Monday, September 30, 2019

Ryanair Case Study

Nova School of Business and Economics 2012/2013 DOGFIGHT OVER EUROPE: RYANAIR Case Study This set of questions refers to Version (A): 1. Which kind of customers was Ryanair trying to attract when, in 1999, Michael O’Leary took charge of the firm? Those with a low price elasticity of demand or those with a high price elasticity of demand? Explain.Considering that we are talking about the same product, in an industry with many firms, where producers and consumers know all quoted prices and where the consumers can identify the product as homogeneous, it is fair to say that we are talking about a scenario close to perfect competition, thus demand for the product is very elastic. So, Ryanair is trying to attract high price elasticity customers.Accordingly to the article: Ryanair marketed itself as â€Å"the low fares airline†; before open new routes, the company cared about low landing fees, low turnaround costs in order to be able to charge low fares to customers; it made a greements with secondary airports, where they did not pays fees (in fact those airports paid to Ryanair to use their locales); it tried that 70% of the available seats in the two lowest fare categories; it made fewer restrictions on its tickets (important for who had extra bags, or who wants to change the flights in order to pay less); it observe competitors, so it would be able to apply a lower fare; its customers were a mix of leisure travelers (70-75%) and business travelers, mostly from small and mid-sized businesses (25-30%). ifferences in airfares could persuade some leisure travelers to visit one destination rather than another; it has chosen the cost leadership so it seeks to be the lowest cost producer in Europe by selling standardized, mass products and Ryanair’s profit maximization was through lower fares in order to attract more customers contrarily to competitors where they maximize their profits through find opportunities to increase fares without losing custome rs. So accordingly to the customers with a high PED (price elasticity demand) following the formula (Q/P) x (P/Q): a little negative variation in prices (decrease in fares), will originate a big positive variation in the amount sold. 2. Why was cost cutting so essential for the strategy chosen? First of all it is important to refer that in 1991, Ryanair was facing a bankruptcy.In response, ‘the company removed all frills from its service, cut its costs to the bone, and dropped its fares to levels unheard of in Europe’. It became priority, to connect all the efforts to preserve and generate cash. Company’s main concern was charge lower fares in order to attract high elasticity price demand customers, with this new strategy, the company became low-cost or low-fare airlines and to maintain it within these measures the firm needed to adapt its strategy to new restrictions, which means, cost cutting. The flag airline faced a really competitive market (in 1999), and to keep competitive the firm had to keep its strategy, and for that was necessary cost cutting. Cost cutting, if it is efficiently done, brings more profits.Besides, using the model used in classes, â€Å"Bertrand – Asymmetric Model† where it says that if certain firm charges ‘P1’ for its product, and other firm charges ‘P1-e’ (because it is able to reduce its marginal cost), so the second firm will get all the demand. Well, Ryanair did not get all the demand, but is observable in ‘Exhibit 4’ that the company carried approximately 60% (353/575) and 56% (180/321) of the passengers on the route ‘Dublin-Manchester’ and the route ‘Dublin-Glasgow’ respectively. 3. Ryanair uses a performance-based pay scheme to compensate its flight attendants. Why? A performance-based payment scheme combines the interests of both flight attendants and the company. This happens because obviously, the flag airline will gain more i f the attendants are working efficiently (making an effort to sell the snacks, drinks, or whatever they have on board; being nice with the passengers, and help them as much they can), then if they are lazy during work. If a salesperson receives a fixed wage, no matter how much it sells, then he or she will not have any incentive to sell more than the expected. But, of course, if they receive an extra commission for each sale, then the salesperson will do the effort that it maximizes its utility. By having a higher effort, the workers have a higher payoff which maximizes its utility.A sector payment or an in-flight sales commission allowed flight attendants to earn 10% more than those from competitors and allowed the firm to fly to 50% more sectors than its rivals. Consequently, a higher number of flights increase the profits of Ryanair. The company’s rapid growth permitted job mobility, for instance, a flight attendant could take a job at the yield operations management on th e headquarters; job mobility was a solution for the company to avoid coordination problems. 4. Why wasn’t this performance scheme also offered to maintenance personnel? The majority of European airlines pay their employees based on the length of their tenure with the company. However, Ryanair only applied this to their maintenance and engineering personnel.As a company obsessed with cash, the most important part of the business was the operational part, the one which actually gave money to the company: flights and duty-free revenues. So, this was the only personnel where it was justifiable to apply a performance-based pay scheme. Engineering and maintenance were paid based on their formal qualifications: more qualified personnel would do the job more accurately. Maintenance personnel only represented 9,34% of the total employees as of March 31, 1999. Besides the company concerns about security: let’s say that if they receive a fee for each plane that is ‘fixedâ⠂¬â„¢, they will want to fix the maximum planes, as fast as possible, and that may not be the best for the passenger’s security.It’s more important to seek personal with higher qualification, and pay them a reasonable (but fixed) salary, because this is kind of business where mistakes cannot happen, and so, the personnel has to be focus in its work, and not in the ‘extra money’. 5. Can you suggest means of rewarding maintenance personnel that would induce high productivity without hindering Ryanair’s strategy? Ryanair’s strategy is keep low fares so it will be able to keep â€Å"fiercely competitive† and â€Å"ferociously cost conscious†, which implies, minimize costs (everywhere where it is possible), so increase their salaries would hurt the company’s strategy. Given this, it would be a good idea to search for some ‘non-monetary’ alternatives.First of all give them some lectures about how important is to do a good maintenance of the aircraft, aware them that a single mistake can be fatal for hundreds of people (unless they are murderers or mentally sick people they will get alert! ). They can make promises to them in the long-run like if there are no mistakes, Ryanair’s credibility increases, and that will attract more passengers, which means more revenues, which means they can increase wages (and keep the same profit). Monitoring them is a good way of keep the high productivity, this measure leads to an increase in veracity of the employee's reports, in other words, if an employee knows that he or she is being watched, then it will for sure do a better job.The creation of bureaucracy that implies the creation of rules in order to limit the employee’s actions, these rules can be benefit for the maintenance workers, for example, the creation of a rule that says it is mandatory to do a 15 minutes break, every two hours. 6. What are the likely consequences for Ryanair of a steep decrease in the price of jet fuel brought about by a significant decline in the price of oil? Consider both the direct and the strategic effect. All the airline companies are strategic complements, which mean that if one firm takes one action, the others will respond with aggressively actions (upward sloping). And they exhibit tough commitment, in other words, is a commitment that is going to have an adverse effect on the competitors.In Bertrand (this case), the company makes a tough commitment, no matter how much its rival changes the price, the firm’s price will be lower than it would have been if there were no commitment. The companies make tough commitment to avoid that new entrants increase the price competition. Given this, we built the following graph: The red line stands for direct effect and the blue line stands for substitution effect. The direct effect is the commitment’s impact on the present value of the firm’s profits, assuming that the compe titors’ behavior does not change. Applying to the case is basically the profits that all the others airline companies would earn if Ryanair would not decrease its prices as well (point 1 to point 2).The substitution effect takes into account the competitive side effects of the commitment, this means, how much does the tactical decisions of the rivals change, under the commitment conditions. Basically is the adjustment made by Ryanair after the competitors decrease their prices (point 2 to point 3). Decline in the price of oil, brings a decrease in the price of jet fuel. With this shock, all the airline companies will decrease their prices, P1*’. As it was said before, Ryanair always observes its competitors, and then make its move, so they will decrease their tickets’ prices even more, P2*’(one of the principals of tough commitment). As it says in exhibit 2, ‘fuel ; oil’ constitutes approximately 16% of its costs (6. 0/37. ), so despite it is not visible on the graph (due to lack of data related to prices), the prices of the flight’s tickets will decrease considerable, because (repeat) this is a really competitive market, and the airline companies find themselves in a tough commitment, that it will originate a decline even bigger that the one it would happen without though commitment. It is important to refer that the company’s product has a low-level of horizontal differentiation because the difference between the products of each one of the companies is based on the quality in the in-flight zone. And there are tons of people who simply do not care about that.For those ones, their only concern is to get to their destination. 7. What are the most serious threats that Ryanair faces? Explain your perspective. Europe Union’s measure â€Å"Under the package, carriers were given full freedom to set fares. Any company was allowed to start an airline provided that it had majority European ownership, adequ ate financial backing, and the ability to meet safety requirements. The package permitted any European airline to fly any route between two EU countries and, starting in 1997, any intra-country route between two European cities. † This measure means no patents’ system, which means that as long as there is positive profit, other companies will enter in the market.Without proper cautions this may lead to perfect competition, where the companies will lower their prices until it equals the marginal cost, which implies that the profit will be zero. Even worse than that is if Ryanair adheres to a new technology (in order to decrease its marginal cost), and if we are in a situation where the other companies can copy and use the technology discovered by Ryanair, the company will have negative profits. Contrarily if the competitors are able to decrease its marginal cost, and the antitrust agencies that may lead to monopoly (if there is a patented system that says that is illegal to copy and use technology of others firms). Possible merges by competitors, which would increase their market share. For example, in 2002, easyJet purchased Go for ? 374m.Ryanair may face laws taken by the antitrust agencies that may limit its actions, for example the use of ‘dumping’ strategy (‘monopolistic strategy’ where the firm sells its products below their production cost in order to eliminate competition, and when it occurs, the firm increase its prices again). Ryanair has faced aggressive marketing campaigns and charity efforts by Virgin Express, subcontracts and reliability on third parties (lower costs), total direct selling and a very informal environment by easyJet, predatory pricing by British Airways’ Go and in-flight entertainment and comfort by Debonair. The last one went bankrupt but all the others provide serious competition to Ryanair despite not achieving the profitable results desired.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Lead and Manage Group Living for Adults Essay

