more time together. The boy tells his mother about the job and the mother agrees to this and finally the psychologist asks the mother if he could take the boy on a weekend camping trip, which the mother agrees. It was on the camping trip the psychologist expresses his feelings toward the boy and the boy shares his feelings toward the psychologist and he and the boy engage in sexual relations. The sexual relationship continues the rest of the school year and throughout the summer. When the new school year begins the psychologist is still engaging in sexual relations with the student, begins to develop feelings for another student and starts spending less time with the first young man, as a result of this the boy starts acting out in class, not doing his homework, failing his test, fighting with the other students, and he becomes aggressive toward the psychologist. As a result of the boy’s acting out behaviors a parent conference is scheduled, the boy reveals that he and the psychologist have been engaging in sexual relations for the past seven to eight months. A formal investigation is conducted and it comes out that the psychologist has been spending time with the young man outside of the school, the young man spent several nights at the psychologist home, the boy told how the psychologist took him to Delaware for a weekend trip when the mother thought the boy was staying the weekend with his grandmother. The psychologist even allowed the young man to drive his car on several occasions. When the psychologist was confronted with these allegations, he broke down and confessed that he and the young man were in love and that the sex was consensual. The psychologist was arrested, fired from his job, lost his license, his apartment, and he has to register as a child sex offender. When the information was released by the media several other young boy’s came forth from different schools stating that he had a sexual relationships with the psychologist as well. The young man and his mother had to relocate to another state, he and his mother are in family counseling with a female psychologist who works with youth who have been molested. Steps in Ethical Decision Making According to Pope and Vasquez (2007), there are 18 steps used in the ethical decision making process, and these steps serve as a guide for every professional psychologist. The steps are available to help the psychologist know when he or she must think through and know how to respond appropriately to an ethical dilemma, how to take responsibility for his or her actions to the response that he or she has made. These steps will also assist the psychologist in coming up with a way to see specific aspects of the situation, he or she will be able to consider both the negative and the positive consequences in which an individual could respond, and finally the steps will help the psychologist to develop different approaches to meet the needs of the client. The first 14 steps will be considered in this section as it relates to the role of the psychologist and what boundary issues are. 1) Identify the situation that requires ethical consideration and decision making. The psychologist has developed sexual feelings toward a young male client at the school in which he works. 2) Anticipate who will be affected by your decision. The parties that will be affected is the child, the mother, the psychologist, and any other students which he has had sexual relations with. 3) Figure out whom, if anyone is the client. The young boy is the client, as well as the other boy’s he molested. 4) Assess your relevant areas of competence, and of missing knowledge, skills, experience, or expertise in regards to the relevant aspects of this situation. The psychologist has engaged in this type of behavior before. When he started having these feelings for the client he should have referred the client to the social worker and worked with his other clients. 5) Review relevant formal ethical standards. The psychologist failed to abide by the code of ethics and the ethic codes are very clear about psychologist/client sexual relationships. The ethical standards are helpful in understanding the boundary issues in this particular situation. 6) Review relevant legal standards. In this situation the law states that an adult cannot take a minor across state lines without parental consent. It is illegal for an adult to have sex with a minor. 7) Review the relevant research and theory. The laws are very clear about sex with minors, and transporting minors across state lines. 8) Consider how, if at all, your personal feelings, biases, or self-interest might affect your ethical judgment and reasoning. In this situation the psychologist was moved by his feelings and lost sight of what he was suppose to be doing and that was helping his client deal with his issues as an emotional disturbed individual. His decision to engage in sexual relations with a minor will be frowned upon by his colleagues, society, and the school system. 9) Consider what effects, if any, that social, cultural, religious, or similar factors may have on the situation and on identifying ethical responses. The social, cultural, and religious sectors here disapprove of sexual relations with members of the same sex, and the law clearly states that sex with a minor is illegal, and it is not considered consensual when the child is under 18 years of age. 10) Consider consultation. The psychologist should have been in therapy himself because he needs someone that he can trust to help him resist the urge to have sex with a minor. 11) Develop alternative courses of action. The psychologist should have sought out an individual that he could confide in about his desire to have sex with young boys. He should have also removed himself from working with young boys if he knew that this was a weakness for him. 12) Evaluate the alternative courses of action. The worst possible impact that this situation has is the psychology will lose everything and go to jail. He also has caused harm to the young man which he was trusted to care for. The psychologist violated the trust of the mother, and corrupted the mind of the young man. 13) Try to adopt the perspective of each person who will be affected. The young man who was involved believed that the psychologist loved him; the mother believed that the psychologist really wanted to help her son, and the psychologist was just looking to satisfy his sexual urges of having sex with young men. 14) Decide what to do and then review or reconsider it. In this situation the right thing to do is not engage in sexual relations with a minor. Remove yourself from the equation and avoid working with young men if you know this is a weakness for you. The Importance of Ethical Decision Making In professional psychology ethical decision making is important because it helps to steer the psychologist in the right direction, helping him or her to avoid major pitfalls and getting into dilemma’s that there is no good outcome. Every psychologist must understand that there are lives at stakes and each decision that he or she makes will have a negative or positive effect not only on him or her, and the client but also on all parties closely related to the client. Conclusion In conclusion the relationship between the school psychologist and the young male client who he had sexual relations with was analyzed. The psychologist violated the ethical codes and standards by engaging and acting on his sexual feelings toward a minor client. He further violated the trust of the young man and his mother who believed that the psychologist was helping the young man, but rather he created more harm than good. The steps in the ethical decision making process were applied and the importance of ethical decision making was discussed.

Descriptive Research Article Essay

Descriptive research plays an important role in educational research because it has greatly increased our knowledge about what happens in the classroom. What is descriptive research? Descriptive research can involve collecting quantitative information, or it can describe categories of information such as patterns of interaction when using technology in the classroom. Although it may employ fundamentals of both quantitative and qualitative research, descriptive research does not fit neatly into the definition of either quantitative or qualitative research methodology. Descriptive research takes a â€Å"what is† approach. Types of questions that may be addressed using descriptive research include: What is the best way to provide access to computer equipment in schools? Do teachers hold favorable attitudes toward using computers in schools? What have been the reactions of school administrators to technological innovations in teaching? Using descriptive research methodologies with the educational setting may be advantageous for several reasons. Educational research and experiences may contain many variables that cannot be realistically controlled, educational research may require observations of life experiences, and data collection may be spread over a large number of people over a large geographic area. Descriptive research may be used most effectively within the educational setting because educational research experiences cannot be as realistically controlled as laboratory experiments. In contrast to laboratory experiences, descriptive research is valuable because it allows for the human element of research. Four of the most common ways to collect information for descriptive research include surveys, interviews, observations, and portfolios. These may be used singly or in various combinations depending on the research question to be addressed. Used in the simplest way, surveys may be used to reveal summary statistics by showing responses to all possible questionnaire items. For instance, 30% of the participants agreed, 50% disagreed, and 20% had no opinion. Descriptive results of this type are typical of survey research in education and often provide leads in identifying needed changes. Survey data may also be used to explore relationships between two or more variables. Rather than limit their research to one variable, researchers can investigate relationships in the survey data and have a more substantial research contribution. Two critical components of survey research are sound methodology and well- designed data collection instruments. Data collection instruments should be designed to collect information in a way that will yield quantifiable results, and they should be distributed to all subjects so that data can be summarized and compared. Surveys can be in the form of written questionnaires, personal interviews, or telephone interviews. Factors to be considered in choosing a data collection method include: sampling, type of population, question form, question content, response rates, costs, available facilities, length of data collection, and computer-assisted techniques for data collection. Face-to-face interviews and telephone interviews are a second method of data collection. Interviews are more time efficient, allow the research to establish a rapport with the respondent, and allow the acquisition of more in-depth information. They also allow the interviewer to observe the respondent and obtain visual cues. Disadvantages of personal interviews are that they require more staff time and travel. Telephone interviews may be particularly advantageous because they are less expensive and less time consuming. They can also employ random dialing for a more random survey sample. However, limitations exist because of limited telephone access and the interviewer’s inability to observe the respondent and obtain visual cues. Mailed questionnaires provide some particularly important advantages, including the ability to reach large numbers of people across a wide geographic region. Other advantages include the ease and low cost of distribution, the minimal amount of staff and facilities needed, and the ability of respondents to respond in their own time frame. Disadvantages include lower response rate and the need to take design a survey instrument with a simple format. A letter of transmittal should accompany mailed questionnaires. The letter of transmittal should state the purpose and importance of the research, the importance of responding to the research, a time frame to respond, a confidentiality statement, an offer to share results, and a thank-you to the respondent. To obtain the best results, good surveys should use good questioning techniques. They should use complete sentences and offer a limited set of answers. Surveys should be interesting and should be worded so that the questions mean the same to everyone. They should inform participants about the kinds of answers that are appropriate and should provide definitions for any terms that might be confusing. The third way to collect information for descriptive research, observational research methods, has long been used across a number of disciplines. Observational methods are concerned with naturally occurring behaviors observed in natural contexts or in contexts that are contrived to be realistic. Since observational research methods require direct observation of behavior, many consider it superior to other methods because the data are gather directly without intermediary instruments such as tests or questionnaires. Observational research methods can yield a wealth of valuable information, but it can be a complicated process. Some problems associated with observational research include defining and developing coding schemes, training observers, experiencing technical errors. Yet observational research can yield invaluable descriptions that other research methodologies cannot. Observational research methods can be employed productively to support many purposes in the area of educational technology. It can be used to determine how people interact with technology in various stages of design and implementation. Research questions may consist of questions such as: How do learners interact with a new hardware system? How do learners respond to and interact with a specific program? Observation makes it possible both to explore the implementation of a particular technological innovation and assess the instructional outcomes. Two types of observational research are structured observations and unstructured observations. Structured observations are rigid and controlled. A hypothesis, methods for recording data and analyzing data, as well as, what, how, when, and where to observe are established before the observation takes place. Unstructured observations are used to determine unselective, detailed, continuous description of behavior. Unintended effects are best detected through unstructured observation. However, a disadvantage of unstructured observation is the time and labor required to collect and analyze sets of extensive observations. Once observational variables are identified, an observation form can be developed. These may be paper and pencil or electronic forms. With some observation forms, the observer must evaluate behavior on a rating scale. If a rating scale is used as part of the scoring procedure, a 3-point rating scale with categories such as â€Å"above- average,† â€Å"average,† and â€Å"below-average,† are often sufficient. Newer mediated observation techniques are now available. Behaviors can be recorded using audio and/or videotape. Computers offer the advantage of on-line monitoring which is the process of capturing characteristics of the human-computer interaction automatically. Keystroke records, audit trails, and logging data are terms used to describe on-line monitoring. Position-tracking devices make it possible to record human performance precisely and in great detail. In the naturalistic contrived research approach, unbeknownst to the subject, the researcher manipulates the situation to ensure that certain events will occur. Naturalistic observations can require many hours of observation to record a short, 2-minute event. For example, you want to observe teachers’ responses to deviant student behavior such as cheating, fighting, or abusing computer equipment. Since these behaviors occur at a very low frequency in most classrooms, a great deal of observer time would be needed to gather data on a reasonable sample of such behavior. Situational testing is another form of contrived observation in which the subjects are aware that they are playing a role. The researcher â€Å"devises a situation and assigns appropriate roles to the subjects, who are asked to play the roles to the best of their ability.† Typically, all participants except the person being tested have been trained to play their roles. The situations are manipulated to observe the specific behavior that the researcher is interested in observing. An advantage to situational testing is that by setting up the situation, the behavior can be controlled. The fourth descriptive measure of student work based on actual performance is the student portfolio. Portfolios consist of learner-created products that reflect the processes of learning and development over time. Portfolios have been recommended as a way to integrate learning and assessment since portfolios offer students an opportunity to learn about their own learning while they require active student responsibility and self- assessment. Portfolios serve as measures of student progress. They can take many forms such as game performances, multimedia projects, artwork, compositions, etc. Although descriptive research is growing in importance, many research questions involve questions about cause. Yet descriptive research can play a role because it can provide information from another perspective. Two possible reasons exist for the increase in popularity of descriptive research studies. First educational researchers realize that scientific methods of research do not adequately measure what is happening in the classroom. Secondly, new technologies have led to new classroom activities that necessitate new methods of analysis. This article suggests that if current trends continue, descriptive research methodology will grow in popularity and use.

