Monday, September 30, 2019
Gender Identity
Gender Identity Kenneth Williams Psy 340 4/1/2013 Raymond Bragg Sex may be biological and although we may be born male or female, culturally that is not only what defines our gender roles, agree or disagree, there are many cultural influences that affect todayââ¬â¢s gender roles. We are at a point culturally were traditional definitions are often a moot point, in my home and the homes of my children traditional roles are followed, but in many homes today that is not the case, cultural influences have often taken over for traditional values what may have been the standard once is no longer.Include the roles of biological factors, nature and environmental influences, nurture on sexual differentiation and gender identity. Nature is responsible for the growth of a person from the sperm and egg level until the natural development into a normal adult. The genetic makeup of a human being is responsible for their sex, skin color, color of their eyes and hair as well as distinguishing feat ures which are inherited from their parents. Nature can only assist in the growth of a fetus into a normal well-developed adult who may have inherited some special talents.Thus it can be concluded that nature uses the genetic coding to help in physical development and does impart some positive or negative traits to an individualââ¬â¢s natural development. However, it is nurture which can be used to improve he positive traits and diminish the negative traits in a child. It is indeed important to recognize that nature in the form of inherited traits does exist but a personââ¬â¢s overall behavior is influenced a great deal by the nurture or ââ¬Å"upbringingâ⬠and the environmental factors involved in this upbringing. Several recent studies carried out on infant and child behavior have shown that there is significant evidence to support the fact that nurture strongly influences human development especially in the early yearsâ⬠(Collins 2000). In traditional society most parents encourage their kids to take part in extracurricular activities like learning music, dance or sports in accordance with the childââ¬â¢s talents and interests. The talents have been given by nature but they can only be developed into skills through the hard work of nurture.Based on your evaluation, determine which has the greater influence on gender identity: nature or nurture. Undoubtedly, nurture plays a very big role in early human development. Nurture in some way or another aids in speeding up an individual's capacity to study and learn new things. There is the common saying that ââ¬Å"practice makes perfect,â⬠so an individual can improve knowledge by practicing to adapt to all the situations in these circumstances or environment (Sports or academia). The part which nurture plays in human development has been demonstrated by psychologists in experiments in which stepping practice was administered to a cohort of inference for just a few minutes many times in a d ay. It was later that these children were able to walk several days earlier than infants who had not been given stepping practiceâ⬠(Zucker2000). Influence has its effect on any outcome. Discuss the current arguments about sexual identity and how evidence from biopsychology may help resolve the argument.It is obvious that nature is responsible for producing healthy and well-developed babies, but it is also nurture that plays an important role in the early stages of human development also. â⬠Research has concluded beyond doubt that early human development is quicker and more focused due to nurture as it builds up on the talents provided by nature. Nature may be responsible for the normal development of the fetus into a normal and healthy infant, but it cannot entirely develop that fetus into an intelligent, knowledgeable or athletic adult. (Collins 2000) This is possible only through the exposure and influence that nurture gives a person. Therefore, it would be a true state ment to say that nature has some degree of influence, nurture also strongly influences early and further human development. To determine where the greater influence comes from is based on oneââ¬â¢s own morals, beliefs and own personal influences. The argument on wheatear someone is born gay or influenced is an argument that has been going on for ages and will continue, is it nature or nurture?Are great athletes born or made, there has to be genetic influence, but, that natural ability has to be nurtured, the same argument can be made for something as meaningless as being a model, they may be born beautiful but, the care of oneââ¬â¢s self has to be taught. Resources www. apa. org/helpcenter/sexual-orientation. aspx Lalumiere, M,. Blanchard, R,. Zucker, K,. (2000) Sexual orientation and handedness in men and women: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin. 126. 575-592. Collins W. A. , Maccoby, E. E. , Steinberg, L. , Hetherington, M. E. , Bornstein, M. H. (2000). The case for na ture and nurture. Am. Psychol. 55:218-232. Gender Identity Gender Identity Kenneth Williams Psy 340 4/1/2013 Raymond Bragg Sex may be biological and although we may be born male or female, culturally that is not only what defines our gender roles, agree or disagree, there are many cultural influences that affect todayââ¬â¢s gender roles. We are at a point culturally were traditional definitions are often a moot point, in my home and the homes of my children traditional roles are followed, but in many homes today that is not the case, cultural influences have often taken over for traditional values what may have been the standard once is no longer.Include the roles of biological factors, nature and environmental influences, nurture on sexual differentiation and gender identity. Nature is responsible for the growth of a person from the sperm and egg level until the natural development into a normal adult. The genetic makeup of a human being is responsible for their sex, skin color, color of their eyes and hair as well as distinguishing feat ures which are inherited from their parents. Nature can only assist in the growth of a fetus into a normal well-developed adult who may have inherited some special talents.Thus it can be concluded that nature uses the genetic coding to help in physical development and does impart some positive or negative traits to an individualââ¬â¢s natural development. However, it is nurture which can be used to improve he positive traits and diminish the negative traits in a child. It is indeed important to recognize that nature in the form of inherited traits does exist but a personââ¬â¢s overall behavior is influenced a great deal by the nurture or ââ¬Å"upbringingâ⬠and the environmental factors involved in this upbringing. Several recent studies carried out on infant and child behavior have shown that there is significant evidence to support the fact that nurture strongly influences human development especially in the early yearsâ⬠(Collins 2000). In traditional society most parents encourage their kids to take part in extracurricular activities like learning music, dance or sports in accordance with the childââ¬â¢s talents and interests. The talents have been given by nature but they can only be developed into skills through the hard work of nurture.Based on your evaluation, determine which has the greater influence on gender identity: nature or nurture. Undoubtedly, nurture plays a very big role in early human development. Nurture in some way or another aids in speeding up an individual's capacity to study and learn new things. There is the common saying that ââ¬Å"practice makes perfect,â⬠so an individual can improve knowledge by practicing to adapt to all the situations in these circumstances or environment (Sports or academia). The part which nurture plays in human development has been demonstrated by psychologists in experiments in which stepping practice was administered to a cohort of inference for just a few minutes many times in a d ay. It was later that these children were able to walk several days earlier than infants who had not been given stepping practiceâ⬠(Zucker2000). Influence has its effect on any outcome. Discuss the current arguments about sexual identity and how evidence from biopsychology may help resolve the argument.It is obvious that nature is responsible for producing healthy and well-developed babies, but it is also nurture that plays an important role in the early stages of human development also. â⬠Research has concluded beyond doubt that early human development is quicker and more focused due to nurture as it builds up on the talents provided by nature. Nature may be responsible for the normal development of the fetus into a normal and healthy infant, but it cannot entirely develop that fetus into an intelligent, knowledgeable or athletic adult. (Collins 2000) This is possible only through the exposure and influence that nurture gives a person. Therefore, it would be a true state ment to say that nature has some degree of influence, nurture also strongly influences early and further human development. To determine where the greater influence comes from is based on oneââ¬â¢s own morals, beliefs and own personal influences. The argument on wheatear someone is born gay or influenced is an argument that has been going on for ages and will continue, is it nature or nurture?Are great athletes born or made, there has to be genetic influence, but, that natural ability has to be nurtured, the same argument can be made for something as meaningless as being a model, they may be born beautiful but, the care of oneââ¬â¢s self has to be taught. Resources www. apa. org/helpcenter/sexual-orientation. aspx Lalumiere, M,. Blanchard, R,. Zucker, K,. (2000) Sexual orientation and handedness in men and women: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin. 126. 575-592. Collins W. A. , Maccoby, E. E. , Steinberg, L. , Hetherington, M. E. , Bornstein, M. H. (2000). The case for na ture and nurture. Am. Psychol. 55:218-232.
