Ethical Analysis of Gumdrop Northern

At the conclusion of this audit, the following ethical Issues were identified: emergence to International law and treaties by exporting manufactured landmines to Afghanistan and Iran; use of substandard materials used to construct body armor; disclosing Information from the military that would prevent Injuries; and the formulated plan to send out notices under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, and severing ties to the collective bargaining agreement which resulted in 100+ employees out of work.Despite the several issues that have been identified, we are optimistic that we can implement solutions that can correct these incidents and prevent future issues from happening. Due to the magnitude of the issues that were found it is essential to get a basic understanding of business in ethics. Ethics can be perceived differently among people because it has several nuances. According to Frederica, Farrell and Farrell, The American Heritage Dictionary defines ethics as, â€Å"The study of the general nature of morals and of specific moral choices, moral philosophy, and the rules or standards governing the conduct of the members of a profession. (p. 7). This Is a good starting point to help us further understand the importance of ethical compliance. For the purpose of this memorandum, the definition that will be used is the principles, values, and standards that businesses should adhere to, to ensure it is acting within ethical standards. Furthermore, studying ethics in business is very important because ethical misconduct is a considerable concern in business throughout the world. My ethics committee and I have referenced this definition and statement through the duration of our audit, and is the foundation of our findings.Now that we have discussed the definition and importance of ethics in business, we will discuss ACH ethical Issue that was discovered in Gumdrop Northerner operations. After each ethical Issue has been addressed, we will di scuss potential solutions and our reasoning for the betterment In your short and long-term goals. Ethical Issue #1 : Ignorance to International Law and Treaties by exporting manufactured landmines to Afghanistan and Iran. This is a very dynamic issue because there is conflict of interest.This conflicts with your parent company, the Department of Defense because you are a long-term military contractor that manufactures munitions, body armor and armored vehicles for the United States military. The U. S. Litany is currently fighting in a decade-long war in the Middle East, and landmines have been common amongst the fatalities since the beginning of the war. Improvised explosive devices (Deeds) have continued to be the number one killer of United States armed forces in Afghanistan, and 60 percent of all combat- related deaths in 2011 alone were caused by Deeds (Moral, 2011).Deeds are the most common method used by insurgent groups and rebels who wage non-traditional warfare, and are des igned to kill or cause serious bodily harm. The conflict of interest that my committee and I are most concerned with is the simple fact that you are opposed to supply effective body armor to the coalition forces to protect them from explosive blasts, but you are also supplying the enemy with the essential tools that cause these aforementioned explosive blasts.This conflict of interest not only violates international law and treaty, but you are potentially responsible for deaths of uniformed personnel serving in the armed forces. It is your responsibility to behave ethically, and this has not happened by your ignorance to the law, and the endangerment you have caused to uniformed personnel. In addition, the landmines hat you sell to the Taliban and Iranian government are defective, and many of who attempted to plant the mines was killed in the process due to the faulty switches.It should also be noted that many of these deaths were children and soldiers of each respective country. Th is ignorance on every angle is unethical by all counts. The basis of this ethical issue can have a wide range of effects legally, and can have severe repercussions on corporate stakeholders. The legal effects are very straightforward. The company can potentially be taken to court to file the violation of international law, and the consequences can be severe.For example, Department of Justice lawyers are rumored to be involved where families of injured or killed service members can consult attorneys to investigate Gumdrop Northerner contributions. Furthermore, the stakeholders are also potentially at risk. Anyone who has a stake or claim in your business can be directly affected because of your negligence to law, and this can damage your reputation, which is important in keeping your contract with the Department of Defense. In addition, it can Jeopardize the future of your company.Ethical Issue #2: The Use of Substandard Materials Used in the Company's Manufacturing and Failure to Di sclose to Stakeholders It has also been brought to our attention that Gumdrop Northern has utilized substandard materials in their manufacturing. Given the nature of your business, the United States military needs state of the art body armor that has the sophistication to stop penetrating shrapnel aimed for the body. The use of substandard materials is unacceptable because the safety of our soldiers is paramount in today's war.The body armor is the primary mode of protection that protects America's sons and daughters, and the armor you are providing the U. S. Litany does not protect them to Afghanistan and Iran. The substandard material is not only limited to the personnel body armor, but it also is connected to the armored vehicles used to transport military personnel throughout the theater. It has been revealed that there is a thin sheet of steel on the underside of the vehicle that makes them extremely vulnerable to improvised explosive device explosions.This is alarming because, as previously mentioned, Deeds are among the chief causes of death of soldiers. You have structured a vehicle that is protective on the sides and top, but have ignored arguably the most important part of up-armored vehicles used in the Middle East. This also leads to the negligence of the company to disclose this information to its primary and secondary stakeholders, and failure to understand the stakeholder orientation. The failure to disclose information can cause the rescission of an agreement.In your case, the Department of Defense can void the agreement with your company and also pursue a money settlement. Also, the purpose of the stakeholder orientation is for you to understand and address the demands of a stakeholder. The U. S. Litany is your primary stakeholder and you have failed to meet their demands and standards by using substandard materials and failing to disclose this information to them. It is your responsibility along with other top managers in Gumdrop to act in a responsible manner by providing truthful information to all stakeholders.We have found in our audit that you have failed in this field, and you have not complied with ethical standards. Ethical Issue #3: The formulated plan to send out notices under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, and severing ties to the collective arraigning agreement, which resulted in 100+ employees out of work. We have found that your actions under the WARN Act are completely legal because you have acted within all the guidelines underlined in the act. Also, your plan to file for bankruptcy to reject the collective bargaining agreement is another area of concern.However, we believe it is unethical to do so because of the circumstances that you have found yourself in the aforementioned ethical issues. This issue is controversial because you are middling between the lines of ethical and legal issues. We believe that this is an unnecessary approach, and there are other venues to pursu e to resolve the issues at hand. I believe you should place significant value on your shareholders because they are primarily responsible for the day-to-day operations and ensuring your company is bringing in profit.Therefore, you should treat your people right and you can accomplish this by giving them a fair shot. If you trade seats at the table, it would seem unfair to dump them so quickly because they have families to feed, bills to pay and priorities to maintain; so we think you should do the right thing and help them in any way possible. The ethical issues hat we have identified are substantial and they can have serious potential effects on the reputation of your company and its future. With that said, we have outlined a detailed plan that we have formulated as the best for the business.Resolving the Ethical Issues: All of the issues have been put on the table and addressing possible solutions is statement of Gumdrop because this is where we believe you have failed. We suggest that a meeting is held by the Board of Directors to re-tool the mission statement of Gumdrop Northern. When all of the issues are put on the table it helps to have all eye players there to innovative think of the direction the company wants to move in. For the first ethical issue, the resolution is quite simple.We believe that Gumdrop Northern should adhere to international law and treaty by severing your ties with Afghanistan and Iran. It doesn't make sense to supply the enemy with antipersonnel ammunition, and protect the individuals fighting the enemy. Although more than half of your profits derive from these clandestine operations, it is conflicting with your interest by protecting the United States military with your manufactured products. This relationship should be terminated, and it should tie into your company's mission statement.Furthermore, it is your moral and ethical responsibility to report your shortcomings. I believe that showing integrity defines a company, and thi s can be the first step to repairing and strengthening your relationship with your stakeholders. It is also a great first step into repairing your corporate image. Moving on, the second ethical issue that we discovered is definitely a priority in addressing. The United States Military deserves the best protection because of their illnesses to volunteer their lives to fight for our freedom.Gumdrop Northern is using substandard materials when superior equipment should be used in preparing the body armor and armored vehicles. I think that the best solution to this problem is using the best equipment available to help protect the soldiers. I believe you should immediately recall all the body armor that has been issued, and rebuild the body armor that the soldiers use. This move is good for your image because it shows you have identified faults in your products, and will work relentlessly to alter it to meet military standards.You are also doing yourself a favor by telling your primary s takeholder that there are issues with your product, which is something that you have failed to do so. In addition, you should also revamp the armored vehicles that you supply to the troops. This is the primary mode of the transportation for uniformed personnel, and ensuring the safest vehicle possible should be a priority. Gumdrop Northern should provide additional sheets of metal to the bottom of the vehicle to strengthen the most vulnerable part of the vehicle. Finally, the third ethical issue can be resolved by not doing any of it.It is our belief that you should take responsibility for your actions, and slowly repair your image. I believe that taking care of your shareholders is important in business because they make sure your company is working. Therefore, the essential portion of this resolution is to own up to your mistakes and build on what you have. This solution shows ethical responsibility, and this is the focal point of this memorandum. I previously mentioned that an es sential part of this meeting is also to identify fiduciary duties of the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Operation Officer.It is the ethical responsibilities of each of these managers to gain back the trust and confidence of the stakeholders (I. E. – United States Military). This is the best alternative that is the best for the business considering the ethical issues that were identified and the potential circumstances that were discussed. It is the right thing to fixing your problems. By owning up to your mistakes it may damage your company's problems in the short-term, but you are strengthening your company in the long run.I believe the first couple of months will be difficult because of the backlash you'll chive by showing your integrity, but with strength and perseverance, Gumdrop Northern can return to prominence. I also believe that part of repairing the company is implementing an ethics committee and appointing an individual to act as the ethics officer. I believ e this is essential because it would help prevent issues like the previously mentioned from happening in the future. It also will keep Gumdrop Northern in ethical compliance. Your company has fallen short in this area, and it should be a priority in your company's mission statement.

How do I know anything?

