Australiam curriculum Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Australiam curriculum - Term Paper Example From the provincial level, schools are estranged into districts and then into school boards (ACARA, 2011). It is in the school boards that local policies are made that must be in line with the curriculum from the provincial level. In Australia, all students are assured of equal chances to education unlike before. For instance, pregnant students were not allowed to go to school but this has changed and they can now attend learning institutions of their choice. The government has gone further to provide special schools for the physically disabled students for example, the deaf, blind, and crippled. They are no longer denied their rights to education like before and they can even sue the government if they are not attended to. The administration has put strong disciplinary measures which legally punish any student who goes against the school rules. Punishable behaviors include resistance to authority, use of abusive language, or any kind of behavior that the administration may consider a violation of the schools norms The ministry of education is responsible for organizing as well as supervising education at the primary, secondary, and vocational levels because there is no central department in the education system. Unlike other nations where learning is monitored at the federal government, in Australia, all the responsibility of supervising learning as well as assessing students’ and teachers’ performance takes place in the national level. The provincial education system can be compared to the territorial system although they differ in their assessment, curriculum, and education policies (ACARA, 2011). Education starts at the kindergarten which takes in children as young as five years. From the kindergarten, children proceeds to the elementary school at the age of 6 to 12 years then move to the junior high school. Normally, elementary school includes six grades although it can be extended to eight grades. Junior high school acts as a

Wizard of Oz Essay Example for Free

Wizard of Oz Essay L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz (1900) presents what might be considered America’s first fairy-tale. Certainly, few other works of children’s literature claim such a widespread and socially profound influence as this work, which is as well known as a movie and via various stage-productions as well as many contemporary re-interpretations and variations on the original theme. â€Å"There is hardly a child who is not intimately acquainted with Dorothy and her adventures{ } more than one billion people have either seen the screen version of The Wizard of Oz or read L. Frank Baum famous book[ ] It is a rare child who cannot recite the words to Ding dong, the Witch is dead, or who doesnt know what a Munchkin is. † (Cashdan 218) Baum’s story faced initial controversy: and continues to receive a share of controversy for its depth of themes and resonances. These themes are rooted in political, social, and economic aspects of the human experience and Baum’s underlying theme emerges as one which celebrates the integrity of the individual and individual liberty above accepted social hierarchies, norms, or in some cases laws. â€Å"Accepting who you are is the emotional chord that reverberates throughout The Wizard of Oz. The various psychological malaises from which people sufferanxiety attacks, phobias, psychosomatic disturbances, and the likeoften are the result of fears they harbor about what might happen if they interacted with others in an open and honest way. †(Cashdan 236) As a uniquely American fairy-tale, Baum’s novel also inverts many of the classical motifs of historical fairy-tales. Characters in classical fairy-tales often face dillemas brought upon by sin or overindulgence: greed or thwarted ambition or even revenge. In ‘The Wizard of Oz† all fo the story’s main characters deal instead with â€Å"perceived shortcomings in the self as opposed to excesses[ ] The Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion are convinced that they Wizard of Oz Page -2- are not as intelligent, feeling, or courageous as others. Their hope is that Dorothy will help them remedy these shortcomings[ ] helping her companions fulfill their destinies helps her fulfill her own. (Cashdan 218) Baum’s depiction of OZ is a utopian one which forwards profound political, social, and economic ideas beneath its dazzling and myth-inspired fairy-tale surface. Many readers and scholars have identified aspects of an idealized economy and social order in the Oz books â€Å"These aspects include, among others, a communal sharing of food, the elimination of money and poverty, a dearth of punishment, an absence of greed[ ] nd the virtual elimination of death or disease. † (Karp 103) Baum’s vision is a combination of pastoral and urban utopias, a vision which is epculiarly American and remains distinctive over a century past its inception. The utopia, however, is a constructed on a series of apparent contradictions: â€Å"a utopia that is simultaneously egalitarian and authoritarian; and to establish a society that values and protects individual rights, interests, and freedoms, as well as cultural multiplicity, at the same time as it promotes the value of a unified state to which individuals owe allegiance. † (Karp 103) Baum’s answer to these contradiction resides in his emphasis upon individuality and the concept of â€Å"rugged individualism,† which reacts against the subversion of the individual will within â€Å"an impersonal industrial corporation and the loss of independence and distinctness affecting wage earners in the United States[ ] Baum populates the Land of Oz with a plethora of distinct and unique characters and has a number of these characters (as well as his narrators) praise individualism and eccentricity. † (Karp 103) Wizard of Oz Page -3- Though Baum intended to entertain readers and spark their imaginations, this â€Å"populist† articulation emerged, itself, as a political imperative; the book itself inciting the individual contemplation of personal integrity, differentiation and destiny. Frank Baums goal was to please children, and the characters are both endearing and enduring. Though this narrative tale faced controversy, Frank Baum rived long enough to see it pass, and as it did the books popularity increased. (Livingston, and Kurkjian) Similarly, Baum’s utopia found allegiance to the seemingly contradictory impulses of the Gilded Age, wherein economic surplus and wealth are celebrated in tandem with individual orientation and self-actualization. â€Å"The story of an archetypal American girl in silver shoes on a road paved with golden bricks in a country named for the abbreviation for ounce would have rung loudly for an audience in the 1890s caught up in the financial question. (Ziaukas) On the yellow brick road, the creatures Dorothy finds and associates with: Lion, Scarecrow, and Tin Man, each in search of a part of themselves represent â€Å"American elements, the farmer, the worker, the loquacious politician, and the archetypal Americanness that is Dorothy, seems to have a sense that something is missing, that she or he lacks the ability to fulfill his or her destinies: the farmer feels stupid and the worker empty; the roar of the politician rings hollow. † (Ziaukas) By instilling the traditional elements of fairy-tales with tremendous social, economic, and political resonance, Baum attained a fresh idiom aimed directly at those young minds searching for the measure of the individuality in American society, forming a passionate and creative anthem of individuality and selfhood while maintaining an allegiance to a progressive social order. Works Cited Cashdan, Sheldon. The Witch Must Die The Hidden Meaning of Fairy Tales. New York: Basic Books, 1999. Karp, Andrew. Utopian Tension in L. Frank Baums Oz. Utopian Studies (1998): 103. Livingston, Nancy, and Catherine Kurkjian. Timeless and Treasured Books. The Reading Teacher 57. 1 (2003): 96+. Ziaukas, Tim. Baums Wizard of Oz as Gilded Age Public Relations. Public Relations Quarterly 43. 3 (1998): 7+.

Robert E. Lees Life :: biographies bio biography

A LONG TIME AGO ON THE DAY OF JANUARY 19,1807 TO BE EXACT IN STARATFORD,VIRGINIA THEIR WAS A MIRACLE THAT WAS BORN.THE MIRACLE BABY THAT WAS BORN WAS NAMED ROBERT E. LEE. THE MIRACLE BABY WAS GIVEN BIRTH BY HIS MOTHER ANN HILL CARTER AND HIS FATHER NAMED HERNY LEE AND MOST PEOPLE KNOW HIM AS â€Å"LIGHT-HORSE HARRY†. HIS MOTHER ANN HAD BEEN RAISED FROM A FAMILY THAT HAD BEEN REPECTFUL AND THAT THEY HAD WORKED FOR THE VIRGINIA’S GOVERNMENT SOCIETY THAT HELD PROMINENT POTIONS. STILL LEE’S FAMILY HAD EXTENED IN THE UPPER CLASSES. DURING SOME OF THE SIGINIFICANT EVENTS THAT HAPPENED WAS THE LOTS OF SLAVERY THAT HAD WENT ON THROUGH HIS CHILDHOOD. IN 1818 ROBERT’S FATHER HERNY HAD PAST AWAY. WHEN THE FIRST GROWING ISSUE OVER SLAVERY IN THE UNTIED STATES HAD SOON INVOLVED ROBERT. ROBERT E. LEE WAS A GREAT GENERAL WHO COMMANDED THE CONFEDERTE ARMY IN THE AMERICAN CIVILWAR. IN 1831 ROBERT HAD MARRIED A WOMEN BY THE NAME OF MARY CUSTIS, WHO WAS THE DAUGHTER OF WASHINGTON PARKE CUSTIS. WHILE MARY AND ROBERT WHERE TOGETHER THEY HAD SEVEN CHILDERN AND THEIR NAMES WERE G.WCUSTIS,MARY,W.H.FITZHUGH,ANNIE,AGNES,ROBE-RT AND MILDERD. HE HAD MASTERFULLY FOUGHT MR.CLELLANTO A STAND STILL AT ANTIETAM AND TWO DAYS LATER HE HAD RECROSSED THE POTOMAC. FOLLOWING A STINTIN THE BALTIMORE HABOR HE BECAME SUPERINTENDENT OF THE MILTARY ACADAMY IN 1852. IN THE CHARGE OF VIRGINIA’S FLEDGLING MILTARY MIGHT, HE WAS MAINLY INVOLVED IN ORGANIZATIONAL MATTERS. IN THE FIRST SUMMER OF THE WAR HE WAS GIVEN HIS FIRST FIELD COMMAND IN WESTERN VIRGINIA. GENERAL LEE WAS A SUCCESS OF THE ENTIRE ITALIN CAMPAINGN TURNED UPON THE SUCCESSFUL PASSAGE OF THE BRIDGE OF LODI.THEY STRAGGERD UNDER THE WITHERING FIRE AND RETREATED BUT THE FAILURE WAS RUIN AND THE PAST MUST BE WON. BEFORE THE MEXICAN WAR ROBERT HAD SERVED ON ENGINEERING SOME PROJECTS IN GEORGIA, VIRGINIA, AND NEW YORK. ROBERT HAD GRADULLY BECAME â€Å"UNCLE ROBERT† AND â€Å"MARSE ROBERT†. ON APRIL 18 , 1861 RO BERT WAS OFFERED FIELD COMMAND OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY.