Quantitative Analysis Technique Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Quantitative Analysis Technique - Research Paper Example Therefore, usually all employees are concerned with HR policy as it includes leave policy, travel policy, policy regarding employee benefit and most importantly performance appraisal policy; to which every employees’ increments are linked. It is a common observation that employees quit their jobs because they are not satisfied with their performance management system and they believe that the criterion mentioned in the policy against which the appraisal was to be done has not been followed. One of the major causes of employee de-motivation is inconsistencies between policies and their implementation. Many censures have been done worldwide just to study the effectiveness of performance management system. A survey was done by a well renowned consulting firm, Development Dimensions Incorporated, in which it was found that most of the employees communicated overwhelming dissatisfaction with their performance management system (Coens & Jenkins, 2002). When an organization intends to change or improve its’ performance management system it has to take care of two things; firstly the standards against which the performance is measured, and secondly the feedback of appraisal. In order to make feedback more effective, 360 degree feedback method should be used (Denisi & Kluger, 2000). Moreover, standards or key performance indicator should be set in such a way that employee attention is on getting the task done effectively and efficiently, which will result in better employee performance thus having a positive impact on overall organization productivity. Furthermore, employee should be involved in setting their goals while designing the appraisal processes because it will increase its effectiveness (McConkie, 1979). It also gives the employees a sense of involvement. The only way to resolve inconsistencies between policies and its implementation is redefining the policies in such a way that it can practically be

Journal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 38

Journal - Essay Example It is important for any relationship, of whatever kind, that all involved feel like they are equals. In problem orientation, this is attained. However, in control orientation, one party ends up feeling like they are less powerful. Moreover, if problem orientation is used, the parties involved feel that their interests and needs are taken care of and are not ignored. In control orientation, often there is a feeling of being ignored that can cause distress. Since problem orientation tries to ensure that the solution benefits all parties involved, it is more beneficial to everyone involved as it not only solves the problem at hand, but also caters to the needs of as many parties as possible. In short, problem orientation is the right way to solve problems because it ensures that all those involved not only feel equal to one another, but that the problem goes away and the parties do not feel as if their interests were

Create a financial information system on pricing costing funding which Essay

Create a financial information system on pricing costing funding which is being implemented into the railway tickets and makes the prices dynamic - Essay Example was a technical support element to accomplish desktop data entry in the late 1990s has evolved into a strategic element for increasing the revenue through identifying new business development opportunities as well as providing efficient quality of service to the customers a company is serving. Public transportation in the UK serves more than 75% of the total commuters’ transportation in the UK as argued by Simon Taylor (2003)iii. Railways in the public transportation especially accounts for over 50% of the total market share in the public transport as identified by Simon Taylor (2003). This makes it clear that the rail transport market in the UK public transport industry not only forms an integral part of the public transportation but also contributes to the Gross Domestic Product. Alongside, the railway industry is also facing stiff competition from other forms of public transport like the road and air transport that is increasingly cost effective in the UK as argued by Simon Taylor (2003). From the aforementioned it is clear that the railway industry in the UK not only needs to address the competition through the effective use of information technology and managing the information for strategic advantage but also accomplish financial operational excellence ass argued by Helen Knight (2005)iv. The fact that the finance especially the billing and ticketing section of the railway industry is the gateway of income to the industry’s overall operations as argued by Helen Knight (2005) makes it clear that the efficient information management in the form of financial information management system is essential. In this report a critical analysis on the implementation of a Financial Information System in the Railway ticketing system from an information strategy perspective is presented to the reader. The essay presents a critical analysis on the macro and micro business environment for the railway business in the UK through PEST and SWOT Analyses respectively. This

Human Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

Human Development - Essay Example Pavlov’s research indicated that behaviors could be learned via conditioned associations. The learning process was argued to have grounds on which environmental stimulus and naturally occurring stimulus could be associated (Watson 6). Therefore, this means that the focus of behaviorism is purely on the idea that human behavior is acquired as a result of interaction with the environment (Berger 2005). In regard to contribution of behaviorism to my development, it is apparent that behaviorism played a key part in dictating my current personality. Having been brought up in rural areas, most of the behaviors of the rural people were vested on me because I always interacted with them. The rural school setting is different from urban school setting. We used to travel for long distances to school and believed that schooling is a difficult task that one has to strive to achieve. Nevertheless, this was instrumental to me because I have always worked hard to achieve my desires. This is contrary to urban people who are brought up in urban settings. They have little struggles because the life in the urban is a bit comfortable than the life in the rural settings. This is equally the same case to children brought up in wealthy families and those that are brought up in rural settings. The personality of these two groups of people is wide owing to the lifestyle that they are exposed to. It is argued that people brought up in areas where crime is prevalent tend to adapt to criminal behaviors. Most people who engage in crime are either due to the influence of drugs or as a result of poverty. Since such people have little they can do to change their lives, they resort to crime and drugs as a way of either reducing stress or use crime as a way of earning a living. Hence, it is true to stipulate that the environment that such people find themselves in influences their character so that they can fit in it. Theory of cognitive development was pioneered by Jean Piaget who

A Midsummer Night's Dream Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

A Midsummer Night's Dream - Essay Example As these two characters appear in the daylight, including as the sun is rising in the final act, it can be said that they symbolism order and light, in contrast to the instability and darkness that the rest of the play is shrouded in. They are used to begin the play and to end it, again bringing with themselves a sense of order and direction. The love potion is yet another symbol in the play. The fairies become reckless with the love potion, causing many of the characters to become crazy and infatuated with each other. Titania falls for Bottom, while Demetrius and Lysander cannot seem to make up their minds about whether they are in love with Hermia or Helena. Therefore, the love potion symbolizes the erratic, powerful nature of love. Even though the crazy love seen throughout this portion of the play is due to a potion, there really is no difference that can be seen with love that comes naturally. Love causes everyone to act in peculiar, humiliating ways. Nature, though a smaller symbol than others in the play, is still a symbol. It symbolizes the fantasy that the play encompasses. Most fantasy tales, especially those dealing with fairies and the like, take place in a natural setting as this increases the visual appeal of this fantasy world and the situations within it. The nature within this play simply symbolizes the fantastical aspects of the story. The moon is perhaps one of the greatest symbols found within the play. However, the moon is a different symbol to each character of the play, enhancing its purpose to the plot and overall story. At night, when the moon is out, is when the craziness of the play is in full swing. Once the sun rises and the rooster shrills his good mornings, things calm down again. It is in this that the moon symbolizes the erratic changes of human behavior - something that can easily be seen, and has been proven, in real life. When the moon is evident in the play, the characters usually are acting up and in ways that are

Development of Behavioural Finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Development of Behavioural Finance - Essay Example This was followed by Selden’s ground breaking work on the stock exchange where he attempted to explain people’s financial behaviour in the stock exchanges (Selden, 1912). Further work on behavourial finance continued through the efforts of psychologists such as Leon Festinger who introduced the concept of cognitive dissonance (Festinger et al., 1956). The more modern trends in behavourial finance were placed by Tversky and Kahneman who introduced the availability heuristic that delineated the financial probability of decision making by a person (Tversky & Kahneman, 1973). This idea was followed by another expected utility theory that critiqued the original theory. This new theory delineated a descriptive model of decision making when faced with risks. The emerging model was espoused as the prospect theory (Kahneman & Tverksy, 1979). The prospect theory presented by Kahneman and Tversky has also been suggested as the alternative financial explanation for people making le ss than expected decisions in a risky market situation. The sixties saw the application of cognitive psychology to the processing of information by the brain. This stood in contrast to behavioural models. The newly emerging cognitive models were being compared to each other such as those presented by Ward Edwards, Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky. This was augmented by the development of mathematical psychology that began to link up transivity of individual preferences to different kinds of measurement scales (Luce, 2000). These developments were augmented with the introduction of newer concepts such as overconfidence that forces individuals to make irrational choices which lead to poor financial decision making (Kahneman & Diener, 2003). The bounded rationality projections in behavioural finance project that individuals act to maximise satisfaction rather than utility through their financial decision making even though it may lead to a loss (Gigerenzer & Selten, 2002) (Tsang, 2008) . Over the years, various kinds of psychological traits like projection bias, overconfidence, limited attention and the like have been used in behavioural finance models. The domain of inter-temporal choice has also had various applications of behavioural finance which tend to use various kinds of psychological factors to explain basic models of rational choice. Active Portfolio Management versus Passive Portfolio Management Fund managers carry out active portfolio management so that the portfolio investments tend to outperform a particular investment benchmark index. In contrast, fund managers who are not looking to outperform any investment benchmark index try to invest in funds that replicate previous weightings and returns. This technique is labelled as passive portfolio management (Malkiel, 1996). Passive portfolio management is the most preferred investment technique on the equity market but it is gaining wider acceptance in other investment fields. The contention behind passi ve management is to reduce transactional costs as well as investment risks so that the investor’s output increases. In the modern economy it is common for funds to be managed with the original fund owners relying on fund managers to take investment decisions. According to Cuoco and Kaniel (2009), in 2004 the total amount of managed mutual funds exceeded $8 trillion, hedge funds totalled $1 billion and pension funds totalled more than $12 billion in the United States alone. It has also been

Kim Emighs Ethical Dilemma and Moral Courage Essay

Kim Emighs Ethical Dilemma and Moral Courage - Essay Example There will be SEC violations and you need to make everybody aware of it. It was audacious because he was not just being direct at admonishing a superior of a wrongdoing but also told him directly to make the authorities aware of it. In so doing, he jeopardized not only his career, which later proved that action to be fatal as he was fired, but also his relationship with other fellow workers. He also ran the danger of being fired which later happened but under the guise of corporate reduction, as he was directly telling his superiors that â€Å"you are doing a criminal act† and you will be reported. Although Kim Emigh’s admonishment to his superior to make the authorities be made aware of it didn’t exactly happened as he was later fired, the gesture just showed personal integrity and an unbending professionalism on Kim Emigh’s part not to commit nor be a part of any fraud adhering to the ethical principle of his profession to be objective and not to misrepr esent nor falsify any accounting records no matter who you are going against or fight with.