The Film The Matrix was a Box Office hit due to the idea it presented to the audience. Even though Descartes' Meditations inspired the film, the idea of living in a computer simulated environment was an interesting, original concept that had been created recently. It opened up a question, how do I know anything? It is possible that we may be living in a computer-simulated environment, or in a big dream of some sort. We are unable to prove any of this at the moment, which could then possibly lead to scepticism about this theory. The only real argument to support the theory is to use the fact that our government keeps information confidential from the public, for a number of reasons. This demonstrates that there are things that we do not know; therefore, we should not totally doubt what we do not know, and that we may be living in a simulated environment. There is also the problem of perception. It is easy for us to perceive something to be different to what it really is. Magicians use optical illusions to fool us. If we are living in a simulated environment, then how can we break ourselves away from the perception that we are in, to separate ourselves from the simulation, and find out what the other reality is like? The closest technology has come to simulating environments is virtual reality. The environment is simulated, allowing humans to interact, although they may be elsewhere. The graphics within virtual reality are still basic, and this is one of the reasons why we are able to recognise virtual reality as being different to reality. Another reason is that virtual reality does not cause you to feel pain. Whether Virtual Reality is comparable to the neural-simulated environment in The Matrix, VR is the closest thing we have to relate to the theory. However, VR could be as real as reality if it had realistic models of physics (e.g. feather and coin fall at the same rate in a vacuum), better graphics, and the ability to stimulate the body into experiencing physical feelings of pain, heat and cold, etc. Another problem with doing this is having a computer powerful enough to process all this information via calculations. IBM have developed a supercomputer that can calculate the force of nuclear explosions. Does a computer exist powerful enough to simulate the reality we live in exactly? If it does, then the theory proposed by the film could be right. Another concern brought up by the film was about A.I. (Artificial Intelligence). In the film, A.I. developments created intelligent, living computers. Machines are physically better than man in many ways. They do not excrete, need tea breaks at work, sleep, be lazy, require wages, things that humans do. They are more efficient than humans. However, Humans have consciences, imaginations, and the ability to think. Computers do not have this. If computers did have this, they may be worth more than human life. Once recognising their status and power, it is possible that they may consider the human race to be inefficient, and may then start to eliminate humanity, like in The Matrix and The Terminator. This is something we have to be wary about when we decide to improve A.I., whether it be in industrial machines, home appliances, or computer games. If AI started to have a mind of its own, would anyone be willing to corrupt it, and turn it against others? It could be something terrorists would do to disrupt the activities of Governments around the globe? It may not be possible for machines to be a living, independent-thinking species. Computers work by calculations. Let us take an example. Home appliance in the future; greets person as they get in the door. A sensor will detect that the door is opening. It activates another smart sensor to identify that person. It is the house-owner. It greets with ‘hello'. The house-owner says ‘hello' back. The appliance uses a sensor to detect the reply, and assesses it not only for vocal identification, but to determine what mood the person is in. It will then choose a speech passage suited to the mood of the person. E.g. the person has a cold, so the computer tells the person that they are making a warm glass of Lemon and Honey for them, and ordering for a prescription of medicine to the doctor. Another sensor in the house will scan the person and send the details of the cold to the doctor, allowing the doctor to prescribe the right medication. The person will say ‘thanks', and the appliance will say ‘your welcome'. All this could happen just by entering the door and saying hello. The computer can display signs of compassion, but will not actually feel them. This will be a major mountain to conquer in the development of Artificial Intelligent Life. Commercially, Artificial Intelligence is still under development, and will take some time before it can resemble anything human. Overall, Technology will get better, and maybe we will discover if the simulated neural environment theory is right.