Harriet Ann Jacobs Essay

In the autobiography, â€Å"Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl†, it tells the story of a female slave named Harriet Ann Jacobs. Losing her mother and father at such a young age, she experienced firsthand the account of a slave life. She deliberates in great detail the humiliation, sacrifice, and struggle specific to female slaves of the late nineteenth century. Though she understood the risks involved in publishing an account of her life, she moved forward with the idea and published her story under the pseudonym Linda Brent. Harriet Jacobs was born into slavery in 1813 in Edenton, North Carolina to Delilah and Elijah. While growing up she enjoyed a relatively cheerful life until she was six years old when her parents died. After the death of her parents, Harriet and her younger brother John were left to be raised by their grandmother, Molly Horniblow. Molly was an older woman who was well respected in the slave community, as well as by the slave owners. She was never mistreated, and she frequently baked goods for the people in her community. Harriet Jacobs gained the knowledge for all of her educational essentials from her first mistress, Margaret Horniblow. She taught Harriet how to read, write, and sew which gave her advantage over the rest of the slaves. It also would attract some unwanted attention. Margaret would later on will Harriet to her twelve year old niece whose father would subject Harriet to aggressive and unrelenting sexual harassment. Dr. Flint sexually harassed and physically abused the teenaged Harriet for as long as she was a servant in his household. Afraid that one day Dr. Flint would make his antics reality, she began to have an affair with a prominent white lawyer named Samuel Tredwell, whom she later on beared two children for. Instead of discouraging Flint, she enraged him. He then sent Harriet away to a life of hard labor on a plantation he owned, threatening to break in her young children as field hands, seeing that they legally belonged to him. She soon ran away from the plantation and spent seven years hiding in a tiny attic crawl space in her grandmother’s house. During those seven years she put to use the skills that her first mistress had taught her, and watched over her children through a small chink in the roof. Being cramped in the attic for so long, left her permanently physically disabled. In 1842, Harriet was finally able to escape to the north, and found work as a nanny in the household of a prominent abolitionist writer, Nathaniel Parker Willis. She later on is reunited with her children in New York, and farther down the line her employer purchases her freedom from Dr. Flint. While reading this autobiography you acquire a feeling that is very unusual. Most slaves that you hear about usually have harsh lives and are extremely unhappy, but in this particular case it was the complete opposite. Harriet’s life wasn’t hard not one bit. She was never mistreated because her father’s mistress found her to be very appealing, and she didn’t have to do any hard labor. But, she also wasn’t allowed her freedom which is what she anxiously longed for. That particular entity is what places everything into perspective. At the end of the day whether she liked it or not, she was still a slave. She could not walk away from her situation, she could not undertake everything that she wanted to do, and she definitely could not enjoy her life to the fullest because she belonged to someone, and that someone was a jealous, aggressive man named Dr. Flint. Harriet Jacobs insisted on telling her story honestly and completely, determined to make white Americans aware of the sexual victimization that slave women commonly faced and to dramatize the fact that they often had no choice but to surrender their virtue. Jacobs knew that her contemporaries would see her not as a virtuous woman but as a fallen one, yet she published the story anyway. She wanted to bring light to a situation that slave women faced every day. She was an incredibly strong woman for doing so, and by directly confronting the cruel realities that plagued African American women in the late nineteenth century, Harriet’s work occupies a significant place in African American literary tradition.

Impact of War, Conflict & Terrorism on the UPS Essay

If there is a war and NATO decides that the UK needs to provide direct military action then the British Army will have to be prepared. War affects the army as an organisation because it means they will lose soldiers and have to retrain new ones. An example of this would be the crash of Nimrod XV230 which killed everyone on board, that highlighted the cost-pressure of the war. The training and recruiting of troops is expensive enough but to constantly sustain the high amount of soldiers that is required in a war such as Afghanistan it comes with great financial struggles, some soldiers have even had to do multiple tours in Afghanistan. Financial cuts are just getting more severe as well, in 2010 there were 102,000 trained personnel ready to support the UK but by the year 2020 there is only going to be 82,000. With this come more struggle and a more intense battle for any soldier fighting in a war in the future. Providing soldiers for a war also puts strain on welfare officers as they are the ones who have to deal with helping the wounded, grieving families and children who have lost fathers. Because the UK have had to provide such a strong army for many years now and have lost so much funding it means that they can’t afford to keep on anyone who is badly injured and those who claim compensation will not receive anything near what they may have in the past, this will directly affect the economy as these injured soldiers may not be able to return to a civilian job and will claim benefits. The war in Afghanistan caused the army to be equipped with a lot of new high tech equipment in a really short space of time, this meant they had to operate and maintain this equipment which weighs down logistics and is very costly in the long run. It seems that the more war the UK Army has to deal with the more money it is costing them, and with that comes setbacks and redundancies. This could lead to a lack of morale from the service men and women as they are being asked to do more but for fewer advantages. Another key issue from personnel at war besides physical injuries would be the mental damage they suffer. Statistics from the MOD show that between April and June 2013 there was 1367 new cases of  personnel suffering with a mental disorder in the Armed Forces, putting them at the highest amount of mental disorder sufferers than any of the other services. That’s just within a three month period, and with Afghanistan tours running every six or ninth months it just seems that number will rapidly heighten. Overall it seems the main impact the British Army suffers from when it comes to War is the financial cut backs. They are expected to do so much and constantly provide strong soldiers yet they aren’t seeing much in return. CONFLICT Conflict undercuts or destroys environmental, physical, human and social capital, destroying all available opportunities for a sustainable development. So saying that makes it clear that it is going to directly affect the well-being of the British Army because it results in the loss of lives and in some cases human rights. It is said that the British Army has been involved in some form of conflict for around 100 years now, so you could almost say it’s just part of the job and something you have to deal with. But similar to war, conflict has its effects, mentally and physically. There is a thin line between what makes a war and what makes a conflict therefore the effects are very similar, just the effects of a war would be on a much larger scale. Constant conflict is a burden for the UK army as it takes time away from training and puts pressure on troops to be sent out on a mission before they are ready. In some cases soldiers only have 6 months training before they are deployed somewhere, whereas others take part in training for a much longer period in time before sent anywhere. Conflict will also increase the stress levels within the British army which can lead to more serious problems such as extreme physical and emotional exhaustion. There is also the obvious factor that conflict can lead to war if it gets out of hand, which then would lead back to all the affects war has on the Army. Overall it seems that conflict affects the British Army in the exact same ways that a War does however just not on such a grand scale. TERRORISM Terrorism directly affects the British Army as they have to actively engage in counter-terrorism operations across the world. The main reason the British Army sends troops out to Afghanistan is to get rid of the Taliban regime and Al Qaeda, a well-known terrorist organisation. The British Army  enforces anti-terrorism alongside providing humanitarian aid. Not only does the British Army have to get rid of Al Qaeda but they also have to make sure they cannot return, this is a tough and time consuming task that has seen the death of many service personnel. Reference: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/15212871 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/285196/30_june_2013.pdf http://www.unep.org/dewa/Africa/publications/AEO-2/content/203.htm http://www.army.mod.uk/operations-deployments/operations-deployments.aspx http://www.army.mod.uk/documents/general/Your_Guide_to_the_Intelligence_Corps.pdf

