Cultural tourism, ecotourism, sport tourism, and other emerging types Research Paper

Cultural tourism, ecotourism, sport tourism, and other emerging types of tourism - Research Paper Example Ecotourism is mainly concerned with enabling the tourist to be enlightened on the effects of human beings on the nature and to help them develop more understanding and love for the natural ecosystems. Generally, ecotourism will involve travel to sites where the plants, animals, and cultural heritage are the main attractions. Ecotourism is becoming a more popular form of tourism in which tourist visit wild and scenic areas such as rain forests, mountains, game reserves, wildlife conservancies for leisure and educational trip, and the tourist are mainly from North America, Europe, or Australia/New Zealand with their destination being mostly the developing countries (Eduweb, 1996). Ecotourism is concerned with integrating conservation, communities, and travel activities a departure from convectional tourism. According to TEIS (1990), those who implement and participate in ecotourism activities should do it in observances of the following ecotourism principles. First, involve travel to n atural destinations, secondly minimize impact, thirdly build environmental and cultural awareness and respect, fourthly, provide positive experiences for both visitors and hosts, fifthly, provide direct financial benefits for conservation, more so provide financial benefits and empowerment for the local people, and lastly, raise sensitivity to host countries’ political, environmental, and social climate. Based on these principles, the ecotourism should be in position to analyze environmental and cultural factors, promote conservation through recycling, energy saving activities, avoiding and minimizing pollution, and providing economic gains to the local communities. Ecotourism developed from the global environmental movements in the late 1970s and by the early 1990s, ecotourism along with natured-based cultural, heritage and adventure tourism had transformed, with the global tourism industry being among the fastest growing sectors (TIES, 1990). Ecotourism has helped develop o ther forms of tourism, which borrow from the principles of ecotourism but at the same time, it differs from them. The following descriptions of other forms of tourism can illustrate how ecotourism differs with them though they share some similarities. Adventure travel is a form tourism that involves taking risk and it may involve using unconventional means of transport. The purpose mostly does not include conservation or benefit to local community. Secondly, sustainable tourism involves any form of tourism that does not reduce the availability of resources and does not inhibit future travelers from enjoying the same experience. Thirdly, responsible tourism involves tourism activities or operations, which minimize negative impacts on the environment. Fourthly, nature-based tourism is any form of tourism with focus on nature. Lastly, cultural tourism focuses mainly on interacting with and studying unique cultures (Untamedpath, 2007). The above terms and other terms such as green touri sm, bio-tourism, and low impact tourism have been used in literature and marketing activities to mean ecotourism though they are not the same as ecotourism, an occurrence that confuse tourist and academics in their understanding of ecotourism. The ambiguity and misunderstandings related to description of ecotourism has led to exploitation of many unsuspecting tourists by countries, hotels, destinations, resorts, and corporation making huge profits but

The Second Letter of Clement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Second Letter of Clement - Essay Example While the other texts contained many that will pertain to the subsequent tagged anti-Semitism in the faith, Clement II was undeviating in its message.1 The major tone of it was salvation and the steps necessary to obtain it. It contains teachings such as we shall regard him with importance as it may translate to diminutive degrees if we consider him small. Demeaning Jesus Christ will lead to suffering and those who worship him will be compensated and deemed worthy of his grace. He is the savior of all mankind and with his kindness we will be void of our sins.2 These early writings that have contributed so much in our understanding and teaching of the religion today are virtually unknown to many who follow the religion. They have shaped and cultivated what can be considered the biggest religion in the globe today. Professor Bart Ehrman, a prominent figure and scholar provides for many of the recent explanations associated with these writings. He pronounced that in many times these writings are treated in various ways. The epistle of Clement II for instance is in so many levels a misnomer. It was neither written by Pope Clement, which is the letter’s namesake, nor was it transcribed by the same person who was responsible for Clement I.3 The erroneously attributed manuscript was considered to be a homily by an unknown writer. This is what Professor Ehrman refers to as a product of an inspired reading of the Book of Isaiah that is found in the Old Testament. This he adds demonstrates the varied figurative elucidation to shape it in such a way that the text from were it was adapted from can be rendered in a manner that it can move the congregation though it may be drastically diverse compared to the past.4 The sermon also made use of the book of Matthew and Luke extensively. Two of the most prominent books included in the new testament of the bible. Excerpts from the book of Matthew can be found on chapter 2

A Personal Reflection Of Developmental Life

A Personal Reflection Of Developmental Life Numerous developmental theories exist today that attempt to explain cognitive and physical changes in the body as we grow older. Some are vague and finite, while others go into extreme detail. Some of the leading psychologists relative to these theories are Jean Piaget (Beilin, 1992) with his cognitive developmental theory, Erik Erikson (Gross, 1987), who developed his psychosocial developmental theory, and Lawrence Kohlberg (Guthrie, 1984), with his moral development theory. It has taken many years for these scholars, as well as intelligent students to polish and critique these developmental theories. Kohlbergs moral developmental theory best accounts for my moral, ethical, and personal development as well as potentially playing a large role in my future development as a senior adult. I respect them all because they all are true in their own way. I just happen to have one theory which applies to me more than the others. As a child, I can remember being cognizant about the direct repercussions of my actions on myself as well as other children. Out of all the conspicuous developmental theories that are commonplace today, I believe that, as Kohlberg stated, it is like saying, The last time I did that I got spanked so I will not do it again (Kohlberg, 1974). Thats exactly the mentality I developed after wrongdoing. In other words, a behavior which is thought to be ethically incorrect usually results in the culprit being punished, driving childrens moral choices. The reflection in terms of how and why Kohlbergs portions of stage one of his theory relates to my childhood is because even though I was quite obsequious, I was surrounded by people who held what they thought were universal moral/ethical developments; these people had general principles to follow that would be deemed appropriate by the majority of citizens, as well as being able to have the moral fortitude to give instead of taking. I admit that I was quite selfish at this early age. Kohlberg devised that his theory was composed primarily of three major levels of development. These primary levels are known as pre-conventional, conventional, and post-conventional. In all, there are six sub-stages that are underneath his primary levels in regards to his moral developmental theory. I can attest that I judged moral acts based on their repercussions. When I was young, I would not steal food from drug stores because I knew if I got caught, they were not going to treat me well in jail. The main point with respect to Kohlberg and my childhood is that I did not grasp what it was to have broadly acquiesced moral values. This is what Kohlberg argued in his first stage of the preconventional level of development. Furthermore in stage two of the preconventional level, which is defined by the self-driven person, proclaims whats in it for me, where correct behavior is based on whatever is in the individuals best interest (Kohlberg, 1974). A young child in the preconventional moral stage has not yet acquired or internally digested the conventions of society with respect to what is right or wrong. Instead, they concentrate on their convergence on the transcendent repercussions that specific states of affairs may bring to them (Kohlberg, 1971). This stage of development concurs with my lifestyle as a youngster. I was selfish and I thought I was completely free from any wrongdoing because I was a child. I failed to develop any rational moral belief system at this point in my life. The conventional level of moral reasoning is typical of some adolescents and a great deal of adults. In the general consensus, people who justify their actions in a conventional way arbitrate the morality of behaviors by discerning them against societys general views and ethically-guided behaviors. Persons in this stage of development either approve or decline from other individuals as it pertains to societys accordance with the conceived role. As Kohlberg put it, they try to be a good boy or a good girl so that they can meet the expectations of society having apprehended the knowledge that there is intricate value in so doing (Kohlberg, 1973). During this broad conventional stage of Kohlbergs theory, one must note that conventional morality is dependent by an acceptance of societys assemblage related to what are right and or wrong. In the fourth stagein the same level as the thirdit is the drive for authority, social order, and obedience that defines its presuppositions. In the fourth stage, it is absolutely essential to adhere to laws, dictums, and social conveyances due to the fact that they are vital in creating a stable and functional society. I can 100% relate to Kohlbergs fourth stage when I was an adult. For example, I ended up picking up rank in the military and was in charge of hundreds of Marines that I was responsible for in every way. It was essential to obey what you were told to accomplish by your supervisor. If you did not finish by the time he or she returned, you can go to jail, lose your money, lose your rank, and even lose your house. The Marines take disobedience to its laws very seriously. Thus, Kohlbergs theory is at work here during this phase of my life because I was dedicated to adhering to the rules that governed me, because it was my duty to protect the U.S. foreign and domestically. With respect to stage five of Kohlbergs theory, my life as I got older and travelled more often became committed to the social contract driven force. That is, I held the worldview and made myself respect that every culture-also known as cultural relativism-has its different views on what is acceptable in society and what is not. I had to learn to respect that because I was used to my own rules and regulations. But when my units in the military deployed overseas, we were under the jurisdiction of foreign governments. Such perspectives should be mutually respected as unique to each person or community. For example, in the United States, prostitution is not something very good to proclaim as a job, and is illegal in every state except for one. This is in direct contrast to other countries, where sex is actually a business industry and is widely promoted. People do it so they can make money and live. It was hard to accept at first, but once my selfishness went away and my mind widened, my morals changed to universal ones, as I will discuss lastly in stage six in Kohlbergs post-conventional stage. After I served in the military, learned to obey and respect other cultures, along with my travelling experiences, I started to finally develop my own universal morals. This I believe started me in stage six of Kohlbergs theory. For example, I believe that murder, adultery in any case, preemptive violence and war, and saying the Lords name in vain are all immoral and should be shunned. This is a mirrored reflection of Kohlbergs, in particular stage six, of his moral development theory. It pos tulates that moral reasoning is based on abstract reasoning using universal ethical principles. Kohlberg and his peers developed the just community schools approach towards promoting moral development (Power, Higgins, Kohlberg, 1989). I thought that anyone in society would think it would be morally right because stealing does not always have negative connotations. This goes along with Kohlbergs conventional stage of development. I tended to weigh the morality of things based on society. For example, I used to believe war was the right thing to do as a preemptive measure. But when I became an adult, my beliefs changed drastically and were more coagulated. I started becoming more diplomatic and resolving issues by negotiations, not by combat or any other physical altercations. In Kohlbergs sixth stage, I believe that was the turning point to how I judge people and other things and situations. Now I will address how Kohlbergs moral theory applies to my current lifestyle as well as to contemporary world affairs. Reaching such a high stage was not noticeable to me for a long time, and it took a lot of hard work to reach it, but then I started giving large thoughts empathetic to lots of individuals. For example, I saw massive amounts of impoverished people in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. There should be no poor individuals in the world; there should be a more rigid attempt to completely eradicate HIV. But the results still have not satisfied me. Efforts to tame the HIV epidemic have only been haphazard (Kaiser, 2010). The key methods are using condoms or teaching individuals how to maintain abstinence. Recently the U.S. cut the condom program before President Bush left office, which was a death sentence to millions of Africans who were participating in the program. The former First Lady Laura Bush made an underrated attempt, which promoted the use of condoms and ha nded them out in African regions, which people thought was evolutionary. However, she did not advocate for abstinence as much as she could have (Kaiser, 2010). Overall, I feel that such differential perspectives among cultures should be respected as unique to each person, group, tribe, culture, or community. I learned this after travelling overseas, interacting with differential people from diverse cultures, and seeing what really goes on in the world. I thought that every country loved America and that we were viewed as the benevolent country that came to the worlds aid when it needed us. I thought that most, if not all countries, wanted freedom, liberty, and justice as a lot of people incorrectly thinks. When I was in Russia, many citizens were angered by our presence as Americans and hated the idea of complete freedom and looked at us Americans like we were the bad people. One Russian, out-of-the-blue, came up to me and said, Iraqà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦BIG MISTAKE. I did not understand the anti-American sentiment. This is in no way a political statement nor does it reflect my beliefs, I just want the reader to be aware of how other cultures view the U.S. and its effect on moral systems. This point aforementioned regarding the Russians is directly consistent with what Kohlberg was saying regarding how society has different views. It is called cultural relativism. Speaking in terms of the future, I would like to work for the FBI and catch criminals, whether they are bank robbers, fraudulent vices, computer hackers, or any criminal of any kind. Because of my developed and polished moral and ethical views, thanks to Kohlberg, I also plan to increase my voluntary practices with community organizations like Habitat for Humanity, the Peace Corps and AmeriCorps. One of my academic goals is to graduate with honors and reach graduate studies. I am determined to succeed and at that I especially mean academically. I also want to get in better shape so Ill feel better. After delving into Kohlbergs moral development theory and also my experience through an adult, I believe that his theory best explains my moral/ethical development, adherence to laws and engage in obedience, and countless other tidbits. Kohlbergs moral developmental theory best accounts for my moral, ethical, and personal developments as well as potentially playing a large role in my future development as a senior adult. It also explains the rationale for punishment administered to me in the past, being of self-interest, and conjuring my own universal ethical principles. Although a lot of the developmental theories are well supported and studied, I believe that relative to my own life that none of them have the clout and or efficacy in its developmental explication that Kohlbergs theory has. Ultimately, I found Kohlbergs theory to be the best one that explains historical, contemporary, and very likely my future endeavors as well as I still mature as an adult. After rigorous delving into Kohlbergs material, I am confident that his moral theory is extremely accurate and could be used as a guide to help in developing individuals.