1419 Work Related Learning

The Every Child Matters (2003) green paper also identified five outcomes that are most important to children and young people: being healthy, staying safe, enjoying and achieving, making a positive contribution and achieving economic well-being. These five outcomes are universal ambitions for every child and young person, whatever their background or circumstances. Following wide consultation with children’s services, parents, children and young people, the Government published Every Child Matters: the Next Steps in November 2004, and passed the Children Act (2004), providing the basis for developing more effective and accessible services focused around the needs of children, young people and families. The recently formed DCSF (Department for Children, Schools and Families) echo’s the points made in ECM (2004) and seeks to ensure that all children and young people stay healthy and safe, secure an excellent education and the highest possible standards of achievement, enjoy their childhood, make a positive contribution to society and the economy, have lives full of opportunity, free from the effects of poverty. These outcomes are mutually reinforcing. For example, children and young people learn and thrive when they are healthy, safe and engaged. The DCSF also aim to raise educational standards so that more children and young people reach expected levels, lifting more children out of poverty and re-engaging disaffected young people. This is particularly applicable to my practice as the socio-economic circumstances of most of my students disadvantage them. Most of my students live in Camborne, Pool, Redruth and Hayle. These are widely recognized as deprived areas regarding economic opportunities, high number of single parent households, low employment prospects, and the majority of employment being minimum waged, relatively insecure, part time, seasonal or flexi time. (SDRC 2004). This relates back to ECM (2003) in that this seems to be applied in context of the geographic and demographic circumstances of children and young people. For example, a student from a poor single parent household in a deprived area with high crime rates who participates in underage smoking and drinking may be majority behaviour or the ‘norm’ in certain subcultures in Camborne, Redruth, Pool and Hayle but would attract more attention and concern in a more affluent area where this was not the ‘norm’. 2 We Could be Left Behind In every decade children are maturing physically earlier than before resulting in a constant shortening of childhood in a biological and social sense. This has a converse repercussive effect involving the constant lengthening of childhood in an educational sense. Cunningham 2006) This is reflected in the proposals in the DfE (Johnson 2007) report Raising Expectations: staying in education and training post-16 are highlighting the need to continue study for 14-19 year olds and by 2015 the school leaving age will be increased to 18 years of age. The reasons the government have given for such policies being implemented are illustrated by the secretary of education; Johnson (2007:3) when he said ‘ the undeniable truth is that if a young person continues their education post 16 they are more likely to achieve valuable qualifications, earn more and lead happier, healthier lives’. A seeming contradiction to Johnsons (2007) policy of staying in education longer and its benefits have been researched by Walker and Zhu (2003:145) who asserted that ‘there is no evidence that raising the minimum school leaving age made people who have not intended to leave at the minimum age raise their educational standard. This is consistent with the view that education raises productivity and not with the view that productive people get more educated’ Johnsons (2007) statement seems concerned with happiness, health and wealth. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR 1948) has wider reaching concerns. The UDHR (1948) states in Article 26 that ‘education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human right and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among nations, racial or religious groups for the maintenance of peace’. However, Johnson (2007:18) goes on to explain ‘we have a duty to prepare all young people for the labour market’ as ‘the world economy is developing at an ever more rapid pace. If we do not act now we could be left behind’. So its seems that it is not just for the benefit of our children’s wellbeing that Johnson encourages the parents of the youth of today to continue in education and so ‘achieving valuable qualifications, earn more and lead happier healthier lives’ (Johnson 2007:3) but more to do with deeper issues of ‘the world economy’s development and the UKs position of power within it’. In the same report Johnson (2007) quotes research carried out by the National Institute for Social and Economic Research (NISER) that reinforces the idea that when individuals achieve higher levels of skill and qualification, businesses and the economy benefit. This is compelling evidence that increasing the educative stock of human capital raises productivity at the macro economic level. In relation to literacy for example, a study by Coulombe Trembley and Marchard (2004) found that if a countries literacy score increases by 1% relative to the inter national average a 2. % relative rise in labour productivity and a 1. 5% rise in GDP per year can be expected. 3 Surf’s up This emphasis on cultural superficiality, fragmentary sensations and disposability offers wide implications and questions; not least ‘what is postmodernism? Postmodernism itself is a much disputed term that has occupied much recent debate about contemporary culture since the early 1980s. In its simplest sense it refers generally to the phase of 20th century Western culture including the products of the age of mass television since the mid 1950s. More often, though, it is applied to a cultural condition prevailing in the advanced capitalist societies since the 1960s, characterized by a ‘superabundance of disconnected images and styles most noticeably in television, advertising, commercial design, and pop video’ (Baudrillard 1998:72) In my practice I notice that these media have a profound impact on defining student’s social standing and identity within their peer group. In my role as a lecturer I observe that the students are encouraged through media and peer pressure to consume. Children’s identities centre prolifically on brand names and icons (mobile phones and hoodies) which help to fulfil their aspirations to obtain products which make statements about who they are. The latest fashions all contribute to the identity of the youth of today where a distinct subculture and language exist involving Xboxes, ipods, beebo, Bluetooth, myspace, chavs, hoodies, emos, skaters and goths. I ensure that I participate and involve such subcultural language within my practice when explaining tasks, demonstrating skills or providing metaphorical illustrations. Whatever postmodernism is and however the term evades definition, what the intellectual highbrows have been lecturing on postmodernism are soon to become extinct by their own doing. The postmodernist wave of consumer students have climbed the ladder and are nipping at the heels of the old school who created them like Doctor Frankenstein who is dispatched by his creation. This wave of postmodernist students could also be seen as in a vast ocean of modernity where far from the shore one can see the formation of a wave. As the wave builds in popularity it slowly approaches the shore, the crest breaks; postmodernity is born. As we stand and watch, it slips beneath itself, down into the ocean, and there in time it becomes ‘the modern’, dissolved and replaced by yet another breaking new wave. Paradoxically the new wave will emerge in a significantly disposable, shifting, fragmentary postmodern society with expectations of structured, quantifiable, standardised educative processes. One of the latest waves to begin its postmodernist journey towards the shore before slipping back into modernism and the norm is the Qualification and Credit Framework (QCF) announcement in January 2008 by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) who have â€Å"allowed commercial companies the ability to award nationally accredited qualifications to employees, for the first time Network Rail, Flybe and McDonald’s all achieve the standards set by QCA for awarding accredited qualifications, enabling them to assess, track and recognise work-place learning† (QCA 2008) McQualifications This links to Ritzers (2000) notion of the McDonaldisation of education, where education is based on the premise of efficiency, calculability, and predictability and is partially governed by non-human technology. This perspective is rooted in both Fordian principles of mass production, mechanisation and assembly lines (Ling 1991) and Weberian (1968) principles regarding the growth of formal rational systems with its emphasis on the rules and regulations of large social structures. Ritzer (2000:2) applies this process of McDonaldisation not only to ‘restaurants but also to work, health care, travel, leisure, dieting, politics, the family, and virtually every aspect of society’; including, of course, education. This could be illustrated with the OFSTED standardisation of observations and grading, league tables, units of competence, knowledge requirements etcetera. For example, Young (1961) asserts that in a meritocracy, all citizens have the opportunity to be recognized and advanced in proportion to their abilities and accomplishments. The ideal of meritocracy has become controversial because of its association with the use of tests of intellectual ability, such as the Scholastic Aptitude Test, to regulate admissions to elite colleges and universities. It could be argued that an individual’s performance on these tests reflects their social class and family environment more than ability. Maybe this is what Chomsky (1989) would label a necessary illusion. One that allows the system to keep on running with the support of its members even if massive disparities and inequalities exist. Supporting a system that does not support you as an individual is a typical hegemonic regime of truth; a discourse that the society accepts and makes function as true (Foucault 1980:131). Excellence in Schools (DFEE 1997) and Meeting the Challenge (DFEE1998) were ntroduced as the Governments educational policies and marked the change from centralised control to educational intervention where direct involvement and partnerships with parents, schools, Local Authorities and businesses recognised them as stakeholders in an attempt to improve standards in schools and to find ‘radical and innovative solutions’ (Blair 1998:1 cited in Meeting the Challenge 1998) to problems of underachievement. Reference List Baudrillard, J. (1998) The Consumer Society: Myths and Structures. London. S age. Children Act (2004). London. HMSO. Chomsky, N. (1989) Necessary Illusions. London. Pluto Press Climbie Inquiry: Report of an Inquiry by Lord Laming (2003). London. HMSO. Coulombe,S. Trembley, F. and Marchard, S. (2004) Literacy scores, human capital and growth, across 14 OECD countries. OECD. Canada. Cook – Sather, A (2002) ‘Authorising Students perspectives: towards trust, dialogue and change in education’. Educational Researcher, 31, 4, p3 -14. Cunningham, H. (2006) The Invention of Childhood. London. BBC Worldwide Ltd. DCSF (2007). Department for Children, Schools and Families. Accessed online at dfes. gov. uk. DFEE (1997) Excellence in Schools. London. HMSO. DFEE (1998) Meeting the Challenge. London. HMSO. DWP (2006) Equality and Diversity: Age Discrimination in Employment and Vocational Training. London. HMSO. ECM (2004). London. HMSO. Every Child Matters (2004) Change for Children in Schools. Nottingham. DfES. HMSO ECM (2005) Change for Children: common core of skills and knowledge for the childrens workforce. DfES. ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council) ‘Consulting Pupils about Teaching and Learning’. Foucault, M. (1980) Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews Other Writings 1972- 1977. Gordon, C. (ed) New York. Pantheon Books. Illich, I. 1973) Deschooling Society. Great Britain. Penguin. Johnson, A. (2007) Raising Expectations: staying in education and training post-16. DfE Kolb, D. (1984) Experiential learning as the science of learning and development. Englewood Cliffs. Prentice Hall. Laidlaw, M (1994) The democraticising potential of dialogical focus in an action inquiry. Educational Action Research, 2, 2, p223 â⠂¬â€œ 241 Ling, P (1991) America and the Automobile: Technology, Reform and Social Change, 1893-1923. Technology and Culture, Vol. 32, No. 3 p 627-628 National Institute for Social and Economic Research (2002). Britains relative productivity performance – updates to 1999. NISER Oplatka, I (2004) ‘The characteristics of the school organisation and the constraints on market ideology in education: an institutional view’. Journal of Educational Policy 19, 2, p143 – 161. QCA (2008) News release: Employers gain official awarding body status on line at http://www. qca. org. uk on 29/01/2008 Ritzer,G. (2000) The McDonaldization of Society. London. Pine Forge Press. Rudduck, J and Flutter, J (2000) ‘Pupil participation and pupil perspective: carving a new order of experience. Cambridge Journal of Education, 30, 1, p75 – 89. Schon, D. A. (1983) The Reflective Practitioner: How professionals think in action. London: Temple Smith Social Disadvantage Research Centre (2004) The English Indices of Deprivation 2004 HMSO Tomlinson, M. (2003) Tomlinson Report, The. Accessed online at qca. org. uk on 4. 12. 07. Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) General Assembly of the United Nations. Usher, R. Bryant, I and Johnston, R (1998). Adult Education and the Postmodern Challenge. London. Routledge. Walker, I. and Zhu, Y. (2003) Education, earnings and productivity: recent UK evidence. Labour Market Trends. Accessed online at www. statistics. gov. uk-article labour. Market-trends-education mar03pdf on 25. 6. 07 Weber, M. (1968) Economy and Society. Totowa. Bedminster. Whitehead, J and Clough, N. (2004) ‘Pupils, the forgotten partners in education action zones’. Journal of Educational Policy 19, 2, p216 – 226 Young, M. (1961) The Rise of the Meritocracy: An Essay on Education and Equality. Great Britain. Penguin. Bibliography Donovan, G. (2005). Teaching 14-19. Great Britain. David Fulton. Vizard, D. (2004). Behaviour Solutions: teaching 14-16 year olds in colleges of further education. Great Britain. Incentive Plus. 1419 Work Related Learning The Every Child Matters (2003) green paper also identified five outcomes that are most important to children and young people: being healthy, staying safe, enjoying and achieving, making a positive contribution and achieving economic well-being. These five outcomes are universal ambitions for every child and young person, whatever their background or circumstances. Following wide consultation with children’s services, parents, children and young people, the Government published Every Child Matters: the Next Steps in November 2004, and passed the Children Act (2004), providing the basis for developing more effective and accessible services focused around the needs of children, young people and families. The recently formed DCSF (Department for Children, Schools and Families) echo’s the points made in ECM (2004) and seeks to ensure that all children and young people stay healthy and safe, secure an excellent education and the highest possible standards of achievement, enjoy their childhood, make a positive contribution to society and the economy, have lives full of opportunity, free from the effects of poverty. These outcomes are mutually reinforcing. For example, children and young people learn and thrive when they are healthy, safe and engaged. The DCSF also aim to raise educational standards so that more children and young people reach expected levels, lifting more children out of poverty and re-engaging disaffected young people. This is particularly applicable to my practice as the socio-economic circumstances of most of my students disadvantage them. Most of my students live in Camborne, Pool, Redruth and Hayle. These are widely recognized as deprived areas regarding economic opportunities, high number of single parent households, low employment prospects, and the majority of employment being minimum waged, relatively insecure, part time, seasonal or flexi time. (SDRC 2004). This relates back to ECM (2003) in that this seems to be applied in context of the geographic and demographic circumstances of children and young people. For example, a student from a poor single parent household in a deprived area with high crime rates who participates in underage smoking and drinking may be majority behaviour or the ‘norm’ in certain subcultures in Camborne, Redruth, Pool and Hayle but would attract more attention and concern in a more affluent area where this was not the ‘norm’. 2 We Could be Left Behind In every decade children are maturing physically earlier than before resulting in a constant shortening of childhood in a biological and social sense. This has a converse repercussive effect involving the constant lengthening of childhood in an educational sense. Cunningham 2006) This is reflected in the proposals in the DfE (Johnson 2007) report Raising Expectations: staying in education and training post-16 are highlighting the need to continue study for 14-19 year olds and by 2015 the school leaving age will be increased to 18 years of age. The reasons the government have given for such policies being implemented are illustrated by the secretary of education; Johnson (2007:3) when he said ‘ the undeniable truth is that if a young person continues their education post 16 they are more likely to achieve valuable qualifications, earn more and lead happier, healthier lives’. A seeming contradiction to Johnsons (2007) policy of staying in education longer and its benefits have been researched by Walker and Zhu (2003:145) who asserted that ‘there is no evidence that raising the minimum school leaving age made people who have not intended to leave at the minimum age raise their educational standard. This is consistent with the view that education raises productivity and not with the view that productive people get more educated’ Johnsons (2007) statement seems concerned with happiness, health and wealth. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR 1948) has wider reaching concerns. The UDHR (1948) states in Article 26 that ‘education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human right and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among nations, racial or religious groups for the maintenance of peace’. However, Johnson (2007:18) goes on to explain ‘we have a duty to prepare all young people for the labour market’ as ‘the world economy is developing at an ever more rapid pace. If we do not act now we could be left behind’. So its seems that it is not just for the benefit of our children’s wellbeing that Johnson encourages the parents of the youth of today to continue in education and so ‘achieving valuable qualifications, earn more and lead happier healthier lives’ (Johnson 2007:3) but more to do with deeper issues of ‘the world economy’s development and the UKs position of power within it’. In the same report Johnson (2007) quotes research carried out by the National Institute for Social and Economic Research (NISER) that reinforces the idea that when individuals achieve higher levels of skill and qualification, businesses and the economy benefit. This is compelling evidence that increasing the educative stock of human capital raises productivity at the macro economic level. In relation to literacy for example, a study by Coulombe Trembley and Marchard (2004) found that if a countries literacy score increases by 1% relative to the inter national average a 2. % relative rise in labour productivity and a 1. 5% rise in GDP per year can be expected. 3 Surf’s up This emphasis on cultural superficiality, fragmentary sensations and disposability offers wide implications and questions; not least ‘what is postmodernism? Postmodernism itself is a much disputed term that has occupied much recent debate about contemporary culture since the early 1980s. In its simplest sense it refers generally to the phase of 20th century Western culture including the products of the age of mass television since the mid 1950s. More often, though, it is applied to a cultural condition prevailing in the advanced capitalist societies since the 1960s, characterized by a ‘superabundance of disconnected images and styles most noticeably in television, advertising, commercial design, and pop video’ (Baudrillard 1998:72) In my practice I notice that these media have a profound impact on defining student’s social standing and identity within their peer group. In my role as a lecturer I observe that the students are encouraged through media and peer pressure to consume. Children’s identities centre prolifically on brand names and icons (mobile phones and hoodies) which help to fulfil their aspirations to obtain products which make statements about who they are. The latest fashions all contribute to the identity of the youth of today where a distinct subculture and language exist involving Xboxes, ipods, beebo, Bluetooth, myspace, chavs, hoodies, emos, skaters and goths. I ensure that I participate and involve such subcultural language within my practice when explaining tasks, demonstrating skills or providing metaphorical illustrations. Whatever postmodernism is and however the term evades definition, what the intellectual highbrows have been lecturing on postmodernism are soon to become extinct by their own doing. The postmodernist wave of consumer students have climbed the ladder and are nipping at the heels of the old school who created them like Doctor Frankenstein who is dispatched by his creation. This wave of postmodernist students could also be seen as in a vast ocean of modernity where far from the shore one can see the formation of a wave. As the wave builds in popularity it slowly approaches the shore, the crest breaks; postmodernity is born. As we stand and watch, it slips beneath itself, down into the ocean, and there in time it becomes ‘the modern’, dissolved and replaced by yet another breaking new wave. Paradoxically the new wave will emerge in a significantly disposable, shifting, fragmentary postmodern society with expectations of structured, quantifiable, standardised educative processes. One of the latest waves to begin its postmodernist journey towards the shore before slipping back into modernism and the norm is the Qualification and Credit Framework (QCF) announcement in January 2008 by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) who have â€Å"allowed commercial companies the ability to award nationally accredited qualifications to employees, for the first time Network Rail, Flybe and McDonald’s all achieve the standards set by QCA for awarding accredited qualifications, enabling them to assess, track and recognise work-place learning† (QCA 2008) McQualifications This links to Ritzers (2000) notion of the McDonaldisation of education, where education is based on the premise of efficiency, calculability, and predictability and is partially governed by non-human technology. This perspective is rooted in both Fordian principles of mass production, mechanisation and assembly lines (Ling 1991) and Weberian (1968) principles regarding the growth of formal rational systems with its emphasis on the rules and regulations of large social structures. Ritzer (2000:2) applies this process of McDonaldisation not only to ‘restaurants but also to work, health care, travel, leisure, dieting, politics, the family, and virtually every aspect of society’; including, of course, education. This could be illustrated with the OFSTED standardisation of observations and grading, league tables, units of competence, knowledge requirements etcetera. For example, Young (1961) asserts that in a meritocracy, all citizens have the opportunity to be recognized and advanced in proportion to their abilities and accomplishments. The ideal of meritocracy has become controversial because of its association with the use of tests of intellectual ability, such as the Scholastic Aptitude Test, to regulate admissions to elite colleges and universities. It could be argued that an individual’s performance on these tests reflects their social class and family environment more than ability. Maybe this is what Chomsky (1989) would label a necessary illusion. One that allows the system to keep on running with the support of its members even if massive disparities and inequalities exist. Supporting a system that does not support you as an individual is a typical hegemonic regime of truth; a discourse that the society accepts and makes function as true (Foucault 1980:131). Excellence in Schools (DFEE 1997) and Meeting the Challenge (DFEE1998) were ntroduced as the Governments educational policies and marked the change from centralised control to educational intervention where direct involvement and partnerships with parents, schools, Local Authorities and businesses recognised them as stakeholders in an attempt to improve standards in schools and to find ‘radical and innovative solutions’ (Blair 1998:1 cited in Meeting the Challenge 1998) to problems of underachievement. Reference List Baudrillard, J. (1998) The Consumer Society: Myths and Structures. London. S age. Children Act (2004). London. HMSO. Chomsky, N. (1989) Necessary Illusions. London. Pluto Press Climbie Inquiry: Report of an Inquiry by Lord Laming (2003). London. HMSO. Coulombe,S. Trembley, F. and Marchard, S. (2004) Literacy scores, human capital and growth, across 14 OECD countries. OECD. Canada. Cook – Sather, A (2002) ‘Authorising Students perspectives: towards trust, dialogue and change in education’. Educational Researcher, 31, 4, p3 -14. Cunningham, H. (2006) The Invention of Childhood. London. BBC Worldwide Ltd. DCSF (2007). Department for Children, Schools and Families. Accessed online at dfes. gov. uk. DFEE (1997) Excellence in Schools. London. HMSO. DFEE (1998) Meeting the Challenge. London. HMSO. DWP (2006) Equality and Diversity: Age Discrimination in Employment and Vocational Training. London. HMSO. ECM (2004). London. HMSO. Every Child Matters (2004) Change for Children in Schools. Nottingham. DfES. HMSO ECM (2005) Change for Children: common core of skills and knowledge for the childrens workforce. DfES. ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council) ‘Consulting Pupils about Teaching and Learning’. Foucault, M. (1980) Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews Other Writings 1972- 1977. Gordon, C. (ed) New York. Pantheon Books. Illich, I. 1973) Deschooling Society. Great Britain. Penguin. Johnson, A. (2007) Raising Expectations: staying in education and training post-16. DfE Kolb, D. (1984) Experiential learning as the science of learning and development. Englewood Cliffs. Prentice Hall. Laidlaw, M (1994) The democraticising potential of dialogical focus in an action inquiry. Educational Action Research, 2, 2, p223 â⠂¬â€œ 241 Ling, P (1991) America and the Automobile: Technology, Reform and Social Change, 1893-1923. Technology and Culture, Vol. 32, No. 3 p 627-628 National Institute for Social and Economic Research (2002). Britains relative productivity performance – updates to 1999. NISER Oplatka, I (2004) ‘The characteristics of the school organisation and the constraints on market ideology in education: an institutional view’. Journal of Educational Policy 19, 2, p143 – 161. QCA (2008) News release: Employers gain official awarding body status on line at http://www. qca. org. uk on 29/01/2008 Ritzer,G. (2000) The McDonaldization of Society. London. Pine Forge Press. Rudduck, J and Flutter, J (2000) ‘Pupil participation and pupil perspective: carving a new order of experience. Cambridge Journal of Education, 30, 1, p75 – 89. Schon, D. A. (1983) The Reflective Practitioner: How professionals think in action. London: Temple Smith Social Disadvantage Research Centre (2004) The English Indices of Deprivation 2004 HMSO Tomlinson, M. (2003) Tomlinson Report, The. Accessed online at qca. org. uk on 4. 12. 07. Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) General Assembly of the United Nations. Usher, R. Bryant, I and Johnston, R (1998). Adult Education and the Postmodern Challenge. London. Routledge. Walker, I. and Zhu, Y. (2003) Education, earnings and productivity: recent UK evidence. Labour Market Trends. Accessed online at www. statistics. gov. uk-article labour. Market-trends-education mar03pdf on 25. 6. 07 Weber, M. (1968) Economy and Society. Totowa. Bedminster. Whitehead, J and Clough, N. (2004) ‘Pupils, the forgotten partners in education action zones’. Journal of Educational Policy 19, 2, p216 – 226 Young, M. (1961) The Rise of the Meritocracy: An Essay on Education and Equality. Great Britain. Penguin. Bibliography Donovan, G. (2005). Teaching 14-19. Great Britain. David Fulton. Vizard, D. (2004). Behaviour Solutions: teaching 14-16 year olds in colleges of further education. Great Britain. Incentive Plus.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Assistive Technologies for students Research Paper