Sunday, September 29, 2019
Music: a Magicful Medicine
Music:A Magicful Medicine Fine arts always have been a good way to express oneself for thousand years. One of them is a magical and a powerful way to affect people,both negatively and positively. Music is not just a way to fun or just an art. Almost everyone loves it,some of them say that they can not live without it. However,above all,music is able to do many things. There are a lot of ways that music effects people. As it was mentioned above, music has both negative and possitive effects on us. But these effects are usually possitive.First of all, and it is the most interesting affect maybe, it can cure diseases. Of course it can not be as effective as pills but it really helps during the cure. Due to the fact that music has an enormous affect on humain brain, it helps Alzheimers mostly and it is used as a rehabilitation. It reduces the worst effect of the disease: it brings back the lost memories. Until today, a lot of patients made a good progress by listening to music. In additi on, music also repairs patientsââ¬â¢ brains damage, like ââ¬ËKenny Roger Effectââ¬â¢. It is a vacation that shows how music can repair a human brain. Because songs by country performer Rogers were among the stroke patientsââ¬â¢ preferred tunes,we were thinking of calling this the Kenny Rogers Effect. ââ¬â¢ was said in an interview by Dr Soto. And interestingly, Rogersââ¬â¢ songs also provided the greatest benefits, according to some study findings. Another disease which music can be used as a cure is cancer, maybe the most dangerous one ever. Just like in Alzheimer, there are a lot of good examples which can prove musicââ¬â¢s effects on cancer. Firstly, it reduces stress and makes people feel more cheerful.We all know that what kind of songs we listen to can change our mood easily, we can suddenly start crying or feeling better just by listening to music. During the cancer rehabilitation, patientsââ¬â¢ moods, feelings and thoughts are very important. Music ca n raise patientsââ¬â¢ spirit and help them to feel better and less stressful. On the other hand, music is a very good way to learn and understand easily. Because of that, it can be applied education, especially in childhood. Music helps children during their education life. It is a really effective way to make a good progress in education.According to the last researches, children who play a musical instrument are more succesful in their school life than the others. The reason is simple: Playing an instrument makes a lot of parts of your brain work at the same time which is a very beneficial thing,especially for children. By the same token, children who interest in music are also more succesful than the others. There are two benefits of music for children. First, it helps them to understand easily. Today, people goes courses to understand and concentrate quickly. Because by just listening a song (a special song of course) you can do this.Classic music for example is a good altern ative. Listening a song from Beethoven can make your brain waves decelerate and this is one of the ways to improve your brainââ¬â¢s capasity. Another good effect of music is that it can improve intelligence. We all have seen a Mozart cd for babies or children at least for once. It is because there are so many examples of listening classic music can improve babies intelligence especially during the pregnancy. The works of Mozart and Beethoven are famous for mental function, because the frequencies used are very specific and place the mind in highly distinctive states.Studies have repeatedly shown that babies IQ rises by 3-5 points. Classic music also can make the memory stronger ââ¬ânot for just babies for everyone- and a strong memory is a good proof of an intelligence. To sum up, listening to music is just a free-time activity for a lot of people but in fact it is like a magical medicine for us. It has unbelievable effects on our body and brain and today these effects are be ing used as cures for cancer and Alzheimer. In other words, music is like a gift for people. Birnur Sahin Section:22 28/12/12
Saturday, September 28, 2019
Nurse Practice Act Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words
Nurse Practice Act - Essay Example This means all hospitals should have a staffing plan that provides adequate, appropriate and quality delivery of health care services and protects patient safety; and is consistent with the requirements of this title. The bill explains nurse-to-patient ratio in various settings. Like, in trauma emergency care unites, this equates to one nurse with one patient; in operating room units, it is one nurse to one patient along with an additional scrub assistant; in critical care units, it is 2 patients to one nurse; 3 patients to one nurse in emergency room units and so on. From the Nursing Practice Act perspective, this allocation should be regarded as highly critical for nurses because a nurse who leaves an inadequately staffed unit could be charged with client abandonment (White, 2000, 92). In addition, the bill also specifically describes certain restrictions and prohibitions to the staffing function. Hospitals are required to maintain and display uniform notice to evince registered nurse-to-patient ratios in each unit. In case of failure to do so, or found incoherent with reality, the hospital as well as nurses can be charged with responsible for dangers and/or damages. In case of inadequate staffing or absence of nurses, it could result in substandard care and be charged with legal complications. Staffing that does not comply with requirements in critical care unit and pediatric units could be at high risk of attracting physical damage to patients and child abuse, respectively, which may render dangerous legal consequences to the hospital as well as nurses. In spite of this bill, and its related consequences on the Nursing Practice Act, hospital nurse staffing still does not really seem to be adequate, looking at huge number of vacant positions in the nursing field. The bill requires the state board to assist hospitals in implementing this bill
Friday, September 27, 2019
BUSINESS STRATEGY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words
BUSINESS STRATEGY - Essay Example Based on this analysis, the companyââ¬â¢s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats are determined. The next step in business strategy is to make a customer analysis. This would reveal the changes and tastes and preferences of customers. It would also reveal the changing demographics which would consequently determine the companyââ¬â¢s strategies. It would also reveal the customerââ¬â¢s perceptions regarding the services of the company. The customer analysis would determine the price strategies for the company. The competitive analysis would provide insight into the competitorsââ¬â¢ weaknesses and strengths. Firms practicing an advanced and systematic competitive profiling remain at an advantage of knowing the competitorââ¬â¢s background, products, finances, facilities, products, markets and strategies. This would give an idea of the expected moves that the competitors would take. Based on this, the company would design its own strategies to have an extra edge o ver its customers. An internal analysis makes an analysis of the internal environment for the formulation of appropriate strategies. In this regard, the value chain analysis gives highlights on the main and the supportive activities which would add value to the company. The resource based view analyses the competencies and resources of the firm. The firmââ¬â¢s performance would depend on the distinctive capabilities. The company must also make a thorough analysis of its financial position. This allows proper management and reduction of costs associated. It is seen that the operating costs of British Airlines have increased steadily with the rise in fuel prices (BBC News-a, 2011). Financial assessments would also allow the company to undertake other cost cutting strategies like employee downsizing, compensation structure of employees, or other operations costs. The financial position would determine whether the company would be to withstand sudden shocks and the measures to be tak en during such times. Answer to question 2: The British Airways considers the importance of working closely with stakeholders. It is important to make the stakeholderââ¬â¢s analysis to ensure their interests are met. More so because the organisationââ¬â¢ policies and actions affect the people who have direct stake in the company. It is also important that they provide their views, opinions and suggestions which would allow giving shape to the organisation fight from the stage of infancy. The existence of powerful stakeholders provides support for the company. This allows greater possibility of attainment of success for the company. The first step in stakeholderââ¬â¢s analysis would be to identify the key stakeholders as well as the business interest associated with them. For example, the British Airwaysââ¬â¢ approach towards the implementation of corporate social responsibility is influenced by the fact that the airline generates major economic and social benefits. At th e same time it also has significant environmental impacts and on the communities surrounding the airport (CBI, 2006, p.1). Following this, the company would
Thursday, September 26, 2019
Demand and Utility Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
Demand and Utility - Essay Example If to look at the demand of expensive houses, demand is affected by the situation on the stock markets - if people do not have the need to buy another house, they would consider the option of investing the money into real estate or stock market to gain the profits in the short term. If the consumer wants to get the long term profits, he would invest into luxury products and the demand will go up. The decreased demand leads to the decreased supply of the luxury goods and increased supply of the goods aimed at middle-income people. As the result, the companies tend to introduce products that are more innovative and cheaper. The luxury goods are still desired, but less demanded and less purchased. However, when people buy luxury goods as the mean to show their social standing, the supply will not be affected because the demand stays the same as well. Looking at the never decreasing supply of the luxury high-end clothes, it is possible to say that the supply of expensive cloth will never go down and it is not affected by any economic factors. The demand of luxury electronics depends on the desire of potential customers to change their old devices on the new as well as on the price of the new devices.
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
Wireless and Mobile Computing Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words
Wireless and Mobile Computing - Research Paper Example Additionally, Turisco and Joanna, internet refers to a global network which provides information access, as well applications, by use of a Web navigator or browser. Three Data transfer Options Turisco and Joanna reveal that, todayââ¬â¢s market is features three commonly utilized method of data transfer; they include: i) Wireless Local Area Network (Wireless LAN) ii) Wireless Web or Wireless Internet iii) ââ¬Å"Hot syncingâ⬠or Data syncing. Although this approach is referenced as a method of wireless data transfer, it is not ideally a wireless method. Data syncing uses docking stations or docking cradles, connected to a LAN in order to support data transfer between the device and the organizationââ¬â¢s information system. Wireless LAN Matthew Gast, in his volume Wireless LAN, the term wireless LAN refers to a flexible communications and system of data communications, used, additionally, to or in place of a wired-oriented LAN. Turisco and Joanna, further, explain that, whi le featuring the Radio Frequency (RF) technology, the technology of wireless LANs receive and transmit data through the air. This approach minimizes the necessity of wired connections; the method, further, enables user mobility. Contrary to a number of other technologies, including as infrared, wireless LAN does not have to maintain the ââ¬Å"line-of-sightâ⬠technology. Thus, the featured device can apply anywhere within the area of coverage. In a wireless LAN technology, the caregiver keys in data into a featured (handled) device including a Personal Digital Assistance (PDA), tablet, or laptop with a unique wireless LAN card. The card relays data in real time, by use of an antenna, using RF technology to a terminal of access, mainly connected to a wall or ceiling. For example, in a hospital setup, the terminal of access is connected to the LAN sends the requests for data or data received from the handheld information system to the information patientââ¬â¢s care information system. Additionally, data from the information systemââ¬â¢s site can be relayed to the handheld system via the same technology. Wireless LANââ¬â¢s indicate efficient application in the setting of a health care. Within the health care set up, the mobility area is confined within the organization or building; and the information necessary for systemââ¬â¢s update can be immediately accessed. If the caregiver uses a relatively small handled device such as a PDA, such a small screen size suits the data viewing limitation, as well as the function of data collection. Tablets and laptops provide advanced capabilities of processing, more data storage, as well as larger display and thus users have access to entire records, as well as enjoy other privileges through the wireless connectivity. Wireless Internet A publication by Amjad Umar, Mobile Computing and Wireless Communications presents a discussion, that wireless internet (wireless Web) supports access data though mobile comput ing through the internet and particularly equipped handled devices. By using the latest PDA or a Web phone with the support of a micro browser, the user can, therefore, access display accessible data that can be accessed through the internet. From a technical explanation, the mobile device is connected to the systems cellular and thus can send requests to computer network (link) server. In this context, the server plays the role of a gateway, translating signals generated from the handheld devices into the signal language understandable by the Web, by use of an access as well as communication protocol. Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) emerges the leading