Murakami as an Existential Writer Essay -- Philosophy, Writing

Existentialism is a 20th century philosophy and school of literature that holds that life is meaningless and chaotic, and any abstract theories about it are useless. All that exists is the world of phenomena as perceived by our senses. Whatever metaphysical concept that lies behind this world is not only impossible to know and understand, but also holds no significant value. The only choice we have to make in life is to accept this world with a kind of determined joy, to discipline ourselves, and to defy the emptiness and the chaos by finding our own meaning in life (â€Å"Friedrich Nietzsche Part 4†). Although Haruki Murakami does not directly express any existential views in What I Talk about When I Talk about Running and Norwegian Wood, he is a quintessential existential writer because so much of existentialism involves the working out of private dilemmas. There is much focus on introversion in existentialism, and it can be seen in the lives of Murakami’s chara cters. In What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, Murakami was facing the dilemma of participating in a 62-mile ultramarathon that took place every June at Lake Saroma in Hokkaido, Japan (104). According to Murakami, â€Å"The runners run around the shores of Lake Saroma, which faces the Sea of Okhotsk. Only once you actually run the course do you realize how ridiculously huge Lake Saroma is† (105). The weather gradually changed from being freezing to being too warm for heavy clothes during the ultramarathon (105). While Murakami was running, he began feeling intense pain in different parts of his body (109). Even so, he felt very happy upon reaching the finish line, not so much pride as a sense of completion (115). Through running, Murakami finds his own meaning... ... Through perseverance, we overcome obstacles and find happiness in this chaotic world of ours. We find our own reasons to live and we choose to hold our own values. All of these things are tenets of existentialism. There is no purpose in life but what we make for ourselves. Works Cited "Friedrich Nietzsche Part 4 - YouTube." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Web. 25 Sept. 2011. . Murakami, Haruki. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. New York: Vintage, 2007. Print. Murakami, Haruki. Norwegian Wood. New York: Vintage International, 1987. Print. "Island of Freedom - Sà ¸ren Kierkegaard." RobertHSarkissian.com. Web. 27 Nov. 2011. . Murakami, Haruki, Alfred Birnbaum, and Jay Rubin. The Elephant Vanishes: Stories. (TEV)New York: Knopf, 1993. Print.

The Learning Of English At Preschool Education Essay

â€Å" Preschool is an exciting clip to watch a kid explore and larn about their universe. Learning English in preschool enables yearlings to hold the tools to pass on with the universe around them. At this age, childs can inquire for specific points, ask inquiries, talk about their universe and communicate on a much higher degree than they did before come ining preschool. â€Å" [ online 1 ] â€Å" Preschoolers enjoy the thought of playing. A universe that is filled with different drama activities will ensue in better acquisition. That is why it is good to utilize games that are fun and exciting to assist childs easier learn. A great trade of linguistic communication will be retained and kids will hold no thought they ‘re being taught specific letters, words and constructs. Teachers can give kids to paint a letters, pigment words, colour images of letters, pattern composing letters, act out scenes from narrative books, bring in points that begin with a specific missive or consonant sound to make learning chances. â€Å" [ Online 2 ] â€Å" Child development refers to the biological and psychological alterations that occur in human existences between birth and the terminal of adolescence, as the single advancements from dependence to increasing liberty. Because these developmental alterations may be strongly influenced by familial factors and events during antenatal life, genetic sciences and antenatal development are normally included as portion of the survey of kid development. Related footings include developmental psychological science, mentioning to development throughout the lifetime, and paediatricss, the subdivision of medical specialty associating to the attention of kids. By three old ages the kid is get downing to utilize complex sentences, including comparative clauses, although still honing assorted lingual systems. By five old ages of age the kid ‘s usage of linguistic communication is really similar to that of an grownup. From the age of about three kids can bespeak phantasy or pretend linguistically, produce consistent personal narratives and fictional narration with beginnings and terminations. It is argued that kids devise narrative as a manner of understanding their ain experience and as a medium for pass oning their significance to others. The ability to prosecute in drawn-out discourse emerges over clip from regular conversation with grownups and equals. For this the kid needs to larn to unite his position with that of others and with outside events and learn to utilize lingual indexs to demo he is making this. They besides learn to set their linguistic communication depending on to whom they are talking. â€Å" [ Online 4 ] â€Å" Several tips to assist parents of immature kids promote literacy at place: read to child, as in before a sleep, bedtime, or after dinner, Hold the book so that she or he can see the images. Take clip to look at and speak about the images. Do n't merely read the narrative: talk about it. Let child indicate out letters, forms, colourss, and animate beings. Understand that reading begins at place. Children read their environments, so do place a print rich environment. Read! Do n't anticipate reading to be of import to kids if they see that it ‘s non of import to their parents. Invite kid to read laud.A If he or she is a pre reader, he ‘ll frequently construe his ain narrative utilizing illustrations and his imaginativeness. Read aloud to child every twenty-four hours. Preschool larning online can assist parents to learn childs at place with many preschool activities, games, prek printables, child preschool activities and professional lesson programs during showery yearss or preschool clip. There are free preschool activities and printables for childs, childs preschool larning, childhood development, early acquisition thoughts and learning activities for childs that are easy for parents or instructors to learn childs at place. These preschool course of studies can be used in daycare/preschool schoolrooms every bit good. Preschool online activities are focused on easier acquisition. Daycare tiffin bill of fare, healthy bites and dainties for childs, a assortment of preschool subjects, preschool course of study, child instruction thoughts, lesson programs for instructors, lesson programs for yearlings and assorted preschool activities for learning childs and yearlings at place are free for everyone ‘s usage. aˆz [ online 6 ]

The Real Value of “E-Business Models”