Advantages and Disadvantages of Assistive Technologies for students with Learning disabilities - Research Paper Example In essence, reading, listening, speech, algebra, and reasoning are the prime areas in which learning disabilities tend to affect on children. Moreover, students with learning disabilities or disorders have a higher potential of succeeding as long as the teaching technique used on them is different from that used on average kids. Ideally, there is no medical symptom that may show that a child has learning disabilities, but this does not mean that the condition is non existent. Learning disabilities are not curable, but the use of certain application tools may be helpful in ensuring that a child with this disability works out the learning challenges that they may have. On the contrary, these tools are technology aides that assist a child to organize, write, spell among a list of other daily activities with ease and they may be complex or common devices. With this, this essay will delve into the advantages and disadvantages of using assistive technologies for students with learning disa bilities. Features of assistive technologies for learning Ideally, assistive technology is a term that describes the family of rehabilitative, aiding, and adaptive technology applying devices made for people living with learning disabilities. ... The advancement in technology has led to the development of equipments that have proved effective for the disabled with any form of shortcomings. For those with learning disabilities, assistive technology products include screen readers and voice recognition devices, which mainly target those with indisputable communication challenges, learning, hearing, and arithmetic needs. Ideally, people have different ways of accessing and communicating in which assistive technologies can be effective using joysticks, touch screens, software, and switches that may be essential for them to accomplish tasks. These tools act as aides to students with learning disabilities through these devices in order for them to keep up with the other normal children. Advantages of Assistive Technologies for students with Learning disabilities As stated above, Assistive Technology is any equipment that when used improves, maintains, or increases the performance capabilities for people with disabilities. The first advantage of using Assistive Technology is that it supports an individual’s strengths hence suppressing the effects that disabilities may bring by. The other advantage is that these technologies give individuals with disabilities alternative ways of performing the required tasks using these technologies, which makes the task execution to be maneuverable. For instance, people that have unreadable handwriting may use word processors to help them improve on this skill, which in turn helps them produce documents are readable and appealing to their eyes of a reader. Other than writing, Assistive Technology (AT) can also be helpful in building their self-esteem as it gives an avenue for the improvement on their written expressions such as spelling and