I work in a residential care home and as much as we try our very best to individualise and personalise care plans, bedrooms, give freedom of choice wherever possible, the home still has barriers to full freedom and because of the shared living space, it can be difficult for the residents to have their own space. The decision to come into a residential care setting usually means that the resident needs that extra support and wants the extra company and reassurance that being in a care home gives. Person centred care is set to enable everyone to live as independently as possible, but the reality is, people need care. Residential care homes and sheltered living accommodation have improved greatly when we compare the institutions of many years ago, the asylums, where people with all sorts of disabilities were held together. There were numerous reports of abuse in such places, which led to them closing and a more community style care service was put in place. Now there are many different options for the elderly, there is a lot of elderly people in Wales that are maintaining their independence at home, with a care package. Carers from an agency call several times throughout the day, night, depending on what the social services think they require, or what they can afford privately. As much as I think this is great, as it must be heartbreaking to give up your family home, it concerns me, as I hear horror stories of the elderly being left for several hours, maybe falling, sitting in their own urine or excrement and having limited choices throughout their day as to when they can get up out of bed, go to bed or even eat. The carers have allocated time slots each day and are allowed only a set time with each house visit, and then in-between they might be alone for long periods. I know that such people can have a lifeline, which they can press to get assistance, the lifeline reaches a call centre and the call centre will then contact the named people on their list to go and see if all is well, or might send an ambulance if they feel the need. Lifelines are a great idea, if they are used correctly, I have heard of several who leave theirs at the side of the bed, they either cannot reach, or fall whilst visiting the toilet and are unable to get to it. I have also heard tales of people pressing their lifeline to get some response off someone, someone to talk to, some company, as they are lonely or even fretful during the lonely  night hours. Sheltered accommodation is a great idea, each person has their own individual flat, often with a main front door with different door alarms on so they can call on the person they are visiting and go straight to see them. These flats are contained, small, easy to get around and keep clean, they can have call leads in several rooms in case of an emergency, they can cook for themselves if they so require, make themselves tea, watch what they want on the television and live quite independently. There used to be a warden present 24 hours a day, well almost, a 9-5 day shift, and then sleep in, during the night to be available in case of an emergency. Of course now there are so many cutbacks that live in wardens have been stopped throughout Wales, possibly elsewhere. There are now teams of 3 or 4 wardens that look after several establishments, they take turns to go around each unit, calling on the residents to ensure they are ok, they are usually there 9-1, half a day, then if the residents have any issues they must use their lifeline, or the emergency chord, which instead of being linked to the warden is now linked to a head office, who will contact relevant help for the resident. A residential home, I can only speak of ours, I have worked in 2 other nursing homes as well as the residential home I currently work in. Our home is homely, not clinical, it has carpet, not laminate or tiled flooring and it has a beautiful garden and outlook, large communal areas, including a big conservatory and lounge space split into two sides. The home is decorated tastefully for the residents, with flowers and plants and pictures, homely but not cluttered, the residents bedrooms are personalised by themselves with their belongings and choice of dà ©cor. The home does its best to treat every resident in a person centred approach, but it can be difficult to meet all needs accordingly. There are set meal times, which can be flexible to a point, they are offered alternative menu choices, but it isn’t always convenient for residents to eat whenever they so chose to. I must say that the residents are offered several snacks and drinks throughout the day so are very rarely hungry. The residents are able to come and go to their rooms as they wish, if they are safe to do so. The residents have a choice of communal area, or to go out and sit in the garden if they wish. Their meals are served in a communal dining room, but there are a few ladies that prefer  to sit alone in the communal areas to eat their meal, which is fine. There are carers available 24 hours a day, to assist as little or as much as needed for each resident, they are assisted with personal care, if required, with meals and much more. Throughout the home there is a nurse call buzzer system, if a resident needs help they can just buzz the buzzer, which is linked to a panel that shows the care staff where the buzzer has gone off so they can go and assist in whatever way needed. The home has a lift and a chair lift, aids in the bathrooms, toilets and showers, a laundry facility, a kitchen, domestic assistants, etc. I imagine many people compare the residential care setting to the hotel model of care, where residents come into care and do nothing much for themselves anymore. Maybe a lot of that is true, but not because they are not allowed to do anything for themselves, but because many chose not to, they are old, tired and have health complications and restrictions and want a rest. There are a few residents who like keeping busy and love to help with tasks around the home, laying tables, wiping tops, collecting cups, folding napkins, which is fantastic, but there are more that aren’t interested in any domestic chores. Housing with care for later life, a review written for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, suggests that there are so many different levels of housing facilities and choices available as a result of how care has developed in the UK over the last 20 years, with things changing to meet the needs of the tenants. Housing with some care is the most popular option that social and health care professionals like to choose for as many as possible, it seems to be the most popular as it is the most independent way of living for the elderly, with some level of support and security if needed. Extra care housing, which are establishments that provide a meal, additional services , barrier free environments are also known as very sheltered housing, I know very little about or I don’t know of any in my area, but they sound great. (Oldsman 200, Baker 2002) have written about such housing. There isn’t much difference between them and residential care homes, except they have their own front doors and are called tenants or owners, they can go and mix with other tenants in communal areas if they wish and are provided with a meal and the use of communal facilities or assisted technologies if they want them. It is important to consider an individual’s safety as well as their own choices, safety and security are as important as freedom of choice, as there are many elderly people that are extremely vulnerable and think that they are able to do much more than they can. Take for example Mrs H in our home; she loves to sit in her room alone for hours at a time. She is unable to walk, only transfer from chair to chair, to bed etc, she is a really bad epileptic and once she has a fit, it is difficult for ambulance staff, when called to bring her out of the fit, she usually requires hospital assistance as she has trouble breathing during her fit. She asks to go to her room all the time, but it is a huge risk and Mrs H has severe mental health issues after a brain bleed has been deemed to not have capacity to make safe decisions for herself. Several times when she has fitted, the care staff have seen it start in the lounge as they pass by and have managed to get to her in time to put her in the recovery position and remove anything that might cause her more harm Mrs H doesn’t understand when trying to explain to her why she is unable to go and sit in her room for hours at a time, but does go up for shorter time periods. It is important that any care setting is tastefully decorated to suit the residents that live there, to look homely, welcoming, and familiar, kept clean, and refurbished whenever necessary. Residents will feel more positive if they are in a pleasant environment, with a nice outlook, with comfortable furniture to sit on, with accessible amenities they can use themselves, a TV, drinks machine, books, music equipment, suitable lighting etc. Legal requirements have made a huge impact on care offered to the elderly today, when we look back at how things have changed, we have definitely come along way, but I would definitely not say we are there yet, as things are always changing, people change, and we need to also. Individualistic consumer led approach to care in the 80’s and 90’s led to the government looking at decreasing the dependency culture, to enable people to be as independent at they could. There have been many changes over the years with the financial support given to those with various needs, which enables them to choose their level of care and support and where they wish to live etc. The 1989 Caring for People white paper led the way for care in the community, as well as the NHS Community Care Act 1990, which promoted independent living for people with a more flexible care  service. In 200 the Care Standards Act came into place, they are basically in place to regulate all care facilities to ensure that everything within their power is being done to a satisfactory level. Along with the regulating, they also inspect care settings and have power to make big decisions and requirements for each place they visit, as a result of this Act we now have the National Minimum standards to adhere to.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Case Study Healthcare Provider Essay Example for Free

Case Study Healthcare Provider Essay Game (151) , Plan (45) company About StudyMoose Contact Careers Help Center Donate a Paper Legal Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy Complaints A large, regional healthcare provider is developing a new, integrated wellness and prevention program (IWPP) for their patients. This involves developing an overarching strategy and aligning existing prevention capabilities. The client has employed Point B to facilitate the development of the plan’s strategy, conceptual design, and roadmap for initial implementation. Describe how you would approach this effort. Broadly, the approach has three steps starting with the leadership team and then engaging the entire organization: I. Leadership Strategy Development and Plan II. Organization Engagement and Strategy Refinement III. Initial Implementation I. Leadership Strategy Development and Plan Once the leadership participants are confirmed with the sponsor, facilitated workshops will be structured to shape the key deliverables: business strategy, conceptual design and roadmap. Workshops will focus on: Finding a common understanding of what is a successful IWPP. This includes: †¢ Identifying current challenges for the healthcare provider as a whole and specific to an IWPP †¢ Agreeing to the existing strengths overall but with a focus on existing prevention capabilities †¢ Understanding what has and has not worked in the past †¢ Defining a common IWPP vision and values Defining what capabilities are needed and how to measure a successful IWPP. Capabilities will shape the conceptual design and span such things as: †¢ Technology †¢ Business processes †¢ Applications †¢ People/organization structure †¢ Information †¢ Geographic location Identifying the activities (immediate and future) to create a new IWPP. For example: †¢ People – assessing the organization’s culture and behaviours for integrative wellness, prevention and medical care †¢ Process – redesign business processes to emphasis case management and cross organization collaboration per patient(s) or member(s) †¢ Technology – data conversion to a common rollout schedule for compliance standards across the network e.g. ICD 10 Activity timing will determine when capabilities are in place to chart a roadmap of changes to the organization. II. Organization Engagement and Strategy Refinement The second step is the most intensive and often the most overlooked when developing strategy. The leadership team will be required to engage the broader organization to test the strategy, conceptual design and roadmap. This requires cascading participation from management, team leaders and front-line staff. For a healthcare provider this is critical given the complexity and diversity of the network (complementary service providers, insurers, medical providers, members and patients). Input is also required regarding how best to monitor progress, to measure outcomes and to continuously collect feedback once implementation is  underway. Step II has the following benefits: †¢ Improve the leadership team’s work by adding operational detail †¢ Create strategy awareness so the organization’s day-to-day decision making better aligns with the strategic vision and intent. †¢ Start to foster ownership and champions for IWPP changes The third step focuses on identifying the activities that can be implemented first. Activities will be assessed by not only business value to achieve a new IWPP but also by other planning constraints such as the availability of people with the right skills, funding and interdependencies with existing project work. Step III also requires the establishment of implementation processes to monitor progress, to measure outcomes and to continually improve implementation methods based on feedback. Case Study Healthcare Provider. (2016, Mar 25). We have essays on the following topics that may be of interest to you