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
Enterprise and entrepreneurial management Essay
Enterprise and entrepreneurial management - Essay Example The competition in business industry has grown to a very different level (Chambers, 2008). The laundry business started will operate in London area; laundry and dry cleaning are the components of fashion and textile sector according to the national career service. The level of employment in the field has remained in a stable trend even under the current economic swings. Laundry and dry cleaning industry expects growth and increased employment in the coming years. The region where the business will operate is one of the largest regions in laundry and dry cleaning services in the United Kingdom. The business is launched because, in early childhood days, clothes washing took place at home but there were laundry services around the area. Washing and dry machines mostly considered expensive and hard to maintain. Although, the clothes were clean and smelled fresh the time taken and labor used remained high. According to statistics from the national association of laundry industry, laundry providers have decreased over the past two decades. In the early 1980s, the number was twelve thousand five hundred, but has since decreased by a margin of three thousand. The main reason cited by people in the industry is the cost of starting up a laundry service. The cost of launching a launderette ranges from sixty thousand to a hundred thousand pounds. The cost has minimized of competitors in the industry by a great extent. The family will provide financial support for starting the business through borrowing. The firmââ¬â¢s selling points include the modernization of laundry services from the common traditional forms. Reinvention and innovation are the key factors in the launch of the business. Equipping the business with flat screen televisions, introduction of gaming systems for the kids and having a cafe that serves food and beverages are some of the ways the firm will attract clients. People in the region are used to the traditional laundry services and bringing a new ide a through innovation and creativity will help in establishing a clientele base. Technological advance from the coin slots machine to use of top up cards and credit cards will attract everybody both the young and old. The move from coin slot machines is to enhance customer convenience and confidentiality. The product, price, location and promotion are some of the key ideas factored in the firms launch. Establishing a difference in the factors from the rest of laundry service providers will help in the creation of a differential factor from the rest of providers. SWOT analysis will become handy in the determination of the firms strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The firm will operate in a sole proprietorship, mainly to reduce the time used in setting up the firm (Chell, 2001). The business workers will come from the family members, and they will offer free service until the firm establishes. The firm requires a Rota that will ensure staff members are constantly availabl e, and the firm is not under or overstaffed. The owner with the help of an accountant friend performs the firmââ¬â¢s bookkeeping when it comes to tax returns. Business plan Keys to success The firm has several keys that promise its success, and they include location, convenience, environment and reputation. The location of the firm is strategic such that people will have a glance at it while walking at
Monday, September 23, 2019
The Public Employee Union of the Wisconsin State Research Paper - 1
The Public Employee Union of the Wisconsin State - Research Paper Example The governor in order to balance the budget deficit of the state proposed to confiscate collective bargaining from the public sector employees. The negotiation would only be restricted to their wages but it would only be increased up to consumer price index. The employees need to contribute more for pension and medical benefits but there would be no bargaining power. The employees in their working period had made a few contributions for pension benefits and now it is not possible to remove such benefits. The unions were of the opinion that the issue was a political attack to weaken the substantial support of the government workers from the public employee union. However, the government said that they were author conducting their duty for the welfare of the state otherwise the state would suffer from the budget pitfall. If such proposal is approved, then it would affect the government workers, teachers, nurses and various other professionals. However, the government had decided to pre pare the ultimate proposal related to the collective bargaining and would not accept the proposal of union members. The governor was of the opinion that stripping the public employees of the rights of collective bargaining and restraining the subjects of basic wages would provide the state a flexibility regarding the finances to be attained in sequence and also spare the taxpayers from misery (Williams, 2011). These types of issues can be solved by the logical obligation of cost on each side. Such an issue can arise in any situation in the state but it would need to be solved by negotiating, taking into concern the welfare of both sides. The eligible public employees are also required for the government sector. Thus, the favorable decisions from the part of government are important for heartening the employees.Ã
Sunday, September 22, 2019
The Entry into Practice for the Family Nurse Practitioner Essay
The Entry into Practice for the Family Nurse Practitioner - Essay Example This facility is in a rural medically-underserved area where the clinic is part of the hospital system ââ¬â but is not a hospital in the strictest sense. The clinic, however, shares the tax ID number with the hospital. It is also a provider-based health clinic (more on family practice and services). It is well-funded and is qualified under health provider shortage and medically-underserved categorization. In this sense, it is qualified to use either category, depending on need and on advantages. It is a small community of fewer than 20,000 inhabitants but it would likely serve more than one county or community. This type of town is one where everyone would most likely know each other. All the providers would have an LVN and the clinic has a clinic manager who would be acting as a liaison between the clinic and the hospital CEO; this manager would also be an intake coordinator; he would also coordinate staff for rescheduling, for billing, and for referrals. Pros and cons of workin g in identified arrangement One of the advantages of working in the identified arrangement are that the provider would be able to get to know his patients and the circumstances surrounding his patientsââ¬â¢ lives. Such an arrangement helps the provider administer the best type of care for his patients. Assessing the patient within his home environment is one of the ways for a provider to reach maximum efficacy (Hunt, 2008). The provider would not have much difficulty in evaluating his patients in their home setting because the community is small. Moreover, the provider would already know where the available resources are and know who would likely have access to such resources (Buppert, 2007). For the more specialized needs of the community, the clinic schedules specialists to visit at different times each month in order to reduce the need for patients having to travel to distant places to seek medical care. In the end, this practice helps ensure continuity of care for the patient s. Continuity of care is an important aspect of healthcare because it helps ensure that the patient would be fully monitored throughout his illness and would be able to eventually gain full recovery (Haggerty, et.al., 2008). Disadvantages are however also apparent in this set-up. For one, not many people would prefer living in medically-underserved areas because of the difficulty in accessing adequate and quality medical care (Shi and Singh, 2008). The more technical and higher level of services would be limited in this area. I noted however that the clinic where I precept conducts many high-level services because the health professionals in the clinic are very skilled. Throughout their years of practice in the rural setting, they have picked up and mastered various skills. They have encountered various patients and have come up with different ways to treat them or to stabilize them long enough to reach the next referral hospital. Even with the disadvantages which practitioners have encountered in the rural practice, the clinic has managed to work around its challenges and provide the best quality of services it can provide. It is important to note also that there are not as many positions for practitioners in the rural setting; the pay scale is lower than the average pay. The cost of services is however also lower than the cost of services appear in the urban setting.Ã
Saturday, September 21, 2019
According to Collis and Hussey Essay Example for Free
According to Collis and Hussey Essay Interviews ââ¬Å"are a method of collecting data in which selected participants are asked questions in order to find out what they do, think or feelâ⬠. Saunders et al. (2003) propose the idea that this method is an efficient way of collecting reliable and valid information, because the data gathered comes directly from the source in study, which certainly helps to achieve the research question and objectives of this project. Therefore, choosing interviews was based on its suitability in finding what is happening and seeking new sights when exploring career obstacles for Hong Kong women managers. Interviews are classified based on the degree of flexibility as well as formality and structure that the researcher would like to apply. Therefore, there are three types of interviews, structured, semi-structured and unstructured interviews (Kumar, 1999; Saunders et al. , 2000; Ghauri and Gronhaug, 2002). In the structured interview ââ¬Å"the investigator asks a pre-determined set of questions, using the same wording and order of questions as specified in the interview scheduleâ⬠(Kumar, 1999, p.109); in semi-structured interview, the questions are also prepared beforehand, but in contrast, they offer more flexibility in facilitating the interviewee to modify the questions to investigate new ideas that might come up during the interview; and the unstructured interviews are based on a general topic of interest, but the questions are spontaneously posed to the respondent (Kumar, 1999; Guillham, 2000; Saunders et al. , 2000; Ghauri and Gronhaug, 2002). See more: Foot Binding In China essay It has been suggested that for phenomenological approaches and exploratory researches, a semi-structure interview is the most suitable type since the interviewer can explore in-depth a specific area that might be of interest (Jankowicz, 1999). The interviews carried out for this research were semi-structured. One of the reasons of choosing this type of interview is because they are more conductible and easier to control in order to establish and maintain empathy with respondents, so make the respondents be more comfortable and express their opinions more freely. It also gives the interviewer the opportunity to discover and understand the respondentsââ¬â¢ points of view and beliefs about a specific situation (Zikmund, 2000). Saunders et al. (2000) mention that semi-structured are qualitative research interviews and are classified as non-standardized, where questions might vary from one interview to another since it depends on the course that the conversation takes, hence it would required of additional questions. In addition, Healey and Rawlinson (1994 cited Saunders et al., 2000) point out that more than one type can be used within an interview, where one section may ask factual closed questions, such as personal details, and the next sections could explore more qualitative issues. In this case, a combination of styles was adopted within the interviews held. The first section consisted of a set of factual questions in order to find out the intervieweeââ¬â¢s work position and background. The following sections were based on qualitative responses where relevant topics were taking under consideration accordingly to the literature review developed in Chapter II as well as aim and objectives of the research. For instance, in the second section, Hong Kong women managers were asked to shed light on their marriage and family aspects; their nature of job, obstacles in their career pathways; and their plans to grow in their organizations in future. Furthermore, the semi-structured interviews allowed a free-flowing discussion, which in turn produced a better understanding of the way of thinking, opinions, and behavior of women manager in relation to their experiences towards working in an environment that supports male managers and the career obstacles they face. 3. 7. 3. Data Quality Issues There are a number of data quality issues to be aware and consider when conducting an interview, otherwise it would put at risk the findings of the investigation. In this case information supplied to the interviewee, confidentiality, listening skills and recording of interviews is going to be considered for this section (Kvale, 1996; Saunders et al. , 2000). 3. 7. 3. 1. Information Supplied to the Interviewee An important issue to promote credibility to the investigation is the supply of relevant information to the participants prior the interviews. In this way, the interviewee considered the information under study and was prepare to discuss their experiences and opinions, which helped to develop the research credibility. This was reached through a letter sent to the participants, which can be seen in Appendix A. It was also mentioned the duration of the interviews, in order to let them organize their time and provide an approximately one hour to one hour and a half to the interview with no interruptions. 