Library rules and regulations no one told you about

Library rules and regulations no one told you about There are some unspoken rules each student should stick to while in a public or campus library. They might forget to talk to you about them in your sisterhood or brotherhood, but don’t worry. After all, I’m here to help you. See the recommendations below to make sure you fit in student life from the first day you’re in college. Distract others Have noisy snacks Oh, yes! Choose the most crunchy and crispy food you can find in a supermarket. Have some savory kettle chips, nachos, or perfectly baked dry biscuits. If you prefer more healthy alternatives, opt for hard apples and carrots. Don’t even look at bananas, yogurts, and peanut-butter sandwiches. These are for soft-hearted wimps who care about others. Choose savory, authentic meals The fact that you’ve come from another country gives you all the rights to extend your culture and introduce your mates to the high cuisine of your homeland. Get some Korean kimchi or Thai ammonia eggs as your library snack, gorge yourself with lovely Sweden surstrà ¶mming, Russian herring under a fur coat, or any kind of noble French cheese. Ask your family to send you some durian if you want to be noticed by everyone on your campus. Use strong perfumes only It is such a pity so many students nowadays forget about the distracting and annoying power of classy perfumes. Choose ones with the highest concentration of musk, so everybody around you will notice who is the sexiest tiger/tigress. Grrrau! Listen to your favorite music with bad headphones We both know your taste in music is way too perfect to be hidden from others by proper headphones or a reasonable sound volume. Whatever is in your playlist: k-pop, heavy metal of the 80s, or fancy nu-jazz, let people around you explore it. Put that volume to the max! Have long chats on the phone â€Å"So what did she say? And what did he say? Oh, God, what happened next, did she hit him?† or â€Å"No, you turn off the phone. Who’s my little teddy bear? Who’s your nice kitty? No, I love you more!† or â€Å"You know what, I’m sick of you! You’re a stupid momma’s boy!†More drama! People need to know more about your personal life, as engaging in social media is not enough for a true extrovert like you! Chat with your friend all the time Whisper or speak in a loud voice, giggle, or discuss someone’s personality. Pubs are too noisy for private conversations, and you have to do it somewhere, don’t you? This is the true purpose of libraries. Make any kind of other disturbing noise Snap your pen, tap out some melody with your feet or hands, cough, crack the bones in your fingers or shoulders, scratch yourself, drop things, and don’t forget to fart. Manifest your presence in any way your body is capable of. Don’t mute your phone True tough guys and chicks never mute their phones. What if your mom calls and you don’t hear the ring? How are you going to explain your drama to her? Plus, how would everyone check out your new ringtone if your phone is mute? Think only about yourself Go to the library with a cold and a running nose What can be better than shufflings and snifflings in your ear while you’re trying to get ready for your virology class? Don’t bother to go to the bathroom to blow your nose. Let everyone in the hall enjoy the perfect symphony your pipes can produce. Try to blow off the Imperial March so that no one has a doubt about who is the funniest pal in the course. Leave your stuff everywhere Dogs and cats are clever little devils and we have a lot to learn from them. Like how to mark territory. Put your pen and notebook in one place, your scarf and bag in another, and your piles of books somewhere else. Don’t forget to leave empty cups of coffee and packets from your snacks on the tables. You’re a creative person and want to embrace chaos. Why can’t other people just deal with it?! Get all books at once during the rush hour Don’t worry, it’s just you and the entire course who decided to write an essay the night before it has to be turned in. No one needs these books and journals that are gathering dust on your table for more than 3 hours already, while you’re trying to complete a level in PvsZ. Don’t bother about others. This is a cruel world, and these kids need to learn this lesson. Put books where they don’t belong The bookshelf where the journal you’ve been using belongs to is miles away. And you’ve already walked your 10,000 steps for today. That’s okay- just squeeze the journal in somewhere and forget about it immediately. Steal books You can both put them in your bag when no one notices, or take them from a librarian and forget to turn them in. Choose wisely. Write in books and tear the pages out Be that half-blood prince for some random Harry. Write on pages about your brilliant discoveries. This is how scientific knowledge is passed from generation to generation in the modern world. Tear out the pages that contain inappropriate information. You don’t want it to be seen by some weirdos, do you? Do whatever you want Drink alcohol, make noisy kisses, smoke, and do whatever you wish! Just make sure nobody is distracted by you. And stay in disguise by pouring liquor into the coffee cup, and having all that interaction stuff in the blind zones with no cameras or people around. Otherwise, your mischief can lead to a fine, to expulsion, or to the everlasting shame of your family.

Free Essays on Kafka Vs. Camus

Ethical issues in the Stranger vs. those in the Trial Preface: I am a big fan of Kafka and his writings, and as I read through the Stranger I was struck at how the two were very similar. The following attempts to explain these similarities. The Stranger, written by Albert Camus, and The Trial, written by Franz Kafka, are two books that have been critically acclaimed since the time that they were published. There are critics that claim that The Stranger is a dull book, and is not even a read-worthy book. Other people claim that it shows us how society actually acts upon people who do not want to be like the rest of society. The Trial falls under the same kind of criticism; but both books, although written by different writers in a different à ©poque, fall under the same kind of genre: Imprisoned Lives. In both The Stranger and The Trial there are many people who influence the protagonists in a positive and in a negative way, but none of those characters are as important as the priest. The priest, being of the same profession in both books and trying to accomplish the same kind of tasks, have a totally different effect on the two protagonists. In The Stranger the priest changes the whole attitude that Meursault has to life, whereas in The Trial the priest tells Joseph K. how his life actually is. "Why do you refuse to see me?" This question was asked by the priest and was meant for Meursault. Normally, if a person is convicted to death, he will see a priest before the sentence is executed. Meursault did not do that. He profusely refused to see the priest and why should he? He "did not believe in god." Meursault did not care, as he did not care if his mother died, or if someone proposed marriage to him. This of course went totally against the rules and ethics of society, which cannot permit such kind of behavior. But why does Camà ºs characterize Meursault like that? Why did he create such an outsider to society? Camà ºs created such an... Free Essays on Kafka Vs. Camus Free Essays on Kafka Vs. Camus Ethical issues in the Stranger vs. those in the Trial Preface: I am a big fan of Kafka and his writings, and as I read through the Stranger I was struck at how the two were very similar. The following attempts to explain these similarities. The Stranger, written by Albert Camus, and The Trial, written by Franz Kafka, are two books that have been critically acclaimed since the time that they were published. There are critics that claim that The Stranger is a dull book, and is not even a read-worthy book. Other people claim that it shows us how society actually acts upon people who do not want to be like the rest of society. The Trial falls under the same kind of criticism; but both books, although written by different writers in a different à ©poque, fall under the same kind of genre: Imprisoned Lives. In both The Stranger and The Trial there are many people who influence the protagonists in a positive and in a negative way, but none of those characters are as important as the priest. The priest, being of the same profession in both books and trying to accomplish the same kind of tasks, have a totally different effect on the two protagonists. In The Stranger the priest changes the whole attitude that Meursault has to life, whereas in The Trial the priest tells Joseph K. how his life actually is. "Why do you refuse to see me?" This question was asked by the priest and was meant for Meursault. Normally, if a person is convicted to death, he will see a priest before the sentence is executed. Meursault did not do that. He profusely refused to see the priest and why should he? He "did not believe in god." Meursault did not care, as he did not care if his mother died, or if someone proposed marriage to him. This of course went totally against the rules and ethics of society, which cannot permit such kind of behavior. But why does Camà ºs characterize Meursault like that? Why did he create such an outsider to society? Camà ºs created such an...

A Guide for Teachers Handling Challenging Parents

A Guide for Teachers Handling Challenging Parents Dealing with difficult parents is virtually impossible for any educator to escape. As a school administrator or teacher, you arent always going to make everybody happy. You are in a position where it is sometimes necessary to make difficult decisions, and parents will sometimes challenge those decisions, especially when it comes to  student discipline  and  grade retention.  It is your job to be diplomatic in the decision-making process and to think through every decision without being rash. The following steps can be very helpful when  dealing with a difficult parent. Be Proactive It is easier to deal with a parent if you can build a relationship with them before a difficult situation arises.  As a school administrator or teacher, it is essential for a number of reasons to build relationships with the parents of your students. If the parents are on your side, then you typically will be able to do your job more effectively. You can be especially proactive by going out of your way to talk to those parents who have a reputation for being difficult. Your goal should always be to be friendly and personable. Show these parents that you make your decisions with your students best interests at heart. This is not the be-all and end-all solution to dealing with difficult parents, but its a good start. Building relationships takes time, and its not always easy, but it can certainly help you in the long run. Be Open-Minded Most parents who complain genuinely feel like their child has been slighted in some way. Although it is easy to be defensive, it is important to have an open mind and to listen to what the parents have to say. Try to see things from their perspective. Often when a parent comes to you with a concern, they are frustrated, and they need someone to listen to them. Be the best listener you can and respond in a diplomatic manner. Be honest and explain the thoughts behind your decision-making. Understand that you are not always going to make them happy, but you can try by showing them that you will take everything they have to say into consideration. Be Prepared It is critical that you be prepared for the worst possible situation when an angry parent comes into your office. You may have parents who storm into your office cursing and screaming, and you will have to handle them without losing control of your own emotions. If a parent is extremely agitated, you can politely ask them to leave and return once they have calmed down. Though a situation like this is rare, you should nevertheless be prepared for a student-teacher meeting that turns combative.  Always have some way to communicate with an administrator, teacher, secretary, or other  school personnel  just in case a meeting gets out of control.  You do not want to be locked in your office or classroom without a plan to get help should this kind of situation arise. Another important aspect of preparation is  teacher training. There are a handful of parents who will bypass a school administrator and go straight to the teacher with whom they have a problem. These situations can turn quite ugly if the parent is in a combative state.  Teachers should be trained to direct the parent to a  school administrator,  walk away from the situation, and immediately call the office to inform them of the situation. If students are present, the teacher should immediately take measures to secure the classroom as quickly as possible.