Friday, September 27, 2019

What is gender culture With reference to Sabrina Petra Ramet's paper Essay

What is gender culture With reference to Sabrina Petra Ramet's paper Gender Reversals and Gender Cultures - Essay Example ies regarding the type of gender differences, the levels of gender inequality, and the amount of violence that is necessary to maintain both systems of difference and domination. Following Ramet (1996): ]Gender culture† â€Å"is meant a society’s understanding of what is possible, proper, and perverse in gender-linked behavior, and more specifically, that set of values, mores, and assumptions which establishes which behaviors are to be seen as gender –linked† (2). Gender culture is a socially constructed phenomenon which reflects social values and perception of male and female members by others. This process occurs through a complex interaction of identification processes, symbol systems, and social institutions, gender differences are produced--typically in the form of a dichotomy that not only opposes masculinity to femininity but also translates these oppositional differences into gender hierarchy, the privileging of traits and activities defined as masculine over those defined as feminine. Ramet (1996) explains that: â€Å"gender cultures also define the limits of social tolerance and, in this regard, may be seen within the scope of the overarching cultural system as a whole† (3). Similar ideas are expressed by Moir and Jessel (1992) who stated that it is important to recognize the cultural variation in how gender differences are formed and expressed, it is also important to stress the political nature of gender as a system of diff erence construction and hierarchical dichotomy production that is constitutive of almost all contemporary societies. In societies, gender is about power, and power is gendered (115). Dress, make-up and occupation are vivid examples of ‘gender culture’ For instance, â€Å"Casting a woman in the role of King Lear or Hamlet tantalizes the audience with veiled allusions to female gender culture, and prompts questions about the gender ambiguity of behavior â€Å"(Ramet 7). Ramet underlines that sexual differences in certain adaptive

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Agency theory and corporate governance Assignment

Agency theory and corporate governance - Assignment Example Involving a series of intentional fraud and corruption, the Enron, Worldcom, Northern Rock and Bank of Credit and Commerce International scandals were just a few of the biggest financial scandals ever recorded for the last two decades. Intervention of regulatory authorities and shareholders for corporate governance increased (Burton, 2000) in a way that provoked the initiation of several conventions -- particularly notable are the Cadbury (1992), Greenbury (1995) reports and the Combined Code (1998). In this light, this paper determines whether the actual and strict compliance to the code, while may not be legally binding, had in a way assisted in improving corporate governance among listed companies. The Combined Code for UK Listed Companies It was following the bankruptcy of a large UK company, Polly Peck, the defunct of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International, and the fraud committed by Robert Maxwell when the Cadbury Commission was founded in 1992 and provoked the issuance of the code of best practice for corporate governance, the Cadbury Code (Davidson, 2008). The Cadbury Code clearly laid out the framework for corporate governance in the guise of accountability, integrity, or honesty (Applied Corporate Governance, 2009). The Greenbury Code, on the other hand, centered on the director’s remuneration and its lack of transparency . The Combined Code, a result of both the Cadbury (1992) and Greenbury (1995) codes (hence the name), includes the best practices for corporate governance specifically with regard to the quality of the board, division of offices of the chairman and the managing director, balance of the executives and the non-executives, remuneration of directors, and the nomination committee (Sealy & Worthington, 2007). As opposed to the previous codes, the combined code employs principles (Davidson, 2008). In the Cadbury convention, the most notable aspect which the Combined Code adopted was its approach on ‘compliance and explan ation’ in a way that the listed firms should report the extent to which they have complied with the code and/or explain any form of non-compliance (Sealy & Worthington, 2007). This approach does not only produce external impacts but also importantly internal impacts for it allows a firm to identify which parts or principles of the code worked best for the company and what did not. As a head start, regulatory authorities may now be able to determine which parts of the code are faulty or that do not yield positive results. Added to strict rules and requirements for capital and liquidity, the said approach will define the most effective method for corporate governance (Walker, n.d. as cited in Haddrill, n.d.). Although the Cadbury report and the succeeding ones do not bind companies into a legal obligation, it has become habitual among listed companies in that the Stock Exchange deems it necessary (Sealy & Worthington, 2007). The Combined Code ensures that all constituents in th e corporation incur optimal gains and minimal losses in the course of maximizing profit and reducing costs. In essence, the concept of corporate governance seems easy to apply. In practice, however, the connectedness between the shareholders and the managers for the most part creates conflicts of interests -- the agency problem. The abstraction arising from contracts allows agents (e.g. managers) to act in effort to benefit from an endeavor that may, in turn, work against the favor or interests of the principal (e.g. shareholders). Effectiveness of the Combined Code in

Mayhem at Chauri Chaura Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Mayhem at Chauri Chaura - Essay Example Such an immense effort involved the coalescing of a range of ideologies and ethos, some of which blatantly crossed the limits of the much cherished Gandhian principles of non-violence and non-cooperation. Indian freedom struggle stands to be unique in the sense that it achieved its objectives not through one single onslaught or revolution, but did so through a series intermixed and interspersed active and passive movements and incidents that are prominently or blurredly scattered across the landscape of the Indian national movement. The so called mayhem at Chauri Chaura that took place on 4 February, 1922 has always been a dilemma for the modern historians. On that ominous day, the peasant volunteers affiliated to the Gandhi's non-cooperation movement ran amuck on being provoked by the cops and burned to ground the police station at Chauri Chaura. The unsuspecting and ill prepared policemen who tried to escape were hacked to death. On hearing about this incident, Gandhi immediately decided to withdraw the nascent civil disobedience movement, despite the contrary opinion of a number of prominent Congress leaders. He also successfully managed to persuade the Congress Working Committee to ratify his decision. Thus on 12 February, 19222, the non-cooperation movement that had attracted the hopes and aspirations of the entire nation, abruptly came to an end. According to Shahid Amin, "this dramatic occurrence simply had to be quickly forgotten as a stain upon the clean sheets of Gandhian non-violence (14)". However, the ghost of Chauri Chaura refused to die on that ill fated day and still off and on pops out from the dark nooks and recesses of the Indian history. The meaning and interpretation of the incidents at Chauri Chaura have many a times, changed and altered and are even today being redefined and reanalyzed by the contemporary historians and the students of history.The very fact that Gandhi vociferously disassociated himself from the violence at Chauri Chaura and openly criticized and denounced the incident under consideration as "The Crime of Gorakhpur" set the pace for the imperialist and the nationalist historians. For a long time the imperialist and the nationalist historians managed to maintain their hegemony, so far as the task of assigning meaning to the events at Chaura Chauri were concerned. In the words of Theodore Piggott, the judge who presided over the hearings of the Chaura Chauri accused, "If we treated the mob of deluded peasants as rebels we may possibly dignify the riot as waging war against the King. The only alternative was to deal with the offenders as ordinary criminals (Amin 111). Thus the imperialist historians left no stone unturned in dubbing the violence at Chauri Chaura as a regular breach of law and order and succeeded in diluting the significance of this epoch making incident. The nationalist interpretation also hovers around the imperialist

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Strategic management final exam bachelor degree Term Paper

Strategic management final exam bachelor degree - Term Paper Example This relationship identifies validity of the statement from the perspective that organizations can focus on their microenvironment and manage the factors to overcome any possible effects of the macro environment. This is because microenvironment such as organizational behavior and employee efficiencies are easily manageable as they are under organizations’ powers. A consideration of a business’ long-term scope and effects of the macro environment however invalidates the statement because micro environmental factors influence many organizational activities. The economic environment that includes economic conditions and economic policies is the first significant factor to organizations. Factors such as inflation rates, unemployment rates, trade regulations, and interest rates have significant effects on productivity of and profitability of an organization and therefore affect sustainability. Political environment is another significant macro environment factor and plays a significant role in influencing success of business organization. Political stability establishes investors’ confidence and therefore facilitates commercial activities, especially at global level and political ideologies and relations with other countries facilitate ties for favorable business environments. Socio cultural environment that include people’s preferences, â€Å"family systems, caste systems, education, marriage,† among other social and cultural factors determines markets and revenue levels to businesses (Mukesh and Trehan n.d, p. 12). Technological environment with its characteristic advantage of facilitating operational efficiency and demographic factors that determine volume and trend of demand for products is also very important to business’ organizations’ lives. The significance of macro environment that dictates sustainability and efficiency of organizations’ internal factors therefore identifies relevance of the environment to businesses. This means

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Mission and Vision Statements and the Companys Strategic Direction Research Paper

Mission and Vision Statements and the Companys Strategic Direction - Research Paper Example However, it has developed and adopted a unique system known as â€Å"The HP Way†. This is a unique ideology or philosophy that refers to the way things are done at HP (Lacy & Mullins, 2002). Therefore, although the company lacks clear mission and vision statements, the elements of these are captured in the company’s shared values and corporate objectives. These are stated below. Although HP lacks specific mission and vision statements, the shared values and corporate objectives have some of the key elements of effective mission and vision statements. To evaluate HP’s mission and vision statements as captured in â€Å"The HP Way†, an evaluation matrix will be important. The evaluation matrix below (Table 1) comprises of three columns. The first column contains the salient elements of the mission statement based on Zainbooks website. According to the website, mission statements should contain at least nine elements including; One of HP’s corporate objectives is customer loyalty, which shows the company’s commitment to providing value and highest quality to win customer loyalty and respect. However, the objective does not specify the company’s customers. The growth element is clearly stated in HP’s corporate objectives. One of the company’s corporate objectives is growth, which explains the company’s nature of identifying and seizing growth opportunities. Through its market leadership corporate objective, HP is committed to becoming the market leader through its competitive advantages in developing and delivering innovative and useful solutions, products, and services. The strategic direction is an important element in ensuring the success of a company. A company without a strategic direction is like a plane without a pilot that moves haphazardly. Such a business, like the plane, is likely to collapse. HP has had a clear strategic direction over the years since its formation. The growth and success of the company is proof of this.