3. 7. 3. 2. Confidentiality According to Kvale (1996, p.114) ââ¬Å"confidentiality in research implies that private data identifying the subjects will not be reportedâ⬠. The author also highlight that the change of names to protect the privacy of the participants is of an important issue, since encourages people to reveal experiences, feelings and facts which enrich the information given by the interviewee, facilitating the development of the research (Kvale, 1996; Guillham, 2000). Hence, it was explained to the interviewee the purpose of the research and the use that it is going to have in order to gain their trust and confidence. 3. 7. 3. 3. Listening Skills For this quality issue, it is important to have attentive listening skills in order to understand the intervieweeââ¬â¢s opinions and explanations, especially to identify comments that are relevant to the research and that might imply of develop new ideas and questions in order to keep the conversation going in the same track which is the basic characteristic of a semi-structured interview (Saunders et al. , 2000). In this case, commentaries were kept to a minimum, which allowed the interviewees to answer freely and avoid bias to the questions asked. 3. 7. 3. 4. Recording of Interviews There have been issues in relation to the recording of information gathered from the data collection methods, and the most acceptable one is the tape-recording, which its record has to be immediately after it was taken in order to obtain a reliable data for its analysis. This issue leads to what have been mentioned above in relation to the confidentiality that the researcher gives to the study per se. In addition, authors suggest making notes as well in order to make the most of the interview, that is, not to miss any relevant information that the interviewee provides (Guillham, 2000; Saunders et al. , 2000; Ghauri and Gronhaug, 2002). In this case, interviews were recorded with the permission of the respondents in order to retain as much data for the transcription and facilitate the analysis procedures, which is going to be conveyed into the next chapter. However, according to Saunders et al. (2000) and Ghauri and Gronhaug (2002), there are some disadvantages that tape-recording an interview can bring, such as the intervieweeââ¬â¢s hesitation in responding some question or even not to answer them, which will reduce the reliability of the interview; as well as the transcription is time consuming. In the former, the participants did not have any inconvenient for the interview be recorded; and for the latter time furthermore was reserved for the interviewsââ¬â¢ transcription. 3. 8. RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY OF THE RESEARCH. As stated by Collis and Hussey (2003) and Saunders et al. (2003), there are two aspects related to the credibility of the findings, thus it is important to consider the significance of the reliability and validity of the research outcome. In this case, reliability is concern with how well it has been carried out the research project (Blaxter et al. , 2001), which refers to the possibility of obtaining the same exact results if repeating the study (Collis and Hussey, 2003), in other words, the consistency of the methods of data collection, thus the results (Denscombe, 2002). On the other hand, validity concerns with whether the data, approaches and techniques in study actually relate to the issues that have been explored and the results relate to what is really happening in the situation (Blaxter et al. , 2001; Collis and Hussey, 2003; Saunders et al. 2003). There are some discussions which claim that qualitative research often provide valid findings, while quantitative research offers more reliable findings (Berg, 2004). This has been critiqued by Saunders et al. (2000) who state that it is possible for qualitative and quantitative research to provide both valid and reliable findings. Therefore, it can be said that considering the present research, which adopts a phenomenological approach, it is important to highlight that the reliability and validity of the questions in the interviews were maximized by the careful design of the individual questions and the clear explanation of the purpose of the interviews. Moreover, the reliability and validity of the research and the obtained information gathered from the interviews is directly linked to the applied strategy and purpose of the research, as well as to the aim and objectives of the investigation. Besides, validity is ensured by the transcriptions and further analysis of the intervieweeââ¬â¢s experiences and opinions by direct quotations. 3. 9. ETHICAL ISSUES Researchers like Creswell (1994), Kumar (1996), Saunders et al. (2000), Collis Hussey (2003) and Jankowicz (2005) have placed emphasis on the importance of ethical considerations when doing a research. For business and management researchers, ethical issues of vital importance are confidentiality, informed consent, and honest representation of findings. Therefore, considering these ethical issues, this research requested the consent of the participants prior to the data collection, guaranteeing them of the confidentially of the information they would provide. In addition, the data collected was analyzed in a logical and scientific manner, allowing the proper representation of findings. CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS OF FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 4. 1 COPING STRATEGIES TO COMBAT SEX DISCRIMINATION Two of the participants responded that they have not felt any kind of sex discrimination at their workplace. None of the participants felt that women need to use their feminism in order to progress in their careers. Anna responded that the gap of academic, promotional and employment opportunities for women has almost filled and men and women are getting almost equal opportunities. Anna and Emmy felt that women can do what they have decided to do in their minds and they consider themselves as an example of that kind of women. Maggie, in contrast, does not feel the same because she has an experience of workplace sex discrimination against women. She has also been discouraged to join the old-boy network and she has also experienced sexual harassment in her organization. She informed the researcher that the only way to cope up with the workplace discrimination is to get ready to move to a new job. She agreed with Emmy and Anna by saying that women who want to excel in their career can do it on their own merits. Maggie informed the researcher that she does not believe in confronting her seniors about the elimination of sex discrimination from the workplace. She also does not have any expectations from her seniors that they will try to eliminate sex discrimination from the workplace by implementing strategies to promote anti sex ââ¬âdiscrimination policies. Thus the present study confirms the finding of study by Venter (2002) that there is no or little sex discrimination at todayââ¬â¢s workplaces in Hong Kong. Venter (2002) found out that 66 % of the women managers interviewed in Hong Kong had responded that they did not find any sex discrimination at their workplace and 83% of them had felt that the attitude towards female managers are same as towards male managers. Westwood Leung (1999) found out that Hong Kong women managers are very less aware of the sex discrimination at workplace. Ng Pine (2003) had reported very interesting information that several Hong Kong women managers believe that sex discrimination is a prominent feature at Hong Kong organizations but when they were asked to describe their experience of sex discrimination then only a small number of the women managers were able to describe their own experience. The rest of the respondents informed that they havenââ¬â¢t experienced sex discrimination personally. Studies have clearly proved that Hong Kong women managers do not have any intention to confront their superiors and fight for the anti sex discrimination policies. Researches have also shown that when Hong Kong women managers are sexually harassed then they even do not confront the harasser and report to superiors and they instead use coping strategies such as they avoid or ignore the harasser, they prefer to quit or get transferred if the problem is not resolved (Chan et al. 1999; Ng 1995b). High attitude towards opportunities is found among Hong Kong women managers. They have great ability to deal any kind of discrimination at their work place. They keep their eyes and ears open and keep themselves in search of a suitable job incase they are fired or they quit. Their general and overall aim is to progress in their careers to get the higher positions in the organizations and thus they use their flexible nature to get the maximum number of opportunities to be succeeded (Venter 2002). Ng Pine (2003) reported that female hotel managers believe in using personal strategies to cope up with the discriminatory issue at their workplace. They believe in developing by looking more presentable, tend to dress up like a professional and rely on working hard to be proved as highly professional. Ng Pine (2003) found that majority of Hong Kong women managers have a high ââ¬Ëcan-doââ¬â¢ attitude and thus they believe in doing their job the best ways irrespective of the discriminatory issues against them at their workplace. Ng Chiu (1997) explained the reason of few organizations with family friendly policies is the low expectations behaviors of Hong Kong women managers who do not confront their superiors for the elimination of sex discrimination from the organization and they instead depends on their personalized strategies. Babcock Laschever (2003) found out the reason of Hong Kong women managersââ¬â¢ less success is due to their less skilful negotiating attitudes. However, it can not be said whether they have less skilful negotiating attitudes but it is clear from the evidences that negotiation is not prominent in the attitude of the women managers. Venter (2002) found out that as Hong Kong women managers do not have the habit to confront their superiors to get their equal rights at the workplace, they simply get less tensed as compared to other female managers who belong to Britain. Thus Hong Kong Chinese women managers are more successful in their careers and reach to the higher positions as compared to British women managers in Hong Kong. Javidan House (2001) explained that high achievement is a part of Hong Kong culture and this culture has changed the attitudes of employed women and has made them enthusiastic to grow in their careers. Hong Kong Women managers who fly high in their careers are seen as highly respected due to their ability to achieve their goal on their own without any support of society and workplace. But the women who do not reach the higher positions are blamed to be a failure due to their lack of sense of professionalism. They are considered as ââ¬Ënon professionalââ¬â¢ when they do not reach to the managerââ¬â¢s position. It is reflected among the society and organizations that a form of sex discrimination is evident due to the stereotyping of sex and power relations based on genders. There are very few structural changes through which the sex stereotyping and gendered roles at organizations can be changed. 4. 2 COPING STRATEGIES TO COMBAT GENDER ROLES The researcher asked all the three interviewees about their perception of single women. All of them have different perceptions on single women. Emmy feels that women stay single when they are not beautiful and thus no men attract towards such ugly women. Maggie sighed that she dreams of being a single but she also feels that being single it would have been very difficult for her to grow in her career and she has not been as successful as she is now. She also said that her roots in careers would have been very weak being a single woman. Anna feels that being a single woman is the best thing in the world. All her single friends are living happily and they do not want to get married because they believe that marriage brings a lot of problems with it. As diversity is more profound among the community of single women, the three interviewees seem influenced by the reflection of such diversity. Maggie, Anna and Emmy, all of them, love their husbands and children very much and they feel that they are the most important part of their lives. Though they consider family as the most important thing in their lives, they also believe that they cannot be stay-at-home women because they feel that they get the sense of achievement when they work and thus they get a balanced life. The nature of job of Emmy is quite flexible so she is allowed to work in flexible hours, and this way she gets a lot of time to spend with her family. She feels that her work has not affected her role as a mother as she takes plenty of time out to spend with her children. Maggie and Anna feel in contrast. They feel that they have been sandwiched between their wish to grow in their careers and their wish to spend more time with their children to ensure that the childrenââ¬â¢s education is not getting affected. This shows that both of them have both a high sense of achievement and a high sense of parenting. They feel guilty of not fulfilling their wish to be a good parent though both of them have hired foreign domestic helper. All the three interviewees believe that bringing up children is the primary duty of a woman and if a woman is employed then this duty should be handed over to other members of the extended family. All the three interviewees consider their families more important than their careers as compared to their husbands. These women do not have the habit of negotiation so they do not confront with their husbands and superiors to give them equal status. Researches have shown that Hong Kong women managers use personalized strategies to deal with work-family