Summary Note: The real value of â€Å"e-business models† Research Questions Asked * What is the meaning of e-business model? * Do the e-Business model really matter to create a thriving e-firm? * Can only a good e-business model will give the strength to company to get success? * What are the real key factors determining the survival or failure of e-firm? The e-business model is a model used by the e-commerce company to better be organized for providing a product or service, generating revenues and, especially, creating and adapting to the new market and technologies.Summary This article suggests in a critical way how this important model could be applied to different types of company, distinguishing the model by categories. It pays attention how the particular model is not the only successful key of the company, but it will an important tool if the company understands the linkage between it, its core business and the marketplace environment. The article presents some cases of failure and success, and how it creates a thriving for the firm. Supply chain model Direct sales: the firm provides a product or services directly to a customer ( Dell, Cisco, Aol) * Intermediary: the firm sells goods from a third party (Amazon) * Electronic marketplace: make easier the direct communication between buyers and sellers (Autobytel) Revenue model * Income is generated directly from the customer transaction * â€Å"Free sires where the income is generated through advertising or sponsorship (Napster) Internet business can also be distinguished according to the markets they serve * B2B business to business * B2C business to consumer Click and mortar: relies on offline asset * Pure play model: purely net based Failure and key of success Odds of survival of different business models compared| E-tail vs direct sales | 0. 93:1| Portal vs direct sales| 0. 97:1| Marktplace vs direct sales| 1. 30:1| Pay vs free| 0. 80:1| Clicks/mortar vs pure Net | 11:01| * E-tail and portal si tes are slightly less likely to survive than direct sales sites * Marketplace model are likely to survive that direct sales sites * Free sites are a little more likely to survive than pay sites * Clicks and mortar are 11 times more likely than pure Internet sites.Observation : * Firm that are part of group have a strategic advantages as brands, customers and suppliers relationship and cash * E-models are flexible and they enable rapid growth. Why some company in the same market will get success and some are not? * Logistic strategies – Case of eVineyards and Wine. com: the first decides to set up own retails store in each location generating a quicker and more reliable service. The second decided to outsource by relying on retail partners in various location, but it generated longer delivery times and out-of-stock problems Channel conflict: some firms have to cease trading via the Net owing to conflicts with existing channel partners (Starbucks, Levi Strauss, Reebok) * Free a nd pay web sites: the mass of users is attracted when the service is free * Lack of customer benefits is a common cause for the failure of the company * Network externalities: some firms focus on creating an high numbers of user, reeling in a large enough user base to make it attractive for the other users to join (eBay) * Level of utility and value added: to achieve a high target market penetration it may be necessary to be innovative (Priceline)What to take from it? * Each model raises particular issues * There is not a â€Å"perfect model† * Key factor is understanding and managing the particular problem inherent in their model * The chances to be successful are much higher when the firm is a part of a larger group Critique * It's a bit old. * It does not tell us , how is perfect business model look like? Questions for class * Is necessary to have a business model? * What are the key drivers of success in the business model? * How will these change in the future?

Shell Ethics in Nigeria Essays

Shell Ethics in Nigeria Essays Shell Ethics in Nigeria Essay Shell Ethics in Nigeria Essay Shell Nigeria Some of these theories can be used to measure Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (Shell Nigeria). The first ethical measure discussed Is utilitarian reasoning, also referred to as cost-benefit analysis, which compares the costs and benefits of a decision. Secondly for the human rights theory, were the rights of the stakeholders respected? Third, the ethical theory of Justice is measured by whether the benefits and costs are fairly distributed equitably and according to some accepted rule. Finally, the legal theory Is explored to determine If a company Is acting within the legal Limits of the law. Using the utilitarian reasoning, it Is clear that Shell Nigeria Is unethical. Under revenue sharing agreements, only 1. 5 percent of the governments revenue from oil was returned to the communities where the production plants were and much of that revenue was taken by officials in those communities. Lawrence, Weber, Post) This is while the Nigerian government received 90 percent of the net revenue on each barrel of oil sold. In a nation where the business elites and the nations military grew wealthy from oil revenues, most Nigerian lived In poverty. Shell Nigeria had to have realized how poorly the Nigerian government treated Its citizens. The emphasis was on making a profit rather than making sure they were ethically responsible. Based on the information presented in the Case Study, Shell Nigeria did not respect the human rights of the Going people by continually polluting land, streams and creeks. Shell Nigeria never took responsibility for any ecological damage that had occurred. Whenever an Issue was brought to their attention, Shell Nigeria could explain how or why it was not their fault and problem. For Instance. A hotly contested oil spill that had occurred in Beebe that spread over 25 acres penetrated deeply into the soil and contaminated nearby waterways. Shell, however, maintained that the Beebe spill had been caused by retreating Barbarian Troops, during a period when the company had temporarily withdrawn from the area because of a civil war. (Lawrence, Weber, Post) under the distributive Justice method, the comparison Is between an equitable striation of the benefits and the burdens to determine If decisions are fair and equitable. The income made from the sale of crude oil was not distributed evenly among the stakeholders. The Nigerian Government benefited greatly by receiving great wealth while no costs were imposed because of the lack of economic or social regulations on Shell Nigeria. The benefits of Shell Nigeria producing oil greatly favored the Nigerian Government officials and military while the costs of oil production fell heavily on the citizens, communities and environment of the people vying in and near the Nigerian oil fields. Under the legal theory, if you are within the boundaries of the law, you are acting ethical. Based on the information in the case study, Shell Nigeria could be considered ethical. The business culture practiced by Shell Nigeria was not in contrast to the laws set forth by the Nigerian Government. Due to the lack of laws and regulations for OLL producing companies It was not difficult to be considered tentacle when comparing Dustless practices to teen legal tenure. Snell Enlarge obviously put greed ahead of doing the right thing. They put their own welfare ahead of all others, regardless of the harm done to the people of Condoling. Assuming the facts of the case are true, almost every reasonable person would agree that the total disregard for the ecological and social welfare of a foreign country for a quick profit is improper under any ethical standard. The flagrant unethical acts in this case could easily result in a tarnished image. Lawrence, Anne, and Weber, James, and Post, James. Business and Society. Case Study: Shell Oil in Nigeria. Page 484, 486.

Cross-Cultural Film Analysis Gattaca Essay Example

Cross Cross-Cultural Film Analysis Gattaca Paper Cross-Cultural Film Analysis Gattaca Paper ‘GATTACA’ Film Summary Vincent is destined to be a second class citizen, conceived naturally, rather than in a laboratory. He is born into a world which discriminates against genetics, rather than religion, race or gender. In order to gain access into the Gattaca Corporation and reach his dream of going to Titan he takes on the identity of Jerome Morrow, a person with ideal genes but crippled from an accident. He uses Jerome’s hair, blood, urine and skin to pass all tests and is set to reach his lifelong desire when the mission director is murdered. He inadvertently loses one of his own eyelashes at the scene and becomes the main suspect in the case. The killer is determined to be another of Gattaca’s directors who is initially overlooked because his DNA profile indicates that violence is not in his nature. In the end Vincent takes off on his mission to Titan. Discussion Culture Shock due to contact with unfamiliar cultures (Stephen Bochner, 2003) Culture shock is something that Vincent experiences as he makes the transition from a culture comprising of second class citizens to a culture of superiority as he takes on the identity of the genetically superior Jerome. The first stage of culture shock is the honeymoon period (Bochner, 2003). Vincent experiences this before he meets Jerome for the first time and thoughts of fulfilling his life-long dream are active. He then goes through a period of fear and denial where he is not confident and actually refuses to go ahead with the plan. He is talked around by the real Jerome, who needs the money to pay for his alcohol addiction, and prepares himself to lie and cheat just to succeed. Situations similar to this are played out in organisations regularly where people are prepared to lie, cheat and steal to gain success, typically financial success; and management must deal with effectively. As time goes on Vincent gradually adjusts to the new expectations of within the Gattaca Corporation. A cross-cultural obstacle that needed to be overcome was the difficulty that Vincent has in accepting himself as Jerome which is essential if he is to succeed within Gattaca and not give up his cover. This is overcome by the real Jerome referring to Vincent as Jerome when they spoke. One thing that this framework does not discuss is the idea of never fully coming to grips with the new culture. The question I pose is: Can a person entirely take on a new culture or does their childhood culture remain with them for life? The film shows that people cannot fully accept a new culture and when forced upon them they show resistance. An example of this is when Vincent becomes aggressive towards one of the murder detectives in fear of being proven as the murderer. The implications of cultural shock for organisations can be seen when an employee is sent on sojourn, typically overseas, and needs to cope in an unfamiliar culture. Management could overcome some of these issues by educating the employee about the foreign culture and some expectations prior to leaving. Software of the Mind (Hofstede, 2005) Culture as mental programming: At the beginning of the film, during his childhood, Vincent’s patterns of thinking, feeling and acting are established in his mind. He learns to accept himself as inferior to his genetically ‘perfect’ brother Anton. When he finds a way of living his dream and must take on a new identity (Jerome) he finds it difficult to unlearn this mental programming. However, a person’s behaviour is only partially predetermined by their mental programming (Hofstede, 2005, p. 3), and this is seen as Vincent deviates from his culture and creatively takes on the identity of Jerome. Hofstede describes culture as being derived from exposure to the world rather than from one’s genes. Hofstede discusses the possibility of intelligence being attributed to genetics and suggests that on the basis of ethnic groups it is difficult to come to a conclusion. In the film it is clear that within Gattaca there is wide acceptance that yes a person’s genes do determine their intelligence. Vincent’s interview for entry into Gattaca entails solely a genetic test and not a physical or mental assessment. Manifestation of cultural differences: In the film we see the divergence of two very strong cultures. One belongs to the genetically gifted; and the other to the ‘degenerates’. The ways these cultures have divided themselves is explained well by Hofstede’s depiction of the ‘skins of an onion’ (Hofstede, 2005, p. 6). The heroes in the film (the genetically gifted) are highly valued and show model behaviour to inferiors or naturally conceived people. Depicted as the more capable members of society the heroes display symbols which carry specific meaning such as formal hair styles and very professional, clean clothing. The heroes display rituals such as the day on the treadmill where they assert themselves superfluous to reaching a desired end as assessors are solely interested in genetic make-up rather than fitness. Contrary to Hofstede’s view that values are acquired early in our lives we see Vincent’s values change significantly in the film. These values are a strong determinant of culture and as Vincent takes on the identity of Jerome he moves into the hero status of society, or as Hofstede describes it, from abnormal to normal (Hofstede, 2005). His move from second class status to hero status is a good example of how culture reproduces itself. His role models become the members of the Gattaca Corporation and he sees an opportunity to fulfil his aim in life. It appears that the hero’s culture is growing as more and more parents are opting for gene selection of their babies. Stereotyping The culture within the Gattaca Corporation shows clearly the human tendency to stereotype. Assessors discriminate against new applicants with undesirable genetics rather than testing each person individually to determine their capabilities. Genetics gives them a preconceived opinion of how people will perform and people are rejected or accepted accordingly. A specific example of stereotyping in the film is when the actual murderer of the mission director is excluded as a suspect because of his genetics. This would suggest that the idea of selection of people with ideal genetics and reliance on this for behaviour of people may be major a cause of stereotyping, not just a result of it. The implications that this has for managers of organisations are that they need to be aware of their stereotypes and ensure that this doesn’t affect their decisions or cause them to discriminate unnecessarily when dealing with people. References Bochner, S. (2003). Culture shock due to contact with unfamiliar cultures. Found in W. J. Lonner, D. L. Dinnel, S. A. Hayes, D. N. Sattler (Eds. ), Online Readings in Psychology and Culture (Unit 8, Chapter 7), Center for Cross-Cultural Research, Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington USA. Accessed 1st September 2008, from ac. wwu. edu/~culture/Bochner. htm Francesco, A. M. and Gold, B. A. (2005), International Organizational Behaviour: Text, Cases, and Exercises, 2nd Ed, Pearson Prentice Hall, pp. 17-45 Hofstede, G. and Hofstede, G. J. 2005, Culture and Organisations: Software of the Mind, 2nd Ed, McGraw-Hill P. L. Duffy Resource Centre, 2006, Gattaca, Trinity College WA, Accessed 31st August 2008, from trinity. wa. edu. au/plduffyrc/subjects/english/media/gattaca. htm