Monday, September 23, 2019

Essay 1 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 18

1 - Essay Example Le Roman de Silence is story told by an anonymous author from the 13th Century Medieval times. It is a story about a protagonist who is naturally a female, but is trained by his parents to act like a man. The main reason that her parents decide to raise silence as a boy is to retain their wealth for their daughter, because according to law of the day there was no inheritance right for the women. Therefore, Silence is made to learn the crafts of a ministerial, and develop skills that would lead her to knighthood (de Cornuà ¤lle & Thorpe, 1972). At the age of twelve, the time of puberty, Silence has to decide, whether she should stick to the choice of her parents or accept what the nature has made her. At this point in time she comes across Dame Nature and Dame Nurture (de Cornuà ¤lle & Thorpe, 1972). She decides to stick with the choice of her parents, and invest her energies in becoming a respected male figure. Society is an important determinant in the development of human personality. Like nature it applies certain selection pressures that transform, rather modify the way a person thinks and make decisions. The involvement of social pressure is quite evident in the case of Silence’s choice to be a man (Bloch, 81-99). Assigning gender roles is an important element in inducing specific mentality into individuals belonging to a particular gender. There are several characteristics in males that are either different or completely absent in the females. For instance men are impatient, while women have patience; men are less emotional compared to women; Men are more aggressive than women, and so on and so forth. Silence is shown to be overwhelmed by the masculine characteristics that she gives up on her biology, and pretends to spend her days like a man. Apart from the natural differences between the two genders, there are several artificial features that are used as clichà © to separat e the two genders. Application of gender roles is nothing

Sunday, September 22, 2019

The Victorian era Essay Example for Free

The Victorian era Essay The Victorian era which lasted sixty-four years has been one of the most influential periods of history. Today, more than a century later, it is still one of the most unforgettable pasts that has left its imprints everywhere in the world. The controversial issue on gender roles, particularly of women, allegedly began to surface and to be seriously dealt with during that very colorful past age. Women repression, which seems to have taken root and heightened somewhere around this era, was also greatly criticized by the major reformist thinkers of those days. As a result, women’s rights were upgraded and women began to participate in areas they could never have put a finger on before. The Victorian culture, which dominated the world in the seventeenth to the eighteenth century, has been a world power that brought its influence to cultures remotely infiltrated by the British empire. For its influence all over the world, it may arguably be partly blamed for the on-going repression of women in different parts of the world. Up to this point, there is still very weak showing that this social problem of gender inequality has been completely resolved, despite the evident strong participation of a good number of women in different fields of endeavor such as commerce, politics, and industry. There is not still a definite conclusion that equality of the sexes has been established; nor is there a clear-cut definition of the unique gender roles of men and women in the democratic world. Today, women all over the earth are still struggling to shell out its â€Å"weaker sex† reputation in the hearts and minds of their male counterparts. The New Lexicon Webster’s Dictionary of the English Language defines culture as the training and development of the mind; the refinement of taste and manners acquired by such training; the social and religious structures, and intellectual and artistic manifestation that characterize a society. Everyone who is part of any community may most readily agree that the culture of any society is the hardest thing to eradicate. General psychology tells us that this culture creates social attitudes, beliefs, feelings and tendencies in people (Gaerlan, Limpingco, Tria Birion, 152). These attitudes or concepts teach us to classify people in many ways, such as age or, most frequently, sex. There is no explanation where a certain culture originates. It comes naturally as a product of years; a sum-total of experiences that produce generalities about life. Culture, somehow, solidifies society. It is the collective integrity and identity of a certain group of people. Nevertheless, its unifying force for many may be the same force that brings about the â€Å"repellants† of society. In a certain degree, human beings’ innate uniqueness has caused them to struggle with the norms of culture which they have to comply with. The most safe and convenient way is to achieve peace and balance by conformance. But there are also those who take up the challenge to challenge whatever wrong they find. They speak out in the hope of making a difference; despite the risk of clashing against the established advocates of the time-honored culture of the land. The Victorian culture, though superior and imposing to the rest of the world, was one that never escaped this challenge. Its rise raised up independent brilliant thinkers who thought, read, spoke and wrote, and catalyzed its downfall. This ironic truth brings about much attention and attraction to this bygone age. The famous Victorian culture came to be called Victorianism. Javines (246) explained that it is a word referring to a conservative system of values. It connotes a keen concern and preoccupation with propriety, rigorous correctness and conformity to certain Puritanical standards of behavior. Although Queen Victoria’s monarchy itself was a model of uprightness, conservatism and domestic virtues (McDonnell, Nakadate, Pfordresher Shoemate 360), Javines said that the reign of Queen Victoria had little to do with the â€Å"phenomenon of Victorianism†. He added that it is in fact a result of the ascendancy of the puritan middle-class during that era. McDonnell et al. (360) confirmed that this class was made up of self-made men and women who dominated England commercially. They were strictly disciplined and intensely religious, and believed their success was a result of God’s favor. Rising to power gave these middle-classes a share in governance, where they were able to advance the tested principles which they believed would stabilize society. These principles, considered as Victorianism, were made up of moral and cultural values that were appropriate to their aspirations, and were basically puritan ideals. But this was only the onset of a trend that was assimilated into the culture of the era and had taken many twists and turns beyond expectations. Somehow, along the way, Victorianism became a culture that took a toll on the role and rights of women in society. An offshoot of this culture was a law that trespassed on the woman as a person. Thomas (1) researched and described for us the place of women in the Victorian society: A woman’s place was in the home; marriage was the only respectable career they could go for. In the hope of a man who would either fall in love with her or would be gracious enough to ask for her hand in marriage, every girl was groomed to be the ideal wife and mother of a preferably large and comfortable household. Aside from skills in home economics, the talents she was expected to have were singing, playing an instrument, and speaking a little French and Italian. Whether married or single all Victorian women were expected to be weak and helpless, a fragile delicate flower incapable of making decisions beyond selecting the menu and ensuring her many children were taught moral values. She was to be a gentlewoman who ensured that the home was a place of comfort for her husband and family from the stresses of Industrial Britain. She was not expected to have political opinions; rather she was to be skillful in household affairs saving her husband from worrying over domestic concerns. He was to assume that his house was being run smoothly so that he could go on making money. She was to be biddable, virtuous, innocent, dutiful, and able to teach moral values to her children. A wealthy wife’s daily duties usually consisted of spending time reading, sewing, receiving guests, going visiting, letter writing, seeing to the servants and dressing for the part as her husbands social representative. She was expected to be faithful to her husband, though the latter may have his mistress. If he did, it was no shock to the public. Any unmarried woman could become a mistress to any man and it was acceptable to society. It was a flaunting of masculinity. A woman, however, with an adulterous affair was cut off from humanity as immoral. Moreover, a divorced woman had no chance of acceptance from society again; and rights of access to her children were removed. This type of cultural milieu triggered many, especially writers, to revolt through their writings and brand this period as the â€Å"hypocritical period†. To name a few, Ruskin, Arnold, Butler, Dickens, and Kipling, were some of the writers who never ceased to din into the ears of their fellow citizens that there was something deeply wrong in their civilization. Adjectives like â€Å"barbarian,† â€Å"Philistine,† and â€Å"ignorant† were designated to the British aristocracy, the middle class, and the working class, respectively (Javines 247). In his essay â€Å"The Subjection of Women† (as featured in England in Literature, 436-438), John Stuart Mill bashed on the prevailing social relations between the two sexes—the legal subordination of one sex over the other. He pointed out that this inequality had no sensible grounds, owing to the fact that women’s muscular inferiority to men was idiotically converted into a legal right in favor of men. He compared it to the relations between a slave and a master; women were entirely at the mercy of men. All the moralities tell them that it is the duty of women†¦it is their nature to live for others; to make complete abnegation of themselves, and to have no life but in their affections†¦those the men with whom they are connected, or to the children who constitute an additional and indefeasible tie between them and a man†¦every privilege or pleasure she has being either his gift, or depending entirely on his will†¦that the principal object of human pursuit, consideration, and all objects of social ambition, can in general be sought or obtained by her only through him. Stuart called this condition an artificial thing, a forced repression and an unnatural stimulation made for the pleasure of their masters. Charlotte Bronte, one of the leading novelists of the day, created a tragic heroine that embodied this picture given by this essay. The novel Villete which was written in 1853 tells about Lucy Snowe, a woman who aspires for freedom and happiness in the only way she knows—the love of a man. In the final part of the novel, her affections for a schoolmaster bid her to wait upon his arrival, their reunion, where she expects to finally give her hand in marriage. However, a storm interrupts this gap of waiting, and ends the narration. We, the readers, are left to decide whether she ends up happy or grieving over his death. Beyond the romance, Bronte drew for us a reality that leaves us thinking. There could have been so many women in those days as intelligent and promising as Lucy Snowe, yet their future had to wholly reside upon the love of a man because there was neither other greener pasture nor honor left for a woman. The uncanny way of leaving the ending to hands of the readers as â€Å"fate-directors† creates a tragic effect on Lucy Snowe’s plight. No matter how much she was worth as a good governess and schoolmaster, everything she held on to in life, both romantically and socially, was fully dependent on a man, her redeemer. Mill called this inhuman because it brought women to a much lower position compared to men. To agree with Mill, one mysterious thing is how this woman repression came to be such a powerful force and how the supposedly sacred love between a man and a woman bonded by marriage become so artificial and tainted. Though many rationalize it as a puritan or Biblical discipline, this may well be called pure heresy. Though the Bible strongly commands the leadership of men over the home, it never teaches to place women in the level of a material possession or a housemaid. This may be proved in the following Biblical lines: Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her (New International Version, Eph 5:25,)†¦Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the [physically] weaker partner (NIV 1 Pe 3:7)†¦For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and will be united to his wife, and they will be one flesh (NIV Gen2:24). Biblically, men ought to treat women as they treat their own body. Moreover, Jesus Christ, the God of Christianity, in several occasions went out of his way to rescue some women (Mary Magdalene before the crowd of stoners) and have conversations with them (the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well). It is common knowledge that the Bible recounts about Christ’s friendship with women like Mary and Martha of Bethany, Mary his mother, etc. Recognizing this, Mill posited in his essay that the unjust perception towards women in those days were ungrounded; and, to this critic, un-puritan and certainly un-Christlike. He also added that in truth the differences in the roles of men and women are very difficult to identify. Spending so much effort as trying to differentiate every gender’s responsibility would be like slicing a strand of hair into two†¦ This is, an analytic study of the most important department of psychology, the laws of the influence of circumstance on character. This is a very cunning line that implies there may really be no differences between men and women; circumstances are what make human beings who they are. Mill furthered that even if medical practitioners can ascertain the differences in the bodily constitutions of men and women, medical practitioners are not psychologists who can tell the mental characteristics of women. Psychologists themselves, however, have never made any reliable observations in this area. If they do, the branch and essence of psychology itself would prevent us from making any conclusions; psychology is made up of endless, theoretical and inconclusive studies of the human mind. This must be because it is very hard to make generalizations about any human being and what he/she is capable of. This leaves everyone no excuse to repress, manipulate, or control or place prejudices on anyone regardless of gender. The endless possibilities about the woman’s psyche were given life in the many celebrated women characters created by the authors of the most powerful genre of literature in the Victorian era, the novel. Taking advantage of people’s addiction to reading novels, our great Victorian novelists endeavored to pen stories that tell of charismatic unconventional women, to revolt against women-subjugation. Two of these powerful fictional personas are Lucy Snowe, the pitiful and tragic woman in Charlotte Bronte’s Villete; and Sue Bridehead, the illicit and incestuous lover of Jude in Thomas Hardy’s Jude the Obscure (1895). These were women plagued by two different predicaments yet both showed a strong-willed passion to have what they wanted. While Lucy Snowe was the typical Victorian woman who loved and wanted to marry a man, Sue was the rebellious type who struggled to break away from her marriage bonds with a husband she never loved, to consummate an illicit and incestuous love affair with her cousin, Jude Fawley. Together they have two children with another young boy from Jude’s last marriage. We see the eager determination of a mother and a lover in Sue as she follows her heart despite the harms posted by an intensely religious and moralistic society. What words could describe the pitiful existence of these women? Perhaps Jude Fawley’s words in the final chapter of part sixth of the novel which were also borrowed from the litany of Job can best suffice description: Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man-child conceived†¦ Why died I not from the womb? Why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly? For now should I have lain still†¦ It must have been as if all the meaning of life is purged out from within you simply because of the inhumane precepts that society incongruously called â€Å"law†. Yet in these words of Jude, we find that not only women had to suffer from the cruelties of Victorian culture. Men who did not embrace the conventions of the time doubly struggled in their existence. Hardy gives us a closer look into the life of men who had to respond to the high callings of a gentleman: a steady household, a dignified reputation, and a good financial standing. Jude was one of those we can brand as self-made man who strove with all his strength to do well, yet to no avail. From the onset of the novel, we see him as a boy, teachable and ambitious. Yet, being exposed to the kind of world he was in led him to confront the bitter contradictions of life. Today in an advancing humanistic society, a man of this account will most likely elicit an element of attraction and exaltation. Jude, however, lived in a time and place where men of his caste fell into obscurity.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