stress by taking help from relative, foreign domestic helpers and tutors (Lo et al. 2003; Ng 1999). Hakim (2003) also supported these positions that Hong Kong employed women are more family-centered as compared to their husbands and thus these women tend to less successful in their careers as compared to their husbands. The coping strategies that Hong Kong employed women used to reduce their work-family stress have a strong relation to the social culture of Hong Kong. Majority of Hong Kong employed women believe that they will not get any help from the government in terms of a caretaker because the social culture promotes the caretaker role of mothers and wives. If these women need help of a caretaker then they have to do it on their own because this is considered as a personal problem instead of a societal problem. All the three interviewees believe that though they are working at higher positions but their husbands should be respected as they are the breadwinners. Wives should help their husbands to be more successful in their careers. This shows that the traditional values of Hong Kong have set the mind of the women regarding their roles as a wife and a mother. The present study confirms the results of the previous studies (EOC 1997; Hong Kong Government 2003a) that the traditional ideology of a Chinese family for a man to be in charge of the work outside the house and for a woman to be in charge of the work inside the house is still present in Hong Kong culture. Due to the impact of this culture, even when both the parents are equally working and are equally concerned about the academic achievements and social well-being of their children, husbands have the liberty to be more career oriented by leaving behind their family without any sense of guilt. Thus, the culture of Hong Kong does not appreciate the growth of women as career women. This is impossible until and unless structural changes are made to understand these cultural contexts. The power structure can be changed only when the society and organizations believe in equal opportunities by dividing the power equally among women and men managers as the career success of a woman on her own basis is of no use. 2. 1. 1 FUTURE OF CAREER DEVELOPMENT OF WOMEN AS MANAGERS IN HONG KONG It is commonly believed in Hong Kong that women can achieve their goals by their enthusiasm and hard work. For this reason, Hong Kong women working at senior managerial positions tend to believe in personally designed strategies to cope up with the requirements of their workplace, homes and kids. Moreover, they believe in handling the situation of sex discrimination personally rather by confronting their superiors for the implementation of anti sex discrimination policies. They are no or little aware of a political agenda that can change their lives by bringing positive changes in institutionalization of their family status, by changing the organizational culture and state policies. Maggie, Emmy and Anna informed the researcher that they do not get time for socialization. Anna informed that in Chinese culture, home is considered as a private place so majority of Chinese do not believe in inviting friends at home unless they are very close to them because they think that it will ruin their privacy. Majority of Hong Kong women trust extended family members to take care of their children but this scenario may result in increased problems for them in future. Mobility of labor force has increased due to globalization. Two of the three interviewees are not originally Hong Kong based. A steady rise has been observed in the number of women managers on the mainland. Due to intensification of globalization, less stability is expected in support from the extended family members in Hong Kong. The traditional heterosexual family system in Hong Kong has been changed and different forms of family structure have appeared. The concept of extended family members was possible in a heterosexual family only. So, this concept does not seem to be valid with the new family structure as single-parent families are becoming common. As the concept of extended family is diminishing, women who prefer to grow in their career would seem to have no children. if primary importance will continue to be given to husbandââ¬â¢s career, and wifeââ¬â¢s role will be continued as a support to her husband than her husband has been to her, then there are great chances for a large number of career oriented women to remain single. When women will have to work hard and design personalized strategies to cope up with the work-family stress then a large number of women will stop marrying. Thus, number of never-married women will increase in Hong Kong. CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION Push and pull tensions are found among Hong Kong women managers. At one side, the traditional Chinese culture is still dominated in Hong Kong that makes women responsible primarily for their housework and men are considered as bread-winners. Women are expected to bring up and take care of children and other family members. So this traditional Chinese culture does not seem supportive for a woman to dream of getting success in organizations besides performing her domestic duties. At another side, women in Hong Kong that have earned higher degrees are attracted towards handsomely paid jobs due to the realistic approach of capitalism in Hong Kong. Successful women managers in Hong Kong are rewarded. Organizations search for never-married women who are ready to work on the pre-decided terms of men. So it is a common belief in Hong Kong that if women are good they can get success in organizations. If women are very good at setting personalized agenda to balance their work-family stress then they would be successful. But the researcher is not happy with these conditions. The researcher suggests that women should be encouraged and supported by society and organizations. They should be given support to get a balanced life. Organizations should implement strategies to promote anti discrimination policies. Women and family friendly policies should be encouraged in organizations. This means that there is a need to redefine the role of women at home and in organizations. They should be given equal opportunities like men and be promoted to higher positions as per their skills. Appendix A. Letter sent to the Participants of the Interviews Dear Participants, Thank you for agreeing to do this interview and participate in my Masters investigation. This letter is to inform you all related to the interview, to establish your ethical rights and my responsibilities, as well as to provide some information prior to the interview. My intention is to do an investigation to explore whether a bamboo-ceiling exists in the career pathway of Hong Kong women managers. I am currently interviewing women managers that are working in a male dominating environment to find out whether these women managers face any obstacles in order to achieve the purpose of my study. The data will be collected via interviews, which will last one hour and one hour and a half. During the interview you have the right to refuse to answer a question or a set of questions. The participantââ¬â¢s identities will be remained as confidential at all stages, during and after the research. Expected benefits of participation will be the opportunity to contribute knowledge to a largely under researched area and the obtained findings will be used for academic purposes only, so the access to the collected data will be permitted for university lectures and library use only. Thank you once again for your cooperation. Yours sincerely, [Your name] [Your degree] [Your university] Table 1: Ratio of Women Managers in Hong Kong, % Year Proportion, % 1994 17. 5 1995 19. 4 1996 19. 6 1997 19. 9 1998 21. 5 1999 21. 9 2000 24. 2 2001 25. 4 2002 25. 7 Source: Hong Kong Government, 2003b: 57. Table 2: Distribution of Managers by Industry and Gender Table 3: No. of Males and Females Never-Married Aged 15 and Over Source: Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong Government. Table 4: No. of Never-Married Employed Males and Females by Occupation, 2001. Source: Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong Government. Table 5: Main Employment, Female-Male Ratio, Median Monthly Income, Marital Status, Age Source: Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong Government. References Babcock, L. Laschever, S. 2003. Women Donââ¬â¢t Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press). Berg, B. , 2004. Qualitative Research Methods for the Social Sciences. International Student Edition. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc. Blaxter, L. , Hughes, C. and Tight, M. , 2001. How to research. 2nd ed. Buckingham: Open University Press. Bryman, A. , 2004. Social Research Methods. 2nd ed. Oxford: Prentice-Hall. Chan, D. K. S. , Tang, K. S. -K. Chan, W. 1999. Sexual harassment: a preliminary analysis of its effects on Hong Kong Chinese women in the workplace and academia, Psychology of Women Quarterly, 23(4), pp. 661ââ¬â672. Chow, I. H. 1995. Career aspirations, attitudes and experiences of female managers in Hong Kong, Women in Management Review, 10(1), pp. 28ââ¬â32. Collinson, D. L. , Knights, D. Collinson, M. 1990. Managing to Discriminate (London: Routledge). Collis, J. , and Hussey, R. , 2003. Business Research: A practical guide for undergraduate and postgraduate students. 2nd Ed. New York: Palgrave McMillan. Creswell, J. , 1994. Research Design: Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches. 1st ed. London: Sage Publications. Crystal, G. 2003. Cracks appear in glass ceiling numbers, South China Morning Post, 17 October, p. B22. Denscombe, M. , 2002. Ground Rules for Good Research. A 10 point guide for social researchers. 1st ed. Buckingham: Open University Press. EOC. 1997. A Baseline Survey of Equal Opportunities on the Basis of Gender in Hong Kong 1996ââ¬â1997 (Hong Kong: Equal Opportunities Commission). Fosh, P. , Ng, C. , Snape, E. Westwood, R. 1999. Hong Kong at the end of the twentieth century: management and labour trends, in: P. Fosh, A. W. Chan, W. W. S. Chow, E. Snape R. Westwood (Eds) Hong Kong Management and Labour: Change and Continuity, pp. 3ââ¬â24 (London: Routledge). Ghauri, P. and Gronhaug, K. , 2002. Research Methods in Business Studies. A practical guide. 2nd ed. Essex: Pearson Education Limited. Ghauri, P. N. , Gronhaugh, K. and Kristianslund, I. , 1995. Research methods in business studies: a practical guide. 1st ed. London: Prentice-Hall. Gillham, B. , 2000. The Research Interview. 1st ed. London: Continuum. Hakim, C. 2003. Models of the Family in Modern Societies: Ideals and Realities (Aldershot: Ashgate). Hochschild, R. A. 1989. The Second Shift: Working Parents and the Revolution at Home (New York: Viking Penguin). Hong Kong Government 2004. Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women: Second Report on Hong Kong Special Administration Region (Hong Kong: Health, Food and Welfare Bureau). Hong Kong Government. 2001. 2001 Population Census: Main Report 1 (Hong Kong: Census and Statistics Department). Hong Kong Government. 2002. Women and Men in Hong Kong: Key Statistics (Hong Kong: Census and Statistics Department). Hong Kong Government. 2003a. Thematic Household Survey: Report No. 14 (Hong Kong: Census and Statistics Department). Hong Kong Government. 2003b. Women and Men in Hong Kong: Key Statistics (Hong Kong: Census and Statistics Department). Jankowicz, A. , 2005. Business research projects. 4th ed. London: International Thomson Press. Javidan, M. House, R. J. 2001. Cultural acumen for the global manager: lessons from project GLOBE, Organizational Dynamics, 29(4), pp. 289ââ¬â305. Kanter, R. M. 1977. Men and Women of the Corporation (New York: Basic Books). Kumar, R. , 1999. Research Methodology. A step-by-step guide for beginners. 1st ed. London: Sage Publications. Kvale, S. , 1996. Interviews, an Introduction to Qualitative Research Interviewing. 1st ed. London: Sage Publications. Law, N. 2003. HK women socially aware, but traditional at heart, South China Morning Post, 23 January, p. 6 Lee, H. 2004. Arming women with knowledge, South China Morning Post, 9 February, p. C4. Lee, K. 2003. Picture forms of cross-border workers, South China Morning Post, 9 May, p.A5. Lo, S. , Stone, R. Ng, C. W. 2003. Workââ¬âfamily conflict and coping strategies adopted by female married professionals in Hong Kong, Women in Management Review, 18(4), pp. 182ââ¬â190. Mak, G. C. L. Chung, Y. -p. 1997. Education and labour force participation of women in Hong Kong, in: F. M. Cheung (Ed. ) Engendering Hong Kong Society: A Gender Perspective of Womenââ¬â¢s Status, pp. 13ââ¬â39 (Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press). Mak, G. C. L. 1992. The schooling of girls in Hong Kong: progress and contradictions in the transition, in: G. A. Postiglione (Ed.). Education and Society in Hong Kong, pp. 167ââ¬â180 (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press). Morrison, A. M. , White, R. P. Van Velsor, E. The Center for Creative Leadership. 1987. Breaking the Glass Ceiling (Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley). Ng, C. W. Chiu, W. C. K. 2001. Managing equal opportunities for women: sorting the friends from the foes, Human Resource Management Journal, 11(1), pp. 75ââ¬â88. Ng, C. W. Ng, E. G. H. 2002. The concept of state feminism and the case for Hong Kong, Asian Journal of Womenââ¬â¢s Studies, 8(1), pp. 7ââ¬â37. Ng, C. W. Pine, R. 2003. Women and men
Friday, September 20, 2019
Functions of Human Resources in Organisations