Perception of Beauty Essay Example for Free

Perception of Beauty Essay The term ‘beauty’ is used in multiple contexts. These can be divided into ‘inner beauty’, describing a goodness of personality, and ‘outer beauty’, concerned with aesthetic appearance. On the surface, disfigurement affects outer beauty, but it has been found that changes in appearance can cause anxiety, depression, grief, and a lowered self-esteem. These strongly affect a person’s disposition. Thus, defects in outer beauty can indirectly alter inner beauty. How do human beings decide who is attractive and who is not? Society is full of messages telling us what is beautiful, but what are those definitions based on? Do we consciously decide whom we are attracted to? The issue of beauty and how we define it has been studied for centuries. Scholars from all fields of study have searched for the formula for beauty. Darwin in his book â€Å"The Descent of Man† wrote, It is certainly not true that there is in the mind of man any universal standard of beauty with respect to the human body. It is however, possible that certain tastes in the course of time become inherited, though I have no evidence in favor of this belief. Beauty is an idea. Everybodys idea of beauty is unique. Beauty is a function of culture also. When ideas about beauty make powerful impacts, they can become beauty ideals. What is ideal beauty? We see it everywhere, from paintings, to magazines to TV. Douglas Yu of the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England, agrees. Its true by definition. Beauty is always judged by the receiver, he says. At the same time, he says in an email there is inter-observer concordance, a measure of objectivity, so that individual perceptions of beauty, factoring in other characteristics such as personality and intelligence, can often be aggregated to form a consensus opinion. Judgment of Beauty According to Kant, the judgment of beauty is different from cognitive or moral judgment because it is affected subjectively, that is, exclusively in reference to the person making the judgment. For a judgment to be truly â€Å"aesthetic†, rather than merely idiosyncratic, the person making the judgment must be adamant that their opinion be consensus. â€Å"A person who describes something as beautiful insists that everyone ought to give the object in question his approval and follow suit. Plato, one of the earliest philosophers to concern himself with beauty, defined it as a â€Å"property intrinsic in objects† which could be measured in â€Å"purity, integrity, harmony and perfection. † Media and Perception of Beauty Research shows that media play a dominant role in influencing females’ perceptions of the world around them, as well as helping them to define their sense of self. The media can definitely change our perception of beauty. It can indeed create a distortion in what a person considers to be ideal beauty or not. It is proven that those that are under the influence of media, either the TV or Print media may unsavorily change what is their idea of beauty by wanting to measure up the ideal or standard portrayed by the media. Another major influence on this centurys attitudes towards beauty was the growth of the film industry. For the first half of the century, all the major beauty icons were film actresses. It was a medium that allowed women who would have previously been overlooked to shine. For instance, the 19th century aversion to redheads was still in place as late as the 20s. It was that black-and-white medium that allowed Clara Bow to be the exception. However, stars such as Bette Davis and Katherine Turner who could not be described as â€Å"conventionally beautiful† invariably came from middle or upper class backgrounds. Beauty was an essential attribute for a working class woman to become successful in Hollywood. This period was also the beginning of the ties between the film and fashion industries, which would continue for decades to come. References Journal of Young Investigators Undergraduate, Peer-Reviewed Science Journal http://www. jyi. org/volumes/volume6/issue6/features/feng. html Utah Education Network  http://www.uen.org/Lessonplan/preview.cgi?LPid=4527

Newell Convers Wyeth Essay Example for Free

Newell Convers Wyeth Essay Newell Convers Wyeth was one of the famous men in America during his time. This is because he was considered as one of the greatest American illustrators. He was the first to set the pace amongst the three generations of Wyeth artists. However, he was not only an illustrator but a painter as well. The work he did has become historical and is celebrated in many galleries, museums and publications as well as in other artist venues across the globe (Howell, par 1). Throughout his life, he was doing very well as an illustrator thus becoming very famous. N. C died in Chadds Ford in 1945 through an accident (Brandy Wine Conservancy 3). Wyeth gained national recognition as a result of his Scribner’s Classic Children’s Books like The Yearling, Robinson Crusoe, The Last of the Mohicans, Kidnapped, and Treasure Island among others. Wyeth believed that the deepest happiness a person can experience comes from living a simple life, and also treasuring the beauty and bounty of land and sea. Quite a number of Wyeth’s paintings were based on his feelings and own experiences. This was usually as a result of the memories of his parent’s farm where he grew up (Highlights for Children, par 1-8). N. C Wyeth started drawing when he was a child. He was being encouraged by the mother who helped him nature his gift. He began working for a magazine called the Saturday Evening Post when he was only 20years. Soon after this, his fame began to spread and his work published in other leading magazines like Harper’s weekly, Century, and Scribner’s among others (Nila McCann Spring). Despite the fact that Wyeth was an illustrator, he yearned to be known as a painter as well. The difference between the two was that illustration carried a pejorative connotation that Wyeth felt keenly all his life. In addition, regardless of the fact that commissioned work earned him income to support his family, he tried to run away from the confines of textual limitations, taking up personal paintings like landscapes, still lives and portraits. He moved from lyrical landscapes, which had an impressive style, to powerful portraits of fishermen that evoke the work of the American Regionalist artists. Nonetheless, he never attained personal satisfaction or the recognition that he wanted (Brandy Wine Conservancy 2). Wyeth was able to make three trips, between 1904 and 1906, to West America. This was after Wyeth recognized the value of Pyle’s instructions in his career. Pyle was one of the most renowned illustrators from Howard Pyle School of Art where Wyeth had joined then. During the period of the trip, he spent much of his time taking up the experience that enabled him to paint images. The painted images would allow him to come up very well and be among the top greatest illustrators during his error. Wyeth had managed to herald in Outing Magazines by 1907. He was one of the greatest painters of American outdoor life (Brandywines Conservancy 1). Early Life Nowell Convers was born on 22nd October, 1882 in a place called Needham, Massachusetts. His mother was the daughter of Swiss immigrants while his father was a descendant of the first Wyeth to arrive in the New World in the mid-17th century. His growing up in a farm made him develop a deep love for nature. He began his artistic inclinations at a very young age and the mother encouraged it. However, his father opposed this since he wanted him to use his talent more practically. He attended Mechanic Arts High School in Boston up to May 1899, where he concentrated on drafting. Through the support of his mother, he was able to transfer to Massachusetts Normal Art School and through the help and guidance of his instructor Richard Andrew; he took the line of illustration (Brandywine Conservancy 1). Wyeth married Carolyn Bockus in 1906. They met after he completed his learning under Pyle. They gave birth to five children whose names are Nat, Carolyn, Ann and Andrew. Some of these children resembled his father in his work of illustration and painting. They picked up talents for one art form or another, ranging from composing music to teaching art lessons and also to inventing (Howell, par. 3-4). N. C Wyeth trained his son Andrew through home schooling in 1932. This was after he realized that his health was failing. There were several challenges that came with school administration and also the expense of teaching his son from home. However, Wyeth managed to complete his son’s education as his teacher. After that, Andrew Wyeth continued to work under his father’s artistic guidance in their home in Maine which was named after the famous Winslow Home painting (Howell, par. 6). N. C Wyeth’s Work Wyeth is the perhaps the best and is remembered for his illustrations of other children classics done for Scribner’s. He gained national recognition with his illustrations for the book Treasured Island by Robert Louis Stevenson in 1911. He composed American stories and themes from carpetbaggers to Indians. He used color and romantic imagery brilliantly and this combined with his close attention to historical detail, enables his artwork gain a lasting place in the lexicon of American illustration. The love he had for America in-terms of its individuality and landscapes is evident in his works; that is, from the Old West to the Brandywine Hill. This was a country of Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. It is said that his boldness and sometimes massive artwork expressed his ‘largeness of spirit’. He is also said to have painted murals on a heroic scale by one of the biographers (New World Encyclopedia, par 2-4). He managed to complete over three thousand works during his career. Being an illustrator, some of his famous works included publications like Kidnapped, Tom Sawyer, Treasure Island and Robin Hood. Between 1925 and 1935, he completed some of his most exhilarating pieces of work, among which were several experimental pieces that were seen as heroic compared to his commissioned work (Howell, par 2). The success of Treasured Island insured Wyeth along his career. Scribner’s illustrated many classic stories in his succeeding years. The most famous titles are; â€Å"kidnapped (1913), The Black Arrow (1916), The Boy’s King Arthur (1917), The Mysterious Island (1918), The Last of the Mohicans (1919), The Deer slayer (1925) and The Yearling (1939). † In addition, he created illustrations for other publishers. Examples of such books are Robin Hood by David McKay(1917), Robinson Crusoe by Cosmopolitan (1920), Rip VanWinkle by David McKay (1921), Men of Concord by Houghton-Mifflin (1936) and Trending Into Maine by Little Brown (1938) (Howell, par. 2). Books like Treasured Island and Robinson Crusoe by N. C Wyeth are the most historical and famous. They also have a maritime adventure and an Island as a center element of their schemes. In addition, the historical language used in every one of them is similar as well as one of the same nautical terminology like stern, bow and aft among others. This is utilized because of the aforementioned similarities (Enotes, par1-3). Checking closely, the characters in these two books are alike only in the most basic ways. In Robinson Crusoe, for example, Crusoe is a male just as are Long John Silver and Hawkins. In addition, both central character are seamen and in the case of Hawkins, they were trying to become such. On the desolate island, young Jim Hawkins is trying to survive as a lone boy in the world of men just as Crusoe tries. On the other hand, both books are written by male authors and that the masculinity tone is seen in both books. In this case, as one reads these books, each story helps them to gain a perspective into the oceangoing world of the past. May be a better comparison could be drawn between Stevenson’s in Kidnapped and Defoe’s in Robinson Crusoe because there are better similarities existing in these books (Enotes, par. 2-3). His work also contains religious paintings. For example in 1923, he is said to have been commissioned by the Unitarian Layman’s League to do a series of paintings which included ‘The Parables of Jesus’. His most superb religious work that consisted of three hinged panels painted for the Chapel of the Holy Spirit at the Nations Cathedral in Washington D. C seems to be welcoming believers. It consisted of Jesus surrounded by a host of heavenly angels. The wordings are, â€Å"Come unto Me, All Ye that Labor and Are Heavy Laden, and I Will Give You Rest† (New World Encyclopedia, par. 13). His other works included; Mowing (1907), Long John Silver and Hawkins (1911), The Fence Builders (1915), September Afternoon (1918), Dying Winter (1934), The Alchemist (1938), Deep Cover Lobsterman (1939), The war Letter (1944) and the Nightfall (1945) (New World Encyclopedia, par. 23). Assessment of N. C Wyeth’s Work It was appropriate for Wyeth to start his work at his young age. One of the reasons is because he was able to leave an impact after he died in that his work is still remembered to date. He also was able to raise his son Andrew as his successor and the son become famous too because he was doing very well. It was also of importance to begin his work at an early age since he was able to publish so many books like Treasured Island and Robinson Crusoe (Amazon Par. 1-3). In addition, this golden age work of Wyeth played an important role in uplifting and pursuing work in illustration. The period of golden age work was also recognized for unparalleled brilliance in publication of journal art which had not been seen before. Also N. C Wyeth plus other students were able to carry on Howard Pyle’s work and this also brings out the importance of his beginning work at a young age (Jo Ang, par 4-5). N. C Wyeth was also able to perfect his work over time by starting his career at a young age and this enabled him to gain fame in America and other nations too. The fame is evident in his created images for magazine advertisements and calendars, painting for big companies like Wheat Company, Coca-Cola, Blue Buckle Overalls, Steinway Sons, New York Life Insurance among other (Brandy wine Conservancy 3). Conclusion Wyeth is remembered since he was one of the greatest illustrators in America and who created nearly 4,000 works during his golden age from 1903 to 1945 when he died. However he never achieved the personal satisfaction or public recognition that he wanted. N. C Wyeth gained national recognition as a result of his Scribner’s Classic Children’s Books like The Yearling, Robinson Crusoe, The Last of the Mohicans, Kidnapped, and Treasure Island among others. All these books are read even to date. Work cited Amazon. com. 1996-2010. The Amazon. com Review, 2010. Web. 15 May 2010 http://www. amazon. com/N-Wyeth-Biography-David-Michaelis/dp/0679426264. Brandy wine Conservancy. N. C. Wyeth Biography. Brandywine River Museum, 2009. Web. 14 March, 2010, http://www. ncwyeth. org/ncbio. htm. Enotes. com, Inc. Treasure Island and Robinson Crusoe, 2010. Web. 15 May, 2010, http://www. enotes. com/robinson-crusoe/q-and-a/can-anyone-help-me-compare-novels-comparison-22097