America and Immigration

When reading two articles that have been decades away, people will see the national opinion changed the immigrants. In the article of 1905, the southern part was cheap labor and he wanted immigrants. Almost 80 years later in 1983, the south showed different views on immigrants. In the 1905 article Immigration and South, Robert DeCoury Ward has just started talking about the idea that immigrants may be unfavorable for the US economy. Instead, in the 1983 article Immigration: How It Affects the United States, James Faros said drowsily that immigrants are harmful to the United States. Today 's Americans know that there are problems with illegal immigration. Every day many illegal immigrants pass through the country. There are 122 million to 20 million illegal immigrants in the United States. (Terrible immigration statistics) 1) The United States should allow all illegal immigrants to register or exile in their home countries. The United States should also develop plans for immigrants to obtain legal permission. If immigrants do not want to cooperate, they can not stay in the United States. - Many presidents promised to strengthen government regulation of the illegal immigration control cycle. But they have not succeeded. This seems to be an impossible task, thousands of people travel every day, many deceive the United States by getting a working visa and returning home. Illegal entry in the United States America consisted of immigrants from our country once. However, illegal immigrants are currently plaguing our economy. What happens if you allow millions of people to enter the country, whether legal or illegal? What happened today? You have dozens, hundreds of different nationalities from various places. Make yourself an isolated community and then let the country make changes for them. - Illegal entry The U.S. is a breach of US immigration policy and national law by foreigners entering the country or studying abroad without permission of the US government (illeg al immigration). Illegal immigration has occurred since the 1880's, and the number of foreigners is increasing year by year. The Web law in 1875 is known as the first federal immigration law prohibiting immigration. A new problem emerges in a new round of immigrants. This is a form of illegal entry. Many illegal immigrants come from Latin America (Mexico, Latin America). Mexico resulted in a number of illegal immigrants who changed the way most Americans think about immigrants and how the US government is trying to ease illegal immigration. In the climax of President Trump 's elections, immigrants represent a central position because they represent the difficulties, beliefs, and principles of many people of the American people. Voters desire more economic stability and regard illegal immigrants as a deterrent to the true prosperity of the United States. President Donald Trump won the voting of a considerate voter using this platform and handed this power to the hands of many illegal immigrants. Even banning immigrants forbidding the entry into and leaving the US to date. Country Immigration Essay (May 19, 2017) https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essay/immigration-essay/ From America and Immigration When reading two articles that have been decades away, people will see the national opinion changed the immigrants. In the article of 1905, the southern part was cheap labor and he wanted immigrants. Almost 80 years later in 1983, the south showed different views on immigrants. In the 1905 article Immigration and South, Robert DeCoury Ward has just started talking about the idea that immigrants may be unfavorable for the US economy. Instead, in the 1983 article Immigration: How It Affects the United States, James Faros said drowsily that immigrants are harmful to the United States. Today 's Americans know that there are problems with illegal immigration. Every day many illegal immigrants pass through the country. There are 122 million to 20 million illegal immigrants in the United States. (Terrible immigration statistics) 1) The United States should allow all illegal immigrants to register or exile in their home countries. The United States should also develop plans for immigrants to obtain legal permission. If immigrants do not want to cooperate, they can not stay in the United States. - Many presidents promised to strengthen government regulation of the illegal immigration control cycle. But they have not succeeded. This seems to be an impossible task, thousands of people travel every day, many deceive the United States by getting a working visa and returning home. Illegal entry in the United States America consisted of immigrants from our country once. However, illegal immigrants are currently plaguing our economy. What happens if you allow millions of people to enter the country, whether legal or illegal? What happened today? You have dozens, hundreds of different nationalities from various places. Make yourself an isolated community and then let the country make changes for them. - Illegal entry The U.S. is a breach of US immigration policy and national law by foreigners entering the country or studying abroad without permission of the US government (illeg al immigration). Illegal immigration has occurred since the 1880's, and the number of foreigners is increasing year by year. The Web law in 1875 is known as the first federal immigration law prohibiting immigration. A new problem emerges in a new round of immigrants. This is a form of illegal entry. Many illegal immigrants come from Latin America (Mexico, Latin America). Mexico resulted in a number of illegal immigrants who changed the way most Americans think about immigrants and how the US government is trying to ease illegal immigration. In the climax of President Trump 's elections, immigrants represent a central position because they represent the difficulties, beliefs, and principles of many people of the American people. Voters desire more economic stability and regard illegal immigrants as a deterrent to the true prosperity of the United States. President Donald Trump won the voting of a considerate voter using this platform and handed this power to the hands of many illegal immigrants. Even banning immigrants forbidding the entry into and leaving the US to date. Country Immigration Essay (May 19, 2017) https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essay/immigration-essay/ From America and Immigration When reading two articles that have been decades away, people will see the national opinion changed the immigrants. In the article of 1905, the southern part was cheap labor and he wanted immigrants. Almost 80 years later in 1983, the south showed different views on immigrants. In the 1905 article Immigration and South, Robert DeCoury Ward has just started talking about the idea that immigrants may be unfavorable for the US economy. Instead, in the 1983 article Immigration: How It Affects the United States, James Faros said drowsily that immigrants are harmful to the United States. Today 's Americans know that there are problems with illegal immigration. Every day many illegal immigrants pass through the country. There are 122 million to 20 million illegal immigrants in the United States. (Terrible immigration statistics) 1) The United States should allow all illegal immigrants to register or exile in their home countries. The United States should also develop plans for immigrants to obtain legal permission. If immigrants do not want to cooperate, they can not stay in the United States. - Many presidents promised to strengthen government regulation of the illegal immigration control cycle. But they have not succeeded. This seems to be an impossible task, thousands of people travel every day, many deceive the United States by getting a working visa and returning home. Illegal entry in the United States America consisted of immigrants from our country once. However, illegal immigrants are currently plaguing our economy. What happens if you allow millions of people to enter the country, whether legal or illegal? What happened today? You have dozens, hundreds of different nationalities from various places. Make yourself an isolated community and then let the country make changes for them. - Illegal entry The U.S. is a breach of US immigration policy and national law by foreigners entering the country or studying abroad without permission of the US government (illeg al immigration). Illegal immigration has occurred since the 1880's, and the number of foreigners is increasing year by year. The Web law in 1875 is known as the first federal immigration law prohibiting immigration. A new problem emerges in a new round of immigrants. This is a form of illegal entry. Many illegal immigrants come from Latin America (Mexico, Latin America). Mexico resulted in a number of illegal immigrants who changed the way most Americans think about immigrants and how the US government is trying to ease illegal immigration. In the climax of President Trump 's elections, immigrants represent a central position because they represent the difficulties, beliefs, and principles of many people of the American people. Voters desire more economic stability and regard illegal immigrants as a deterrent to the true prosperity of the United States. President Donald Trump won the voting of a considerate voter using this platform and handed this power to the hands of many illegal immigrants. Even banning immigrants forbidding the entry into and leaving the US to date. Country Immigration Essay (May 19, 2017) https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essay/immigration-essay/ From

Standard Deviation as a Risk Indicator for Investment Purposes Essay

Standard Deviation as a Risk Indicator for Investment Purposes - Essay Example 41, 2003). However, over the years, many experts and researchers have also tried to point fingers at this approach trying to highlight its serious shortcomings. This paper is an attempt to capture a glance of that debate and critically analyze the use of standard deviation as a risk indicator for investment purposes. Discussion Standard deviation, in finance, is one of the widely used indicators of risk associated with any given security such as bonds, stocks, properties, commodities and others. Standard deviation allows the investors to predict and anticipate the behaviour of the security in the near future (Bhansali, pp. 34-35, 2010). Simply, standard deviation, which is square of the variance, tells the investors that how much they can expect the price of the security to deviate from its mean returns (Brase & Brase, pp. 10-12, 2011). Therefore, securities with high standard are more likely to show violate behaviour but the ones with low standard deviation are more likely to show c onsistent behaviour. Quite understandably, the former type of securities will have a great risk and later would be less risky (Wander & D'Vari, pp. 36, 2003). Investors are interested in the values of standard deviation because that helps greatly in the process of portfolio construction and management. A risk adverse investor will only select a handful of securities high standard deviation in terms of its returns and mix that up with securities having lower standard deviation in order to offset the impact of risk and enjoy stable returns (Gravetter & Wallnau, pp. 22, 2010). First, the biggest and the most important shortcoming of standard deviation as the measure of investment risk is rooted in the fact that it assumes normal distribution of values and they are poor measures of risk when it comes to asymmetric distribution. In normal distribution, the values are distributed equally to both sides of the graph; however, in any asymmetrical distribution one tail of the graph, either po sitive or negative side has greater concentration of values (Brase & Brase, pp. 10-12, 2011). Therefore, standard deviation fails to give an exact picture of the possible variation in the values. Even the father of the concept of financial engineering, Harry Markowitz has admitted, â€Å"Downside variance is more accurate than standard deviation when it comes to financial risk analysis†. This is true because not only many investing portfolios have asymmetrical distribution but their distribution is skewed positively as well (Haslett, pp. 264, 2010; Connor, Goldberg & Korajczyk, pp. 88-89, 2010). Second, like many other statistical measures of risk computation in finance, standard deviation relies heavily on historical data and there is no guarantee that historical trends will continue in the future as well (Brase & Brase, pp. 10-12, 2011). Furthermore, the period undertaken to calculate standard deviation is also of great importance. For example, the standard deviation of sto cks for the period of 2002-2006 may show lower standard deviations for most of the stocks, however, the standard deviation computed over the last five years will show higher standard deviation for many of the stocks (Gravetter & Wallnau, pp. 22, 2010; Brigham & Houston, pp. 74-75, 2009). Therefore, it