How readily could terrorists can acquire nuclear weapons Essay

How readily could terrorists can acquire nuclear weapons - Essay Example different nations had the information about nuclear weapon empowerment of different terrorist organizations across the world, why adequate measures have not been taken to prevent such attempts? The reasons is that despite having knowledge about such devastating plans of the terrorists such attempts could not be stopped as terrorists are not some kind of creatures belonging to a particular species group who could be identified through their appearances. They are very much part of the society, of the mass and they are actually utilizing the brighter aspects of human innovations in wrong ways. The general course experimentation of nuclear weapons has showed them the avenues that nuclear weapons are great tools by which a great deal of mass destruction can happen and such attempts would definitely add to the purpose of the terrorists. Nuclear weapon empowerment of terrorists actually started due to the infamous Cold War between two global superpowers, United States of America and Soviet Union. As either of these nations was on the desperate attempt to prove them superior to the other that is why, for the purpose of making their respective economic as well social bonds weak they encouraged terrorism. In the process of such encouragement they actually trained those terrorists, who were actually mercenaries in the hands of both the countries, to use modern weapons properly and taught them about the use and invention of nuclear weapons. Use of such nuclear weapons by the terrorists actually belongs to the category of â€Å"non-conventional weaponry.† (Cameron, 1999, p. 1) Once of the most horrific instances of the recent day use of such â€Å"non-conventional weaponry† can be cited through the attack of Aum Shinrikyo, a terrorist organization in Tokyo. â€Å"On 20th March 1995, members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult released a lethal nerve agent, sarin, on the Tokyo underground. The attack killed 12 people and injured over 5,000 others, and was the first majo r sub-state use of a

Empress Wu Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Empress Wu - Essay Example Her thirst and quest for power made her do the unthinkable from murdering her own daughter and son. Empress Wu Zhao was born in Wenshui part of the Shanxi Province in 624 A.D. Her father Wu Shihuo was a rich merchant who educated her daughter well. The education the Empress received at a young age was very pivotal for her political shrewdness and prowess (Woo 5). During the time of her birth, China was under the rule of the Tang dynasty which accorded women more freedom compared to the earlier dynasties. The Emperor at the time Tai Tzong had encouraged cultural awareness in which the women were allowed to be economically independent and were well enlightened in the fields of philosophy, social ethics and culture. The power of female sexuality was at that time widely recognized in medieval china; the ladies of the Sui and Early Tang dynasty elite were relatively independent. They could ride horses, henpeck their husbands and they took charge when their men were away for herdsmen or military duty (Will 128). Due to this, Emperor Wu was adequately educated in the disciplines of music , writing, reading, and Chinese classics. By the time she was thirteen years old, Empress Wu not only recognized her womanly beauty, but she also appreciated her intelligence and wit. Due to her intelligence, Empress Wu was soon recruited to the court of Emperor Tai as a concubine and she doubled up as a secretary in the Imperial Study. She obviously took her chance to study more about official documents and politics. The rest is history. Empress Wu held power for more than a century in one guise or another, firstly she ruled as a consort; the favored wife of Emperor Gaozong, then secondly as the ruler behind the throne of her youngest son and finally herself until her death. She ruled with sheer ruthlessness and decisiveness as she stabilized the Tang dynasty when it seemed to be crumbling and

Problem-Solving Scenario Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Problem-Solving Scenario - Essay Example At the onset, problems are often manifested in the form of a confounding issue concerning a particular person or situation. These pressing challenges could be confronted in one’s domain: either at home, in the academic setting or in the workplace. In this regard, the aim of the current essay is to proffer pertinent issues exemplified as problems within one’s work setting; to identify the alternative courses of action; to evaluate these options by providing pros and cons; and to finally recommend the best possible solution. Problem Definition Who: The persons affected by the problem include me and my co-workers and expand to management and other stakeholders who we regularly interact with in the organizational setting. What: There are symptoms that emerge such as poor attitudes in the workplace (always complaining); no dedication (only there for a paycheck); co-workers looking at other workers’ performance but fails to focus on one’s job; high turnover; low productivity and therefore contributes to below average financial returns. When: The problem actually persisted since higher management fails to design and implement a motivational and performance evaluation program and that would recognize and reward exemplary performance and apply sanctions for employees who consistent perform below par. There is also failure on the part of management to present a Code of Discipline for the employees that contain sanctions for violating company policies and a set of benefits and rewards for exemplary performance. Where: As indicated, this problem exists in one’s work setting. As recognized, the symptoms such as high turnover, low productivity, low performance and no commitment or concern are manifestations of a greater problem. The root cause for all of these is the failure of management to design and implement motivation and performance evaluation programs that would gauge the performance of all personnel and motivate all workers to perfo rm according to what the organization needs to achieve. In this regard, this is a motivational problem and leadership problem. Alternative Courses of Action 1. Status Quo: This course of action simply ignores the problem. Nothing is proposed to be done. Nobody stands up to recognize the problem and allows the employees to perform below par. The advantage of this option is that there would not be any disruption in the present set-up; as no proposal for change is suggested. On the other hand, the disadvantage of this option is that continued high turnover would result in lower productivity and the continued lack of motivation would cause lower morale. The result would be lower financial returns and possibly financial losses, in the long run. 2. Get out of the Organization by Resigning: This course of action would enable one to relieve oneself from the burden of seeing and experiencing unproductive colleagues who are indifferent; always complaining and exudes low morale. The advantage of this option is that one could possibly find employment in other organizations with more positive working environment with high morale and with an effective motivational system in place. Likewise, the disadvantage of this option is that one could not find an immediate replacement of one’s employment and could end up unemployed and unproductive. Further, this option would not solve the problem in the organization. 3. Send a Formal Advice to Management: This course of action aims to make the management team aware of the low morale and low performance due to the lack of motivation exemplified through ineffective performance evaluation, a system of rewards and punishments, and the application

How did economic change and the two world wars effect wome workers in Essay

How did economic change and the two world wars effect wome workers in Britain between 1750 - 1950 - Essay Example Both phases provided empowerment for women altering their roles in their workplace and at home, sometimes restricting opportunity (Noung, Para1). The first phase of industrialization, the outwork, involved the production of goods for home use and for export through the merchants who fed the local and outside markets with the goods. The families never hesitated to squeeze themselves, if it called for, due to the flexibility of the system even though there were frustrations placed on their leisure time by out putting merchants. During this era, the women played a very important economic role since all the members of a household knew how to operate a spinning machine, meaning that together they contributed to the household economy. Therefore, this phase empowered women by making them agents of production and not just consumption (Floud, p25). This development in the production sector was important due to the agricultural trends, which were extant since 1700. This was due to the economics of scales that proprietors were employing. Large farms were able to operate with few workers hence released much labour from the lands driving women out of the labour market. These could be associated with the fact that men still dominated social and economic sectors during this period. As their wages started going down, they sought to exclude women from the labour market to prevent further immiseration. Hence, women from the agricultural region had to seek employment at home. This exclusion of women came with some side effects to the farmers who were their employers. Most noticeable and comical was the violent clashes between well-organized groups of women gleaners and the farmers. They would invade their farms to collect leftovers after harvesting. As the farmers tried to limit this, they developed a stricter notion of property rights in the eighteenth century. The farmers worn the civil case but the local customary law pull-ranked it as the judiciary

The Economic Motive Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Economic Motive - Essay Example But in the rights of everyone, he busted everyone's lives among those 200+ people. Upon examining the case with the (3) three facts beyond a reasonable doubt is the opportunity, where Mr. Lee is said to be proven as he have the crime at hand. He also has the ability to do the crime. But the motive of him is somewhat unpredictable since don't mean to hurt these people but he is just doing what his ancestors are doing before him. In here the problem will be circulating at the situation on which is much better to measure his weakness. Will it be the opportunity and ability or his motive Glifonea stated again that , if u have been with or have any connection with the crime, we cannot call it not a crime doer, because what he did is also a crime, even we look at it on any other sides. As time passes by, our society, and the whole wide world are also changing. Why ot Mr. Lee's generation change their old tradition Kevin Bales said "Slavery is a horrible thing". As if everybody will look at this case, people might say it's too crude and tyrannous. And we should not treat other people mean fully.