The Role And Importance Of Palliative Care Nursing Essay

The Role And Importance Of Palliative Care Nursing Essay When the patient has serious illness like cancer and came to the hospital and complaining from pain, anorexia and fatigue at this time what can he is suppose to do? The answer of this question is in the definition of palliative care. What is palliative care? Palliative care according to (World Health Organization [WHO], 2010) it is a medical profession stand up to helps the patients and families to come over the pain and other problems like physical, psychosocial and spiritual with life-threatening illness. This can be done by the prevention and relief of suffering and early assessment and treatment of pain. Palliative care according to (Get palliativecare.org, 2010) is provided by a team of professionals working together with your primary doctor. It is appropriate at any point in a serious illness and can be provided at the same time as treatment that is meant to cure. Moreover, patient in the end of life can face and experience a host of distressing symptoms such as pain, dyspnea, and delirium are reported to be among the most feared and burdensome. Also, pain can be influenced by many factors, including the patients prior experience with pain, meaning given to pain, emotional stresses, family, and culture influences (Mcphee papadakis, 2009). (Mcphee papadakis ,2009,p.70) stated that the common problem for patients at the end of life up to 75% of patients dying of cancer is the pain and it is what people say they fear most about dying. Therefore, nurses must be aware about the barriers to good care ,which including the lack of knowledge about the proper selection and dosing of analgesic medication ,limited training and clinical experience with pain management, addiction which can occurs if the patient and caregivers misused the medicines (Mcphee papadakis, 2009). In addition, there are 20 reasons can make the palliative care difficult to the nurses (Becker, 2010). I am going to mention some reasons; Shortage of staff. Shortage of nursing staff is one of the reasons which can make the palliative care difficult. In my experience in the hospital where I was working the staff nurses are in limited numbers , especially in the word the staff nurse can handle 9-12 patients some of these patients are having cancers and some time one staff nurse for 6 rooms each room has 5-7 patients!. Cancers patients cannot bear the pain and the staff nurse wants to do other work like inserting intravenous fluid for diabetic patient with hypoglycemia, so how the nurse can concentrate in doing that? Here the staff has to prioritize her work, some staff nurses finding difficulty to do that. Therefore the hospitals administration has to find and create a policy change in response to the nursing shortage as supported by Twigg , Duffield , Thompson Rapley (2010). In addition to that, as Abrahm(2010) stated that due to shortage of staff palliative care in oncologists, intensivists, advanced cardiac, pulmonary, renal, and hepatic diseases needs to be improved. Lack of knowledge of some medications and symptoms control. There were 146 surveys distributed to care providers from multiple settings. Out 135 0f 146 reported that there are several problems can make the palliative care difficult like poor pain and symptoms control, lack of education for care providers as stated by Sellick , Charles , Dagsvik , Kelley (1996) The availability of clear polices in dealing with death issues. In my experience only in some hospitals we can find clear polices in dealing with death issues especially brain death , this matter can involve many elements like; patient himself if he/she recommended before death if his/her brain died the caregiver can remove the supporting equipments, family according to the religion. So the staff nurse must be a wear about many religions. In understanding of the reasons and finding solutions to make the difficulties easier to the nurses can make too much improvement in quality of life. Quality of life can be affected by the level of education in heart failure patients. Patients with high education level often can improve more than low education level which usually reported to care givers in bad physical and functional condition as supported by Barbareschi, Sanderman, Leegte, van Veldhuisen Jaarsma (2011). In addition, there are two factors are related to quality of life in heart failure patients, demographic and clinical. Also physical excises one of the main elements of disease management program. (Jaarsma, Johansson, Agren , Strà ¶mberg ,2010) I want to stress in one point from my experience I did not see patient with heart failure has been cured totally from the disease, so I think the palliative care can play role to help this patient to enhance his quality of life. For example, one of the patients I was taking care of him he told me I am useless now! So for this type of patients I have to help him to move this idea from his mind, and let him to understand that the life did not end yet and we are finding developments in medical field, and give him task and encourage him to do it, after of compilation I have to enhance the feeling which he can feel it and let him to understand that he is worthfull and useful. Since I chose the heart failure I want to mention how the staff nurse can manage the pain in this case, which include: Pharmacologic treatment: like angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, ÃŽÂ ²-blockers, diuretics, and possibly aldosterone antagonists and angiotensin receptor blockers (Lewis, Heitkemper, Dirksen, OBrien Bucher, 2007). Diet and body weight: the recommended diet for these patients is low sodium diet to reduce body edema; recording upon admission body weight can detect the body weight if increased or no (Lewis et al., 2007). Behavioral and lifestyle management: exercise/physical activity: as stated by Benetti, Araujo, Santos (2010) exercises can improve the quality of life for heart failure. Therefore, the nurses must promote home and community-based care by taking the responsibility and contribute in education of patient and involve him to implement the therapeutic procedure to improve the quality of life. Teaching the patients and family how the progression of the disease is influenced by compliance with the treatment plan (Johnson, 2008, p.428). One of the most important points in improving quality of life as human being in my point of view is being opened to others .By this way the person can share others experience which can teach him/her something can change or improve the quality of life. In addition to that some patients need spiritual support which can make the life of some patients running in smooth way as supported by Hegarty , Abernethy , Olver Currow (2011). Also, the quality of life can enhanced by the disable patients rehabilitation. As will as, mixing patients with disabilities in right and balance way can improve the quality life as supported by (Fadyl, McPherson Kayes, 2011). So how the caregivers can measure the quality of life? The relationship among patients and families with caregivers can detect the quality of life as Hasson-Ohayon, Roe, Kravetz, Levy-Frank Meir (2011) stated in their article. And, in my opinion quality of life is not easy to measure it because different criteria. The quality of life can make the measurement is so complicated, but generally speaking the improvement of individual health can indicate in quality of life. Conclusion: The palliative care profession is can plays important role in professional healths fields by helping the patients and families to understand the serious illness and how to manage and improve the quality of life .By educating the nursing staff and they must be in university level in both arts and sciences (McEwen willss, 2007). As deeply supported by Henderson theory which stressing on the important of education for the nurses. In addition to that the caregiver should try their best to improve the quality of life which can lead to improve the palliative care, by understanding each individual is unique in many aspects and trying to deal differently accordingly. The hospitals managers should understand the teamworks conflict and create polices to solve the shortage of nursing staff can enhance the palliative care to reach to optimal quality of patients life.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Essay --