Discussion 4 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

Discussion 4 - Assignment Example nexpected medical costs hence saving you from bankruptcy and deep debts when you have to pay for your medical bills from the pocket (HealthCare.gov n.d.). . They not only will save you from the high costs of meeting medical expenses but can also help protect your children from diseases, as obesity, which is in the recent past, has been a major issue in America. For, instance it is assumed that if parents accessed healthcare insurance for their kids, they would be able to take them for regular check-ups hence the issue of obesity would be outdated because doctors would be able to observe any trends in the kid’s weight. Either it is believed that if all Americans had access to health coverage, all communicable diseases would be wiped out of America. Therefore, it is evident that health coverage is imperative for all Americans. To solve the issues crippling the healthcare system, all Americans should have access to healthcare insurance coverage. Because nobody wants to get hurt or sick, all Americans hence need care when faced with medical complications. To save all Americans from unexpected medical costs, healthcare insurance coverage should be made accessible to all. Innocent kids of America can thus be safe if insurance coverage should be made

Book review of The Holocaust in History by Michael R Marrus Essay

Book review of The Holocaust in History by Michael R Marrus - Essay Example The Holocaust in History is a book that affiliates to a broad historical perspective, which deserves a good and exhaustive reading by the students of history, if not by the lay people. Its goes without saying that Marrus did resort to an exhaustive research and documentation, to come out with this immaculately contrived introduction as to how the historians tend to write about the Holocaust. The approach of Marrus tends to emphatically highlight the need for demystifying the Holocaust, so that it may be studied as an event in the contemporary Western history. Hence in this book, Marrus has systematically summarized the available authoritative historical writings pertaining to the salient aspects of the Holocaust that are, the pivotal position and scope of anti-Semitism in Nazism, the role played by the Jewish resistance, Jewish leadership and bystanders, and collaborators. To put it simply, The Holocaust in History has less to do with the history of the Holocaust and is more about th e historiography of the Holocaust. In The Holocaust in History Marrus does delve on the centrality of anti-Semitism to Nazism, but not in a very polarized perspective as preferred by many other historians. In the preface to this well written book, Marrus classifies the literature pertaining to Holocaust in two categories, one comprising of works drafted â€Å"as witness, or in commemoration, or as a sombre warning to future generations†; and the other that were meant to be â€Å"the modes of discourse, the scholarly techniques, and the kind of analysis used for all other historical issues.† Marrus’ work, The Holocaust in History primarily focuses on the second type of literature. In this book, Marrus primarily seems to be engrossed in the task of analyzing what the other historians have so far researched and written about the facts pertaining to the Holocaust, to dig out and analyze the details of what actually happened and how it happened, and to delve on the s alient causes behind the Holocaust. Though it may certainly surprise the contemporary students and teachers of history, yet, it is a fact that significant parts of the literature that Marrus relied on while writing The Holocaust in History, ascribes to 60s or later times. This is so because Marrus believes that in the aftermath of the Holocaust, either there was a scant interest in the Holocaust, or much historical writing, scholarship and documentation about Holocaust was â€Å"ghettoized† and not balanced. It was only in the early 60s or later that the Holocaust as a topic of historical interest experienced a turning point. According to Marrus, the Holocaust claimed the lives of six million Jews, yet to limit the scope and magnitude of Holocaust to the Jewish sufferers would be an immense historical travesty (p.8). To arrive at a total and realistic relevance of the Holocaust, the historians also need to take into account the six million non-Jewish sufferers who also had to bear with the tyranny and consequences of the Holocaust (Marrus p.9). The Holocaust also claimed the lives of millions of Gypsies, Russian POWs, Spanish Republicans, Poles, Czechs, French and homosexuals (Fischel p.38). Though, it is different that the Eastern victims of the Holocaust received a different treatment as compared to the victims from the Western Europe, both from the historians and the Western political leadership. While unravelling

Martin Luther King's Letter from Birmingham Jail Essay - 1

Martin Luther King's Letter from Birmingham Jail - Essay Example King supported are the ones that guide the contemporary social workers. He believed that people had equal rights, despite of the color of their skin and their ethnic origin, and he proved that restricting those rights demeans both the oppressed and the oppressors. In the contemporary society where segregation according to various tokens, beginning from race and ending with sexual orientation or religious affiliation is still a vital problem, his ideas are very valuable. In the Letter from Birmingham Jail the author did his best to prove the right of his people to organize civil non-violent actions of protest, as they were prohibited in the city of Birmingham at those times. In order to prove his viewpoint, Martin Luther brings the examples from the religious sources, such as the New and Old Testament, from the history of the American democracy, and from the world history. For example, in order to explain and support his vision of the just and unjust laws Martin Luther provides the words of the middle-age catholic religious leader and mystic St. Thomas Aquinas, and when the need for the civil disobedience needs to be proved, he brings the example of the people who disobeyed the command to give all the Jews to the Nazi government both in Germany and occupied countries. To support this claim he also recalled the early Christians who refused to obey the orders of Nebuchadnezzar, as those were against their moral and religious beliefs. In order to clear himself from the accusations in the extremism, Martin Luther recalled the well-known phrases and sayings by the famous people like Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, John Bunyan and the Christ's apostle, Paul, which sounded extremist, but their aim was clear and just; he proved that they were the extremists for love, justice and freedom. In his writing Martin Luther talked about priests and ministers, clearly displaying that all of them were sometimes capable of the heroic words and deeds, and of the cowardice or malice prepense. The author emphasized that social status or occupation doesn't determinate the moral qualities of the human being. This idea is one of the basic principles of the contemporary social work. It is believed that a person who is in need has the right to receive help despite of age, race, gender, social status etc. Dr. King was one of the most prominent social activists who introduced this idea into the minds of ordinary Americans, bringing this value from the religious sphere to the social one. Martin Luther King was a religious person, and at the beginning of his fight he hoped that the white clergy will support his claims, as they coincided with the values and norms that were promoted by them. Unfortunately, according to his own words "some have been outright opponents, refusing to understand the freedom movement and misrepresenting its leader era; an too many others have been more cautious than courageous and have remained silent behind the anesthetizing security of stained-glass windows." By those actions the white religious leaders alienated numerous black, Latina and even white followers from their churches, as it was obvious for those people that by oppressing or being neutral towards the anti segregation movement is against all the principles they proclaim on their Sunday preaching, against the norms and values declared in the Bible. Those events also gave Martin Luther King the opportunity to show to the

Evaluating the effectiveness of training on local employees in Asian Research Paper

Evaluating the effectiveness of training on local employees in Asian hospitality industries as a European human resources manager - Research Paper Example The Asian hospitality industry is in a constant state of evolution in a variety of ways.Primarily,changing social,economic and cultural values as a product of globalization and industrial development have improved accessibility of tourism-related locations to foreign customers and have also changed the methodology by which local employees interact with a broad demographic base of customers. As Asian countries become more developed and sustain competitive hospitality industries, the need to understand the diverse and complex lifestyles and attitudes of foreign (and sometimes domestic) visitors becomes a paramount need in order to satisfy clients and create a positive brand reputation for the specific hospitality business. Visitors maintain unique preferences and demands when it comes to their tourism experience and since front line employees are the first point of contact for these customers, it is imperative that the staff understands these needs and are offered appropriate training to make customer experiences rewarding and ensure long-term loyalty to the hospitality brand. In Asian hospitality industries that are led by expatriate European human resources managers, it becomes more difficult to streamline training and understand what drives local employee values, cultures and general beliefs related to lifestyle and the workplace environment. There are significant cultural differences between European leadership and Asian culture, thus making the job of providing adequate training even more difficult. This proposed research study evaluates the effectiveness of training on local employees in the Asian hospitality industry when considering the influence of European human resource management principles and ideals. 2. Literature review This section undertakes a review and analysis of existing literature on the Asian hospitality industry, cultural principles, and European values when or if they are extended into Asian businesses. 2.1 Cultural frameworks One primary understanding that needs to be explored in this proposed research study is the difference between European leadership and Asian employees at the cultural level. European human resources managers generally hail from cultures that are globalized and have a long-standing industrialized and commercial history. Much of this influence has come from Western countries, such as the United States, that acted as the framework for much of the modern human resources principles being used in a variety of industries today. European leaders are from individualistic societies, under Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Framework, whereby managers and employees value self-expression and independence in the workplace and tend to value personal goal attainment over that of group goal-setting and group-oriented rewards (Blodgett, Bakir & Rose, 2008). In this type of organisation or culture, individualists seek more decision-making authority and job role autonomy in order to remain loyal and satisfied so that they can become performance-oriented and seek to meet strategic goals. This individualistic attitude drives the majority of their human resources policies as it relates to employee training and learning. In Asian cultures, however, there is a strong, historical trend toward collectivism. This type of culture values group norms and group affiliation over individualized expression where â€Å"they view themselves as a member of an extended family, place group interests ahead of individual needs, and value reciprocation of favours and respect for tradition† (Blodgett et al, p.339). Employees that have strong collectivist values often seek opinion and networking from peers and operate well in very structured, centralized management hierarchies. Collectivists

Britain in 1960s and 1980s Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Britain in 1960s and 1980s - Essay Example Britain in 1960s and 1980s This was because the 70 million children from the post war baby boom had by then transformed into teenagers and young adults. This was a movement that weaned away from the conservative notions of the fifties and led to revolutionary thinking and change in the overall cultural life of British and Americans. This was a generation slightly ahead of the previous generation of its time. This youth strived for and demanded change. They were mostly rich from their ancestors and families and longed for changes that would impact educations, entertainment, laws, values and lifestyle. This generation has had immense impact and some of its revolutionary ways continue to trend in even today. (Hall, 1993) Towards the end of 1940s and the beginning of 1950s striking differences between the teens and parents began to crop up. The paradigms of the British dating system was completely transforming towards the end of 1950s. The â€Å"Make Love Not War† was trending towards a social subculture th at was weaning away from the concept of â€Å"rating and dating† system and moving towards steady relationships and early marriages. Television had started gaining momentum and becoming increasingly popular amongst the teens. They were now portrayed as juvenile delinquents. The youth of this era was rich and preferred a lavish life style. Thus it does not come as a surprise that it was in the sixties only that the counter culture hippies emerged. (Cohen, 1964) There were varying opinions about draft and military involvement by them. Drug usage became significant for this generation and a major topic with the generation gap of this era. This is denoted by a depiction of Alfred E.Neuman on the cover of Mad Magazine, issue no 129, dated September 1969. In this cover, thy show the â€Å"old† Alfred on the left side and the â€Å"new† Alfred on the right side. The old one is wearing a â€Å"My Country: Right or Wrong† label button while the young one can be se en as long haired and on the right wearing a â€Å"Make Love Not War button†. The cover statement of the magazine read as â€Å"MAD Widens the Generation Gap†. Another famous TV series, All in the Family, depicts the nuances of the conservative of middle aged generation of the previous years and that of the then sixties and the issues arising due to these differences in notions amongst the generation. (Usual Gang of Idiots, 2000) As explained in the aforementioned paragraphs, the drug youth culture also gained momentum during the 1960s. Many people are of the view that an influx of thirty year youth consuming drugs and the inception of this was the 1960s. This trend affected many other western cultures with America and Britain being the primary targets. The western culture became severely damaged as a result of this. Many western movies depict this trend. For instance, Transpoitting and Basketball diaries demonstrate this youth subculture. The sub culture is infused wi th anti-social behavior signaling the negative impact of this sub culture on the youths. It highlites how the youth rejected their main stream society and identity in this era. The film also places emphasis on the role of media in its influence on this type of youth culture. Thus the youth of this era was more rebellious and provocative in their rejection of norms. The influx of drug culture in particular was a result of repeated references to drugs in popular culture. The youth started romanticizing the drug culture which led to its massive adoption all over. Most