Effects of employment insurance on unemployment (Canada) Essay

Effects of employment insurance on unemployment (Canada) - Essay Example policy is to increase the opportunity cost of those Canadian citizens’ who are unemployed and to reduce the cost of working by mobilizing the unemployed people to look for a job.1 It is believed that this policy will help unload the burden on low-skilled laborers as well as improving the Canadian public employment agencies. In the short term run, it is expected that there will be an increase in the unemployment rate because the employment insurance policy is expected to promote more people into job searching. The number of people looking for jobs will continue to increase because of the job searching performance that is being monitored directly by the Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC). The increase in the supply of manpower will create an adjustment in the supply and demand curve of labor in the market. (See figure 1) The increase in the number of people looking for a job will eventually affect the supply and demand for employment in the sense that the bigger the supply of manpower available in the market force will give room for employers to select a prospective employee at a lower salary. (See figure 2) Considering that the supply of manpower continuously increases, the demand for manpower decreases. This will give the company the privilege to select competent employees at a cheaper salary. Cheaper salary will result to a decrease in the operational cost per unit in production. A lower operational cost will result to an added profit for the company. (See figure 3) For example, a company is able to manufacture a toy that sells for $10 per hour. Given that there is no other production cost except for the salary of a worker, if the salary of a new worker is only $5 per hour as compared an old employee rate of $7 per hour, the profit per unit will be: Profit per toy (new worker) = Price – Cost per toy The same process applies in reverse. Given that the selling prices fall but the input costs are relatively fixed, the profit margin will

Y-parents questionnaire Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Y-parents questionnaire - Essay Example That's why we moved into a closely knit community where all the residents take part in helping educate and instill the correct social values in our children. That is how we, as parents, were able to instill in the value of family in our children. Since most of the children attending Choate shall be staying in the Rosemary hall as residents, we believe that our daughter will be able to influence them positively by showing them the true value and importance of family life, even when one is living away from home. We raised our daughter to be independent yet mindful of the feelings and needs of others by respecting their individuality and embracing what makes them unique as a person. We raised her to understand what discrimination is and why it is something that should not be done to others. We believe Choate can help develop these values in our child. What qualities would you like to see your child develop while at Choate?1000 Characters left in your response -- We believe in the leader ship abilities that our daughter possesses and shown us glimpses of in her daily life. As a student at Choate, we would like to ask the school to help us further develop, hone, and polish her leadership skills. We see the school doing this by encouraging her to join in and experience diverse activities that can call upon not only her leadership, but also teamwork abilities. After all, in order to become an effective leader in the future, our daughter will have to learn all about becoming a valuable team member first. Choate offers her an abundance of these activities. That is why we are looking forward to seeing our daughter continue to develop her positive thinking, widening her perspective about life, and developing a healthy mind. All of which will hopefully result in our daughter developing a much nobler character than we can ever expect of her. Ownership of the decision to come to Choate can play a significant role in a student's success. Please describe how the decision was re ached to apply to Choate. 1000 Characters left in your response -- We already have one daughter attending Choate. Helena, Julia's older sister, has shown us how educational, happy, and challenging student life can be at Choate. Helena has us that the other students and teachers at Choate can continue to provide the kind of positive influence that we desire for our children. Helena has shown us that she has been positively influence by her peers and mentors at Choate by working hard to achieve her academic goals. That is an endeavor that, although challenging, Helena meets with the most positive attitude that we have ever seen. That is the kind of influence that we hope to expose Helena's younger sister, Julia to. Julia is a child who enjoys a challenge and enjoys reaping the benefits of her successes. We believe that Choate is the best place to help Julia achieve all her goals due to the remarkable person that her older sister has become since attending Choate. What event would you consider the most significant in your child's life? 1000 Characters left in your response -- The most significant event to have recently happened in Julia's life would have to be the decision to send her to school in the United States. We explained the importance of studying abroad to her before we packed her up and shipper her off to the U.S. but that did not mean that she was fully prepared for the move. She went to the United States without knowing much about the culture and people of the Americans. She spoke some English but not as proficiently as she would have wanted to. Worst of all, she was living in a dormitory on her own for the first time, living with other foreign students. This time, she was fully independent and needed to learn to manage her dorm room, her

Factory Gate pricing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Factory Gate pricing - Essay Example either directly to the stores or to his retail ware houses. The retail got the finished goods at reduced prices than before. Prior to the implementation of the FGP the supplier used to incur the transportation costs and the retailers the inventory costs at the warehouses. The factory gate pricing give the option to reduce the investment cost on maintaining the inventory for the distribution centre at times as the retailer will have he option to transport the goods directly to the shops. The retailer has the option of making the entire supply chain operations under one roof. FGP brings the control of primary transportation from the factory to distribution centers and inventory into one hand which likely leads to generate cost savings operations. In addition FGP offers two other sources for savings. Firstly, retailers generally have a vast product range for which they can make the transportation-inventory trade-off at one point of time. The orders from different suppliers that are located close to each other may be synchronized in time, such that they can be combined in the same vehicle route. Secondly, under FGP, primary and secondary distribution can be integrated and can be handled by one single entity. The supply chain initiative can be improved by optimizing the usage of space by the retailer by using the same vehicle to deliver the goods to the shop and to the distribution centre on one single trip.Significance of factory gate pricing The significance of FGP is that it removes traditional geographic transport boundaries where an assigned logistics provider controls all vehicle movement within a particular region for a... The significance of FGP is that it removes traditional geographic transport boundaries where an assigned logistics provider controls all vehicle movement within a particular region for a retailer. Better vehicle utilization as suppliers shares vehicles in order to reduce costs by sharing the space with the vehicles. Removal of uneconomical vehicle movements through combining additional products from different sources to ensure every lorry is full when it sets out on its delivery route. Benefits of implementing factory gate pricing. The benefits of factory gate pricing are Effective Transportation as the retailer is involved with the supplier and the time for transportation reduces to a considerable extent. Effective transportation may lead to Improved Availability of the goods in the stores and sustainable stock can be maintained in the shops. The decrease in transport costs leads to reduced prices on the finished goods. Environmentally it will be a positive aspect as the vehicles wi ll fully carry the goods of different supplier thus reducing the repeat trips to the same route thus reducing the vehicular traffic which results in reduced air pollution. Collaborative Planning, Forecasting and Replenishment â€Å"CPFR is the sharing of forecasts and related business information among business partners in the supply chain to enable automatic product replenishment†. CPFR is designed to link the supply and demand processes allowing for a more consumer driven supply chain. CPFR aims to seamlessly link the industry from manufacturer to consumer.

Final Assignment - Critical thinking Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Final - Critical thinking - Assignment Example Besides, critical thinking enables people to demonstrate the importance and relevance of their ideas and reflect on their justifications of values and beliefs (Nukui, 2007). Therefore, critical thinking guides decision-making process and enables human being to construe concerns from possible actions. Critical thinking course is a crucial component of the curriculum and student development. The course curriculum enhances cognitive values and nurtures skills in decision-making. The course equips and enriches interpersonal skills and conflict resolution aids. Therefore, critical thinking course facilitates a proper training on the importance of rational behavior in the pursuit of sustainable global development. The critical thinking course sets apart peoples future professionalism. Notably, the course advanced students knowledge to embrace diversity and challenges. Besides, benefits of critical thinking course evidences in peoples analytical skills, nature of arguments presentations, and judiciousness in attempting academic puzzles. The clear understanding of barriers to communication and critical thinking further stamps the significance of the course to the school life. In regards to dealing with arguments, the course provided a precise analysis of the types of cases. Critical thinking enhances analysis of reasons, application of standards and making of conclusive decisions based on sound reasoning and premises. Arguments are good or bad depending on the context, premises of thoughts and applied strategies. They include statements by individuals on a given topic or issue of debate. Good arguments comprise of inductive and deductive arguments. Good deductive arguments provide the basis for truth in conclusions while good inductive arguments guarantee probable suppositions (Nukui, 2007). A bad argument refers to the fallacious or misleading arguments. The type of case usually facilitates persuasive conclusions through illicit procedure of argumentation.