Strategy Planning and Implementation

Strategy Planning and Implementation Task 1a) The organisation of my choicce in discussing the Strategy Planning and Implementation assignment would be Pantaloon Retail India Limited. The reason behind choosing this organisation as matter of discussion can be mentioned as follows: i) I am an ex-employee of Panataloon Retail India Limited being on the rolls of the company for nearly 4 years overseeing comapanys Marketing Business Operations in the state of Gujarat, India encompassing 5 Pantaloon Retail Lifestyle stores in the cities of Ahmedabad, Baroda, Surat Rajkot in Gujarat. ii) Organised retailing is emerging in Indian sub-continent with Pantaloon Retail India Limited being the forerunner. iii) Started from a humble begiining in late 20th century with single outlet operation today it is Rs.10 billion turnover, with a presence over 30 cities with combination of 500 mega stores, super stores and lifestyle stores with over 20,000 employees. Task 1b) Stakeholders are the persons or a community(group of people) who are directly or indirectly associated with an organisation for attaining its objectives and are directly or indirectly affected by the actions, decisions and policies made by the organisation. Stakeholders of the company are its Directors, Employees, Creditors, Customers, Vendors, Government Agencies, Owners and Shareholders. Hence, in other words all the human entities directly or indirectly associated with the organisation are the stake holders of the organisation. In particular, the major stakeholders of my chosen organisation are the Employees, Customers and Vendors. Retail is man intensive industry and hence the role and importance of team work is the essence of providing international standard experience of shopping to its customers. Customers are king of the retail business. Custmers are listened, obliged, serviced and are given the primary importance in Pantaloon Retail India Limited. It is believed here that if Customers are happy then the company will survive. The company follows the M.K.Gandhis famous qoute, A customer is the most important visitor on our premises, he is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favor by serving him. He is doing us a favor by giving us an opportunity to do so. Vendors are the blood line of the organisation. Vendors provide the organisation with the right product win desired quantity. The also support the organisation in terms of payback period giving an edge to maintain healthy cash flows for development. Hence, we observe that these stake holders are of considerable importance to the organisation growth and to combat fierce competition and to meet customer satisfaction. The specific considerations that the company has for these stakeholders are as follows: Employees: The employees should be suitably compensated in terms of monetary and other intangible benefits so that the high level of enthusiasm towards work and customer focus is maintained. The happiness and retention of customers can be ensured only with satisfied employees. Customers: As mentioned above, Customer is the key focal point of Pantaloon, hence all the business persepective should be should be suitable oriented towards customer needs and wants. The company consideration would be providing Value for Money experience to its customers and reaching them the products wherever and whenver they want. Vendors: The company considers Vendors as partner for growth. The company has taken measurable steps towards assessing them, procuring procedure, payments and to deal with the grievance. The company has further taken a step ahead by incorporating electronic touch points to minimise the lengthy procedure and ensure time saving. Task 1c)Organised retail is agressive and is becoming challenging every moment. All the strategies formulated in Retail have been centered around the most important entity The Customer. The company has always focussed towards attracting customers, retaining the existing customers and giving customers an experience which would enable to come back again and again. The crieteria that Pantaloon focussed are: 1.Cost: The most challenging factor in todays business. A good earnings to cost ratio would only decide the fate of the retail business. No matter what top-line or bottom line a company desires, Pantaloon has always focussed on Cost Strategy to offer maximum benefit to its Customers. 2. Market Penetration: After opening its various retail formats in the metro cities in India, the company has decided the Cluster Development Strategy viz. 8 city strategy for market penetration. By doing this the company will focus towards only cluster of cities for market reach in step wise manner. 3. New Product Strategy: The company strategy has always been+ based on Ideas to give their customers something new and unique. The company looks to achieve a healthy share of each Rupee spent by the customers. Thus company started from garments retailing has moved into Food Retail, Fast Food and Speciality cuisine, Gaming, Hyper market segment, home products, e-shopping and insurance sector. 4. Square foot sales : The strategic objective of the company is to seek healthy square foot sales in order to maintain good profit margin in terms of attaining healthy top line. 5. Private Brands: One of the most important criteria for attaining strategic management objective is introducing Private Label Brands which would ensure gaining a healthy bottom-line margin. 6. Vendor Strategy: Touch screen single point operation for vendor slection, product identification and payment procedure. The company believes vendors or manufacturers are partners to the business and hence venodr management is key importance to the company. Task 1d) Pantaloon Retail India Limited was formed to deliver organised garment retailing in India. The company wanted to blend fashion with affordability. Due to its fast expansion and growth the garment trader and the dictribution channel(middle man) has also earned huge margins. They are the trader who used to source the material from the manufacturers and used to store and supply the merchandise to Pantloon. There was a sudden demand in raising the margin of the merchandise by the intermediary channel. Pantaloon used to source 80% of their merchandise of reputed brands from these channels. This sudden raise could not have direct implication on the customers as increase in price to the final product would mean losing business. Hence company initially bear this loss. After sometime the comapny wanted to discuss with these intermediate channels for price renegotiation, failing which the supply of the goods were stopped creating a vacuum in the supply. This was affected by poor merchandise and customer complaints which continued for several months till the time the company had done renegotiation with new set of Intermediary channel including contacting the manufacturers directly. Bu this, the company felt the necessity of having their own private brands including manufacturing and aquiring manufacturing set up of few other companies. The company took around 6 months for consolidation exercis e and thereafter Pantaloon relaunched its Retail Stores with nearly 80% of private manufactured merchandise. Task 2) Develop Vision, Mission, Objectives Measures a. For your chosen organisation, list down its ethical, cultural, environmental, social and business objectives. How are these influenced by the current business and economic climate? Pantaloon Retail India Limited with its multi-retail business in various sectors has consolidated its operations under the umbrella concern of Future Group. The company has laid down and oberve the following values to cover its ethical, cultural, environmental, social and business objectives. The values are as below: Ethical i) Respect Humility: Respect for every individual associated in business and be humble to all. This value entails the core people function. The company pays utmost respect, listen and act accordingly to its Customers, Employees and Vendors through various channels. The Senior Management evaluates and acts accordingly on any grievance, comments and suggestions made by Customers, Employees and Vendors. ii) Openness: To be open and receptive for new ideas, knowledge and information. The company has various platform of communication with its people and analyse all the ideas or comments and shares its opinion with the Stakeholders. E.g. the company has Share With Us Book placed in all the retail stores through which a Customer can communicate with the Senior Management. Cultural i) Valuing Nurturing Relationships: To build long-term relationships. Business particularly retail business is strategic in nature. It has complete reliance on Relationship building and nurturing the emotions.It is observed that it requires more money to attract new customers rather that retaining and satisfying new customers. ii) Simplicity Positivity: Simplicity in thought, business and actions. Thinking simple yet positive render positive vibrations in the economy and earn respect from its stakeholders. Environmental i) Flow: To respect and understand universal laws of nature. The company follows the natural way of business and respect and adheres to the rules and policies laid down from time to time. It also acts accordingly keeping in mind the current economic condition and takes steps relevant in order to satisfy needs of its stake holders. Social i) Indianness : Confidence within ourselves and amongst our product. The company respects Indian culture and offer the products that suits Indian households. ii) Adaptability: To be adaptive and flexible to meet new challenges.The only thing that is constant in the Universe is Change. Hence the company is always open to change and modify accordingly its product lines as per the need and demand of the present market. Business Objectives i) Intropsection: Leading to purposeful thinking. The company from time to time does meaningful invigoration of its entire process in order to audit and take any corrective action if any. Based on the outcome the company re-strategise any of its process or function. ii) Leadership: Leadership in thought and idea and its application in business. The comany belives to be Number 1 in whatever business they are and work hard to retain its position. (Source:Pantaloon Retail India Limited website id http://www.pantaloon.com/corporate_state.asp,Dated October 26, 2009) Based on the above, it is clearly observed that Pantaloon Retail India Limited is equipped with broad range of measures to handle stressfull business environment and economic changes that may occur. Specifically, particular change in any macro economic policies are treated with utmost sincerety and needed change is implemented to overcome it. Thus more recently the economic crises has very little effect on Pantaloon, as the company could envisage the problem and taken specific measures to overcome this. The percentage of leased out premises to its its total retail outlet was nearly 65% towards the beginning of year 2008. The companys outflow in rental expenditure was a large sum of money. The company could oversee the challenge of offereing competitive pricing during the era of economic meltdown. Based on the same company started having its own premises by creating a special vehicle Future Capital Holdings which is 100% subsidiary of Pantaloon Retail India Limited. This has brought d own not only the rental outflow but also ensured better offering to customers in terms of competitive pricing as compared to its competitors.