Evaluating the effectiveness of training on local employees in Asian Research Paper

Evaluating the effectiveness of training on local employees in Asian hospitality industries as a European human resources manager - Research Paper Example The Asian hospitality industry is in a constant state of evolution in a variety of ways.Primarily,changing social,economic and cultural values as a product of globalization and industrial development have improved accessibility of tourism-related locations to foreign customers and have also changed the methodology by which local employees interact with a broad demographic base of customers. As Asian countries become more developed and sustain competitive hospitality industries, the need to understand the diverse and complex lifestyles and attitudes of foreign (and sometimes domestic) visitors becomes a paramount need in order to satisfy clients and create a positive brand reputation for the specific hospitality business. Visitors maintain unique preferences and demands when it comes to their tourism experience and since front line employees are the first point of contact for these customers, it is imperative that the staff understands these needs and are offered appropriate training to make customer experiences rewarding and ensure long-term loyalty to the hospitality brand. In Asian hospitality industries that are led by expatriate European human resources managers, it becomes more difficult to streamline training and understand what drives local employee values, cultures and general beliefs related to lifestyle and the workplace environment. There are significant cultural differences between European leadership and Asian culture, thus making the job of providing adequate training even more difficult. This proposed research study evaluates the effectiveness of training on local employees in the Asian hospitality industry when considering the influence of European human resource management principles and ideals. 2. Literature review This section undertakes a review and analysis of existing literature on the Asian hospitality industry, cultural principles, and European values when or if they are extended into Asian businesses. 2.1 Cultural frameworks One primary understanding that needs to be explored in this proposed research study is the difference between European leadership and Asian employees at the cultural level. European human resources managers generally hail from cultures that are globalized and have a long-standing industrialized and commercial history. Much of this influence has come from Western countries, such as the United States, that acted as the framework for much of the modern human resources principles being used in a variety of industries today. European leaders are from individualistic societies, under Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Framework, whereby managers and employees value self-expression and independence in the workplace and tend to value personal goal attainment over that of group goal-setting and group-oriented rewards (Blodgett, Bakir & Rose, 2008). In this type of organisation or culture, individualists seek more decision-making authority and job role autonomy in order to remain loyal and satisfied so that they can become performance-oriented and seek to meet strategic goals. This individualistic attitude drives the majority of their human resources policies as it relates to employee training and learning. In Asian cultures, however, there is a strong, historical trend toward collectivism. This type of culture values group norms and group affiliation over individualized expression where â€Å"they view themselves as a member of an extended family, place group interests ahead of individual needs, and value reciprocation of favours and respect for tradition† (Blodgett et al, p.339). Employees that have strong collectivist values often seek opinion and networking from peers and operate well in very structured, centralized management hierarchies. Collectivists

Apple Store Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

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The Rhetorical Presidency Essay Example for Free

The Rhetorical Presidency Essay Jeffrey Tulis received his B.A. degree from Bates College, an M.A. from Brown, and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.   In 1996, he received the Presidents Associates Teaching Excellence Award.  Ã‚   He is currently writing a book on the problem of institutional deference, and he is co-editor of the Johns Hopkins Series in Constitutional Thought.   His thoughts in The Rhetorical Presidency are profound and worthy of discussion in any college setting.   His central claim concerns how the office of the president of the United States has changed from its conception created by our forefathers, especially in speech making. Presidential speeches were given to Congress, for the most part, and if there were speeches made to the public they were usually of a supportive nature bolstering courage concerning whatever might be facing the country at the time.   It wasn’t until after the civil war that public speech making became routine for the president.     Ã‚  We will cover that change from what the presidency used to be, and what it has become today by reviewing Tulis’ book The Rhetorical Presidency.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A political leader who gains power by appealing to people’s emotions and prejudices rather than their rationality is a fair description of where our understanding of the presidency is today.   It is interesting to note, however, that early legislation had been passed to thwart this very thing.   The fear, as Tulis explains it, of a demagogue during ‘normal’ times would be hard to control.   It would not be so terrible in war time, but if the president were to gain too much influence over the people under his leadership, it would be difficult to control the outcome. To elicit people’s emotional and prejudicial biases on an issue is very close to what we are experiencing today.   Never has America been in such a turmoil concerning leadership as it is in this present era.   More nation-wide polls concerning the ‘ratings’ of the president have been taken during the last two presidents than in all the history of America.   If fact, if we are to believe these polls, Clinton, who was elected by the narrowest margin of any president, and Bush never scored very high in public opinion.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The founders of our country feared a popular president for this very reason, and instigated legislation so that decision making on a nation-wide level could not be done by one man.   Tulis describes it thusly, â€Å"demagoguery, republicanism, independence of the executive, and [the] separation of powers[1]†.   On the same page he also states, â€Å"for most federalists, ‘demagogue’ and ‘popular leader’ were synonyms, and nearly all references to popular leaders in their writings are pejorative.†    In one sense, I can see the dilemma, but sometimes, as Americans who can actually think for themselves, it would not be difficult to determine a correct course of action.   Our forefathers were not ignorant of this fact, and I believe there are still enough Americans with the same frame of mind to thwart an attempt to gain power by appealing to people’s emotions and prejudices.   A good example is Bush’s approval rating among the general public which wavers in the 30-40 percentile range.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One of the issues Tulis addresses is the use of speeches to gain the approval of the people in a given project affecting the United States.   One such project was the advent of the railroad.   It was during this era that presidential speeches went from mainly speaking to Congress to addressing the general public.   He also points out that this increase of speeches to the public was the precursor for â€Å"popular leadership† and the very thing the forefathers were trying to avoid in the presidency of the United States. Many of these speeches were simple ‘thank you’ remarks at public appearances where other speakers were featured prominently[2].   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One exception Tulis draws attention to is during Andrew Johnson’s administration.   The impeachment charges he faced were partly due to his â€Å"popular rhetoric violating virtually all of the nineteenth-century norms encompassed by the doctrine[3]†.  Ã‚   Influenced by the time era, he was made the butt of jokes and political cartoons that mocked him as a weak man.   Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency, however, is described by Tulis as a â€Å"series of rhetorical campaigns to secure passage of legislation to regulate the railroads[4]†. He truly believed that what he was doing was in support of the founding fathers and was an answer to the problems Congress was facing at the time.  Ã‚   To Roosevelt, the railroad problem was a crisis that required the temporary aid of a popular leader.   He felt after this issue was resolved things would return to normal again, at least as far as the presidency was concerned.   However, the role of demagogue was moved to permanence by Wilson, who was convinced that this separation of powers was the main cause of deficient leadership in America, and until it was changed America would not become the super power she capable of being.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Wilson believed â€Å"The need for more energy in the political system is greater than the risk incurred through the possibility of demagoguery[5]†.   Even though Wilson was the only president to receive a doctoral degree (political science), and in spite of his published work, Constitutional Government in the United States, many were, and are, convinced that America can once again return to the leadership that was the very foundation of our nation as prescribed by our forefathers.   The fact that he represented one thing to the people and something quite different to Congress cost him his credibility, and his wavering in rhetoric was what eventually caused his failure as a president.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"The founder’s solution was to proscribe popular rhetoric always, hoping it would still be around if it was needed. Wilson’s solution was to prescribe it always, hoping that it would not be abused[6]†.   Abuse is the best description for it today.   Creating crises or pseudo-crises is what seems to be the norm for our political leaders.   Some still argue whether or not there were actually weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and further, many fear where this type of thinking will lead. As we learned from Lyndon Johnson’s â€Å"War on Poverty† rhetoric can get the nation into trouble.   When he declared â€Å"war† on poverty, he did so as a popular appeal to help those less fortunate people who were in desperate need of help.   It was the approach to the solution that caused it to fail.   Instead of addressing Congress with the need, and allowing them to produce legislation to support the idea, he made his appeal to the people, who were sympathetic to his cause, but because the proper channels were not followed, his idea was doomed to failure.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Tulis ends his book with the concluding thoughts of reeducating Americans to the real purpose behind the office of presidency, and urges people to understand that a rhetorical president in ‘normal’ times is too risky for a balanced democracy.   His suggestions concerning the office of the president returning to what the forefathers intended is the strongest message he offers.   How America is going to do this, however, is quite another story.   Is the office of the President dangerously close to becoming a dictatorship?   I doubt it, but it is quite clear, as Tulis points out, that too much media attention leaves America with the feeling that the office of the President is becoming more like that of a king. Bibliography Tulis, Jeffrey K. 1987   The Rhetorical Presidency.   Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Press.