Y-parents questionnaire Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Y-parents questionnaire - Essay Example That's why we moved into a closely knit community where all the residents take part in helping educate and instill the correct social values in our children. That is how we, as parents, were able to instill in the value of family in our children. Since most of the children attending Choate shall be staying in the Rosemary hall as residents, we believe that our daughter will be able to influence them positively by showing them the true value and importance of family life, even when one is living away from home. We raised our daughter to be independent yet mindful of the feelings and needs of others by respecting their individuality and embracing what makes them unique as a person. We raised her to understand what discrimination is and why it is something that should not be done to others. We believe Choate can help develop these values in our child. What qualities would you like to see your child develop while at Choate?1000 Characters left in your response -- We believe in the leader ship abilities that our daughter possesses and shown us glimpses of in her daily life. As a student at Choate, we would like to ask the school to help us further develop, hone, and polish her leadership skills. We see the school doing this by encouraging her to join in and experience diverse activities that can call upon not only her leadership, but also teamwork abilities. After all, in order to become an effective leader in the future, our daughter will have to learn all about becoming a valuable team member first. Choate offers her an abundance of these activities. That is why we are looking forward to seeing our daughter continue to develop her positive thinking, widening her perspective about life, and developing a healthy mind. All of which will hopefully result in our daughter developing a much nobler character than we can ever expect of her. Ownership of the decision to come to Choate can play a significant role in a student's success. Please describe how the decision was re ached to apply to Choate. 1000 Characters left in your response -- We already have one daughter attending Choate. Helena, Julia's older sister, has shown us how educational, happy, and challenging student life can be at Choate. Helena has us that the other students and teachers at Choate can continue to provide the kind of positive influence that we desire for our children. Helena has shown us that she has been positively influence by her peers and mentors at Choate by working hard to achieve her academic goals. That is an endeavor that, although challenging, Helena meets with the most positive attitude that we have ever seen. That is the kind of influence that we hope to expose Helena's younger sister, Julia to. Julia is a child who enjoys a challenge and enjoys reaping the benefits of her successes. We believe that Choate is the best place to help Julia achieve all her goals due to the remarkable person that her older sister has become since attending Choate. What event would you consider the most significant in your child's life? 1000 Characters left in your response -- The most significant event to have recently happened in Julia's life would have to be the decision to send her to school in the United States. We explained the importance of studying abroad to her before we packed her up and shipper her off to the U.S. but that did not mean that she was fully prepared for the move. She went to the United States without knowing much about the culture and people of the Americans. She spoke some English but not as proficiently as she would have wanted to. Worst of all, she was living in a dormitory on her own for the first time, living with other foreign students. This time, she was fully independent and needed to learn to manage her dorm room, her

Final Assignment - Critical thinking Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Final - Critical thinking - Assignment Example Besides, critical thinking enables people to demonstrate the importance and relevance of their ideas and reflect on their justifications of values and beliefs (Nukui, 2007). Therefore, critical thinking guides decision-making process and enables human being to construe concerns from possible actions. Critical thinking course is a crucial component of the curriculum and student development. The course curriculum enhances cognitive values and nurtures skills in decision-making. The course equips and enriches interpersonal skills and conflict resolution aids. Therefore, critical thinking course facilitates a proper training on the importance of rational behavior in the pursuit of sustainable global development. The critical thinking course sets apart peoples future professionalism. Notably, the course advanced students knowledge to embrace diversity and challenges. Besides, benefits of critical thinking course evidences in peoples analytical skills, nature of arguments presentations, and judiciousness in attempting academic puzzles. The clear understanding of barriers to communication and critical thinking further stamps the significance of the course to the school life. In regards to dealing with arguments, the course provided a precise analysis of the types of cases. Critical thinking enhances analysis of reasons, application of standards and making of conclusive decisions based on sound reasoning and premises. Arguments are good or bad depending on the context, premises of thoughts and applied strategies. They include statements by individuals on a given topic or issue of debate. Good arguments comprise of inductive and deductive arguments. Good deductive arguments provide the basis for truth in conclusions while good inductive arguments guarantee probable suppositions (Nukui, 2007). A bad argument refers to the fallacious or misleading arguments. The type of case usually facilitates persuasive conclusions through illicit procedure of argumentation.

Louis XIV, his good, great, and bad habbits as ruler Essay Example for Free

Louis XIV, his good, great, and bad habbits as ruler Essay Louis XIV, also known as the Sun King, has been said to be the greatest ruler in all of Frances history, but many still accuse him of having bad aspects such as having homosexual habits, being anti-protestant, not understanding commoners, and following Colberts mercantilist principles which did not have a solid basis. There are many supporters of Louis, such as Pellison, Boussuet, and Mousnier, but also many adversaries: Leibnitz, Saint-Simon, Sorel, and Gooch. His rule cannot be classified as completely good, or completely bad, but many incorrect claims which supported the Sun King were made about him which need to be corrected. Many people made statements that were pro-Louis by saying He surrounded himself with numerous men who were extremely intelligent and capable, this may be true but many think that these capable men were homosexuals who satisfied the Sun Kings needs. Louis XIV was never openly gay, but it was said about him, partly because of his brother, Phillippe. Philippe was openly gay, and thus the object of scorn, which also affected Louis XIV. Louis also did not have as many mistresses as the rulers of other countries such as England and Spain, and more male servants than those countries too. Also the fact that he is the French ruler does not make his national background convincing to be heterosexual. Louis XIV supported Colberts mercantilist principles, and because of them he did not go bankrupt as soon as he did. Colbert believed that one country could become wealthy only at the expense of another, this was a general mercantilist thought but it had no solid foundations. Countries do not only become wealthy at the expense of others, that could be one way but there are many more such as exploiting natural resources. Colbert thought that the world was at a limit of goods and resources, while the world does have a limit, it was, and still isnt, close to being achieved. Colbert also believed that the wealth of a nation is measured by the amount of gold and silver it has; this made the Sun King strive for expansion which cost massive amounts of tax raises because of the costs of an army. In the end Colberts principles brought the downfall of Frances economy because of Canadian interests. He believed that the only use for Canada was to take all the gold and silver from it, this caused massive inflation as time went on,  too much to control. From following Colberts policies Frances economy thrived early on, but collapsed in the end. While many debaters say that Louis XIV was the epitome of monarchy and absolutist beliefs, there are were many faults during his reign. His proud saying Letat Cest Mois! which translates to The state is mine was spoken frequently and with good reason by the Sun King. He took complete power over the country; with this power he delayed meetings of the Estates General for over a century. This was not popular with the people who, with that motif, had no say in the government at all, when as before that had a minor say. During Louis reign France was established into three estates, and 2 of them showed grand signs of dislike toward the king. A nobleman, the Baron of Montesquieu, wrote a book about general beliefs of the nobility. The book was entitled The Spirit of the Laws; it discussed how there can be no liberty when all power is placed in the hands of one, or even a handful of rulers. He believed that the government must be based on a separation of powers, into three or more branches, to give equal liberty to all of the people; because France lacked this it had a poorly assembled government. There are also theories on Louis XIV disliking aspects about his reign, for upon his death bed he warned his great grandson not to partake in his ways. That the Sun King had had too much extravagance and too much power that his successor should spend more time with his people instead of his friends. Some might say that Louis religious policies were based on toleration or unity but this is wrong for many reasons. Louis himself was a catholic at heart and mind, while not publicly, he disliked Protestants and their faiths. This is shown also with his personal advisers, who were all catholic. Louis himself committed an act that threatened his reign; he revoked the Edict of Nantes. This revocation proved how Louis did not wish to tolerate Protestants, and how he did not wish to make peace or friends with them. Louis also believed that as absolute monarch, he could control everybodys beliefs. One king, one law, one faith was a common phrase used to describe Louis feelings toward the Protestants, and everyone who did not accept Catholicism. Louis XIV had many bad tendencies during his reign, but also many good ones. Some of these good traits and acts have been over exaggerated and need to stand corrected. Such as his like of male advisors who were extremely capable, this hints at homosexual tendencies of Louis XIV. Also his following of Colberts principles brought the inevitable downfall of Frances economy and his dislike of people opposed to the catholic faith did not bring him religious allies from the Protestants. Finally he did not understand the commoners when he claimed that he was the absolute ruler or France. While there are many downsides to Louis XIV we cannot forget his positive aspects, he ruled well into his seventies and built a marvelous palace, Versailles, to keep his legacy forever.