The Foolish Mr. Keating of Dead Poets Society :: Dead Poets Society Essays

The Foolish Mr. Keating of Dead Poet's Society The Dead Poet's Society raises an interesting question: When educating teen-agers, is it better to use the school's policy of Tradition, Honor, Discipline, and Excellence or Mr. Keating's philosophy of carpe diam (seize the day)? Mr. Keating believed that people should "suck the marrow out of life" and live like a free thinking person even at the young age of seventeen. Centuries of teaching experience prove Mr. Keating is wrong and that tradition and discipline are the correct methods of educating. Our fledgling nation of only 200 years is a mental midget in this world. Why is it that we are 17th in the world in education. Is it that we are stupid? No, it is that we have diverged from the old world teaching methods of Europe and Asia. Japan is third is the world in education. The reason is simple. Although they manufacture most of the world's calculators, not one is used in the classroom. One really begins to understand math when taught by route memorization and physical punishment for incorrect answers. Anyone who has been "rapped on the knuckles" by a nun with a ruler can attest to this fact. The one thing that a student needs in life is structure. Without this, he or she cannot function in a school environment. When a bell rings, you must go to class. When a teacher assigns homework, you do it. No questions asked. No individual thought. The only marrow that should be sucked out of a students life is that of education. That, after all, is why they are in school. To learn and no other reason. In the end, it should be noted that although Mr. Keating's teaching philosophy was debunked, he made one good point.

Isaac Asimov :: essays research papers

Isaac Asimov is a very talented writer. Isaac focuses on the intensity of his novels and short stories. Suspense is one of the things he focuses on when writing short stories such as "Marooned off Vesta." "Marooned off Vesta is a story of triumph and intelligence. This story shows what can happen if you put your mind to it"(Corke). 	Isaac Asimov, of Jewish descent, was born in Petrovichi, U.S.S.R. on January 2, 1920. His parents were Judah and Anna Rachel Asimov. Isaac also had a brother named Stanley and a sister named Marcia. In 1923 the Asimovs left the Soviet Union and immigrated to the States. Getting over seas was not as easy as it is today. The Asimovs had to endure a horrible boat ride with horrible food, seasickness, and the anxiety of what the future had in store for them. They made their home in Brooklyn, New York where they opened a candy store (Erlanger 9). When he was nine years of age, after school he worked in his parent's candy store. It was then that began reading science fiction magazines. He had to struggle to read these magazines because his father would not permit him to read "such junk"(Erlanger 9). " Isaac you should be reading books with more value," his father told him (wilson). Sooner or later his father gave in and told him not to forget his library books ( Erlanger 11). However, this reading material was the only thing that his dad would let him touch on the magazine rack. 	Young Isaac was a brilliant student. He went through school more quickly than other students. But there was one thing holding him back which was him being a class clown. He was frequently in trouble for talking in class (Erlanger 16). The person he could really identify with was his friend, "Solly," Solomon Frisch. Solly made up stories mostly every day off the top of his head for Isaac. This was when Isaac learned that stories do not have to come from magazines or books, they can come from a person. Unfortunately when Solly and Isaac were both seven, they parted as a result of both families moving. The Asimovs moved on Essex street near Judah's new candy store. As the years went on and he graduated Boys High School in 1935, he applied to Columbia University and took on Chemistry as a major (Erlanger 18).

The Government Should Make Use Of Revenue Sharing :: essays research papers

The Government Should Make Use of Revenue Sharing Federal grants have become more common over the last 60 years, due to the expansion and retraction of the size of the federal government. The federal government began expanding in the 1930s to deal with the Depression. It used federal agencies to directly deal with problems. As time went on, the tasks were turned over to the states, but the federal government still remained involved through the use of federal grants to states and localities. In the 1970s, Nixon's New Federalism put a heavy emphasis on federal grants. Revenue sharing gave federal dollars to localities and states that had never received very much or any federal money before. This increased local interest in receiving federal money in many localities. In order to deal with the federal bureaucracy and receive federal money, localities and states have to develop efficient and effective bureaucracies of their own. These state and local bureaucracies must understand the federal rules and requirements for receiving federal aid. Some states routinely receive a greater amount of federal money than other states with similar populations due to the differences in state bureaucracies. The state which has an effective grant-writing bureaucracy and maintains relations with federal bureaucrats and leaders is often able to get more money. Federal bureaucracies are often very regionalized. They are staffed by people from a certain region, and they primarily deal with people from that region. They give more federal assistance to these regions too. The overall trend in federal spending in a state may be different from a particular agency's pattern of spending. Some states may get very little overall federal funding, but may get much more than the average amount of money from a certain federal agency's grants. American state-level politics can be divided up into 3 categories: traditional, moralistic, and individualistic. Traditional areas are heavily elitist, and social elites are the primary leaders of society. They have less reliance on government programs, government spending, and government in general. They are not as democratic as in other areas of the country. Moralistic cultures put a heavy focus on government taking an active role in society. There is more emphasis on democratic methods in government, government funding, government programs, and the provision of services. The individualist culture sees government as only being important when it can help the individual succeed. It should never hamper the individual from attaining personnel success. The South is considered more traditionalist. The midatlantic states and other areas which have descendants of the original settlers of the midatlantic states are considered individualistic. The northern states are moralistic. All of these

Collective unconscious Essay

Carl Jung was born in Kesswyl, Thurgau, Switzerland on July 26, 1875. His father was kind but weak, while his mother was an insecure woman but with two personalities: (a) kind and loving (b) harsh and aloof. Jung was lonely at childhood making him introvert. In 1906 he published The Psychology of Dementia Praecox, a psychoanalytic treatment of schizophrenia. He first met Freud in 1907 and Freud regarded Jung as his son and they travelled and worked together that lasted until 1913. Freud and Jung had an argument that ended their friendship. Freud considered it as the â€Å"Great Loss†. Jung is the first president of International Psychoanalytic Society. Jung established his own school of psychology named â€Å"Analytical Psychology†. Jung begun the structure of personality and made the ego, personal unconscious and the collective unconscious. Dynamics of Personality Carl Jung conceived that the personality or psyche as being a partially closed energy system. Energy from the outside sources must be added into the system and the system will only be perfect and stabilized if it is completely closed. He called psychic energy as the energy by which the work of personality is performed. Psyche – refers to all psychological processes: thoughts, feelings, sensations, wishes, etc. It is also another term for personality. Principle of Equivalence – states that if a particular value weakens the sum of the energy represented by the value will not be lost from the psyche but will reappear in a new value. Principle of Entropy – states that the distribution of energy in the psyche seeks equilibrium and balance. Structure of Personality. 1. Ego – it is one’s conscious mind. It serves as the organized conscious mediator between the person and reality especially by functioning both in the perception of and adaptation to reality. 2. Personal unconscious – the material in the personal unconscious comes from the individual’s past. It consist f experiences that was once conscious but have been repressed. 3. Collective unconscious – is the part of the collective psyche that is unconscious. It is the storehouse of latent memory traces inherited from one’s ancestral past. Archetypes – it is the universal thought form or predisposition to respond to the world in a certain way. It emphasizes potentialities; it represents different potential ways in which we may express our humanities. The Self – it represents the unity of all parts of the personality. It is the central archetype. Self Ultimate unity of personality (the central archetype) Persona Mask or Social Role Shadow Animal instincts or the opposite of Persona Anima Feminine side of male psyche Animus Masculine side of the female psyche. The Persona – refers to the social role that one assumes in society. It is a mask that one wears to adjust to the demands of society. The Shadow – encompasses those unsocial thoughts, feelings and behaviours that we potentially posses and other characteristics that we do not want to accept. The Anima – feminine side of the male psyche. The Animus – masculine side of the female psyche. Word association – a test used by Jung to detect complexes. The test is composed of a list of words; as each word is presented, the patient responds with the first word that comes to his or her mind. Complexes – an organized group of thoughts, feelings and memories about a particular concept that has power to draw new ideas into it and interpret them accordingly. Basic Attitudes Extroverted attitude: a standpoint characterized by an outward flowing of personal energy — an interest in events, in people and things, a relationship with them, and a dependence on them. Introverted attitude: characterized by an inward flowing of personal energy—a withdrawal concentrating on subjective factors. The Four Functions Thinking – gives meaning and understanding; actions are a result of an intellectually considered motive; life is based on principles. Feeling – a rational function that weighs, values, and attaches a proper value to things. Truth is seen as inter-subjectivity. Sensation – emphasis on perception through the senses. It is a reality functions because it yields facts and the representations of the world. Intuition – tells of future possibilities and gives information of the atmosphere which surrounds experience. Causality vs. Teleology For Jung both past and the future standpoints are important in determining the present behaviour. Teleology explains the present in terms of the future while causality explains the present in terms of the past. Individuation – process of restoring wholeness to the psyche in adult development. Transcendence Function – is capacity to unite all of the opposing trends of the several systems to work toward the perfect wholeness. Self realization – is process of development that involves individuation and transcendence. In the process, the systems of the psyche achieve their fullest most complete differentiation and harmonious blending of all aspects of a human’s total personality. Strengths Jung’s theory as the first to discuss the process of self actualization. He was the first to emphasize the importance of the future in determining human behaviour. He stressed the attainment of selfhood as the main motive in human behaviour. Weaknesses Jung’s method was not systematic and puts too much emphasis on occultism, spiritualism and religion. His theory was said to be unscientific, unclear, inconsistent and contradictory. His self actualization is only applicable to the highly intelligent, well educated and those who have plenty of time to reach a degree of individualism. Sources: Engler, B. (2006). Personality Theories: An Introduction. USA: Houghton Mifflin Company. Hall, C. , Gardner, L. (1975). Theories of Personality. USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Burger, J. (2008). Personality. Belmont, California, Wadsworth Clonniger, S. (2004). Theories of Personality: Understanding Persons. USA: Pearson Prentice Hall Mitchell, G. Carl Jung & Jungian Analytical Psychology. Retrieved from http://www. trans4mind. com/mind-development/jung. htmlÃ'Ž