Claire Liu Hon History 9, per 8 Ms. Fowler December 12, 2013 1920s Positive and Negative Changes The 1920s in America saw numerous changes in the US. The postwar trends and fear of communism, and rise of many groups like the Ku Klux Klan effected the American citizens. Feelings of nativism spread as Quota acts were passed and the Labor movement loses appeal. Two presidents- Calvin Coolidge and Warren G. Harding effected the government in different ways. Technology advancement in cars and electricity triggered urban sprawl and the installment plan. Science and religion clashed with the Scopes Trial and Prohibition. The role of the American women changed and the Harlem Renaissance provided a way for African Americans to express themselves. Overall, the 1920s had a more positive effect on society. In the 1920s, American Industries flourished under President Calvin Coolidge. Both Coolidge Herbert Hoover preferred governmental policies that kept taxes low and business profits high. They fit the pro-business essence of the 1920s perfectly. High tariffs helped American manufacturers, government management in business was decreasing, and wages were increasing. The automobile was the main support of the American economy from 1920-1970. It greatly transformed the American countryside and civilization. Some of the various changes included: Paved roads, traffic lights, motels, billboards, home design, gas stations, repair shops, shopping centers, freedom for rural families, independence for women and young people, and growing cities. By 1920, 80% of world’s vehicles were being driven in the U.S. This lead to Urban Sprawl- when cities spread in all directions. The American airline industry started carrying mail and eventual... ...ted by mobsters (criminals, gangsters) in their quest for territory to distribute alcohol. With the installment plan, everything could be bought on credit. It allowed people to buy goods over an longer period, without having to pay much money at time of purchase. However, there was a central weakness, superficial economic prosperity, people sunk into debt. The 1920s gave negative impacts as well with the country being divided, rise of anti-immigrant socialist parties, labor unrest, corruption in the government, and organized crime. The decade known as the â€Å"roaring 20s† had more positive effects on society than negative. The birth of modern America began with electricity, automobiles, and radio. The modern women emerged with more available jobs and more time to manage their families and finances. The 1920s were a big step into what has become of the US today.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Neurological Memory :: essays research papers

The Human Memory The reason people exist is because of two important things: memory and language, which have been vital in the evolution of humanity. (Our ancestors needed language to explain how to light a fire to keep them warm and a memory to remember how to do it). So we have a memory because if we did not we would never have evolved far enough for you to ask this question in this place. So how does it work? The process involve in the human memory are very complex†¦ I will present you the neuralgic and biologic part then Aurelie will talk about the characteristics of our human memory and then Sebastien will explain the troubles of the memory†¦ Despite big advances in recent years, memory is still a bit of mystery and there are disagreements among the experts about exactly what is going on. But now memory is seen as a function of the brain, and is not placed any more in the heart†¦ It’s defined as the ability to store and retrieve information. Codes of memory The new ways of communication taught us that information could be on different supports: Email, lettre, disc... The memory acts in the same way and info are supported by specific codes: sensorial codes, motor codes and symbolic codes. A special memory exists to each different info: tactual, visual, auditory and olfactory but these codes don’t have the same importance. Visual and auditory codes are the most important codes because they are the primary means of language in the memory. The auditory code is concerned with longer times than the visual one. (You remember longer a sequence of letters if you hear them than if you see them). Olfactory codes are very difficult to study and motor codes are not studied at all. These codes seem to be transitory and the info driven is encoded in the visual way or a linguistic way†¦ That’s why you probably heard about the visual memory and the auditory memory. In the long term memory the info learned becomes more and more abstract with time. The language arrived to a conceptual memory, the visual memory arrived to an analogic memory: visual- spatial but in fact an info is encoded with the two means: verbal and visual (a picture is named). These two codes are very complementary; visual codes are good for global spatial info but bad for a sequential order and verbal codes are good for the order of encode and analyze.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Pearl S. Buck - A Modern Day Hero Essay -- essays research papers

Pearl S. Buck - A Modern Day Hero Introduction A friend of mine gave me a copy of The Good Earth as a birthday gift. Until then, I had never heard of the literary masterpiece or the author, Pearl S. Buck. The story captivated me. I found myself engrossed in the story of the poor farmer Wang Lung whose love for his land allowed him to overcome many odds including famine, flood and a revolution. Through hard work and dedication, Wang Lung became one of the wealthiest landowners in the Anweih province of China. Sadly, Wang Lung’s two sons did not share his passion for â€Å"the good earth† and cared only for their bequest. Wang Lung was still on his death bed when the two sons decided that as soon as their father died, they would sell the land and split their inheritance (Buck, P.S., 1931). The Good Earth instantly became one of my favorite books and Pearl S. Buck, one of my favorite authors. Peter Conn wrote the introduction of the book in the form of a short biography of the author. I usually do not read the introductions until after I read the story because I never want other people’s review to influence my own opinion of the book. So, I saved the introductory pages for last. It wasn’t until I read of Pearl S. Buck’s memoirs that I began to truly admire her, not only for her writing but for her humanitarian and altruistic contributions. Who is Pearl S. Buck? Pearl Sydenstricker was born in Hillsboro, West Virginia in 1892. Her missionary parents, Absalom and Carrie Sydenstricker brought her to China when she was three months old. By the time she was four, she spoke and wrote Chinese as well as English (Conn, NDA). She was at first educated by her mother and tutored by a Chinese Confucian Scholar (Author’s Calendar, 2002). While her parents carried out their Christian mission all over the Chinkiang province of China, Pearl was left under the care of her â€Å"amah† or governess. It was her amah that fascinated her with Chinese folklores and mythical tales of ancient magic, fairies and dragons (Conn, NDA). Growing up, Pearl spent hours wandering the streets of Chinkiang observing how the people lived. She became familiar with their rituals, practices, and traditions. Her first hand experience with the Chinese culture led her to write many novels, including her most critically acclaimed book, The Good Earth. Her intimate knowledge of the Chinese culture was evident in ... ...ca Online: http://www.search.eb.com/eb/article?tocId=9017878 Buck, Pearl S. (1931), The Good Earth, NY: The John Day Company Conn, Peter (NDA), Pearl S. Buck (Introduction: The Good Earth), NY: Simon & Schuster, Inc. Doyle, Paul. A (2000), American National Biography Online: Buck, Pearl S., Retrieved on April 20, 2005 from the World Wide Web: http://www.anb.org/articles/16/16-00214.html Frenz, Horz (1969). The Nobel Lectures, 1901-1967, Amsterdam: Elservier Publishing Company Merriam-Webster Online (NDA). Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com on March 9, 2005 PSBI Website (NDA), Pearl S. Buck International Online, Retrieved on April 11, 2005 from the World Wide Web: http://www.pearl-s-buck.org/psbi/ Mythology Themes (2000), Sparknotes Online: Themes in Mythology, Retrieved on April 20, 2005 from the World Wide Web: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/mythology/themes.html Spencer, Stephen (2002), The Journal of American Popular Culture, Vol. 1, Issue 1: The Discourse of Whiteness: Chinese-American History, Pearl S. Buck and The Good Earth, Retrieved on April 11, 2005 from the World Wide Web: http://www.americanpopularculture.com/journal/articles/spring_2002/spencer.htm

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Eating Healthy Foods Essay

Eating provides your body with the nourishment it needs to survive. A healthy diet supplies nutrients (such as protein, vitamins and minerals, fiber, and carbohydrates), which are important for your body’s growth, development, and maintenance. However, not all foods are equal when it comes to the nutrition they provide. Some foods, such as fruits and vegetables, are rich in vitamins and minerals; others, such as cookies and soda pop, provide few if any nutrients. Your diet can influence everything from your energy level and intellectual performance to your risk for certain diseases. A healthy diet that includes a variety of fruits and vegetables can prevent problems with the eyes and digestive system as well as reduce risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and some types of cancer. A poor diet, on the other hand, can lead to health problems. For example, insufficient calcium intake can affect the strength of your teeth and bones, possibly leading to tooth decay and osteoporosis. Furthermore, eating more calories than your body needs leads to becoming overweight, which is a serious health concern. Overweight and obese people are at higher risk for diabetes, heart disease, asthma, and depression. Because different fruits and vegetables contain different nutrients, it is important to eat an assortment. Everybody should try to eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables each day and to eat a range of different kinds. Fresh produce is not the only option; frozen and dried fruits and vegetables are healthy, too. Although taking a multivitamin can help provide some vitamins and minerals, it is healthier to get nutrients from food. So how can children in particular be encouraged to eat healthfully? Taste preferences are learned through exposure to foods. Mealtimes and snack times are opportunities to promote wise food choices. A healthy diet should include plenty of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Foods such as carrot sticks, raisins, and yogurt are healthier choices that could be eaten every day. In general, processed foods are nutritionally inferior to fresh foods. These foods, which may have high amounts of saturated fats, trans fats, sodium, and sugar, should only be eaten in moderate quantities. This includes french fries, candy, and ice cream.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Teaching Literacy in the Primary School