Functions of Human Resources in Organisations Executive Summary In this assignment, discuss about the functions of the Human Resource Department in an organization. As per case study, Reed Boardall is a typical company. It has 700 plus employees. This company does not have a HR department. In this assignment there are four sections: 1st section is the introduction of the Human Resource Department. HR department is a department to settle personnel problem of an organization. HR department is the bridge of management and employees. In 2nd section, regarding the study case, Reed Boardall decided not have HR department in his company, so there are advantage and disadvantage of his decision. For advantage of Chief Executive Keith Boardallââ¬â¢s decision, not having HR department, can save up the money to pay the HR department staff, aim for cost saving. Simplified the management level, prevent unnecessary bureaucracy. Without HR Department, save up time to solve conflict. If some conflicts occur between employees, line manager can solve immediately, no need to pass through the HR department and analysis or investigate. For disadvantage of Chief Executive Keith Boardallââ¬â¢s decision, not having HR department, will occur some problem regarding on employee relation, employment development and hiring process. In 3rd ections discuss of function HR department. They plan the manpower the organization. HR department arrange the training for employee and the development plan for the employees, determined wages of the employees. Arrange performance appraisal once or twice a year to analysis and offer a promotion to good employees. Establish the organization policy and implement into the organization to all employees. At 4th section, that is the last section, to conclude the whole assignment. HR department is important for the bigger organization. It is advisable to having a HR department if the organization having more than 50 plus employee.HR department is to handle the personnel stuff in the organization. Regarding the hiring process, training, wages for employees, company policy, all handle by HR department. So that, line managers can focus on their work scope. Every department can perform well in their own work scope. 1.0à Introduction The Researcher shows (Aminuddin.2009, p.2) human resource management is the development and implementation of systems in an organization designed to attract, develop and retain a high-performing workforce. HR responsibilities are recruit suitable employees, Arrange the suitable training course to employees, plan the appraisal to the employees, state the compensation and reward policy to match with the employment laws. Keeping the employeesââ¬â¢ disciplinary record update also is the HR department job scope. There are some suggestions and details of HR Department function explain to Chief Executive Keith Boardall for persuade him to having HR Department in company better future. 2.0à Introduction As per case study, Reed Boardall company is a typical company, 700 plus staff working in the company at different department, include finance, marketing, PR. There are no Human Resource Department in company Reed Boardall. Below are the advantage and disadvantage of company Reed Boardall not to have HR Department. 2.1à Advantage of Reed Boardallââ¬â¢s decision 2.1.1 Cost Company need to spend large amount of money to HR department as wage of employees, if the organization does not have HR department, the money can be re-invest on the company business. 2.1.2 Simplified Management If there is no HR Department, the organization can reduce the unnecessary layers bureaucracy. If having HR department, more employee to watch over, and more procedure need to follow. It will causes business owner or manager less authorities to make a decision, and due to the process take long time to settle. The organization not having an HR department will simplifies the management process. 2.13 Time For Solving Problem As per Keith said, if any conflict happened, line manager should do the personnel function and knew the incident clearly, so the line manager can solve the conflict efficiency. 2.2 Disadvantage of Reed Boardallââ¬â¢s decision 2.2.1 Employee Relation Without HR department employee in an organisation may difficult to developing and maintain a good relationship between one and each other. Human resources is the middle person between the owner or management person and the employees. HR Department is a place let employee to say out their unsatisfied regard their work. HR Department will understand the employee. It decreases the gaps between company management and employees and offers employees the opportunity to release their unhappy about the company. If your company does not have human resource department, it must develop a plan to effectively communicate with employeesââ¬â¢ concern. 2.2.2à Employee Development Another advantage of human resource planning involves employee development. As the human resource department identifies potential employees to promote them to management positions, send them to training, upgrade their skill and promote them.. HR department review employeesââ¬â¢ appraisal report, and arrange the promotion. 2.2.3 Simplified Hiring Process When there is lack of manpower in an organizational, managers or owner will be responsible for the recruitment, searching the applicant qualification, select the right candidates for the position. If there is Human resource department, owners and managers can focus on their daily tasks rather than searching for candidates, interviewing them and performing background checks. They can just give the work to the human resources department to focus on the hiring process. 2.3 Conclusion In the conclusion, there have advantage and disadvantage of Executive Keithââ¬â¢s decision to not having HR department. The researcher show (Hill, 2001, p225) if an organisational having less than 50 employees, the organisational should not have an HR Department because it will increase the cost. But in other side, if the organisational having more than 50 employees, the organizational are advisable to have an HR department to manage the employee in the company. If the Organizational have an HR department, the line manger can more concentrate in their work scope, it may lead to the line manager have a better performance in their position. 3.0à Introduction Function of HR Department are recruit suitable employees for the organisation, send the suitable employee to the suitable training, arrange the appraisal programs, establish compensation and reward system, concern for safety and health of the employees, establish the organization policy with implementing the employment laws, improving employeesââ¬â¢ productivity, and keep the employeesââ¬â¢ record up to date. (Hill, 2001) There are some suggestions and details of HR Departmentââ¬â¢s functions explain to Chief Executive Keith Boardall for persuade him to having HR Department in company to had better future. 3.1 Function of HR Department 3.1.1 Manpower Planning It involves the process of recruit the right candidates for the suitable position for the organization. Beside this, HR Department must plan how many should recruit for each department. HR manager must know the strength and the weakness of the employees; HR manager will design them in the position which employee can perform more productive. Prepare of Contract of employment also is the responsibilities of HR Department. 3.1.2 Training and development HR department need to observe the product knowledge of the employeesââ¬â¢, if employee lack of the knowledge, they would not perform well. HR Manager will send the employee to the course training to improve their knowledge, so that they will improve the skill and will performance well and become more productivity. 3.1.3 Determining wages and salaries HR Department will analyst and surveys of the wages for different positions in an organization. HR department will review employeeââ¬â¢s qualification, experience, and some family member details. The decision for employeesââ¬â¢ wage will be consultaion with finance department also. 3.1.4 Performance Appraisal and promotion Once the employees are recruited, the HR Department has to review their performance on a regular period, to make sure they are improving, keeping employeesââ¬â¢ records update. Performance appraisal is the process of observe, analyse and recording information about the work perform of an employee. If the employee is potential to the better position, HR Department will make arrange of training and promotion. 3.1.5à Implementing Organizational Policies HR Department has to coordinate with line manager and see that the organizational policies are being apply to all employees. If there are employees against the company policy, or not following the organizational rules and regulation, disciplinary action for them. HR department will implement and conceive all the actions. 3.2 Conclusion In conclusion, HR department have so many functions, and according Hill stated that if an organization having more than 50 employees, are advice to have an HR Department. Hence Company Reed Boardall having 700 plus staff, it consider are big organization. It should have an HR department to management the employee personnel problem. Although line manager know their staff well, but if these let HR department settle will be better put the effort on their 4.0 Conclusion and Recommendations In the conclusion, HR department may adding unnecessary bureaucracy, but in a bigger organization, it prefer have HR department. HR department is the bridge between management and employees. HR department also is a department which supporting the organization to become better. HR department will retain the good employees or productivity in the organization and training them to work for the organization. By process, HR department will keep an eye on those probation employees, record their performance. Some employee will stay the same bad behavior after received warning, so the HR department will take discipline action on these types of employee. Whereas, employees whose not suitable will determined, if they are not work hard. So that, make sure the organization are upgrading and become better and strong. At last, for bigger organization prefer to have HR department. HR department can describe as repair department, because it repairs all the staff to become better and stay at the organization.
Thursday, September 19, 2019
Charlies Regret of Past Behaviors in Fitzgeralds Babylon Revisited :: Babylon Revisited Essays
Charlie's Regret of Past Behaviors in Fitzgerald's Babylon Revisited Charlie Wale's character seemed to get the raw end of the deal throughout the entire story. He was trying to redeem himself as a good father and a good citizen. He had many regrets of his past actions and behavior, especially those regarding his deceased wife, Helen. The events that occured during his visit to Paris, however, were detrimental to his intentions. His desire to have his daughter, Honoria, return with him to Prague, was sincere, and as a reader, I could almost feel his pain and disappointment at the disastorous end results. Marion's decision to not allow Honoria to return was merely based on Charlie's "past". Once his old acquaintances, Duncan Schaffer and Lorranine Quarrles, surfaced at the home of Linclon and Marion Peters, there was almost no chance of redemption. Marion could only see the "old" Charlie, and not the man who longed to care and provide for his daughter. Marion also seemed to hold a grudge against Charlie for the death of her sister, Helen. Charlie had begun many preparations to bring Honoria home with him. The hiring of a governess and the lease on a new apartment are just two examples of his attempt at trying to convince Marion and Licoln of his seriousness of resuming the responsibilty of being a parent. To be a father to Honoria, would also entail being a mother to her in some ways, due to the fact that Helen's death had been a part of the past Charlie was trying so hard to recover from.. Charlie's personal strentgh is shown by only having one drink a day, compared to the noted many drinks, and possibly other paraphernalia he may have encountered in his colorful past. At this point in his life, he
Wednesday, September 18, 2019
Physics of Caterpillar Tracks :: physics tank tracks
Every time you see one of the CATs clearing the hill at university of the snow, you probably don't see anything amazing about it. However, caterpillar tracks used on it are just ingenious and its invention is comparable to the invention of the wheel. History First vehicles powered by the steam engine started to appear in the early 1800s. Various machines started slowly replace horses. It was especially true for the jobs that required a lot of power. Transportation, of course, was the first and the most beneficial adopter. Goods could be carried across large distances with relative ease. No wonder that farmers were also eager to adopt engines. By that time most of the work was done using horses and basic tools. Problems Steam powered harvesters and tractors were introduced by the end of 19th century. It started to gradually replace horses. However in some regions they created new problems as well. Vehicles proved to be too heavy for soft soils and often stuck and even sunk. Experiments with various sizes of wheels didn't produce good results. Increasing size of wheels just made vehicles heavier and more difficult to operate. Benjamin Holt of Holt Manufacturing figured that using an old trick of pouting planks before the wheel would improve cross-country ability. By doing so, it provides solid plane for better traction and lower pressure on the ground since size of the plank is larger then of the wheel. Basics The main advantage of the track over the wheels is that it can distribute a very large force over a large area. That means that instead of applying all the force on little area where wheels touch the ground, it applies it over the whole area of the track. In physics terms it can be expressed as P = F / A where P is pressure, F is force and A is area. Less force applied to every square meter means that it's harder for the heavy vehicle to sink into the ground. Another benefit of the tracks is that large area of contact allows to have a very good traction with the ground. That is why tracks are used for mission critical jobs, including military use and high cost operations, such as excavations and space rocket movements. Drawbacks Even though caterpillar tracks provide very good cross-country ability, they have its drawbacks. Because of the weight and the construction of tracks speed of the vehicle is limited in comparison to the wheeled machines.