Introduction of American Essay

This paper is dedicated to the history of American Revolution and the War for Independence. The primary purpose of the survey given here is to carry out an analysis of the events of the late 18th century in the British colonies in North America on the basis of vast historical material published in the United States. The process that took place before and during the 1776-1783 period when 13 British colonies’ aspiration for independence broke out into the so-called War for Independence is very remarkable for it’s many unique features, on the one hand, and for many historical parallels that took place a century later when the world-wide spreaded colonial system began to collapse. John Adams, second President of the United States, declared that the history of the American Revolution began as far back as 1620. â€Å"The Revolution,† he said, â€Å"was effected before the war commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people. † The principles and passions that led the Americans to rebel ought, he added, â€Å"to be traced back for two hundred years and sought in the history of the country from the first plantation in America. † As a practical matter, however, the overt parting of the ways between England and America began in 1763, more than a century and a half after the first permanent settlement had been founded at Jamestown, Virginia. The colonies had grown vastly in economic strength and cultural attainment, and virtually all had long years of self-government behind them. Their combined population now exceeded 1,500,000-a six-fold increase since 1700. The implications of the physical growth of the colonies were far greater than mere numerical increase would indicate. The 18th century brought a steady expansion from the influx of immigrants from Europe, and since the best land near the seacoast had already been occupied, new settlers had to push inland beyond the fall line of the rivers. Traders explored the back country, brought back tales of rich valleys, and induced farmers to take their families into the wilderness. Although their hardships were enormous, restless settlers kept coming, and by the 1730s frontiersmen had already begun to pour into the Shenandoah Valley. Down to 1763, Great Britain had formulated no consistent policy for her colonial possessions. The guiding principle was the confirmed mercantilist view that colonies should supply the mother country with raw materials and not compete in manufacturing. But policy was poorly enforced, and the colonies had never thought of themselves as subservient. Rather, they considered themselves chiefly as commonwealths or states, much like England herself, having only a loose association with authorities in London. At infrequent intervals, sentiment in England was aroused and efforts were made by Parliament or the Crown to subordinate the economic activities and governments of the colonies to England’s will and interest – efforts to which the majority of the colonists were opposed. The remoteness afforded by a vast ocean allayed fears of reprisal the colonies might otherwise have had. Added to this remoteness was the character of life itself in early America. From countries limited in space and dotted with populous towns, the settlers had come to a land of seemingly unending reach. On such a continent natural conditions stressed the importance of the individual. 1. Frontier situation The colonists-inheritors of the traditions of the Englishman’s long struggle for political liberty-incorporated concepts of freedom into Virginia’s first charter. This provided that English colonists were to exercise all liberties, franchises, and immunities â€Å"as if they had been abiding and born within this our Realm of England. They were, then, to enjoy the benefits of the Magna Charta and the common law. In the early days, the colonies were able to hold fast to their heritage of rights because of the King’s arbitrary assumption that they were not subject to parliamentary control. In addition, for years afterward, the kings of England were too preoccupied with a great struggle in England itself – a struggle which culminated in the Puritan Revolution – to enforce their will. Before Parliament could bring its attention to the task of molding the American colonies to an imperial policy, they had grown strong and prosperous in their own right. From the first year after they had set foot upon the new continent, the colonists had functioned according to the English law and constitution – with legislative assemblies, a representative system of government, and a recognition of the common-law guarantees of personal liberty. But increasingly legislation became American in point of view, and less and less attention was paid to English practices and precedents. Nevertheless, colonial freedom from effective English control was not achieved without conflict, and colonial history abounds in struggles between the assemblies elected by the people and the governors appointed by the King. Still, the colonists were often able to render the royal governors powerless, for, as a rule, governors had â€Å"no subsistence but from the Assembly†. Governors were sometimes instructed to give profitable offices and land grants to influential colonists to secure their support for royal projects but, as often as not, the colonial officials, once they had secured these emoluments, espoused the popular cause as strongly as ever. The recurring clashes between governor and assembly worked increasingly to awaken the colonists to the divergence between American and English interests. Gradually, the assemblies took over the functions of the governors and their councils, which were made up of colonists selected for their docile support of royal power, and the center of colonial administration shifted from London to the provincial capitals. Early in the 1770s, following the final expulsion of the French from the North American continent, an attempt was made to bring about a drastic change in the relationship between the colonies and the mother country.

Annotated Timeline: 1763-1783 Essay

1763: The Proclamation of 1763 was a royal directive issued after the end of the French and Indian War that prohibited settlement, surveys, and land grants west of the Appalachian Mountains. It was an attempt to organize western lands gained as a result of the 1763 Treaty of Paris and it appease Native American tribes who lived in the areas. British North American colonists resented being denied access to lands they felt they had fought for and won in the French and Indian War. 1764-Sugar Act: A law passed by British Parliament which raised taxes on foreign refined sugar, leading to a monopoly in the West Indies that was controlled by British sugar farmers. 1765-Stamp Act: An act proposed by the British Parliament to require the use of stamps for all official documents, or articles. The act met large amounts of opposition and was repealed in 1766. 1765: Stamp Act Congress: A meeting held in New York, after the Stamp Act. It was attended by some of the colonies’ representatives to devise unified protest against Britain. It is considered the first attempt of such ideas. 1766-Declaratory Act: Following the repeal of the Stamp Act, British Parliament reasserted its authority to pass laws on the colonies, even though they did not have representation. 1767-Townshend Duties: Charles Townshend taxed imported good from England such as, paper, lead, and glass. The taxes went straight to the British officials to make them better able to enforce British law. 1770-Boston Massacre: A riot that broke out in Boston due to the colonists disliking for the British troops. The troops fired on the crowd, killing several people. (Boston Massacre 1770) 1773-The Tea Act: An act from British Parliament that gave them a monopoly unfair to American tea merchants, which would lead to more tension. 1773-The Boston Tea Party: In response to the Tea Act, a group of angry colonists boarded a British boat and tossed barrels of tea into the harbor in protest during the night. (Boston Tea Party-1773) 1774-Intolerable Acts: A series of laws passed by England in attempt to punish Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party. 1774-1st Continental Congress: A meeting of all colonies (excluding Georgia) that was held in Philadelphia after the Intolerable Acts to discuss ways to rebel against Britain, such as boycotting their trade. 1775-Lexington & Concord: The first military engagement between England soldiers and American colonists. American’s were on a mission to capture and destroy military supplies, but the British had learned of their plans, and moved the supplies elsewhere. 1775-2nd Continental Congress: A meeting of all colonies (excluding Georgia) that succeeded the 1st continental congress by having ideas of independence. By forming armies, appointing diplomats, and making formal treaties, the congress acted as the national government. (Continental Congress) 1775-Battle of Bunker Hill: After learning of British intentions of occupying the hills around Boston, 1,700 colonists attempted to fight off British troops, but had to retread due to lack of ammunition. 1775-Olive Branch Petition: An attempt to end bloodshed by sending a pact to King George, from the 2nd continental congress, stating that they will be loyal to him, if he repeals the Intolerable Acts. 1776-Common Sense: Written by Thomas Paine, Common Sense challenged the authority of the British government and the royal monarchy. The plain language that Paine used spoke to the common people of America and was the first work to openly ask for independence from Great Britain. (Common Sense-1776) 1776-Virginia Declaration of Rights: A document written to proclaim the inherent rights of man, including the right to rebel against an inadequate government. 1776-Declaration of Independence: A statement adopted by the continental congress that announced the 13 colonies regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. 1777-Battle of Saratoga: A battle fought 9 miles south of Saratoga, New York. The American forces under Benedict Arnold and fellow commanders defeated the British General Burgoyne and laid the groundwork for the entry of France into the war on the American side. 1777-Articles of Confederation: The first constitution of the 13 American colonies. It would eventually be replaced by the Constitution of the United States. 1778-Treat of Amity and Commerce/Treat of Alliance: A commercial alliance signed in Paris between the United States and the French. The treaty was signed during the Revolutionary war. 1779-Virginia Statue of Religious Freedom: A document written by Thomas Jefferson stating that all people are entitled to practice any religion and worship any god of their choosing. 1781-Battle of Yorktown: Led by Washington and the French commander Rochambeau, British troops were defeated in Yorktown, Virginia, as it proved to be a decisive victory for America. (Battle of Yorktown-1781) 1783-Treaty of Paris: The treaty that ended the war between America and England. Spain, France, and the Dutch were awarded land as a result.