Citizen Participation, Public Policy, and Social Change Assignment

Citizen Participation, Public Policy, and Social Change - Assignment Example America society conforms to the views of functionalist theories by critically examining functions of human behavior as a platform for initiating social change (Bishop et al., 2009). It is common that most people tend to resist change. From PoliceCentral simulation, it is explicit that resistance to change is one of the obstacles that any group encounters when attempting to initiate social change in the society. This behavior is often closely connected to cultural, economic and technological factors. People would prefer to maintain status quo. Absence of relevant information is another obstacle that has impacted negatively on initiation of social change in the society. People should have right information about the social change that is about to take effect to enable them understand the need for it. Initiation of social change is also undermined by societal norms and expectations, some of which support entrenched social behaviors. Public policies also impacts initiation of social change (Bishop et al., 2009). From the simulation, it is explicit that anyone attempting to effect social change encounters a great deal of challenges. Resistance to change in the modern societies particularly in the United States of America remains predictably strong. Therefore, it is important to have full knowledge of the ways of handling these obstacles. Effective communication should be embraced when initiating social change. The need for the change should be addressed adequately. The group effecting change must consider public policies before attempting to effect social change (Bishop et al., 2009). It is also important to allow all citizens to be affected by change to involve themselves in the process of initiating social change. Bishop, B. J., Vicary, D. A., Browne, A. L., & Guard, N. (2009). Public policy, participation and the third position: The implication of engaging communities on their own terms.

Growing Number of Kindergarten Franchises Essay Example for Free

Growing Number of Kindergarten Franchises Essay The preschool market is the fastest growing sector of the education industry in China presently. Over the span of last seven years, the industry has grown at an annualized rate of 10. 3% from 2006. The industry showcased increasing revenues in the period of 2006-2012, owing to the inflating tuition fees charged by the growing number of the private kindergartens. The enrollment figures have also shown a progressive trend throughout the years, instigated by the growing market presence and awareness about the importance of the pre-primary education amongst masses. Kindergartens in China are responsible for providing both childcare and preschool education to the children aged 3-6 years. The transition of Chinese economy from publicly administered to market-run has put a great impact on the kindergarten market of the country. Private sector funded kindergartens have gained increasing hold over the overall market and had accounted for a dominant share in 2012. Rural areas of China host the maximum of the kindergartens which are primarily run by the education department or are publicly funded. However, with a rising number of private entities adopting the franchised business model to operate in the underpenetrated market of China preschool industry, the urban areas have showcased an increasing share of enrollments over the years. The preschool industry of China is characterized by a high degree of fragmentation with increasing number of players implementing acquisition expansion strategies to build on their market shares. RYB Education, Oriental BabyCare, Gymboree Play and Music are some of the chief brand names operating in the market. Other emerging players include Noah Education holdings, Beijing Hongying Education group, I Love Gym etc. A significant number of publicly led kindergartens also are prominent in China which includes players such as Huijia Kindergarten and Hong Huanlan Education Group. Increasing number of working mothers has led to an increasing demand for the kindergartens in the country. Additionally, the large population base of the country promises an increasing cohort of children aged under- six, which presents huge opportunities for the foreign and domestic investors to attain growing levels of revenues in coming years. Additionally, the talent-based trainings provided in the kindergartens of China, has also welcomed a growing number of children to participate in the preschool programs. However, the trend of bilingual kindergartens is being most prominently witnessed in this sector, stressing the growing importance of early language training, as preferred by parents. The report â€Å"China Pre-primary Education and Childcare Industry Outlook to 2017† provides detailed overview on the preschool industry from various perspectives. The report encloses a comprehensive analysis of the various segments of the market reflecting the present scenario and future growth affected by changing industry dynamics in coming years. Additionally, the report also entails information about the government rules and policies, rational analysis of the macroeconomic factors, along with the competitive landscape of the pre-primary education and childcare industry. The report will help industry consultants, companies and other stakeholders to align their market centric strategies according to ongoing and expected trends in future. For more information on the industry research report please refer to the below mentioned link: http://www. kenresearch. com/education/pre-school-education/china-pre-primary-education-market-research-report/401-99. html.

Alias in Philippine Province Essay Example for Free

Alias in Philippine Province Essay Aklan oldest province Angono, Rizal town of artists Antipolo City picnic area Apalit, Pampanga tapayan capital Baclayon Church, Bohol oldest stone church Bacolod City city of smiles Bacolor, Pampanga countrys capital in 1762-1763 Baguio City summer capital Balabac Island, Palawan land of Philippine mouse deer Baliuag, Bulacan the first town to have election Banaue Rice Terraces stairways to the sky Barasoain Church headquarters of the Malolos Congress Basey, Samar town of mat festival Batanes smallest province; northernmost province Bataan last stronghold during Japanese occupation Biak na Bato, San Miguel, Bulacan site of the Biak na Bato republic Binondo known for Chinatown district Bocaue, Bulacan firecrackers capital Bohol land of chocolate hills Boracay Island worlds finest beach resort Bulacan land of heroes and beautiful women Bukidnon pineapple country Calamba, Laguna birthplace of Jose Rizal Calamian Islands land of Calamian deer Calauit Island, Palawan animal sanctuary Camiguin land of volcanoes Capiz seafood capital Catanduanes land of howling winds Cebu City premiere city in the south Central Luzon rice bowl Corregidor Island island fortress; the rock Crisologo Street, Vigan kamestizoan district Davao City- worlds largest city; durian capital Davao Oriental easternmost province Divisoria bargain capital Donsol, Sorsogon sanctuary of whale sharks Gapan, Nueva Ecija newest city General Santos City most competitive city; tuna capital Guiginto, Bulacan cutflower capital Guimaras mango capital Hundred Islands, Pangasinan actually composed of 400 islets Iligan City land of waterfalls Intramuros, Manila walled city Kabayan, Benguet land of mummies Kalibo, Aklan land of ati-atihan Kawit, Cavite first independent town Laguna resort province Laguna de Bay largest lake Lanao del Sur center of Islam Las Pinas City land of the bamboo organ Lipa, Batangas coffee capital Lubao, Pampanga the birthplace of Diosdado Macapagal Lucban, Quezon Pahiyas town Luzon worlds 17th largest island Magallanes, Agusan del Norte site of the oldest tree Makati City financial center Malolos, Bulacan site of the First Philippine Republic Manila capital city Maria Cristina Falls, Iligan City mother of industry Marikina City shoe capital Mexico, Pampanga formerly known as Masicu Meycauayan, Bulacan jewelry capital Miag-ao Church, Iloilo fortress church Mindanao worlds 19th largest island Mindoro land of the tamaraws Mount Apo highest peak Mount Arayat legendary home of Mariang Sinukuan Mount Mayon a volcano with nearly perfect cone Nayong Pilipino Philippines in miniature. (The theme park was opened in 1972 and closed on June 25, 2002. ) Negros Occidental sugar capital; sports capital Pagsanjan Falls Philippines el dorado Palawan the last frontier; largest province; westernmost province Pampanga culinary capital of Luzon Paete, Laguna town of wood carvers Paoay Church, Ilocos Norte earthquake baroque Paombong, Bulacan vinegar capital Philippine Deep worlds second deepest spot Philippines pearl of the orient Rio Grande de Cagayan longest river Romblon marble country San Agustin Church, Intramuros oldest church in Luzon San Fernando, Pampanga lantern capital of the world San Juanico Bridge longest suspension bridge San Sebastian Church the only steel church in Asia Siargao Island perfect waves island Spratleys the islands claimed by six countries Sta. Maria, Bulacan egg nest of the Philippines Sta. Maria Church, Ilocos Sur outstanding example of Spanish baroque architecture Subic Freeport American town Taal Volcano worlds smallest volcano Tagaytay City the next summer capital Tangub City Christmas symbol capital Tawi-Tawi southernmost province Trinidad Valley land of strawberry and vegetables Tubbataha Marine Park worlds richest bio-geographic area   Unisan, Quezon oldest town University of San Carlos, Cebu City oldest university Vigan, Ilocos Sur Spanish colonial town Zamboanga Sibugay newest province