Tuesday, September 17, 2019
The 1996 Margin of Victory for U.S. House Incumbents :: Politics Political Election Government Essays
The 1996 Margin of Victory for U.S. House Incumbents In 1996, the American public reelected 357 members to the United States House of Representatives; of those running for reelection, 95% succeeded. Several congressmen received a large margin of victory over their political opponents, similar to election results of the past. Trends in American politics have been the overwhelming reelection rates of House incumbents as well as large margins of victory over challengers. The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors influencing incumbentsââ¬â¢ margin of victory in the 1996 Congressional elections. Literature Review Most recent research concentrates on the increasing trend at all levels of American government toward high reelection success. Paul Jacob explains that today, challengers have an exceedingly difficult time trying to defeat an incumbent. For example, incumbents who sought reelection in the 1988 general election had a 96% success rate and 98% in 1990. Though the percentage decreased in 1992 because of House scandals, the general election rate for incumbents still remained high at 93% (Jacob, 1994: 30). This is not a new phenomenon as approximately 92% of all incumbent representatives have been reelected since World War II. Even in a year with a lower percentage such as 1992, Davidson and Oleszek emphasize that "turnover [in the House] resulted more from retirements (many involuntary) than from electoral defeats" (Davidson, 1994: 63). Drawing upon existing literature, Alford and Brady in Congress Reconsidered have suggested four main reasons for this reelection phenomenon. The reasons are as follows: (1) congressional district lines drawn to favor incumbents; (2) increase resources of incumbent members; (3) weak congressional challengers; and (4) weak party identification of voters (150 and 151). The latter three explanations are supported by current research; however, the first theory is not. By examining similar trends in the Senate, which does not use district lines, researchers have concluded that congressional district lines do not favor incumbents and are not an explanation for high incumbency reelection rates (151). However, much research has demonstrated that incumbents are usually rewarded on election days because of numerous factors. These factors include congressional perquisites such as campaign funding, franking privileges, and extensive media coverage. As a result, they often face weaker challengers because of such effective use of these perquisites (Erikson and Wright, 1993: 99, 101). Finally, American voters do not strongly identify with one party as in the past. More people are declaring themselves independent, and consequently, they are voting for the individual rather than for the party with whom they identify.
Monday, September 16, 2019
Proposal for Family Life Education Essay
Studies show that the national average for an adolescentââ¬â¢s first sexual intercourse encounter is seventeen years old. Despite this number being very close to the average age in other industrialized countries, the United States holds a higher percentage of teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease (STD) contraction than those countries (Harper et al, 2010, p. 125). Itââ¬â¢s becoming evident that while a majority of the nationââ¬â¢s youth is sexually active, they are not doing so with the appropriate knowledge to keep themselves and others healthy. Itââ¬â¢s been proven that if parents were to educate students about sex education, healthy sexual behaviors might increase. Many parents, however, refuse to do this because they feel that talking about sex with youth will make them have sex, ignoring the fact that whether the youth are talked to or not, they are having sex. It has even been stated that some teens prefer to get the information from their parents, as opposed to other educators (Zamboni & Silver, 2009, p. 58 ââ¬â 59). Unfortunately, if the parents refuse to talk to the students about sex, they become sexually active without this crucial information. As the rates of STDs and teenage pregnancies rise in our country, youths between the ages of 12 and 20 years old could definitely benefit from the introduction of a family life education program focused on teaching the difference between healthy and unhealthy sexual behaviors. A program known as Youth Understanding Sexual Health (YUSH) would be the perfect venue for doing just this. A program developed for teens in middle and/or high school, YUSH is a seven week program that seeks to ensure that these youths realize the difference between healthy and unhealthy behaviors, the consequences and results of participating in both, and how to make sure that they avoid negative, harmful, and otherwise unhealthy sexual behaviors. By instilling this information into the children at early ages before or soon after they have begun to participate in sexual behaviors, the program will meet several crucial goals. First, it will get these students in to a routine of practicing healthy sexual behaviors that they can take with them well into adulthood. Not only will this maintain their own sexual health, but it will protect their other potential sex partners. Second, the new knowledge that the teens will gain from the program will allow them to pass on information to their peers that may not be allowed to participate in the program, be too embarrassed or shy to seek information, or been unable to attend the program sessions for any other reason. Other aspects of society reach popularity in similar manners, including music, movies, video games, dances, or slang, so this information can be expected to spread in a very similar manner. According to Powell & Cassidy (2007), when developing an effective family life education program, its important make sure that they needs of the audience are appropriately addressed (p. 79 ââ¬â 80). Of the three needs, felt, ascribed, and future needs, both felt and ascribed needs can be determined before the program has started. In order to effectively determine these needs, the appropriate assessments must be taken. Prior to the start of the program, certified family life educators (CFLEs) will conduct an assessment by using focus groups and questionnaires from potential program attendees within the target audience. Since the target audience is composed of students that attend local middle and high schools, the CFLEs will send home two things to the parents of all of the potential students: a letter requesting permission for the teens to participate in the program, which details the material that will be discussed and the extent of the programs, along with a questionnaire for the student and parent to complete together which addresses the information that both parties feel should be addressed in such a program. In order protect confidentiality; the questionnaire will be a two part survey with one aspect for parents and one aspect for the students to fill out. Using the questionnaires from the parents and information from the schools and community, CFLEs will be able to determine the ascribed needs of the program. The information obtained from the studentsââ¬â¢ surveys will reveal the felt needs of the program. The final category of needs, future needs, will be addressed throughout the duration of the program and will be met through a combination of student comprehension and effective facilitation by CFLEs. If YUSH seeks success, another thing that Powell & Cassidy (2007) suggest is well trained and effective educators. CFLEs will undergo extensive training in which they will learn to fully accept their roles as facilitators, exhibit effective listening skills and communication skills, and how to encourage the youth to participate in the programââ¬â¢s discussions and activities (p. 92 ââ¬â 112). The National Council of Family Relations (NCFR) (2011) explains that there are certain requirements necessary before an individual can be a CFLE and this involves either graduating from an approved program or taking the CFLE exam. In addition to that certification, and in order to specialize in sexual health, YUSH facilitators will be trained to have a complete understanding of the material and how to appropriately present the information to the teens by means of seminars, training kits, and manuals. Qualified facilitators and understanding of the appropriate needs of the target audience are only two aspects of ensuring that YUSH is a successful program. A location and time for the programââ¬â¢s meeting must be established, as well as the frequency of meetings. When choosing a location, itââ¬â¢s important to make sure that there will be privacy, comfort, and no distractions. The location must be appropriate for the size of the group. With such a large target audience, it will be necessary to have several different groups. The groups can be separated by grade, with about 20 ââ¬â 25 students in each group. These groups would meet during their health classes during school hours, but without regular teachers and/or administrators in the rooms, so that the adolescents feel comfortable. The curriculum of the YUSH program takes place once a week for seven weeks, with approximately 1 ? hour sessions each week. Each week will have a different topic to focus on with the schedule as follows: Week 1: Introduction to Sexual Health, Opening Questions and Concerns Week 2: Sexual Myths Week 3: Decision-Making, Abstinence Week 4: Protecting Yourself/Contraceptives Week 5: Sexually Transmitted Diseases Week 6: Risky Sexual Behaviors, Sexual Violence Week 7: Re-Cap, Evaluations, Final Concerns During the first session, YUSH facilitators will lead the youth in icebreakers to introduce themselves to one another as well as complete opening surveys that address what each student expects to take away from the program. Also, within this session, there will be questions posed by students to be asked at that time or at the end of the program. Rules of the program will be explained, including maintaining respect for others and their privacy. Participation should be encouraged and questions welcomed (Powell & Cassidy, 2007, p. 103 ââ¬â 105). YUSH presenters will use a variety of presentation methods in each of the courses including a formal method or informal. Using Week 5ââ¬â¢s topic of STDs as an example, the formal method would involve a lecture format with handouts, notes and power point presentations. CFLE would have teens identify what they have learned through this information with quizzes and tests. The quizzes, which would be a combination of fill-in-the-blank and multiple choice answers, will address the different types of STDs, how to contract them, how they are spread, the symptoms of each and how to treat them. This method would also involve the distribution of pamphlets and brochures to sum up the weekââ¬â¢s discussion. An informal method of presenting the information involves using games and scenarios to enhance the teensââ¬â¢ understanding of STDs. A Jeopardy format in which youth match symptoms to disease might also be an effective means of presenting the information. YUSH facilitators would also have the option of using various scenarios and role play models to show the ways that STDs are spread, contracted and treated. The Department of Public Health of Seattle and King County (2011) suggests an interactive activity for showing the ways that STDs spread by using several small cups of water, one cup with a water/vinegar mixture, and several pH paper slips. During several different rounds, students will mix the contents of their cups with other students. At the end of the activity, students dip their test strips to see who might be potentially ââ¬Å"infected. â⬠After someone has interacted with the vinegar mixture, or someone else who has interacted with that mixture, they are more than likely infected. The activity shows that even though it may not be visibly noticeable (because the vinegar mixture is still clear like the water); itââ¬â¢s easily spread if no protection is used. The fact that some students may have noticed the vinegar smell shows that though sometimes the symptoms may be noticeable, they can still be overlooked by others (p. 2 ââ¬â 8). Another informal method of presenting the topics of the week would be via interactive methods such as projects, guest speakers, and field trips which exemplify that weekââ¬â¢s information. Guest speakers would be extremely effective during Week 4ââ¬â¢s discussion of protection and contraceptives. In this example, guest speakers would come from various family planning centers to show students the various contraceptives options that they can choose from and explain how to decide which ones best fit their lifestyles. Finally, the reasons for supporting and bringing this program to life will be evident in the evaluations of the programââ¬â¢s effectiveness, determined in the last week of YUSH and in the weeks afterwards. According to Powell & Cassidy (2007), the best way to determine the effectiveness of a family life, more specifically sexual education program, is to witness the changes in behaviors and attitudes (p. 185). As rates of teenage pregnancy and STDs decrease in areas that will have adopted the YUSH program, it will be very apparent that the program has worked and that youth were paying attention in the courses. Furthermore, surveys and questionnaires will be distributed on the last day of the program which will seek to determine how participants and parents feel about the knowledge gained in the program. The last day of class will also be used to wrap up the course by answering questions that havenââ¬â¢t been answered thus far and taking suggestions about any necessary aspects of the program. As a follow-up to the program, CFLEs will send additional newsletters to participants as well as invite them back to be program assistants at the next session of YUSH. References Department of Public Health: Seattle & King County (2011, January 1). STD Risks. Family Life and Sexual Health. Retrieved April 3, 2011, from http://www. kingcounty. gov/healthservices/health/personal/famplan/educators/FLASH. aspx Harper, C. , Henderson, J. , Schalet, A. , Becker, D. , Stratton, L. , & Raine, T. (2010). Abstinence and Teenagers: Prevention Counseling Practices of Health Care Providers Serving High-Risk Patients in the United States. Perspectives on Sexual & Reproductive Health, 42(2), 125-132. Retrieved April 3, 2011, from the EBSCO database. National Council on Family Relations. (2011, January 2). CFLE Certification. NCFR. Retrieved April 3, 2011, from http://www. ncfr. org/ Powell, L. H. , & Cassidy, D. (2007).