Communication Skills

Communication is a valuable art and an individual's effectiveness as a leader, co-worker or friend will depend on their interpersonal and communication skills. Without a doubt, communication skills are not a simple formula; however, it is not impossible for people to communicate effectively and respectfully. A person can stand in a corner without saying one word; yet, with one simple kick or facial expression, they can communicate. A key to having an effective communication skill is by having good listening skills.The four stages of the listening process are simple to remember, (1) attending, (2) interpreting, (3) responding, and (4) remembering. (Dobbin and Pace, peg. 1 17) The listening process begins when e actively select, or attend to, stimuli in our environment. (Dobbin and pace, peg. 11 7) Many things can affect the way one can perceive his/her communication skills to others. A person must have a clear and pleasant tone in his/her voice in order to appeal to the listeners. Hav ing good listening skills makes the speaker feel admirable, appreciated and respected.When a person listens, they encourage the skill in others by acting as a model for positive and effective communication. In order to develop effective listening skills one should: 1. Minimize all external and internal distractions 2. Focus on what the speaker is saying . Keep an open mind in order not to make assumptions According to the Washington Times: â€Å"More often than one might think, listening has to happen before speaking can begin. This is especially true for babies. During their first few months, they hear the sounds around them.Over time, they learn to distinguish these sounds as part of figuring out who and what are worth dealing with in their immediate environment. A baby's effort to learn the difference between hearing and listening requires a rudimentary form of reasoning or thinking. Most babies discover they have to listen a lot before they can start talking. † (Washingto n's. Mom) Babies will then learn that by listening then responding, they will get a chance to speak. By developing good listening skills we learn to understand and obtain information.Some children are naturally attentive while others may need to focus on their skills. As a parent, we can help children to be better listeners by engaging into conversations with them or by playing games that my help them become better listeners. Effective listening skills are essential in many areas of life; such as, school, friendship and a career. It is vital to begin developing good listening skills during childhood so that a person can make a unconscious effort in engaging into a productive conversation. Listening effectively is an acquired skill. Communication Skills Communication Skills ï » ¿Communication Skills Aims This resource has been compiled to give a general introduction to effective communication for practice educators. The key components of the communication process will be discussed. The basic skills required for effective communication will be explored in the next few sections, and some specific contexts for communication, including giving presentations and feedback meetings, will be examined.Learning Objectives On completion of this resource, you should be able to: †¢ Identify the key components of the communication process. †¢ Identify some typical problems that can arise in the communication process and demonstrate knowledge of skills to overcome these. †¢ Demonstrate increased awareness of forms of communication and social behaviour. †¢ Identify and use strategies for managing specific contexts for communication, including giving presentations.Introduction As we progress through our careers in the health or social care environment, the sorts of skills that are critical to our success can change and evolve. Many of us are first responsible for performing specific practical tasks, linked to our developing knowledge base. Our effectiveness centres upon our actions and our growing expertise at performing these. Proficiency at such tasks is often the initial focus.However, as we continue to progress, it is likely that success will depend more and more upon our interpersonal skills and our ability to develop effective working relationships with key others. Jobs that include a managerial, supervisory or a mentoring role can involve complex relationships with people. Demands can be made that are sometimes conflicting and ambiguous. A practice educator’s job can involve reconciling and managing these demands. Not surprisingly, interpersonal and communication skills often rank among the most critical for work related success.In its most straightforward sense, effective communication may be  understood as occurring when the intended me aning of the sender and perceived meaning of the receiver are the same. Yet the level of skill required for effective communication to occur, belies the simplicity of this definition. After examining studies involving hundreds of large organisations, Goleman (1997) concluded that a high level of individual success at work was characterised by ‘emotional intelligence’, or skills of social awareness and communication. Typically, these included the ability to motivate and influence others, to give honest feedback sensitively, to empathise and develop relationships, to monitor ones own behaviour, to handle emotions both of self and others and to read interpersonal situations and organisational politics.However it is important to note that emotional intelligence, or the skills of social awareness and communication, can be developed and honed. This resource aims to give a basic introduction to the area of effective communication and will seek to increase your awareness of for ms of communication, communication skills and social or interpersonal behaviour therein. Communication (from Latin commÃ… «nicÄ re, meaning â€Å"to share†) is the activity of conveying information through the exchange of thoughts, messages, or information, as by speech, visuals, signals, writing, or behavior. It is the meaningful exchange of information between two or more living creatures.One definition of communication is â€Å"any act by which one person gives to or receives from person information about that person's needs, desires, perceptions, knowledge, or affective states. Communication may be intentional or unintentional, may involve conventional or unconventional signals, may take linguistic or non-linguistic forms, and may occur through spoken or other modes.†Communication requires a sender, a message, and a recipient, although the receiver doesn't have to be present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at the time of communication; thus communi cation can occur across vast distances in time and space. Communication requires that the communicating parties share an area of communicative commonality. The communication process is complete once the receiver understands the sender's message. Communicating with others involves three primary steps:Thought: First, information exists in the mind of the sender. This can be a concept, idea, information, or feelings. Encoding: Next, a message is sent to a receiver in words or other symbols. Decoding: Lastly, the receiver translates the words or symbols into a concept or information that a person can understand. There are a variety of verbal and non-verbal forms of communication. These include body language, eye contact, sign language, haptic communication,and chronemics. Other examples are media content such as pictures, graphics, sound, and writing.The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities also defines the communication to include the display of text, Braille, tactile communication, large print, accessible multimedia, as well as written and plain language, human-reader, augmentative and alternative modes, means and formats of communication, including accessible information and communication technology. Feedback is a critical component of effective communication.Communication Process The A first step in unravelling the complexity of interpersonal communication is to understand the basic process by which communication occurs. Only then can we identify where possible problems can arise and explore skills for enhancing communication and managing such breakdowns. Human beings are not passive, predictable objects who always interpret meanings and react as they are ‘supposed to’. Neither is communication a passive, predictable, one way event.Rather, communication can be viewed as an active process, influenced by all the complexities and ambiguities of human behaviour. It is also fraught with potential points of breakdown. As Clampitt notes, ‘We actively construct meanings within a unique vortex that includes the words used, the context of the utterances, and the people involved.’(2005, p.8)A more accurate way of looking at the process of communication is probably as a dynamic, circuitous process in which elements such as non-verbal behaviour and individual styles of interpreting and ascribing meaning to events have significant influence. Strategies such as constructing a clear, unambiguous message can encourage effective communication, but sotoo can seeking to understand meanings imposed by the listener via processes such as actively listening to feedback. 1. Sending The Message:Person 1 constructs and sends a message. Messages are the signals and symbols that we use to convey what we want to transmit. They can occur in various ways, including visual (non-verbal, written), auditory (verbal and sub-vocal speech), tactile (touch, bodily contact) and olfactory(perfumes, aftershaves) formats. In order to send the message, it must be encoded intowords, as well as tone, inflection, facial expression, and other non-verbal language.While skills such as clear thinking, concise expression of plain english, logical association of ideas and organised speech are important, especially to specific contexts such as giving presentations they do not ensure that effective communication will take place. The meaning of the message is not contained solely in the words, as factors such as non-verbal cues, the context and the people involved will heavily influence meaning. It is important to note that unintended as well as intended meanings may be communicated via non-verbal leakage.2.The Channel In Clampitt’s (2005) model, this refers to the means used to deliver messages and the related formats. Means used to communicate can include face to face, telephone, pager, written, radio and video communication. In face to face communication, which is most often preferred for communication of more importan t matters, communication occurs through visual, auditory and olfactory formats, while the tactile medium may or may not be used. Skilled communicators will choose the channel most appropriate to the specific goals sought at that time.3. Receiving the MessageFor effective communication to take place, the message must be accurately decoded and reconstructed by person2, from the signals received from person 1. However, even if the â€Å"encoding† is carried out very well; this in itself does not ensure that it will be â€Å"decoded† accurately. The meaning ascribed to the message may vary according to the person doing the interpreting, the context in which the message was given and the total information communicated.4. FeedbackPerson 2 responds to person 1, and this message is received by person 1 as feedback. Again, feedback comprises both the verbal and non-verbal messages  of others, and allows us to evaluate how the message has been understood and the response to it . Actively listening to feedback is a key skill in effective communication. We can also get feedback from our own responses through a process known as ‘self-monitoring’ (Hargie et al 2004).Self-monitoring involves staying aware of what we are saying and doing in social encounters and how this is impacting on others. This type of feedback can then be used to alter or adapt our behaviour in the light of the responses from others.People who are skilled communicators are high self-monitors, who continuously analyse and regulate their own behaviour according to the way in which the other person is responding. With feedback as with other forms of message, the information received must be interpreted by us. Therefore, the message is susceptible to the same possible misinterpretations and will be influenced by factors such as context and people involved.Meaning is not an inherent quality of the message, but is perceived or constructed in the mind of the recipient. In the above exercise, a message that would seem to have been intended by the practice educator as being genuinely positive was misinterpreted as negative by the student in the second situation. The important part of this communication at this point, is how the practice educator listens to this feedback, the meaning that s/he ascribes to it, and how it is subsequently responded to.5. ContextA significant point to note is that communication never occurs in a vacuum. Communication is inextricably linked to the particular context in which it occurs, which in turn has a major impact upon behaviour. 6. NoiseThe term ‘noise’ describes anything that can interfere with or distort the meaning of a message. Dickson (1999) has identified a number of such barriers or common sources of noise, which can affect communication accuracy and effectiveness. †¢ Psychological:These include the perceptual biases or stereotypes that can impact on how we interpret a particular person’s message. People respond to stimuli in the environment in very different ways. We each have shortcuts that we use to organize data. Invariably, these shortcuts introduce some biases into  communication. Stereotyping is an example of such a shortcut.†¢ Semantic:This is used to describe situations where language or cultural differences distort or interfere with the meaning of the message. Effective communication requires deciphering and understanding the basic values, motives, and assumptions of the other person. Given that dramatic differences exist across cultures in terms of approaches to time, space, and privacy; the opportunities for misinterpretation when we are in cross-cultural situations are plentiful.†¢ Environmental:This refers to a range of factors such as size of room, layout of furniture, intrusive noise, heating and lighting etc. Each of these can either encourage or inhibit interaction.†¢ Demographic: Factors such as gender and age can impact on the way in which a message is interpreted. For example, a male listener may nod his head to indicate to the speaker ‘I agree’, whereas a female listener may nod her head to communicate ‘I am listening’ (but not necessarily agreeing); so sending the same visible feedback but with different actual meanings.†¢ Disability: Physical or neurological impairment as well as psychiatric illness can call for alternative means to the usual patterns of communication to be adopted. Some examples include sight or hearing loss, and conditions such as Parkinson’s disease or severe depression.†¢ OrganisationalBarriers to effective communication can be located within the organisation or agency itself. Difficulties with established lines and means of communication, different relative physical location of staff, lack ok of team or supervision meetings organisation or agency itself.Characteristics of Effective Communication Even in today’s electronic age, effective inter personal communication skills are a key factor in your professional and personal success. 