Female Form in the Art Deco Movement: Tamara de Lempicka

Female Form in the Art Deco Movement: Tamara de Lempicka Design for Passion: The female form in Art Deco The Art Deco style was the genre during the 1920s and 1930s affecting the decorative arts, fine arts and fashion (Lucie-Smith, 1996). Throughout this period it was moment for womens clothing fashions. The portraits of Polish-born Tamara de Lempicka elaborated on the trend as a painter of people mainly in the smart social circles in which she moved. She was penniless when she fled to Paris with her husband and daughter. It was then she resolved her talents of artistry would establish a successful career in Paris. To represent her painting style she elaborated on distinctive streamlined elegance with a sense of chic decadence, often compared to the cubism of Leger (sometime called Soft Cubism). She was better than anyone else at representing the Art Deco style in painting. Her works exhibited the true meaning of the Art Deco style and affiliated the passion for design that women had in their lifes turning point (de Lempicka, 1998). It can be said that she is probably the most famous painter of the art deco period. The painting style created by de Lempicka was as glamorous as her subject matter. Her instructor Andre Lhote did not realize the subtle syntheses of inspiration she portrayed. The use of a plastic metaphor which Tamara used time and again in her artistic output can be characterized by the haughty expression typical of a certain caste, or in her nudes which are allegories of lasciviousness. She used a trademark combination of soft, rounded forms set against architectural lines and shapes that reflected a new sophisticated urbanity to those she painted in highly mannered portraits. Her other main subjects included erotic nudes and still life of calla lilies. Her bold technique and palette rapidly won her acclaim as the quintessential Art Deco artist (Blondell, 2004). Art Deco design was above all modern that exemplified the boundless potential of a newly industrialized world. The characterizations of Art Deco include the use of materials such as sharkskin, zebra skin, zigzag and stepped forms, bold and sweeping curves, chevron patterns, and sunburst motif. The sunburst motif was used in such varied contexts as a ladys shoe. It was a mainstream in consumerism that was stressed in the great fashion magazines as Vogue and Harpers Bazaar to advertise the emergence of the New Woman in American society. It was argued that Art Deco functioned as a trademark for popular notions of femininity during a time when women were said to be the consumers of the average household. A genre of the time it appealed to women and was used as a selling point for cosmetics, clothing, home furnishings, jewelry, and art objects. The image that femininity would dominate the American imagination for the future inspired consumerism (Fischer, 2003). The corset was definitively eliminated making the flat and square dresses of the 1920s an ideal canvas to display motifs of the Art Deco period. Skirts were shortened and the female figure became formless and androgynous (sexless) the waistline dropped to the hips or simply ceased to exist. In the 1930s the waistline moved to its natural position. Nylon, satin, silk and crepe the most prevalent of materials used to make fine figure defining dresses. Fabric was cut diagonally to take advantage of its elasticity to show formation of what it covered. Skirts were made longer while the legs were allowed to be seen via long slits in the dresses and the shoulders were broadened by padded shoulder inserts (Lussier, 2003). In Portrait of a Young Girl in a Green Dress, Tamara explicitly demonstrates her visual of the fashion of the times, sleek and seductive (Lucie-Smith). Girl in Green with Gloves, probably her most famous painting epitomizes her style showing the fabric and hair combined into sharp lines and flowing curves with the entire form strongly dimensional yet remaining abstract and modern. The Art Deco of the 20s, with its geometric motifs and bright, bold colors superlative represents the best and purest forms of the decorative art period. Reaching its bold point between 1925 through 1935, the classical, symmetrical, rectilinear style of Art Deco, drew inspiration from other art movements such as Cubism, Futurism, and influence of the Bauhaus and became the dominant art form of Paris between 1920 through 1930. Tamara deLempicka was the artist who pursued the Arts Decoratifs style, derived from the Worlds fair held in 1925, formerly titled the Exposition Internationales des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes that showcased French luxury goods (Wikipedia, 2003). A 1925auto portrait, Tamara in the Green Bugatti was an oil painting on wood. Tamara was dressed in a bright yellow with black hat, matching the color of the vehicle. The painting came about when a magazine editor was overwhelmed by the drivers style. The driver, later was learned, to be de Lempicka herself. The editor had left a calling card on the windshield asking the yellow clad woman to contact her. Die Dame, Germanys leading fashion magazine, then commissioned a self portrait in the car for the magazines cover. The result was one of de Lemplickas best known works wherein she mixes cold, hard textures with luxurious, decadent sensual imagery. A point of interest on the matter was that Tamara NEVER owned a green Bugatti. The auto portrait was an icon of the era. The painting is said to represent the newly discovered freedom of women of the day (Paloma). Sexy, modern and unabashedly consumer-oriented was the new Art Deco style. Motifs were borrowed from Japan, Africa, ancient Egtyptian and Mayan cultures to create novel visual effects (Benton, 2003). French pochoir prints from the glorious Art Deco era presented womans fashion designs in their most original era. The clothing was revolutionary from designers such as Charles Worth, Jean Patou, Paul Poiret, Lucien Lelong and Joseph Paquin (Schiffer, 1998). Erte was an artist who received his fame by his drawings in Harpers Bazaars magazine for 22 yrs. His covers for the magazine shaped the entire modern tradition of fashion drawing. Erte (name derived from his initials R. T. Romaine de Tirtoff) also designed sets for plays and musicals most noted are the costumes and stage sets for the Folies-Bergere in Paris (Blum, 1976). He was perhaps the most appealing of artists at the time, called attention to the sleekness of style giving emphasis to lineal definition and bold color. (Fischer). The jewelry from the era exploded with color, drama of form and juxtaposition of texture and contour. Designs included buckles, clips, belts, mirrors, pendants, cigarette cases, rings, chains, necklaces, watchbands, brooches, studs and charms (Raulet, 2002). The aesthetic of Art Deco was most radical in the late 1920s at which female stars as Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford and Myrna Loy donned lavish Art Deco fashions. De Lempicka herself received acclaim for her aloof Garboesque beauty, her parties, and her love affairs. Her beauty and opinionated nature also increased her celebrity (de Lempicka). The style declined as a growing conservatism challenged the feminist advances of an earlier generation. The Art Deco woman was once an object of desire but she then regressed toward demeaning caricatures and pantomimes of unbridled sexuality (Fischer). To artists she (de Lempicka) appeared to be an upper-class dilettante, and to the nervous haute bourgeoisie she seemed arrogant and depraved, comments Laura Claridge. Her beauty and opinionated nature increased her celebrity as photographs of the period show a sleek woman whose lethargic-eyed mystique challenged that of Greta Garbo. De Lempicka was a very physical person. She often slept with the people she painted, or those who sat for her. They were both male and female. Her first lesbian affair was said to be with Ira Perrot who modeled for her and took her to Italy where she discovered paintings of Botticelli and Messina. It was the period of time in which she began to attend lesbian parties. Her creativeness went as far as the tastefully arrangement of food on the body of a nude woman. Thereafter, she would then slowly she eat her midnight meal (de Lempicka). The artist pursued older men as social companions, but slept with younger and more handsome men. She was often seen caressing a working-class boy one night and a woman the next. Her adventures inspired her artwork. An overview to her painting of Adam and Eve, her daughter Kizette states, The model walked across the room and picked up an apple from the bowl to satiate her hunger. Tamara then says: Stop! I have an inspiration. I have before me the vision of Adam and Eve. She then went out into the street and nearby saw a policeman on his beat. He was young and handsome. Monsieur, I am an artist and I need a model for my painting. She brought him into the studio and said you are Adam, here is your Eve completing her motivation. Among the unique aspects of her style is the overt lesbianism that informs it, especially in her female nudes, i.e. Two Friends, Spring, and The Girls. The implication of sexuality between the females is subtle yet obvious. Tamara Gorska de Lempicka was married first to Tadeusz Lempicki a Russion lawyer and socialite and then to Baron Raoul Huffner with whom she moved to America. Being a bisexual woman, de Lempickas works reflects a glorification of the female form and vignettes of female life. Seated Nude (1923) exploits her depiction of women in which she sets the tone of a powerful, curvy, and slab-faced image. Depicted during the Jazz Age de Lempickas art expel a riot of color combined with the sharpness of Cubism making them seem to explode from their frames and grab our attention (Charlish, 2004). The sexy, bedroom-eyed women in stylish dresses are rendered in haunting poses that seem to mirror her life through her art. The Orange Turban of which Tamara produced eight versions in her lifetime, shows the influence of the Dutch and Flemish masters that she absorbed while studying at the Louvre. Independent publisher Mani de Li of Modern Art A Skeptical View, opinions that Tamara succeeds in portraits that have an aim similar to Picassos failures with hers being more original, complete, better drawn, colored and composed. The paintings never contain those scratchy areas of flat schmiery ugliness and unfinish so common in even the best of Picassos, he contends. From the pages of womens magazines to the salons and counters of department stores to the set of design of Hollywood films, the Art Deco style was used to market modernity and elegance (Fischer). Tamara sold her portrait art to the rich aristocracy of Paris that fetched huge prices. She refused to comment on the fascism around her. It was between the wars, that she painted portraits of writers, entertainers, artists, scientists, industrialists, and many of Eastern Europes exiled nobility (Lucie-Smith). She had a choice to do carnival or festive art, and chose the festive (Boje, 2001). Peter Plagens, an art critic from Newsweek, referred to Tamara as practically forgotten with her production of almost soft porn. And he further stated that Tamara was the end product, not the producer of art that influences other artists (Claridge, 1999). After a threat of a Second World War, Tamara left Paris to go to Hollywood. There she became the Favorite Artist of the Hollywood Stars. The 1950s and 1960s phased out Deco Art until in a 1966 exhibition in Paris it resumed its interest. She had changed her style to abstract art in the 1960s. Her works were created then with a spatula with her output seemingly out of fashion. De Lempickas earlier works began to rise in the 1970s and by the 1990s she once again became a stylish icon. Feminisms emphasis on unearthing sidelined women had played a part in her revitalization as well. The liberation of gay women has made her the prophetic, in -house painter of lipstick lesbianism (Charlish). Today de Lempickas work still is connected to Hollywood with singer/actress Madonna and actor Jack Nicholson being the most avid contemporary collectors of her paintings. Her paintings were rediscovered by the world (Neret, Gilles, 1992). Tamara de Lempicka achieved her notoriety and fame several times during her lifetime and remains popular today for her highly sexualized art deco portraits. The qualities of decadence and hedonism that caused critics of the 1960s and 1970s to dismiss her work are those traits that now show new appreciation, comments Elizabeth Ashburn, Professor and Head of the School of Art in the College of Fine Arts at the University of South Wales, Austrailia. Tamara de Lempicka chose her teachers well. She learned the use of simple lines and a smooth finish from Maurice Denis, from who she had her first painting lesson at the Academe Ranson. She learned the neoclassical modification of cubism from Lhote in Paris. She learned the clear, glowing colors and imperious yet powerful interpretation of the female form and execution of the society portrait from Ingres (Charlish). When combined, the three distinct traits of her tutors were expelled though her own unique style in which she was able to bring across the passion of design. De Lempicka is the true demonstrator of the female form in Art Deco painting. The icon of Art Deco ceased her works after the death of her husband in 1962. She moved to Mexico and died in her sleep in 1980 only to leave behind her ashes strewn over the crater of Mt. Popocateptl along with her now valued works of art depicting one of the most fascinating periods of art history in which she displayed the liberty of the woman of her time. BIBLIOGRAPHY Benton, Tim, Benton, Charlotte Wood Ghislaine. 2003 Art Deco: 1910-1939. Bulfinch; 1st North edition. Sept. 17. ISBN:082122834X. Blondell, Alain Brugger, Ingirid. (2004) Tamara de Lempicka. Royal Academy Books. 168 pgs. ISBN: 1903973422. Blum, Stella. 1976 Designs by Erte. New York: Dover. Boje, D. M. 2001 Athletic Apparel Industry is Tamara-land. Tamara: Journal of Critical PostmodernOrganization Science. Vol. 1 (2), pp. 6-19. Charlish, Nicky.2004 Art Deco Icon: Tamara Lempicka. Culture Wars.RoyalAcademy, London. Claridge, Laura.1999 Tamara de Lempicka: A Life of Deco and Decadence. ClarksonPotter Publishers. 436 pgs., September 21. De Lempicka,Baroness Kizette and Philip, Charles. (1998) Passion by Design: The Artand Times of Tamara de Lempicka, Abberville Press. 192 pgs. ISBN:0789205033. Fischer, Lucy.2003 Designing Women: Art Deco, and the Female Form (Film and Culture). Columbia University Press. 352 pgs. ISBN: 0231125011. Lucie-Smith,Edward. 1996 Art Deco Painting, Phaidon Press, 160 pages, ISBN071482545X. Lussier, Suzanne.2003. All Tied-Up: The Corset in Contemporary Fashion. The Victoria and Albert Museum. Neret, Gilles. 1992.Tamara de Lempica Benedict. Taschen Verlag GrnbH. Kolan. Paloma Gallery. http://www.paloma.ca/gallery.html. Raulet, Sylvie.2002 Art Deco Jewelry. Thames Hudson. Schiffer. 1998. FrenchArt Deco Fashions: In Pochoir Prints from the 1920s. Schiffer Publishing .Feb. 1. 160 pages. ISBN: 0764304747. Wikipedia. 2003.The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Columbia University Press.