Explain the impact of Jesus upon the world of his day and todayââ¬â¢s society. Essay
In the beginning of Johnââ¬â¢s gospel there is a description of Jesus as ââ¬ËThe Wordââ¬â¢. Verse 2 ââ¬ËHe was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him. ââ¬â¢ Later in the same chapter John says ââ¬ËThe Word became flesh and dwelt among us. ââ¬â¢ If that is true then Jesus was involved in the act of creation and so we must say that his impact is total. During his lifetime Jesusââ¬â¢ impact would have been relatively small ââ¬â no media circus to follow him about and publicize his words and actions. He met thousands in a relatively small area, rather than millions world wide, and then, as now, he made both a positive and a negative impact upon individuals. H e would have been less well known than some modern figures such as Gandhi or Winston Churchill. But in Matthew 28 verse 19 and 20 Jesus tells his disciples to go to all nations and make disciples. This order, known as the Great Commission , was carried out by his followers in the years that ensued and they took the gospel message all round the world. Today, according to Adherents Web site there are estimated to be 2. 1 billion people who claim the name Christian, 33% of the worldââ¬â¢s population, though it must be admitted that the title Christian means slightly different things to different groups, and has done throughout history. There are various calendars in operation in todayââ¬â¢s world. Islam and Judaism for instance count the years differently for religious purposes, but for business purposes as well as religious ones, most of the world counts the years from the approximate date of Jesusââ¬â¢ birth. I have not yet discussed the spiritual impact, but this has been tremendous. Because of Jesus missionaries have explored the world, children have been educated and lives have been changed. The impact hasnââ¬â¢t always been a positive one, as when there have been differences between religious groups, both within Christianity and between Christians and those of other groups. In some parts of the world the impact is lessening, but in others it rises rapidly. Jesus continues to make a difference.
Sunday, September 15, 2019
Differentiated Instruction Paper
Differentiated Instruction Differentiated instruction is a process to approach teaching and learning for students with differing abilities in the same class. The intent of differentiating instruction is to maximize each studentââ¬â¢s growth and individual success by meeting each student where he or she is assisting in the learning process (Polloway, Patton, and Serna, 2005). Itââ¬â¢s an individualized instructional method. It is used to help students with diverse needs learn using a general curriculum. There are several approaches to using differentiated instruction when teaching learners with cultural or special needs. Every student has different learning styles, behaviors, and interests. It is up to teachers to meet state and district standards when teaching different learners no matter their needs. There are several ways to make sure students meet these standards. Kapusnick and Hauslein (2001) list the most common instructional strategies as acceleration, curriculum compacting, independent study, flexible grouping, independent-learning centers, complex questions, tiered activities, and contracts. Students who show mastery of instructional material through preassessment can learn at their own pace, acceleration. Curriculum compacting condenses learning and allows students to move ahead of material already learned while staying on grade level. During independent study, students progress at their own pace until they master a task by a due date agreed upon by the teacher. Teachers use flexible grouping based on studentsââ¬â¢ needs, interests, and abilities to allow students with similar capabilities to work together. Independent-learning centers provide students with remediation opportunities by investigating a topic in depth. In a differentiated classroom, the teacher asks complex questions that are open-ended, appeal to higher-order thinking skills, allow adequate wait time for answers (more than the traditional 1-3 seconds), and provide opportunities for peer discussions and follow-up questions. Additionally, tiered activities are used to promote success because the student chooses his or her own level of accomplishment (Kapusnick and Hauslein, 2001). And contracts are used as an agreement that allows students to take responsibility for completing tasks. Kapusnick and Hauslein, in an inclusive nvironment, students at all levels of understanding can learn more effectively if teachers adjust instruction for individual learning style and needs (2001). Vygotsky and Gardnerââ¬â¢s theories of instructional practices are ways to assist teachers with presenting information to their learners. Howard Gardnerââ¬â¢s theory of multiple intelligences asserted that students learn better and more easily when teac hers use a variety of delivery methods, providing students with learning experiences that maximizes their strengths (Kapusnick and Hauslein, 2001). Vygotskyââ¬â¢s zone of proximal development supports the notion that effective education facilitates development by assisting the progression to each stage through student-teacher interactions and opportunities to discuss and share ideas (Kapusnick and Hauslein, 2001). This theory requires teachers to help students with special needs by making accommodations to meet their needs. Teachers assist them until they reach their comfort zone of completing tasks independently or with minimal assistance. Students are taught the using the same curriculum, with different methods. The variation of activities provided during instruction should reflect the needs of the students. During differentiated instruction, teachers help students make sense of learning. The steps to using differentiated instruction are content, process, and product. Content is what we teach, process includes how we teach and how students learn, and product is the way our students demonstrate what they have learned (Levy, 2008). In order to find out the studentsââ¬â¢ abilities, teachers must first assess their skills. This lets the teacher know what levels the students are on. Assessments are used for various reasons. They are used to monitor progress, review abilities, and evaluate studentsââ¬â¢ strengths and weaknesses. They are an essential part of the decision-making process of determining what a student needs remediation with. Assessment results compare students individually and show differences among other peers. They are used to classify students for ability, or flexible, grouping, which identifies them for placement in special programs and groups. Assessments allow teachers to plan and adjust lessons to accommodate all learners. Grouping students according to their abilities by noting their ability levels, learning styles, and interests are ways teachers can plan for their students. Ability level groups allow teachers to place all students who may need remediation together to receive additional help, or challenging work. Students interpret instruction by what they hear, see, what they can do, and what they say. Some students pay attention to what the teacher says or reads; auditory learners, while others focus on what the teacher writes on the chalkboard, overhead projector, or smart board. Other students must do something hands-on or discuss it using more detail in order for them to grasp an understanding of a lesson. Once a teacher knows the students in the classroom and their learning styles, flexible grouping can be implemented. Students are likely to cooperate and work together as they build upon information of new knowledge. Differentiated instruction provides students with an organized instruction system consisting of basic skills and instruction. Teachers may present whole-class conversations of content big ideas followed by small group or pair work. Thoroughly explaining, demonstrating, and providing student with different interactions are skills teachers use to reach the learners. Student groups may be taught from within or by the teacher to complete assigned tasks. In differentiated instruction, the grouping of students does not have to be permanent, and can vary based on the information or tasks presented, the project, and constant evaluations. Classroom management also plays a role in differentiated instruction. Teachers must be consistent with the expectations of all the students academically and behaviorally. Along with classroom management, continuous assessment of studentsââ¬â¢ progress and therapy should also be maintained. Classroom guidance is another source of providing differentiated instruction. Guidance and school counselors assist students by counseling them to find out their needs and interests. They also inform students about educational opportunities by providing them with information on transition strategies and techniques used for dealing with unwarranted behaviors of school peers. Just like classroom instruction, counselors can use group or individual counseling sessions to support students. Depending on the studentsââ¬â¢ needs, the counselors can hold sessions in their office or in the studentsââ¬â¢ classroom. Akos, Cockman, and Strickland (2007), said through the last century, school counseling evolved from a position, to a set of services, to a multifaceted developmental program where skills needed to facilitate classroom guidance encompass a wide range of abilities, and the curricular nature of classroom guidance requires planning and delivery skills similar to those demanded of teachers. Therefore, whether for academic or social developments, school counselors plan hands-on activities and carry out classroom guidance sessions. English Language Learners (ELLs) and students with special needs may need additional assistance when learning new material. Differentiated instruction with these learners may require certain strategies when addressing curriculum factors and teaching for cultural reasons. It is important for teachers to know the cultural proficiency of their learners when taking into account differentiated instruction. According to Hoover and Patton (2005), language function, acculturation, conceptual knowledge, thinking abilities, cultural values and norms, and teaching and learning styles are curricular factors for concern with ELLs. Language function can be the conversations and social development skills the student makes. The goal is to get ELLs to use elevated language by talking more with friends, family members, and anyone they have constant communication with. It will help student focus on interpreting meanings for unfamiliar words while developing fluency skills. Acculturation is the process where one cultural group assumes traits of another cultural group (Hoover and Patton, 2005). In acculturation, students may respond with signs of withdrawal due to lack of communication and understanding. Conceptual knowledge is the new information gained from prior knowledge. It provides students with connections to the content being taught. ELLs need to apply their thinking capabilities to interact and learn the new curriculum. This is using their higher-order thinking skills. Oneââ¬â¢s cultural values and norms are their experiences and lifestyles they bring to the classroom. Differentiated instruction provides adaptations so the students can be educated using the appropriate grade level curriculum. This is again where teaching and learning styles play a role in educational developments. It focuses on the conditions the students learn under. Students with special needs or disabilities, in all grade levels, may feel as if they donââ¬â¢t have the same skills as non-disabled students for obvious reasons. Students with disabilities, as do many other students, may require significant practice, application, and generalization of relevant skills and concepts (Mastropieri et al. 2006). As a future educator, I have learned that it is our responsibility to educate all learners. Differentiated instruction involves just this, to teach students in the best way they could learn. Teachers plan instruction based on the readiness levels, interests, and educational needs of their students. They use multiple content, process, and product methods to promote academic and b ehavioral skills. Once teachers become familiar with the learning styles of the students and comfortable with their teaching methods, learning opportunities for the students expand. References Akos, P. Cockman, C. , Strickland, C. (2007). Differentiating classroom guidance. Professional School Counseling, Vol. 10, No. 5, p. 455-463. Hoover, J. & Patton, J. (2005). Differentiating curriculum and instruction for English-language learners with special needs. Intervention in School and Clinic, Vol. 40, No. 4, p. 231-235. Kapusnick, R & Hauslein, C. (Summer, 2001). The ââ¬Ësilver cupââ¬â¢ of differentiated instruction. Kappa Delta Pi Record, p. 156-159. Levy, H. (2008). Meeting the needs of all students through differentiated instruction: helping every child reach and exceed standards. The Clearing House Vol. 81, No. 4, p. 161-164. Mastropieri, M. , Scruggs, T. , Norland, J. , Berkeley, S. , McDuffie, K. , Tornquist, E. , & Connors, N. (2006). Differentiated curriculum enhancement in inclusive middle school science: effects on classroom and high-stakes tests. The Journal of Special Education Vol. 40, NO. 3, p. 130-137. Polloway, E. , Patton, J. , & Serna, L. (2005) Strategies for teaching learners with special needs (8th Ed). New Jersey: Pearson-Merrill Prentice Hall.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)