All elements of literacy are inter-related. This essay will examine the reading process and how the teaching of speaking, listening, writing and reading all influence pupils’ development in many ways. One pupil’s language and literacy development will be explored in this context, with a particular emphasis on his reading progression. Literacy is the ability to use language to communicate one’s ideas expressively, through speaking and writing and receptively, through listening and reading. (Palmer, S 2003). The Department for Education (2012) explains that pupils’ acquisition of language allows them to access learning across the curriculum.Notably, reading aids pupil’s development culturally, emotionally, spiritually and socially. Since 1988 and the introduction of the National Curriculum, the government have overseen the teaching of English and literacy in schools. It was not until the publication of The Rose Review in 2006 however, that a standard strategy for teaching reading was devised. In his report, Rose reviewed the way early reading was taught and advised that all children should have a secure foundation of phonics knowledge so that they are able to link graphemes to phonemes and blend these into words.As a result, it became statutory for schools to use a daily, systematic, synthetic style of teaching phonics. To help schools instigate this new teaching style, the Communication, Language and Literacy Development Plan (CLLD) was introduced in 2006. Local authorities were given trained consultants, often teachers, who could model high quality phonics teaching and ensure the findings of the Rose Review were implemented effectively.Ofsted (2010) reported, that several schools, from a sample demonstrating ‘outstanding’ practice in their teaching of early literacy, used a scheme such as ‘Letters and Sounds’, published by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) in 2007. These schemes initially teach phonemes alongside their written representation (graphemes), followed by the skill of blending and segmenting graphemes to write and decode individual words. It is widely recognised that the teaching of phonics enables children to decode words, but does not teach an understanding of vocabulary. The skill of decoding is not enough to enable children to read effectively.Rose (2006) also observed this in his review, â€Å"Different kinds of teaching are needed to develop word recognition skills from those that are needed to foster the comprehension of written and spoken language. † Wyse and Parker (2010), cited by the Institute of Education (2012), argue in favour of â€Å"contextualised teaching†, which begins by looking at whole texts that pupils can relate to, thus motivating them to read independently. They claim that although important, the teaching of phonics, in a way where it is exaggerated above all other elements, comes with serious risk and that children ’s language skills develop best through classroom talk.Until recently, the importance of Speaking and Listening was overlooked by many schools. Ofsted (2005) reported that the teaching of speaking and listening had been neglected and the range of contexts in which children are given the opportunity to converse with their peers was constrained. It is crucial to understand that as each strand of literacy is equally important, a child who struggles to communicate verbally will have difficulty in communicating or understanding concepts in written form. Douglas (2009) observes, â€Å"†¦Speaking and listening skills underpin all learning and are the start of all other literacy skills.†Rose (2006) observed, â€Å"Schools provide massive opportunities and unique advantages for developing speaking and listening skills. † Activities such as talking partners develop children’s vocabulary by getting them to share their ideas about set questions in short bursts, throughout the lesson. This technique can be integrated into the teaching of any concept across the curriculum, meaning the opportunities to acquire new language are infinite. Drama is part of the Speaking and Listening strand of the National Literacy Strategy.McMaster (1998) explains that it is an invaluable tool as it supports every aspect of literacy development. Drama can extend vocabulary; develop decoding and conversational skills; and improve understanding of syntax, as well as metacognitive knowledge. Drama also aids personal, social and emotional development (PSED). By engaging in situations as if they were real, children build the confidence to express themselves and develop creativity and empathy. These attributes are closely associated with reading development, as they facilitate comprehension and response (Wagner, B.  1988; Vygotsky, S. 1976 cited by McMaster, J. 1998)Poetry is also a useful tool to improve pupils’ personal, social and emotional development (PS ED). Children should be encouraged to believe that poetry is a normal human activity, a very intense one and an activity that people often resort to at crucial times in their lives†¦ which shows its central importance. (Longley, M. 2008 cited by McLeish, J. 2008) In Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and Key Stage 1, learning nursery rhymes and other simple poems and songs assists the development of phonological awareness.The repeated rhythm and rhyme patterns develop an understanding of how words can be broken into syllables. The next stage is to understand that each syllable is made up of a structure of sounds, onsets (the initial phoneme) and rimes (the remaining sound in the syllable. ) Wilson (2005) believes this is a fundamental skill to develop if a child is to blend and segment efficiently. Sharing poetry and re-telling stories provide the basis for the â€Å"Talk for Writing† initiative, developed by The National Strategies (2010), in conjunction with Pie Corbe tt.The National Strategies explain â€Å"†¦good readers learn about the skills of writing from their reading and draw (consciously or unconsciously) upon its models in their own work†¦. † Reciting poetry and rhymes, and re-telling stories enable children to internalise language (referred to as imitation) so that it can later be reused in their own writing automatically. Once this skill is mastered, children can continue to change parts of the story (innovation) using aids such as story maps and shared writing. The final stage is invention, at this point pupils use the language and writing styles they acquired to create their own pieces of writing.In his early workshops, Corbett (2008) stated that these approaches to learning also work extremely well when teaching children to write in a non-fictional context. The use of speaking and listening is also an invaluable tool when teaching children with special educational needs (SEN). Corbett (2004) states â€Å"Many chil dren with special needs have succeeded using this multi-sensory, oral strategy to developing composition. † These children need as many opportunities as possible to internalise new vocabulary and writing styles that may be unfamiliar.The same is applicable to pupils who are learning English as an additional language (EAL). These children have the extra hurdle of comprehending vocabulary and writing styles that may differ greatly to that found in their first language. Cummins (1999) explains, â€Å"There are clear differences in acquisition and developmental patterns between conversational language and academic language, or BICS (basic interpersonal communicative skills) and CALP (cognitive academic language proficiency). † Children generally develop BICS within two years of immersion in the target language, providing they spend much of their time in  school interacting with native speakers.However, it typically takes children between five and seven years to develop CA LP and therefore be working at a linguistic level similar to their native speaking peers. It is therefore vital to provide a wide, varied range of opportunities for students to converse. The DFES (2004) explains, â€Å"Bilingualism is an asset, and the first language has a continuing and significant role in identity, learning and the acquisition of additional languages. † Children who are truly bilingual will often work at a higher academic level than those who speak one language.Child C is a six year old boy. He is a native English speaker, although he does have developmental problems with his speech and is currently seeing a speech therapist. He lives with both his parents and his two brothers, aged seven and two. The following information has been sourced from interviews with his teachers and mother, his speech and language reports and his records of attainment. Permission from C’s parents and school were sought in order to include him in this study, and for reasons of confidentiality his anonymity will be respected throughout. C was born nine days late with no issues at birth.C refused solid food until about 10 months of age, and his mother explained that he has always expressed a dislike for food that requires a lot of chewing. It was suggested to C’s parents that this may be a contributing factor to his speech difficulties. C started ‘babbling’ at about 22 months, experimenting with sounds and a few words. His mother was able to understand his attempts to communicate by around 3 years of age, although other members of his family and the practitioners at his nursery school struggled to understand him, this caused C to become greatly frustrated and stressed when trying to express his wants and needs.It was at this point that C was referred for speech therapy. He was also referred for hearing tests which did not uncover any auditory problems. C and his older brother have shared books with their parents before bedtime since C was 2 years old. His mother explained that neither of the boys demonstrated a strong interest for books and requests to be read to, apart from before bed, were infrequent. C’s lack of interest was also observed by his EYFS teacher, as a result C was initially only given one book a week to share at home, as more than this tended to overwhelm him and generate a refusal read at all.It was also noted in the early months of EYFS, C disliked contributing to group discussion or conversing extensively with his peers as a result of insecurity about his speech problems. He felt much more confident talking to adults on a one to one basis. C left EYFS with a reading level higher than the national average for his age group, although lower than that of most of his classmates. His ability to blend and segment graphemes was good, meaning he was able to read and write a range of simple words.His ability to form particular cluster sounds orally remains an issue, but his confidence to communi cate with his peers and contribute to group work has improved significantly. As a result, his range of vocabulary and comprehension has also improved. C has continued with his speech therapy in KS1 and he receives daily interventions with a teaching assistant to help with his sound formation. C’s current class teacher has observed that his reading has significantly improved recently; C will now read quite complex sentences with some expression, using a range of decoding techniques such as segmenting and looking at accompanying pictures.C recently read a short passage to the rest of his class, demonstrating his improved reading skills and confidence levels. In conclusion, speaking, listening, reading and writing are all of equal importance. The strategies, tools and initiatives explored in this essay help children develop their reading skills. Each strand can be built upon each other to develop a pupil’s literacy development as a whole. Being literate is essential if a child is to access all areas across the curriculum.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Nothing Is Permanent in This World Other Than Change Essay

â€Å"Nothing is permanent in this world Other than the Change† -is a famous proverb. In this mechanical world all of us are moving towards the pursuit of money having not even single second to spare, to think of world. So I would like to bring to spotlight 3 most prickling things in my mind, which I think, given a power I will surely change, to make the world a better place to live in Poverty according to my view is a thorn in flesh of the world. Society in India is very sharply divided between ‘Haves’ and ‘Have Nots’. With all the wealth of the country getting so accumulated in a few hands the rest of the population find it difficult to even make 2 ends meet. So obvious reason for poverty is ‘distribution of wealth’ which is too uneven. On one side India is leading gold importer in the world, whereas on other side India has most number of population that cannot even afford for a single meal as stated as follows†¦ â€Å"Rich continues to become richer-and Poor continues to become poorer† Recent news coverage in media focusses fully on Indians and their illegal blackmoney deposited in Swiss and Morocco banks, and a pitiful fact is that most of them having account are politicians of our very own country. Isn’t it a big shame for our nation? Harmful effect of poverty include mitigation of crime activities like theft, robbery, smuggling, kidnapping, cheating

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Communication and professional relationships with children, young people and adults Essay