Farm Size and Productivity Research

Farm Size and Productivity Research 1.0 Introduction The relationship between the size of Farm in hectares and the productivity in Yield/hectares is hotly debated issues in Indian agriculture economics. This issue was first raised by AK Sen in 1960s with respect to Indian economy. The major objective of this paper would be to analyze the relationship and the major factors influencing this relationship along with its implication. The size of holding depends on certain factors and the productivity also depends on certain economic factors. These factors such as irrigation, fertility, labor and capital input have an influence on the relationship between the size of land holding and productivity. Most of the economist like AK Sen and Saini have done their analysis and considered this relationship to be inverse. Countries like USA and Australia have very large holdings and the relationship between size of farm and productivity is not inverse in such cases. The application of Green revolution has been believed to change the inverse relationsh ip to a directly proportional relationship, but still it has been not very clear. Some analysis has been done in the paper related to aggregated data with regard to present status of this relationship by comparing the factors of productivity with the size of holding. Moreover the average size of holding has been decreasing with time due to increase in population and some other factors. At the same time the government has tried to implement policies like land ceiling and consolidation of land in some relatively developed states to solve the problem of excessively large holdings (in Indian average) and small and fragmented land respectively. 2.0 Farm land Holdings, Productivity and the factors influencing them independently Agricultural holding indicates the average size of agricultural land held by the farmers in India.. An economic family land holding can be defined as one which could provide a reasonable standard of living to the cultivator and give full employment for a family of a normal size. There are five categories of farmers in India according to their holdings. A)Marginal farmers (≠¤1 hectare), b)Small farmer (1 to 2 hecteres), c)Semi medium farmers (2 to 4 hectors),d) Medium farmers (4 to 10 hectores), e) Large farmers (>10 hectors). The size of holding would ideally depend on method of cultivation and nature of the crop. Productivity here refers to the productivity of crop output so productivity in agriculture is measured as the output of the crop per unit area. Its unit is yield/hectares. At a national level the demand for agricultural product will keep rising due to increasing population of India and high GDP growth rate so the supply of agricultural products has to match up the increasing demand to keep the prices reasonable. Hence agricultural farm land productivity becomes an important parameter for the economy. India being a huge country, these factors vary a lot from region to region but artificial means can be used to enhance the factors of fertility and irrigation. The following list gives us the factors of productivity Fertility of land Natural fertility cannot be changed but input of fertilizers, farm yard manure and nutrients can improve the fertility but all these will increase the cost. Irrigation facility Any irrigation project requires heavy investment and it depends on the level of underground water and nearest source of fresh water supply. Labor supply and quality of labor Labor supply will depend on the presence of any other scope of employment and quality will depend on traditional work culture and climatic conditions and both the factors vary a lot in India. Climatic condition Floods and drought due to unpredictable nature of monsoon affect the productivity. Since last three decades economists have been debating over issue of relationship between the size of farms and agricultural productivity in India. The debate was initiated by Prof. Amartya Sen in 1962. According to him with increase in size of farm holding, productivity declines and thus the productivity is more on small farms as compared to large farms. India has a labor surplus economy. The opportunity cost of labor is low. Small farms use much of family labor to the extent that marginal productivity of labor approaches zero. In case of small farms, output per acre is maximized while in the case of large farms using hired labor, output per unit of labor is maximized. The intensity of cultivation in case of small farm is greater than that of the large farm. Moreover, heavy input of labor on small farm is not on one crop only but in two or more crops produced in the same piece of land during a given production year. It is more so in case of irrigated land. Self-employment in the fam ily farm equalizes the opportunity cost which is not different from market wage. Statistical validity of the inverse relationship between farm size and productivity is a confirmed phenomenon in Indian agriculture prior to Green Revolution. Green revolution is a capital intensive programme which was implemented in 1960s for growth of agricultural production. This capital was invested in the form of important factors of production like irrigation, fertilizer, Mechanization, Manure, pesticides, nutrients. The objective of the following analysis would be to determine all the factors like irrigation, fertilizers, Farm Yard Manure and nutrients vary with the size of farm for the present set of data 3.0 Aggregated data analysis For all the graphs below in X-axis, 1 = Marginal holding, 2 = Small Holding, 3 = Semi-Medium holding, 4 = Medium Holding, 5 = Large holding. In Y-axis, graph A), B), C),E),F) are values of percentage and D) is ratio value. The calculations of these percentage value from been mentioned in tables in appendix Graph A) and B) have been taken from table 1.C), D), F) from table 2 As per the graph A) above we can find that the marginal holding has the larger area of farm wholly irrigated about 46% and we can also observe that the percentage of the wholly irrigated land decreases with increase in the size of the holding with large holdings showing the lowest percentage of wholly irrigated area that is about 21%. The second graph B) shows us the percentage of area of different size of holding for wholly unirrigated farm land and it show us, a lot of gap between the marginal holding(44%) and large holdings(55%) in terms of percentage change. As observed from the graph C) the application of fertilizers decreases with the increase in the size of holding with the marginal holding having an area of 77% and large holdings having an area of 52% under the application of fertilizers. The graph D) related to nutrients does not show us the % of area but it shows us the quantity to area ratio. In this case the slope of the graph is steeper and it shows us trend that the intake of nutrients reduces with the increase in the size of holding. The marginal holding has a ratio of 126 and the large holding has a ratio of 56. In case of farm yard manure graph E) there is a slight increase in the percentage application from marginal holding to small holding but after that the fall continues. Here the small holdings has the highest percentage of application that is 34% and the large holding has the lowest percentage that is 18%. Application of pesticides in a in farmland is an important preventive measure to prevent pests. The graph F) does not show a negative trend completely in relation to percentage of area with relation to holding size but the large farm land shows a dip in 4%. The data above is for 2001 agriculture census which is the latest. In post green revolution period the application additional inputs i.e. factors of production like irrigation, fertilizers, farm yard manure, nutrients, pesticides shows that their intensities of application is inversely proportional to size of land.(As studied above with various data and corresponding graphs.). In other words the application of additional factors of production is more in case of small farms compared to large farms. The resultant output which is directly proportional to application of input to a reasonable extent must increase yield proportionately. Thus logically it follows that after green revolution also the inverse relationship between size of farm and productivity should hold good. Its not a direct cause and effect relationship between all the factors of productivity and farm size but there might be some common factors which might be affecting these relationship. On the other hand there can be an alternative hypothesis to this, stating large farm land are in naturally fertile and irrigated regions of this country so they do not need artificial irrigation or fertilizers to enhance their productivity. Therefore a direct inverse relationship cannot be established between Farm size and productivity by only using aggregated data related to factors of productivity. If we observe the distribution of various size of holding throughout India in table 3 of appendix larger and medium size holdings are mostly found in bigger states like Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra which are not densely populated but have a larger area. The more densely populated states like West Bengal and Kerala have more number of marginal and small holdings. The natural factors of productivity are distributed among these states so the main hypothesis cannot be rejected. The alternative hypothesis can be true in some regions but not true everywhere because the different sizes of holding have been di stributed as per density of population and not as per natural factors of production. Although it can be said that inverse relationship between productivity and farms size is present in some areas of India but it is not a general law for the whole country. 4.0 Methodology for analyzing disaggregated data The analysis above shows us the analysis done for aggregated data but this same analysis can also be done using disaggregated sample data taken from various villages. If the sample data is taken from nearby villages then the conditions like Fertility , Irrigation, climatic condition and labor can be assumed to be constant. Y1,Y2,Y3,Y100 can be the data set for productivity in yields/hectares X1,X2,X3,X100 can be the data set for size of holding hectares The data above can only be obtained by doing a doing a direct survey in a particular area having common factors of productivity. Then we can do a regression analysis for the dataset having Y = Productivity and X = Size of farm land. The relationship thus obtained either positive or negative can be used to find out the relationship between productivity and size of farm for a particular area at a micro level. And this method can be used in various areas of the country having same factors of productivity . And then the trends can be observed whether its positive or negative or has no affect. This kind of analysis using disaggregated data can be done by also taking the same crop . 5.0 Labor as a factor As discussed before labor input is an important criteria for better productivity in farm land and becomes more important if the process in more manual .In Indian agriculture the Farm land labor can be divided into two type, family member workers and the other is hired workers. Generally in case of smaller size of holding the family members are mostly involved in the cultivation process and in larger farms it is a mix of both. In case of a marginal and small holding where in most of the cases only the family members are involved in farm cultivation the marginal productivity is not a factor. If required all the family members can be involved in the agriculture productivity process because the situation is more desperate and as result the intensity of cultivation is also more. The owner of smaller farm land does not have to employee hired peasants but in case of larger farms the situation changes. In case of larger farm land the owner has to take the marginal productivity of hired labor into consideration. As the intensity of cultivation for the small farm is more, the application of fertilizers, farm yard manure and nutrients might be affected as per the aggregated data analysis done before. As the small farm owner is more desperate even he can use manual means of irrigation to irrigate his land and its not possible in large farms due to its large size. It can be argued that the large farm owner would have more access to mechanized methods and capital for investment so his productivity can be higher at least after green revolution. Here the problem looks more like management of farm input resources rather than their availability. The better management of resources for small farm owner with more intensive cultivation has a bigger impact on productivity than the impact of advantage the large farm owner has in terms of more mechanization and capital availability. But the characteristics of land size holdings that is reduction in the average size of holding with time . Even the relationship between irrigation and fertilizers is also very direct. If one wants for apply more fertilizers then the irrigation facilities have to be very good so as per the irrigation data and fertilizers data both seem to follow the same pattern even if we consider labor not be a major factor here. This is clearly evident in Table 2 where more fertilizers are always applied when irrigation is high. 6.0 Changing pattern of Size of Farm land holding with time The tables 4 and 5 in appendix shows us the distribution of holdings in various states of India but there is one more important factors to this analysis that is the average size of holdings have been decreasing with time. The number of marginal holdings and small holdings have increased and the also area under marginal holdings and small holdings have increased. At the same time the number of Medium and Large holdings have decreased and also has the area under them decreased. There are two major reason for such a trend, they are as follows Increasing population With the rapid increase in population the same area of cultivable land is getting divided among more people. As a result of this the size of the holdings is reducing and area under marginal and small farms increase. To control the growth of rural population is even tougher in rural India due to lack of awareness of people due to limited education. Law of inheritance Under Hindu as well as Muslim Law of inheritance the landed property of a person has to be equally divided among all his sons and daughters which has led to more and more division of land and hence increase in marginal and small farms. Even if the land size is large now, it will get sub-divided when it goes to the next generation. Decline in the joint family system Earlier lot of families used to be joint families but this has declined over time and people generally prefer to stay with only single families. As a result the farm land is also divided more. Slow growth in handicraft industry In the villages the handicraft industry used to a source of employment for the village labor. But it has not grown sustainably with increase in rural labor so the rural population have had to depend more on agriculture as a source of employment. 7.0 Problems related to subdivision of land holdings If the fragmentation and subdivision of land continues at this rate then average size of the holdings will become even smaller and there will be more marginal holdings. Application of new technology becomes more difficult. A lot of cultivable land will be lost in making boundaries. One may argue that as in case of India the productivity of farm land will be more due to more intensive cultivation. But the per capita income of the owning family of the farm reduces with reduced farm land. Moreover if the whole family is involved to increase the intensity of cultivation the labor might be under employed for the same return. If the labor is flexible then he can move to a bigger farm as peasant if there is a demand. As seen from the statics the number of large holdings is reducing in the country and hence is the employment opportunity for hired peasants. Another factor which limits the labor flexibility is when labor tries to move from one region to another language is a big barrier. Altho ugh Hindi is Indias national language and English is the official one still lot of rural population speaks only the local languages and to be more specific only the local dialect. Skill becomes a barrier when the labor wants to move to industry in urban sector. As per our analysis till now the inverse relationship between the productivity and size of farm does hold good at least in some areas of the country if not throughout the country. At the same time if the farm land gets more divided and sub-divided the holding no longer remains economic for a single family. The ideal holding size has to be somewhere between the smaller and large holdings of around 4-5 hectares. The farm size are large and they are well managed and supervised by using modern methodology like it is done in USA and Australia they achieve high productivity. But the same thing is not easy to achieve in India as discussed beforehand. The government has introduce land ceiling in some developed states. This means that family owning excessively large farm land have to give up their excessive land to public authorities and it will be distributed among families having uneconomic holdings. This process is not at all easy because if the land is fertile than none of the owning fami lies would like to give up their land and also have to think about their future generations. Moreover any kind of ceiling will go against the market forces of demand and supply and affect the prices of land. When we talk about division and fragmentation then in many cases the farm land of a single owner is scattered throughout the village. In that case all the land in the village can be converted into a compact block and then the same land can be proportionately distributed among all the families which is called consolidation of Farm land. In states like Punjab, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh this process has been taken up seriously but in some other states like Assam and West Bengal the process has not even started. There are few reasons for which consolidation process is not easy. People in India are more attached to their piece of land, if someone has a better piece of land he would not like to sacrifice them. Both land ceiling and consolidation of farm land are policies to reach tha t optimal size of holding but they have not been easily to implement for the factors as mentioned before. 8.0 Final remark The inverse relationship between size of holding and productivity was considered to be very strong when it came for the first time under observation of AK Sen. But after the green revolution this relationship should have change to a directly proportional one as per expectation. This might be happening in some areas of India but still there are areas where the inverse relationship between size of farm and productivity still exists. As per the aggregated data analysis the factors of productivity are being affected by some common factors which helps to maintain the inverse relationship between productivity and size of farm in some areas. As mentioned before these common factors are intensity of labor and problems of management and supervision in large farms. At the same time the size of the land holding have been reducing which is leading to more uneconomic holdings for small farm owners. At this point the government should implement the policy of land ceiling and consolidation of holdi ngs judiciously in order to increase the number of semi-medium and medium size holding where optimal productivity can be achieved along with economic holding. In long term consolidation of holdings and cooperative farming should be encouraged in an organized way. The proper management of labor along with other factors of productivity and usage of mechanized technology in large farms would go a long way to improve productivity in larger consolidated farms. This would be made easier if lesser population is dependent on agriculture only if more employment opportunities are created in other sectors and the rural population upgrades to new skill requirements of the market.