Internet Identity Experiences in Turkles Article Essays -- Web Cybers

Internet Identity Experiences in Turkle's Article In Turkle's article "Identity in the Age of the Internet," she questions "Why grant such superior status to the self that has the body, when the selves that don't have bodies are able to have different kinds of experiences?" Turkle gives many great details and examples of the things that can happen when people are allowed to express themselves as any character that they wish which enables them to have experiences that may be different then the ones from their everyday life. In addition Dale Spender examines in her article "Gender Bending," how men and women are viewed differently online as well as offline. These articles arises the thought of how might Spender answer the question brought on by Turkle. So I came up with an idea of what Spender's answer to this might be. When Turkle questions the fact that online experiences can be so much more rewarding then offline experiences, she is talking about several different examples. One example of an experience relates to "Living in the Mud ," and the possibilities of role playing on the internet through online games such as, Trek MUSE, and LambdaMOO. In these games you can chose to be anyone you wish whether it be male, female, a thing or even a graphical icon such as Barbie, or the Mighty Morphon Power Ranger. No one can know who you are or what your true identity is. What is so interesting about these games is that you can be a character who resembles you very similarly, or someone whom is not like you in any way shape or form. Possibilities can vary to as many ways as you can think up. Sherry Turkle feels that the computer is more then just a tool, that it is a "second self". She also states that the, "Internet, links millions... ...rd horror stories about people meeting others on the net whom they thought were one way that they described themselves to be but in actuality were nothing of the sort. I find that to be very disturbing and in some cases life threatening. I do agree with the fact that there are opportunities to have new experiences on line, but I do feel that if this is going to be made possible and continue on that their does need to be more screening than there is currently. I as well as others would feel much more safe and open if users knew more true information then is being given out at the current time. Works Cited Turkle, Sherry, "Identity in the Age of the Internet." Composing Cyberspace. ed. Richard Holeton. San Francisco: McGraw Hill, 1998, 5-11. Spender, Dale, "Gender Bending." Composing Cyberspace. ed. Richard Holeton. San Francisco: McGraw Hill, 1998, 69-75.

Movers and Shakers in Education Essay

Trailblazers in American Education There have been several individuals throughout America’s history who have helped develop, shape, advance, balance, and reform education to what it is today. America’s educational system has a rich background from its roots of one room school houses to our current system of education which offers an array of opportunities for students to obtain a public education. John Dewey John Dewey was an American philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. Dewey is known as the founder of the progressive education movement. He argued that it was the job of education to encourage individuals to develop their full potential as human beings. Dewey’s educational theories were presented in a variety of books he authored. Several continuous themes ring true in most of Dewey’s books. They include his frequent argument that education and learning are social and interactive processes, thus school should be considered a social institution where social reform can and ought to take place. In addition, he believed that students thrive in an environment where they are allowed to experience and interact with the curriculum so all students should have the opportunity to take part in their own learning. He was especially critical of forms of memorization learning where repetition of facts and information was exercised. He argued that children should learn by experience. Rather than just gaining knowledge, Dewey believed that students should develop skills, habits and attitudes necessary for them to solve a wide variety of problems. Dewey’s legacy of the importance of experiential learning remains to this day. There are a number of schools across the United States that follow his theories and methods of teaching. [pic] Alvarez vs. The Board of Trustees of the Lemon Grove School District. The history of school desegregation legislation in the United States did not begin with the 1954 Supreme Court’s decision in the case of Brown vs. he Topeka school board, but rather in a rural community called Lemon Grove located in Southern California. It has recently been discovered that the earliest court cases concerning school desegregation occurred in the American Southwest in the 1930s. In these cases, Mexican immigrants and their communities were the targeted groups of segregation by school officials. A significant case during this era was the 1930 decision in Roberto Alvarez vs. the Board of Trustees of the Lemon Grove School District. This was the first successful school desegregation court decision in the history of the United States. It represents an instance when community members took court action and won their case, despite negative sentiment towards them, to ensure the rights of their children to receive an equal education, making it an important event in both San Diego and U. S. history. The case stands as a credit to the activism of San Diego’s Mexican community who used the public system of justice to ensure that not only Mexican-American children in California, but the rest of the United States had access to a quality education (Alvarez, Jr. , 1984). [pic] Science and Math Education Movement With the launching of Sputnik in October 1957, Americans became extremely fearful that the United States was falling behind in the areas of technology, science, and mathematics. Citizens of the United States feared that their country could see a shortage of trained teachers, engineers, and highly educated students in the near future if something was not done. In response to public pressure, the federal government passed the National Defense Education Act (NDEA) in 1958. The act supported efforts of academic specialists to revise curriculum according to the latest theories and methods. Improvements were made in all subject areas and institutes were held to train teachers in the use of new materials and methods (Webb, Metha, ; Jordan, 2010). In addition to enhancing the curriculum, the NDEA also funded programs that provided guidance, counseling, and testing programs for students. According to authors Webb, Metha, ; Jordan, the NDEA set the stage for the federal government’s increased involvement in education (2010). [pic] Out of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA) of 1975 came the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1990. These pieces of legislation were a result of the earlier Civil Rights Movement in Education during the 1960s where marginalized groups were fighting for justice and equality within the education system. The federal law, IDEA, was established in 1990. It applies to all children with disabilities from birth to age twenty-one. The statue defines â€Å"disabled children† as those with mental retardation, hearing impairments, emotional disturbance, orthopedic impairments, autism, traumatic brain injury, multiple disabilities, or specific learning disabilities. To receive services under the IDEA, a student must not only have a disability, but the condition also must affect the student’s education. The major principles included in the IDEA are: the right to a free and appropriate education, identification and nondiscriminatory evaluation, an individualized education program (IEP), least restrictive environment, and procedural due process (Webb, et al. , 2010). While the law has transformed and grown over the years, it remains evident in the classroom to this day. It has promoted research and technology development, details on transition programs for post high school students, and programs that educate children in their neighborhood schools instead of separate schools.