1.A Clear,Concise MessageNo one likes a rambler, so have your primary purpose in mind when you begin your communication. Simplify your thoughts, so you can present your point in a precise manner. Once you have made your first important point, move on to  the next.2.Understanding of the RecipientEffective communicators know who they are talking to, and they understand the style of communication will vary based on the recipient. For example, you probably talk to your co-workers very differently than you talk to your boss.3.Empathy for the RecipientEmpathy involves putting yourself in the other person’s shoes. Effective communicators always see the situation from the perspective of the other person, including the emotions that might be involved with the message.4.Effective ListeningCommunication isn’t all about talking to someone. Effective listening means really hearing what the o ther person is saying as well. Paraphrasing the message and repeating it back to the individual will let you know you understood their point accurately. It also shows that you care enough about their message to get it right the first time. 5.Asking for Clarification, when NecessaryEffective communicators aren’t afraid to ask for clarification if they don’t understand the message they are receiving. When you ask for clearer understanding, it shows that you really care what the person is talking about and ensures the conversation proceeds appropriately. Clarification can come from paraphrasing what you heard the other person say or simply asking him to relay his message in a different way that is easier for you to understand.6.Adherence to the FactsEffective communicators are much more interested in passing of facts than assumptions or gossip. Avoid the rumor mill at all costs, and unless you can verify your information through the original source, do not pass it on to o thers. If you are conveying a message from another person, it is also important to get that person’s permission to do so before passing the information onto others.7.Awareness of Body LanguageBody language makes up a large percentage of our messages, so effective communicators learn how to tune into the nonverbal message they are sending. Make eye contact with the person you are talking to as much as possible, particularly when that person is speaking to you. Avoid potentially offensive body language like fidgeting, biting your lip or rolling your eyes that might convey boredom, cynicism or lack of honesty.8.Provision of Proper FeedbackWhen you offer feedback to another person, make sure it is constructive. Feedback is important to maintain a positive conversation and ensure you are both on the same page. Feedback might involve requests for clarifications, questions to expand a particular message, or constructive criticism about another’s performance. Pepper potential criticism with plenty of positive feedback so the recipient is more likely to hear your message and take it to heart.9.Inclusion of Praise, when AppropriateEffective communicators know how and when to offer praise. Positive feedback is always welcome, as long as the recipient knows it is authentic. When you praise another person, be specific in your compliment by linking it directly to a specific activity or attribute. Praise someone publically whenever you can, and make sure the praise coming out of your mouth is genuine. When you must convey negative information or criticism, try starting out with praise and ending with a positive statement. This â€Å"hamburger† approach usually helps others take criticism in stride.10. Positive AttitudeNo one likes to listen to a complainer, so effective communicators work hard to keep their messages positive. Instead of using phrases like, â€Å"I can’t† or â€Å"We won’t† in your conversations, focus on what you can do for others. Even if you cannot grant a request the way someone hopes, keeping your message positive will allow the other person to accept your â€Å"no† with grace. Effective communicators are typically the successful people in life that others admire. If you would like to join this elite group, practice these tips to improve your own communication skills. The improvement in your professional and personal relationships will make the work on your communication worth the effort.The Types of Communication Skills1. Verbal Communication Verbal communication skills are very important and must be honed, particularly in a job in which employees deal with the public. Clear communication requires straightforward language that is neither too flowery or too simple. It is essential to be able to use the spoken word to get your point across simply. Higher levels of communication competencies deal with persuasive speaking and these skills are necessary for management level employ ees and those in marketing positions within a company. All employees can benefit from public speaking courses, which help develop these key communication skills.2. Non verbal CommunicationNonverbal communication is much more difficult for many people. It consists of body language and the cues that are given off while listening to someone else speak. Those in customer service positions need to have a highly developed competency level in listening. Nodding of the head, inclining towards the speaker and showing an open body (shoulders back, arms uncrossed) let a speaker know that you are listening and hearing what they have to say.3. Oral communicationOral communication, while primarily referring to spoken verbal communication, can also employ visual aids and non-verbal elements to support the conveyance of meaning. Oral communication includes speeches, presentations, discussions, and aspects of interpersonal communication. As a type of face-to-face communication, body language and cho ice tonality play a significant role, and may have a greater impact upon the listener than informational content. This type of communication also garners immediate feedback.4. Written CommunicationOne often overlooked area of communication is the written word. Even the most basic position in a company requires employees to have good written communication skills. Proper spelling, grammar usage and a professional way of imparting information are important competencies that must be mastered. Written communication that is poorly worded, misspelled or full of errors detracts from the overall message that is being imparted. This is even more  vital when dealing with the public through written communication. People judge others by the way they write and it is important to make sure that written communication is professional.5. Business communicationA business can flourish only when all objectives of the organization are achieved effectively. For efficiency in an organization, all the peo ple of the organization must be able to convey their message properlyBarriers to Communication1.Language Barriers Clearly, language and linguistic ability may act as a barrier to communication. However, even when communicating in the same language, the terminology used in a message may act as a barrier if it is not fully understood by the receiver(s). For example, a message that includes a lot of specialist jargon and abbreviations will not be understood by a receiver who is not familiar with the terminology used. Regional colloquialisms and expressions may be misinterpreted or even considered offensive. See our page: Effective Speaking for more information.2.Psychological BarriersThe psychological state of the receiver will influence how the message is received. For example, if someone has personal worries and is stressed, they may be preoccupied by personal concerns and not as receptive to the message as if they were not stressed. Stress management is an important personal skill t hat affects our interpersonal relationships. See our pages Stress: Symptoms and Triggers and Avoiding Stress for more information.Anger is another example of a psychological barrier to communication, when we are angry it is easy to say things that we may later regret and also to misinterpret what others are saying. See our pages: What is Anger?, Anger Management and Anger Management Therapy for more information. More generally people with low self-esteem may be less assertive and therefore may not feel comfortable communicating – they may feel shy about saying how they really feel or read negative sub-texts into messages they hear. Visit our pages on Improving Self-Esteem and Assertiveness for more information.3.Physiological BarriersPhysiological barriers may result from the receiver’s physical state: for example, a receiver with reduced hearing may not grasp to entirety of a spoken conversation especially if there is significant background noise.4.Physical BarriersAn example of a physical barrier to communication is geographic distance between the sender and receiver(s). Communication is generally easier over shorter distances as more communication channels are available and less technology is required. Although modern technology often serves to reduce the impact of physical barriers, the advantages and disadvantages of each communication channel should be understood so that an appropriate channel can be used to overcome the physical barriers.5.Systematic BarriersSystematic barriers to communication may exist in structures and organisations where there are inefficient or inappropriate information systems and communication channels, or where there is a lack of understanding of the roles and responsibilities for communication. In such organisations, individuals may be unclear of their role in the communication process and therefore not know what is expected of them.6.Attitudinal BarriersAttitudinal barriers are behaviours or perceptions that prev ent people from communicating effectively. Attitudinal barriers to communication may result from personality conflicts, poor management, resistance to change or a lack of motivation. Effective receivers of messages should attempt to overcome their own attitudinal barriers to facilitate effective communication. Common Barriers to Effective Communication1.The use of jargon. Over-complicated, unfamiliar and/or technical terms. 2.Emotional barriers and taboos. Some people may find it difficult to express their emotions and some topics may be completely ‘off-limits' or taboo. 3.Lack of attention, interest, distractions, or irrelevance to the receiver. Barriers to 4.Differences in perception and viewpoint.  5.Physical disabilities such as hearing problems or speech difficulties. 6.Physical barriers to non-verbal communication. Not being able to see the non-verbal cues, gestures, posture and general body language can make communication less effective.7.Language differences and the difficulty in understanding unfamiliar accents. 8.Expectations and prejudices which may lead to false assumptions or stereotyping. People often hear what they expect to hear rather than what is actually said and jump to incorrect conclusions. 9.Cultural differences The norms of social interaction vary greatly in different cultures, as do the way in which emotions are expressed. For example, the concept of personal space varies between cultures and between different social settings.The Main Skills for Effective CommunicationFollowing are the main skills one should have to master to become an effective communicator. Although acquiring all these skills and mastering them to the same level seems to be challenging, knowing all these skills and slowly working on them will take you to the level you want to be in communication.1.Staying FocusedWhen you deal with a current crisis or an argument, relating something from the past is quite natural. When this happens, most of the times, the disc ussion goes out of topic and the situation can become quite complicated. Staying focused is one of the best skills not only for communicating under pressure, but for all types of communications ranging from lunch chitchats to board discussions. If you go out of focus, there is a high chance that the end result of the communication may not be effective.2.Listening CarefullyAlthough people think that they are listing when another person talks, actually they are spending time planning what to say next. This is what we actually do! Therefore, you need to make an extra effort in order to listen to what the other person says and then come up with what you want to say. If you are not sure what you've heard, repeat it and ask for their confirmation.3.Understanding Others' Point of ViewsIn most of the communications, we want ourselves heard and understood. We talk a lot on our point of view and try to get the buying of who are listening. Remember, others also do the same! If you want them to hear you, you need to hear them and understand their point of view too. If you can really see through their point of view, you can actually explain yours in a clear and applicable way.4.Empathy When CriticizingSometimes, we become really defensive when someone criticizes us. Since criticism has close ties with emotions, we can be easily erupted. But, in communication, it is really important to listen to the other person's pain and difficulties and respond with empathy. At the same time, try to extract the facts and the truth in what they say, it can be useful for you.5.Taking OwnershipTaking personal responsibility is strength. When it comes to effective communication, admitting what you did wrong is respected and required. Most of the times, there are many people, who share responsibility in a conflict. In such cases, admit what is yours. This behaviour shows maturity and sets an example. Your behaviour most probably will inspire others to take responsibility for their share.6.Com promise if NecessaryWe love to win arguments all the time, but how often have you felt empty inside after winning an argument? Sometimes, winning an argument does not make sense. You may win the argument but might lose the corporation of other people. Communication is not about winning, it's about getting things done. For the objective of getting things done, you may have to compromise in the process. If it is necessary, please do!7.Take a Time-Out if NecessarySometimes, you need to take a break in the middle of the discussion. If the communication is intensive, there can be ineffective communication pattern surfaced. Once you notice such patterns, you need to take a break and then continue. When you continue after the break, all the parties involved in the discussion will be able to constructively contribute for the discussion.8.Compete for Your ObjectiveAlthough there can be a lot of obstacles on your way, do not give up what you are fighting for. Surely you may have to compromise , but clearly stand for what you believe in. When it comes to communication, all the parties involved should satisfy with the outcome of it. Ask for Help Sometimes, you might have difficulties to communicate certain things to certain parties. This could be due to an issue related to respect or something else. In such cases, seek help from others. Your manager will be one of the best persons to help you with.ConclusionThus, effective communication helps us better understand a person or situation and enables us to resolve differences, build trust and respect, and create environments where creative ideas, problem solving, affection, and caring can flourish. As simple as communication seems, much of what we try to communicate to others—and what others try to communicate to us—gets misunderstood, which can cause conflict and frustration in personal and professional relationships. By learning these effective communication skills, you can better connect with your spouse, kids , friends, and coworkers.