Much Ado About Nothing Essay: Illusions in Much Ado About Nothing

Social Illusions in Much Ado About Nothing In Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare presents us with a romp through the realms of truth and illusion. The play is full of characters plotting and deceiving, for both noble and repugnant reasons. It is a study in the importance and necessity of illusion in our everyday lives, and shows how deeply ingrained deception is in our social behaviors. Everybody is involved in some kind of illusion, from the masked celebration to the unveiling of Hero's "cousin." Two of the major conspiracies in the play are the Claudio/Hero plotline and the Benedick/Beatrice story. Both of these situations contrast the multiplicitous nature of illusion. Claudio and Hero do not operate in the realm of illusion. Their intentions and emotions are easily visible, so much so that they come off as transparent. Their utter lack of ability to engage in social illusion makes them unbelievable: Claudi... ...e's dead, that things are finally resolved. By showing the deep tangles of illusion that exist in normal social relationships, Shakespeare reminds us of our dependence upon fabrication. He shows us that we both desire to be and have a deep need to deceive ourselves and others. It's why we watch plays and read literature. But Shakespeare also shows us the precarious balance of illusion in our lives and the ease with which we can lose our grip on reality and fiction. Much Ado About Nothing Essay: Illusions in Much Ado About Nothing Social Illusions in Much Ado About Nothing In Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare presents us with a romp through the realms of truth and illusion. The play is full of characters plotting and deceiving, for both noble and repugnant reasons. It is a study in the importance and necessity of illusion in our everyday lives, and shows how deeply ingrained deception is in our social behaviors. Everybody is involved in some kind of illusion, from the masked celebration to the unveiling of Hero's "cousin." Two of the major conspiracies in the play are the Claudio/Hero plotline and the Benedick/Beatrice story. Both of these situations contrast the multiplicitous nature of illusion. Claudio and Hero do not operate in the realm of illusion. Their intentions and emotions are easily visible, so much so that they come off as transparent. Their utter lack of ability to engage in social illusion makes them unbelievable: Claudi... ...e's dead, that things are finally resolved. By showing the deep tangles of illusion that exist in normal social relationships, Shakespeare reminds us of our dependence upon fabrication. He shows us that we both desire to be and have a deep need to deceive ourselves and others. It's why we watch plays and read literature. But Shakespeare also shows us the precarious balance of illusion in our lives and the ease with which we can lose our grip on reality and fiction.

Good to Great Book Review Essay -- Good Great Business Management Essa

Good to Great Book Review To transform a good company to great company is all manages’ dream, but only few of them make it. To find out the core factors which lead to a good company became a great company is very difficult, because in different era, different industry companies face different opportunities and threats. To begin the research for the Good-to-Great study, Jim Collins and his research team searched for companies that: performed at or below the general stock market for at least fifteen years; then at a transition point began to pull away from the competition, and sustained returns of at least 3 times the general market for the next fifteen years. He started with a list of 1,435 companies and found eleven that met his criteria. These eleven companies produced, on average, a return of 6.9 times the general stock market during the 15 years following the transition points. Collins chose a 15-year span to avoid "one-hit wonders" and lucky breaks. In the book, Collins highlights some important fa ctors which are the result of the research. They are level 5 leadership, fist who †¦ then what, confront the brutal facts, the hedgehog concept, culture of discipline, and technology accelerators, (Collins, 2001, p.12). According to Wheelen & Hunger, strategic management â€Å"is that set of managerial decisions and actions that determines the long-run performance of a corporation. It includes environmental scanning (both external and internal), strategy formulation (strategic or long-range planning), strategy implementation, and evaluation and control† (2004, p2). All eleven good to great companies are benefit from strategic management and gain long term strategic advantage then lead to outperforming compared companies. The first factor is level 5 leadership. A leader is the soul of the company. Base on the research, every good-to-great company had level 5 leaders during the pivotal transition years. In the book, level 5 leaders embody a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will (Collins, 2001, p.13). Darwin E. Smith is an example of lever 5 leasers. Smith transforms Kimberly-Clark into the leading paper-based consumer products company in the world within twenty years. Generated cumulative stocks return 4.1 times the general market, furthermore beating its direct rivals Procter & Gamble and Scott Paper. Level 5 leaderships’ ambition i... ...gy not likes leader, concept, and culture; it is an accelerator for the company. Good-to-great companies used technology as an accelerator of momentum, not a creator of it. None of the good-to-great company began their transformations with pioneering technology, yet they all became pioneers in the application of technology once they grasped how it fit with their three circles and after they hit breakthrough (Collins, 2001, p.162). Before become a pioneer in the application of the technology, we have to do the external and internal scanning to see is it the technology fit our long term strategic and hedgehog concept. Generally speaking, Good-to-Great are base on six major factors: leadership, staffing, information, concept, culture and technology. All these factors drive the companies good to great. Without a doubt, this is a must read for anyone in business, running a business or starting a business. Reference Collins, J. (2001). Don’t Good to Great – Why Some Companies Make the Leap†¦and Others. New York: HarperCollins Publishers Inc. Wheelen T.L., & Hunger J.D. (2004). Strategic Management and Business Policy (9thed.). Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, Inc.

Essay --

Harriet Beecher Stowe was born Harriet Beecher in Litchfield, Connecticut on June 14, 1911 to Lyman Beecher and Roxanna Foote. She was one of eleven children, to be precise the sixth child, though not all of her siblings were of the same mother. In 1915, at the age of four, Harriet lost her mother due to an illness, the trauma of the loss stayed with her and even influenced her later writings. After the loss she was taken by her Aunt Harriet Foote to her Grandmother's home in Nut Plains. She stayed there for a few months during the winter of that year where she already started to display a literary mind with developing the ability to read and memorize whole passages from the Bible. Her father, a reverend and conservative abolitionist, soon remarried to Harriet Porter when Harriet was six years old. She described her stepmother as a fair, delicate looking creature that was also as she described "of a type noble but severe, naturally hard, correct, exact and exacting, with intense nat ural and moral ideality" (Stowe, p. 13). Her stepmother although kind, was a little flustered by inheriting eight new children and maintained some distance from them, focusing more on her own children, Harriet's half-siblings. Once Harriet was of age to attend school she started going to Litchfield Academy and soon was one of the top students. Always trying to impress her father she would later tell others that the proudest moment in her life occurred when she was twelve and her father visited the school, it was there that he heard an essay which he found exemplary. He inquired about which student had written it and when told that it was his own daughter's he praised her highly. (Stowe, p. 14) Soon after Harriet's eldest sister Charlotte, her senior ... ... to the opposition and view of the book for being overly dramatic and exaggerated. (Weinstein, p. 17) Her name remained tarnished even into the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s when it was proclaimed by one writer, James Baldwin, that the story had helped ingrain racism into the white American culture. Not until the 1970s did the name Harriet Beecher Stowe regain positive recognition with the rise of the feminist movement. These second wave feminists worked to get the book into schools and to give recognition to positive female role models throughout American history. Her writings on slavery and their impact on the United States during its tumultuous time of deciding on its moral stance on slavery was great and has been immortalized in our history as Harriet Beecher Stowe's legacy has survived even into the 21st century, being taught in schools across the country.