Explain how you use effective communication in developing positive relationships with children, young people and adults. Why is this important? 1. 1 In developing positive relationships we use effective communication in several ways. We use it to: †¢help us better understand a situation or person which can help to determine our approach when engaging with them. †¢build trust and respect. If individuals feel comfortable speaking with us and feel they can approach us at any time on any subject, they are more likely to co-operate and look favourably on any suggestions made. †¢show that we care about the welfare and future of an individual and will do our best to aid in their success †¢ensure that all parties are agreed upon the same goal, making sure that everyone is clear about the final aim and how it will be achieved. †¢build and maintain a positive working environment where creativity and learning can flourish. It is important to do this because poor communication can lead to misunderstandings, lack of trust and conflict. Without a positive relationship you are unlikely to gain support and co-operation and find it challenging to achieve a good outcome from any situation. Explain the principles of relationship building with children, young people and adults 1. 2 When trying to develop positive relationships there are several principles to follow. Firstly effective communication is essential. You must be clear in what you say and ensure you have been understood correctly. At the end of a communication you can reiterate your key points and if necessary outline responsibilities and actions. Also be sure to use language appropriate to the person with whom you are communicating. When speaking with young children keep key points to a minimum and ask them to repeat what you have said. Secondly, take time to listen to others and try to understand their point of view. Use active listening techniques to show that you are interested in what they are saying and respond appropriately. Also make sure that, if you tell someone you will get back to them, you do get back to them. This will help engender a sense of trust and respect. It is also essential that you show respect for the person with whom you are communicating. Remember their name and details of how they like to be addressed and issues which are personal to them. Recalling details of their lives adds to the feeling that you are genuinely interested in them and their welfare. When communicating be sure to acknowledge the individual. Accommodate any religious and cultural beliefs and show that you value these differences. Be considerate of the person’s situation trying to understand and accommodate any issues which may influence their feelings, actions and responses. Finally, remain positive and retain a sense of humour. Laughter is a good way to break the ice and relieve tension in a stressful situation. Explain how different social, professional and cultural contexts may affect relationships and the way people communicate 1. 3 There are several ways in which social, professional and cultural contexts may affect our relationships and the way we communicate. We must remember that communication is not just verbal and context will influence the way we act, what we wear, how we communicate and what we say. In a social setting our actions, language and dress may be less formal. If we have colleagues and parents from school as friends outside of school, then we might perhaps greet them with a hug and a wave. Our language might incorporate slang and jokes and conversation might be more generic and less serious. We might be more casual in our attire and the situation would suggest whether this is acceptable. For example, you would not be expected to attend a party wearing your best suit. The manner in which we communicate socially is also likely to be different from a professional setting. As well as telephone and face to face conversations we might also engage via text message, email and social media sites and we would be unlikely to write a letter to someone we might see daily. Communications might, for example, utilise text speak and jargon and not necessarily demand an immediate response if any at all. In a professional context you would be expected to act, speak and dress more formally. Your actions language and clothing should match the severity of the issue which you will address and show appropriate respect for the location and people with whom you are meeting. If participating in a parent/ teacher meeting at school for example the same people you greeted with a hug the night before would be better greeted with perhaps a handshake to highlight the position you hold in this scenario. Our language would be more formal and depending who was present we might try to eliminate jargon to ensure clarity and minimise misunderstandings. Similarly again our clothing would be more formal to identify the position we hold and show respect for those involved in any meeting. When contacting people professionally the use of social media sites would not be appropriate to discuss any matters relating to school, pupils or staff. Text messages might be appropriate to inform parents/carers of a school social event for example but to arrange a meeting or discuss an important matter it would be more appropriate to speak with a parent/carer or write a letter if the contact needs to be documented. When working with outside agencies email, for ease of use and speed, has become the standard form of communication but again when broaching a sensitive or important issue, a phone call or face to face meeting might be preferred. Emails can easily be misread which can lead to misunderstanding and conflict. When speaking we can use tone of voice to help ensure a point is understood correctly and face to face we can use body language in the same way. The timeframe in which we contact someone or reply to a communication can also affect relationships. When someone has taken the time to contact you they will expect a response to show that you value their contact and it should be made in the same manner or more personally. Responding to a phone call with an email, for example, could be seen as rude and deter future contact. Similarly, delaying a response could suggest that you do not value the input of the individual or consider them or their issue to be important and bring about the same result. Finally, we need to consider the cultural differences of those with whom we interact. Different cultures may also have different standards in terms of behaviour, dress, communication and contact. Actions could be misinterpreted and cause offence leading to the breakdown of a relationship. If you are meeting with someone from a different culture it may be worth doing some research and asking their preferred form of contact etc. to show that you value their beliefs. However, whilst it may be detrimental not to account for cultural differences you could see the same consequences if you assume differences because of background or race when actually there are none. What skills do you need to communicate with children and young people 2. 1 Communication is still a relatively new thing for children and young people and they may not be used to asking questions and holding conversations. One skill required to communicate effectively is giving children and young people opportunities to speak. As adults we are inclined to think that we know what children are thinking and feeling and try to tell them this or fill the gaps in their speech. Whilst we should continue to try and communicate with children as often as possible we should ensure it is a two-way conversation and not a one-way stream of instructions. We should remain patient and allow children time to organise their thoughts and formulate their sentences. When a child is relaxed and at ease they will be more forthcoming. Children may be shy and reluctant to say more than a few words if they feel you are not interested in what they have to say. Using positive body language we can encourage children to speak out. We should come down to the child’s level, face them and maintain eye contact. Remaining focussed on the child rather than continuing with another task will confirm your interest and appropriate facial expressions will show that you are listening and have understood what they are saying. Active listening is another key skill. Be interested and make appropriate responses whilst the child is speaking to confirm that you are really listening. Add to this by repeating back what the child has said to ensure your understanding is correct and by giving positive comments when they have finished. Asking open questions will extend the conversation giving the child more practice, boost the child’s confidence so they are encouraged to communicate more and model a real conversation for them to learn from. Finally, we must also ensure that communication is appropriate for the child or young person and be able to adapt the style we use. Depending on the age and ability of the child we may be able to simply converse or might need to incorporate visual support or play into the communication. We should not assume children and young people will not understand but instead make our communication clear, use vocabulary which is appropriate to their age and encourage questioning. Give a detailed explanation of how you adapt communication with children and young people for: 2. 2 aThe age of the child or young person When communicating with younger children you should try choose a setting which is familiar to the child and where they are more confident – their favourite area of the classroom for example. Get down to the level of the child perhaps sitting on the carpet and use body language to make them feel more comfortable – ensure you are facing the child, smile, nod, turn toward them, keep your arms open and remove any barriers between you. Younger children will require more reassurance and perhaps more physical contact. They may feel more confident holding your hand or sitting close together. Vocabulary should be kept simple and sentences short, broken down into easy steps. The same point may need to be repeated several times in different ways and it is helpful to provide examples based around their own experiences. If a child is very reluctant to communicate you may want to use puppets to speak through, include pictures or props to help them engage or perhaps incorporate your communication into a favourite game. The attention span of younger children is very short and you must also account for this. Monitor the length of time you spend together and include attention switches to maintain their interest: change your method of communication, switch speakers, move location, ask questions etc. Older children and young people will still need to feel comfortable in your company but are more independent and will require less reassurance and physical contact. They are more familiar with the school environment so will find it easier communicate in different settings but will more comfortable in a setting they have used before. Older children often view themselves as grown up and will appreciate being treated accordingly. Positive body language will still be beneficial in encouraging a child to speak but it will no longer be necessary to sit on the floor. Language and vocabulary should be more mature and sentences can be more complex. It may also not be necessary to repeat a point so often unless it is something new and above that person’s ability level. Examples can be drawn from a variety of sources as their experiences are wider and additional materials should be more sophisticated such as written texts or †you tube† clips. Older children are more aware of themselves and can be easily embarrassed. They will benefit from confidence boosting reminders of how well they are progressing and positive re-enforcement. They will, however, withdraw and react negatively if patronised, preferring to be treated with respect and spoken to honestly. With age attention span also increases so it is still necessary to include attention switches to maintain focus but not as frequently. bthe context of the communication We will encounter children in a variety of situations at school and it will be necessary to adapt our communication accordingly. Primarily our contact will be made inside school during a learning activity. In this case we need to remain quite formal, be directive and model the behaviour we require through our own actions. Ground rules should be laid down in clear, concise Instructions and the learning objectives highlighted to ensure all children fully understand what we expect and are trying to achieve from the lesson. There will be other children in the same area working on separate activities so we need to make our lesson interesting to retain the attention of our group but not distract the others. We can do this through tone of voice, choice of vocabulary and supplementary resources but must be wary not to overexcite the group because of the other learners present. If your activity is away from other learners then it may be possible to incorporate physical activity and allow greater expression. Distractions will be plentiful and we will need to encourage and focus our learners through positive re-enforcement and challenges. If appropriate to the task we should encourage discussion through questioning but keep discussion restricted to the subject at hand. In a more social setting, for example the playground, we can be less formal and more relaxed in our approach. This would be reflected in our body language, tone of voice and vocabulary. These times can be used as opportunities to build relationships and get to know the children better. Children can be encouraged to discuss outside interests and we might share our own experiences to help form a bond. Whilst it may be necessary to give little reminders of school rules to avoid bad behaviour it should not be necessary to outline them in full and they can be made in a more playful and conspiratorial manner – a helpful friend rather than a figure of authority. Although conversation might be more light hearted we must still remember to maintain the relationship of teacher and pupil. A school trip, however, is a more social event, but still a learning activity and the degree of formality should remain on a similar level to the classroom. The formality of the pupil teacher relationship should remain so the children understand that you â€Å"are in charge†. Children will need to be reminded often of their objectives but communication might be more light hearted and children allowed to speak more freely, discussing outside interests highlighted by the current situation. Outside the school environment they will be excited and more forgetful of their code of conduct. It will not always be possible to speak with the whole group when on a trip so we should communicate through our own behaviour, modelling what we expect from the children: remaining focussed, respectful, and responsible.