The Structure Of The Merchant Venice English Literature Essay

The Structure Of The Merchant Venice English Literature Essay The Merchant of Venice is set in 16th century Venice. Venice became a trade centre as it is located on the coast, surrounded by a large mass of water; because of this structure, distribution of goods was easy as it was very accessible to surrounding countries. It is the perfect setting for discrimination towards the Jews to occur as they had to live in a ghetto, separated from Christian kind. Being a Jew, Shylock had very few career choices with the only real option being a money lender. Shylock shows both characteristics of victim and villainy, this is shown many ways during the play when Shylock has been mistreated and is out to get revenge. An example of this would be when shylock is angered by his mistreatment from the Christian Antonio, and then later schemes to get revenge by the formulation of the bond, demanding for a pound of Antonios flesh as a forfeit of the loan. Shylock is often a victimised man in The Merchant of Venice. The Oxford dictionary defines the word victim as someone or something which has been hurt, damaged or killed or has suffered, either because of the actions of someone or something else, or because of illness or chance This is certainly the case with Shylock when the Christians, especially the merchant Antonio treats Shylock cruelly and mercilessly on a daily basis, You call me misbeliever, cut-throat dog, And you spit upon my Jewish gabardine, The words spit and dog show that he is completely disrespected and receives a great amount of abuse which a modern audience would find distasteful and I feel very sympathetic about what Shylock would have gone through. Not only did Shylock get mistreated by Christians, he was also a victim of theft by his own daughter, here catch this casket. Furthermore, when she stole the jewels, Jessica abandoned her own father when she eloped with Lorenzo and then converted her religion to Christianity, showing that Shylock is truly a victim of circumstance. Shylock, a truly broken man feels like a part of him is missing and turns to Tubal who is a very close friend of his. To add insult to injury, Shylock discovers that Jessica traded his most prized possession, a turquoise ring which was a present from his late wife, for a monkey. I had it of Leah when I was a bachelor: I would not have given it for a wilderness of monkeys. The word wilderness shows that he would not have traded the ring for several thousand monkeys, let alone one monkey. The ring was the only piece of Leah he had left. Although I feel very sympathetic towards Shylock at this point in the story, an Elizabethan audience would find the attitude towards a Jewish man humorous and would laugh at Shylocks despair. I see Shylock as a man with a plea for equality, as he gets treated like an animal, locked up in ghetto where he has to sleep, separated from the Christians and continually being called names on a daily basis. In the bible, Jesus teaches us to treat each other fairly with respect and love; You shall love your neighbour as yourself however the Christians in The Merchant of Venice go against everything their own religions have taught them, making Shylock a victim, a broken man with hardly anything or anyone to turn to. I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs dimensions, senses affections, passions fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons? In this speech Shylock is distraught, I see him as a man who just wants justice and wants all faiths to be equal. In this speech, Shylock asks rhetorical questions repeatedly for emphasis in what he is saying. We see shylock becoming a broken man at the trial scene this becomes evident when they address him as Jew inste ad of his name. Go on, and call the Jew into the court Shylock is being called by his religion as a sign of disrespect. Then once again for being victimised for being a Jew, Shylock suffers from hubris in the court scene when Portia brings his hopes up for succeeding with the bond, she then crashes them back down, resulting in Shylock having to change his religion to Christianity. We see him as a truly broken man, a social outcast in the eyes of the Jews. Although constantly victimised, Shylock also shows a great deal of villainy. The Oxford dictionary defines the word villain as a person who is guilty or capable of a crime or wickedness; a wrongdoer; a character in a novel or play whose evil actions or motives are important to the plot. Shylock is predominately a villain. This is most obvious with the formulation of the bond, Let the forfeit be nominated for an equal pound of your fair flesh, to be cut off and taken In what part of your body pleaseth me This quotation shows the price which Antonio has to pay if he fails to return the money, I see this as an opportunity for Shylock to be a revenge seeking villain, with the intention to kill Antonio. The word pleaseth shows that Shylock gets to decide which part of the body the flesh comes from, this becomes nearest the heart which shows the hunger he truly has for Antonios flesh. Furthermore, Shylocks mistreatment of Jessica shows that he is an irresponsible and uncaring father. He imprisons her from the world he chose to live in. Lock up my doors; and when you hear the drum ..But stop my houses ears-I mean casements. Let not the sound of shallow foppry enter My sober house. Shylock is portrayed as a villain as he orders Jessica about, almost like a slave. The phrase Lock up my doors shows that Shylock has no respect for his own daughter and just commands her to do as he says. In addition, Shylock seems to value his ducats more than the loss of his daughter, O my daughter! Fled with a Christian! Only Christian ducats! Shylock shows that he is a heartless villain when he finds out from Tubal that Antonios ships are lost at see. Shylock and Tubal were discussing the merchants shipwreck from Tripoli and Shylock openly said I thank thee, good Tubal. Good news, good news! Ha, ha! Heard in Genoa? Later in their discussion Tubal tells Shylock of Antonios bankruptcy and again Shylock is delighted as he knows as he can extract the pound of flesh I am very glad of it: Ill plague him Ill torture him: I am glad of it. The words plague and torture show that Shylock is thirsty for Antonios flesh and is showing villainy and greed. Shylocks hunger for Antonios flesh becomes more apparent in the trial scene, Why dost thou whet thy knife so earnestly? Shylock sharpens his knife to prepare to cut the pound of flesh out of Antonios body. The word earnestly shows he has serious intent on killing Antonio. Shylock has no intention on leaving the court without the pound of flesh, Ill have my bond; speak not against my bond: I have sworn an oath that I will have my bondà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ill have my bondà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.Ill have my bond Shylock repeats the phrase Ill have my bond for emphasis that he is completely confident in receiving a pound of Antonios flesh, which is closest to the heart. Not only did Shylock insist on getting his bond he also refused thrice the sum of money of the original loan. And lawfully by this the Jew may claim A pound of flesh, to be by him cut off Nearest the merchants heart. Be merciful: Take thrice thy money; bid me tear the bond. Shylock refused mercy, which shows greed, villa iny and that he is a truly evil man, with the intention to kill. Shylock also said that he would not accept ten times oer the amount of money, mainly because he wants the bond instead of the money which shows that evil thought is dominant in his mind. In conclusion Shylock is a villain, evil is dominant in his thought, largely due to his mistreatment by the Christians. Even though he has been mistreated by Christians, it does not justify taking someones life. Shylock gets his retribution at the end of the play when he is forced to convert his religion to Christianity, resulting in him becoming a social outcast, in the eyes of his family, the Jews and the Christians. Shakespeares plays speak to a modern audience, outlining right from wrong. I feel that anti-Semitism and prejudice are big themes in this play, as they speak to the reader regarding these issues as much today as they did in the past.

Biblical Allusions in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby Essay

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald tells the story of a world lost to superficiality and greed. Falsehood and deception are the currency which fuels the characters in the novel. Dwelling in this fallen world, Fitzgerald has placed a fallen god. Gatsby is bathed in descriptions that identify him as the Son of God. Fitzgerald makes a conscious effort to clothe this character with imagery and actions to make him the patron deity of this fallen world, but Gatsby is too much enveloped by his surroundings to save them and is consumed in the attempt. Despite the biblical allusions, strong images and explicit statements identifying Gatsby with Christ, the prevailing tone of the novel prevents him from being a Christ-figure. A strong pattern of biblical allusions establishes an image of Gatsby as Jesus. The very first description of Gatsby conjures biblical images. Gatsby is described as having "a heightened sensitivity to the promises of life" and "an extraordinary gift for hope" (6). Jesus "came that they may have life, and have it abundantly" (Jn. 10:10). Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians, identifies hope as the second of the three theological virtues (13:13). Furthermore, Nick describes Gatsby's handwriting as "majestic," suggesting the kingship of Christ (46). Gatsby's kingdom, like Jesus' is "not of this world" (Jn. 18:36). When Gatsby stands in his yard, surveying the stars, Nick describes him as laying claim to a section of the "heavens" (25). Gatsby's parties are even reminiscent of biblical themes. Nick observes that "people were not invited; they went there" (45). This recalls the parable of the wedding feast, in which, lacking invited guests, the king sends his soldiers out to the highways to gather ... ...Marius. "Scott Fitzgerald's Criticism of America." Modern Critical Interpretations: F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. 11-27. Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. England: Penguin, 1990. Hack, Robert and Libby Stockstill. "Colour in The Great Gatsby." http://www.nmusd.k12.ca.us/cdmhs/gatsbycenter/roberthack&libbystockstill. November 29th 2001. O'Brien, Meghan et al. "Colour Imagery in The Great Gatsby." http://www.nmusd.k12.ca.us/cdmhs/gatsbycenter/meghanobrien/gg.html. November 29th 2001. Tanner, Tony. "Introduction." The Great Gatsby. Author F. Scott Fitzgerald. England: Penguin, 1990. vii-lvi. Way, Brian. "The Great Gatsby." Modern Critical Interpretations: F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. 87-108.   

Christians And Non-christian Culture Essay -- Cultural Identity Essays

In the world today there are believers and non-believers. There are those who devote themselves whole-heartedly to God and those who choose the lukewarm approach to Christianity. Regardless, humans are all from God and God is in all of them. It is the duty of the human race to unite as one under God and rise up against the evil forces of the world. In order to do this everyone, both religious and the not religious, need to be aware of and recognize the lifestyles of each other. Non Christians should at least study the Philosophy of Christianity, as Christians should explore the philosophy of infidelity. Justin Martyr found discussion with Tryphno very stimulating because the two ended up sharing similar viewpoints on important religious philosophies. (Justin, Dialogue with Tryphno, Ch.1,2)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  First of all, as in any intelligent discussion or argument, each opponent can use the knowledge of the other to put their own claim in understandable terms and analogies. (Tertullian, Apology, ch.21) By gathering facts about the non-Christian culture such as social interactions and entertainment sources, Christians can understand what kind of mind set the non-Christians are in and better explain how Christianity can improve their life. While Christians should build up relationships with other Christians, they should not limit themselves from the entire non-Christian culture because they can use it to understand the world and why God is needed. Looking into ...