African Art

From Egypt to South Africa the art of Africa is rich and diverse on a scale second to no other continent. The art is a cultural heritage that has sustained a race of people over millennia. This paper will focus on the art of the 200-year span of 1400-1600 CE.   It was during this time period that the European Renaissance flowered, and saw such masters as Michelangelo, Leonardo, and Raphael arise.It likewise covers the time period that Rembrandt and the Dutch masters worked. Comparisons will be made between the two disparate cultures, examining the differences between how the art of Africa and the art of Europe relate to their culture and mores. It will examine the utility of both art genres.While the art appears to be radically different, the underlying usage for the art produced is essentially the same, with Renaissance art and African art both serving their culture’s religious beliefs and mores.For those not accustomed to abstract art it can appear to be different from wha t they even consider art. A large portion of all African art is abstract. Abstraction is the way the artist chooses to create a representation of the ancestor or the spirit with whom he wishes to communicate. By tradition the art is religious or mythical, so their option was to make a representative figure. Abstraction is the way to create such.European art of the same era solved this problem by opting to create a realistic likeness of their saints and even their god. . Europeans did not paint landscapes or sculpt animals except to give a setting to their holy families and saints.Art was for religion and for custom, culture, and mores in both cultures. â€Å"The beauty of African art lies not only on the surface or physical features of the artwork but the meaning or lesson that it tends to emanate† (All-About-African-Art.com par. 3).African art of the period under discussion is virtually always three dimensional and not only of wood. The Yoruba discovered lost-wax and cast th eir statues in metals by the 14th and 15th century (Mullen, par.10). John Reader, writing in Africa: A Biography of the Continent, discusses the use of metals in the art of the African tribes. In Sub-Saharan Africa iron and copper were the most highly valued of metals.Interestingly, he reports that the 14th century tribes would exchange their gold for copper at a rate of two-thirds gold to one of copper (287). This iron and copper went into weapons, naturally but much of it found its way into art because of its permanence was associated with the longevity of ancestors as well as the immortality of the spirits.It became then a part of their art, which is synonymous with their religious beliefs and culture.The most noticeable thing about African art is its ubiquitous nature. It permeates the lives of the African people more so than European art. The emphasis in African art is on the human figure much the same as European art between 1400 and 1600 CE. It is also a part of everyday life and relates to the culture and values of the tribes that produce it by serving as constant reminders of ancestors and traditions.The tribal masks are objects of veneration, brought out on ceremonial occasions to be ‘danced’. These masks are not simply ornaments but rather they are sacred objects.They are given names. This name is significant as more than just identifying the individual piece, but also identifies the meaning of the work. Each has a history and a dance is designated for each. The mask embodies living spirits. In African culture the meanings of the mask, the associated dance and the spirits that dwell within it are inexorably linked together.African art’s use of the human form is so pervasive that its adoption by European nations is taken as proof of the contact between the two cultures.The Church of Rome commissioned much of the great art of the European continent during the 1400-1600s. The statues and portraits of the biblical saints portray a li keness. Jesus is depicted in stone and pigment and the image is to remind the faithful of his deeds.The priests face a crucifix and make the magical signs when chanting prayer in the general direction of such art. There may be the argument that Christians do not pray to the effigies, still, the casual on-looker would have a difficult time determining the subtle difference.In this sense, the masks of African tribal art serve the same function within the community as do the pietas and crucifixions of the Italian Renaissance.Christopher Roy, Professor of Art History, University of Iowa, states that, â€Å"most African art is representative, not representational. Very little African sculpture is intended to recreate the features of a human being, either living or dead† (par. 6).Roy relates that African art, particularly the mask, is not meant to be a likeness of an ancestor, nor is it meant to be an image of a beloved, revered, or even feared leader of the tribe. The mask is a ho me for the spirits, invented by the maker of the mask.The mask, a work of art, becomes a haven for the supernatural, the unseen, the unknown, incomprehensible, so it follows that the physical home created for them must be a creation of whimsy (par. 6).In a land where diseases are rampant and life is relatively cheap the people often turn to the spirits for protection. In the years of the Black Death in Europe the people turned to the church. In Africa, where flies can carry death and swimming the rivers can infect people with deadly parasites, the spirits are all that stand between the tribe and death at times.It gives the tribe solace to know that they have a way of making the spirits visible, and they do this in their art. Art in the form of the mask gives a tangible reality to the unseen spirits. When the mask is then danced in the ceremonies and rituals of the tribe this makes the spirits accessible to the tribe.This art can span the gap between the world and the unseen realm of the spirit. The medium literally becomes the message as the diviner in the mask opens a channel to the spirits and can communicate the needs of the tribe to the only beings capable of giving aid to the tribe (Roy par. 2).Western African art in the form of wooden masks most often take the form of humans, animals, or fanciful beings. Their use in religious rites range from such as tribal initiation ceremonies to various celebrations of tribal good fortune or auspicious anniversary dates.They are danced in celebration of a good harvest as well as danced to request that their crops thrive. They are also danced in preparation for war. It does not take a great stretch of the imagination to equate these icons with the religious paintings of the Sistine Chapel and the pope’s private quarters.While some statues holy to the Catholics are brought out to view by the public on high holy days and venerated as talismans of the true cross or some other belief. The static art of the frescos can be viewed on a regular basis, and is used to put the supplicant in the proper frame of mind to believe when he kneels to ask a boon or blessing of his creator.The masks of African art are used as a gateway to ease both the wearer and his audience into a nether world where the spirits dwell. The Catholic art of the Renaissance and the centuries immediately following it are for the same purpose.The Fang tribe of Gabon are famous for their creation of guardian figures that are then affixed to the boxes containing the bones of their ancestors. Their leadership, according to The Africa Guide online website, is inherited and the leader is supposedly a direct descendant of the ancestor who founded the village.This leader is not only secular head of the tribal village, he is the spiritual leader, and can communicate with the ancestors through the wearing of masks, which are an important aspect of Fang art (par. 4).The art of Africa discussed herein is made for utilitarian purpose, makin g it, at first glance seem different from European art of the same time period. Yet while the pope may not put on a mask of Christ and dance it before the masses, he certainly carries a rod with the representation of Christ when he is seen in public.He has decorated his church and his private apartments with the figures of biblical characters to serve as a reminder of the holy word. From the Creation of Adam to the Last Judgment, artists of the European school created work to please the church.They created to invoke memories and remind the faithful of their culture and spiritual roots in the same way as the African mask. While the art appears to be radically different, the underlying usage for the art produced is essentially the same, with Renaissance art and African art both serving their culture’s religious beliefs and mores.Works CitedAll-About-African-Art.com   Abstract African Art is Mainly ConsideredTo be out of the Ordinary 9-29-08http://www.all-about-african-art.com /abstract-african-art.htmlMullen, N.   Yoruba Art and Culture 9-29-08 Wysinger Homestead 2004http://wysinger.homestead.com/yoruba.htmlRoy, C. Signs and Symbols in African Art: Graphic Patterns in BurkinaFaso 9-3-08 The University of Iowa no date

Understanding pedagogy and its impact on learning Essay

Music Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Pedagogy refers to the art and science which aims to fully equip human beings with skills. In this education strategy, the instructor’s philosophical principles of instruction are embraced by the pupil’s upbringing knowledge and experience, environment and situation as well as the studying objectives and goals set by both the teacher and the pupil. Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, a Swiss pedagogue introduced his revolutionary modern principles of education. In the early 19th century, his principles Pestalozzi principles and philosophy started to influence the education system in America. His approach of â€Å"educating the entire man† man was incorporated in the music education.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In 1830s, Lowell Mason-a teacher, began to use Pestalozzi’s principles and philosophy in his methods of teaching and later came up with a new tactic to the music education. Lowell Mason later championed for inclusion of music curriculums in normal education. (Branscome, 2005; Mark & Gary, 1990, p.76; Sturm, 1998; Tellstrom, 1971). In schools for people with special needs in the United States, music was already incorporated in their syllabus in early 1930s. Such schools where music was taught include New England Asylum for Blind that is also referred to as Perkins School for Blind. Julia Ward Howe offered singing lessons and instructions to the blind and the people with mental disorders using a curriculum that was developed for the purpose of training students in singing and marching lessons.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   From 1900 music education was incorporated in the public school educations system. From 1960 to 1970 the music education, music education was fully encompassed in the special education syllabus whereby the music classes were taught by the special needs education teacher.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   More music teachers were delegated to teach students with special needs as from 1970. During the lessons, the teachers were required to visit the schools for two or three times in a month. The lessons were meant for listening to recordings, singing or movement engagement exercises. According Graham (1975 & 1980) and Mark & Gary (1990, there is enough evidence to show that music education was not mainly considered for secondary education but elementary level. The enactment of the law that ensured education was compulsory for all children with disabilities -EHA ensured participation of students with disabilities in the regular music program. References Raumer, K.,et al.(1885) . The Life and System of Pestalozzi. London: Longmans press. Pestalozzi,J.,Banard,H.(1859). Pestalozzi and Pestalozzianism: Life, Educational Principles, and Methods of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi. New York: F.C. Brownell press. Mortimore, P.( 1999). Understanding pedagogy and its impact on learning. London: Paul Chapman Publishing. Source document