Invisible Saviour Siblings Essay

The philosopher Immanuel Kant said â€Å"Treat others as an end and not as means to an end. † People need to value others for themselves rather than for what they can achieve by the means of them. The idea of selecting an embryo, conceived by IVF, which will become a child that can donate for an older sibling suffering from a genetic disease, has created a difficult moral dilemma. Concerns over the creation of what are called â€Å"savoir siblings† are specifically created to help an existing child. In the novel â€Å"My Sister’s Keeper† by Jodi Picoult there is a girl named Anna who was brought in to this world for the purpose to save her sister Kate. Anna suggests that while her method of coming into the world is not conventional, since most babies born are unwanted; she at least was a wanted child. But she is wanted as a product, as a medical treatment, as a donor. Anna came to a decision that she wanted to stop donating to her sister, so she starts a lawsuit for medical emancipation; the right to control her own body. The child is used as something instrumental and has a welcome that is far from being unconditional. Even the label â€Å"savoir† is a misnomer. When we speak of a savoir we refer to someone who has made an active choice to donate. The child never has a choice. When a donation occurs it will have lifelong effects on the body. The possible psychological problem the child will have from being a savior sibling. The parents do not think about the saviour child in the terms of an individual. The parents need to realize that there is a line that separates the value of preserving life and the costs of the quality of life. When a child is born it is up to the parents to make the decisions for them, but what if the parents are not focus on that child? It is their zeal to make things better for their sick child, but the parents have forgotten that their donor child is a person with feelings, not a something just to pick at when needed. In the case of babies who are selected as a source of cells, the â€Å"savior † is passive and is treated as a product. The choices being made about donation is not even being discussed about. Anna is not even being asked about what she wants to do, â€Å"You make it sound like there’s some process involved. Like there’s actually a choice. † (192) the parents are deciding what is for the best. They do not even consult with Anna about how she feels about everything. Anna had to quit hockey because she was missing two many games, but the only reason why she was missing games was that she had to be there when Kate might need something. Her choice to play hockey was taken away from her and no one in her family even cared. They did not even notice when she started to play hockey, so why would they notice when she stopped. There is a big chance that the family would not even listen to Anna if she would have said that she does not want to continue being the donor. The doctors do not ever consult with Anna about what she wanted to do; they only talked to the parents. They never let Anna make her choice. She was brought in this world as a savior sibling, but it did not mean to make her sacrifice her whole life. The use of savior siblings have raised the issue of the possibility of psychological trauma that the created sibling may suffer from knowing that they was created partly for reasons of imposed selflessness. The child could feel as if they had been used. The donor sibling would feel that they were around to provide â€Å"spare parts†, and were not valued for who they are. Remember the adolescent cry â€Å"I did not ask to be born† and add to it the accusation that the parents only had them to save their siblings life. The moment the child is brought in to this world they have a job to perform. How the parents treat Anna makes her feel like her only purpose in life is to help heal Kate. With these feelings it makes her think about what if Kate was not sick, â€Å"It made me wonder, though, what would have happened if Kate had been healthy. Chances are, I’d still be floating up in Heaven or wherever, waiting to be attached to a body to spend some time on Earth† (08). If Kate was healthy would the parents ever thought about having a third child. The parents once said that their family was complete with two children; each child favored a parent. Anna has matured faster than any child her age, because from the start of her life she was not fully allowed to be a child. She learnt early on that Kate was the main focus and everything else became second. Growing up is hard enough, but when there is question on ones existence it can have serious emotional effects. The child becomes lost in their quest for their own identity. Furthermore, if the treatment of the sick child is unsuccessful, their death can be much harder for the savior sibling, as they may feel as if they have failed. The child would have to go through the rest of their life feeling guiltily about not saving their sibling life. Donating an organ is not as simple as it sounds. The donor of the organ has to deal with limitations on their life. In the novel Anna is being pressured by her mother to donate her kidney to her sister Kate. Her mother does not think about the after effects of the surgery. Anna loves to play hockey, but donating her kidney will stop here from playing. Kidney organ donors should not participate in physical activity that could damage their other kidney. Anna’s mother Sara only concern is Kate, so when Anna wanted to go to Hockey camp her mother said no. Her mother is not caring for what Anna wants â€Å"Not because I am afraid of what might to Anna there, but because I am afraid of what might happen to Kate while her sister is gone. If Kate survives this latest relapse†¦.. we will need Anna-her blood, her stem cells, her tissue-right here. (269), she wanted Anna to be where she needed her. If Anna did go through with the surgery something could go wrong, but does her parents ever does comprehend it. If there were no complications with any of these procedures, the savior sibling would still stay in the hospital with stress and pain which they are not gaining any type of personal benefit. The mother will be so worried about Kate after the surgery; she will be by her side and not by Anna’s. The parents should not make an organ donation decision. It has to be Anna’s choice. Going through with a kidney donation, she would lose some quality of her life. While there is potential harm, it is not without potential benefits to the saviour sibling. The donor child might derive pleasure from knowing that he or she has saved his or her sibling’s life and would benefit from the saved child’s company. In this respect, it is appropriate to consider the welfare of the donor child within the context of the family since his or her social, emotional and psychological interests depend on the welfare of the child’s family. Saving the life of the existing sibling is also in his or her best interests. This will ensure a happier family (e. g. no grieving parents) from which the donor child would benefit. There are benefits to the child, but if the child is born and the transplant is made but is unsuccessful, what comes of the family at that point? The donor child would feel that they have fail in their job in helping to keep their sibling alive. If the transplant was successful, there is no time frame for a savior sibling to stop providing transplants for their older sibling. The donor sibling could chose not to donate later in life or chose to no longer accept the role of â€Å"saviour† for which they were originally conceived. The parents might not like that they brought this child in to this world for a certain purpose, but now the child does not want to donate anymore. The savior child would have no support from their family. They would feel that they had only one purpose; to save their sibling. Parents have more choices than ever before and they need to use every resource available to protect the health of their children, but there is a line that should not be crossed. There are potential harmful psychological effects on a child born not for itself, but to save another. If conception of saviour siblings for the donation of cord blood stem cells is permitted, what is to stop donation ending there. There may be an inevitable situation where the donor child will be expected to â€Å"donate† bone marrow in the event that the umbilical cord stem cell transplant fails or the sick sibling relapses and requires further treatment. If the child is under age, then the parents decide the choice for them and of course they would have the savior child donate whatever the sick child needs. Parents are blinded from seeing what is in the best interest for both of their children. The only thing that is on their mind is to save their sick child. If there is no benefit at all to the created saviour child, it appears hard to justify that it is humane and proper to use them to save the life of a sibling. Every parent has to seriously decide the point at which they will halt their efforts to save their sick child regardless of the potential outcome. There comes a point when people have to realize there is nothing they can do. The parents get so consumed in the entire process and the emotions involved in saving your sick child that they may lose the ability to know when to stop. Despite how gut-wrenching it may be, they have to stop, not only for the sake of their other children, but for the sake of their sick child. They should have to realize that there comes a point when vigilance becomes obsession and good intentions get warped and bastardized to the point that they do more harm than good. People should to write to President to have him put regulations on the use of Genetic technology for creation of savoir siblings. A savior sibling cannot lose their quality of life just because they were conceived with the weight of the family on their shoulders. The child should not go through life suffering, for the reason that she was conceived to help heal their sick sibling.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in Work with Children Essay

Equality, diversity and inclusion in work with children and young people. In this essay i will be discussing equality amongst children, inclusion, inclusiveness and diversity and how to put these things mentioned into practise when working with children and young people. 1, Understand the importance of promoting equality and diversity in work with children and young people. 1.1 Identify the current legislation and codes of practise relevant to the promotion of equality and valuing of diversity. Current Legislations Children Act 1989 – Protecting children’s welfare and to provide services according to the specific needs of children. Human rights act 1998 – specifies and enforces the rights of individuals and if these rights are affected actions can be taken to rectify the situation. Race Relations (amendment) Act 2000 – put in place as an organisation to promote healthy relationships between people from different races. Special educational needs and disability act 2001 – This act was created to stop discrimination by educators towards people with a disability or special educational needs. Disability discrimination act 2005 – get schools to make individual disability equality scheme and access plan. These are made to ensure all parts of a student’s education are accessible and to encourage participation and discourage harassment and discrimination. Read more:  Explain what is meant by inclusion essay Disability Discrimination Act 1995 – To protect the rights of people with disabilities and to make sure they have fair and equal access and opportunities to services. Children’s Act 2004 – Sets a clear duty to provide and maintain effective and accessible services for children & young people and works on and around the basis of Every Child Matters. Education Act 1996 – invokes clear guidelines of a schools responsibility to children with special educational needs, stating that schools must supply additional resources to meet the individual needs of the child or young person. Equality Act 2012 – Clearly states the legal requirements and responsibilities of public bodies such as schools, to provide equality of opportunity for all citizens. This bonds all nine legal laws. Codes of Practise The Special Educational Needs Code of Practice 2001 – This code of practice gives the framework for policy, procedures and responsibilities towards children with special educational needs. It also indicates the level of support vs. what should be provided to the individual to give a clear indication of the steps to take towards accommodating an individual with support needs. Code of Practice on the duty to promote race equality (2002) – This is a statutory code to make sure all public authorities (including schools) enforce and meet their duty set out in the Race Relations (amendment) Act. This requires all schools to produce a written equality policy with practical ways to promote, enforce and demonstrate that they are working towards to following outcomes; * Reduce the margin of educational achievement between different ethnic groups. * Build and improve relationships between different racial groups. * Improve behaviour of pupils. * Promote and encourage greater involvement of parents and the community. * To make sure staff within school reflects cultural diversity of society. * An admission policy that does not discriminate any racial group. * A strategic monitoring method to keep track of how and what affect the policy is having within the school. Removing barriers to achievement: the government’s strategy for SEN (2004) Putting this into place provides a framework to build upon helping to remove barriers and boost the achievement of children with special educational needs (SEN) or disabilities. Guidelines within the document explain the vision of the government for the education of children with SEN or disabilities outlining the principle of: * Early intervention. * The removal of barriers. * Raising achievements. * The delivery of improvements through partnerships across services. Disability Equality Scheme and Access Plan. All schools are required to produce a Disability Equality Scheme (DES) that sets out ways to promote equality opportunity, positive attitudes towards pupils, staff and others with disabilities. Along with the above there must be an action plan in place to outline methods of removing discriminatory barriers for example: * Improvement to physical environments such as lifts, ramps, room layout, higher desks, and wider doors and so on. * Providing information and work in different formats such as larger fonts, auditory work, pictorial. School policies All schools must have policies that are designed to reflect the rights and responsibilities of those within the school. These policies should provide guidance to staff and visitors who attend the school on ways to ensure inclusive practise is used. These policies are as follows: * Race/cultural diversity * Equality of opportunity/inclusive practice * Safeguarding/bullying * Gifted and talented pupils * Special educational needs * Disability access These policies have been made in response to legislations that have been passed. Schools are obligated to monitor the affect of these policies to see what changes they bring forth and to make sure they are for the better, by doing this they can sort out the week points of the policies and adapt them to work for the better. 1.2 Describe the importance of supporting the rights of all children and young people to participation and equality of access. It is important to support participation & equality of access. In my placement this does ensure that every child and young person receives the same opportunities no matter what their culture, background or beliefs are. In order to achieve this my placement came up with the idea and thought it would be good practice to involve the children in the process of finding out what kind of activities and policies work well in my placement and what ones don’t, this would give a sense of the children being valued and boost their confidence. With participation and equality in mind I believe that the Equality act 2010 has a big role to play in improving the surroundings of children that are  stereotyped and categorised by others. The Equality Act 2010 states that there are seven different types of discrimination, they are: * Direct discrimination: discrimination because of a protected characteristic. * Associative discrimination: direct discrimination against someone because they are associated with another person with a protected characteristic. (This includes carers of disabled people and elderly relatives, who can claim they were treated unfairly because of duties that had to carry out at home relating to their care work. It also covers discrimination against someone because, for example, his or her partner is from another country. * Indirect discrimination: when you have a rule or policy that applies to everyone but disadvantages a person with a protected characteristic. * Harassment: behaviour deemed offensive by the recipient. Employees can claim they find something offensive even when it’s not directed at them. * Harassment by a third party: employers are potentially liable for the harassment of staff or customers by people they don’t directly employ, such as a contractor. * Victimisation: discrimination against someone because they made or supported a complaint under Equality Act legislation. * Discrimination by perception: direct discrimination against someone because others think they have a protected characteristic (even if they don’t) If these seven types of discrimination are not monitored and other policies, procedures and practices are not kept in check and reviewed regularly it may have a drastic affect on the way a school is run and children are treated in regards to equality and participation. 1.3 Describe the importance and benefits of valuing and promoting cultural diversity in work with children and young people. I believe in this day and age their still exists a great majority of racism, misunderstandings and misconceptions about people from different countries, backgrounds and beliefs as was there in Little Rock, Arkansas 1957. I will admit not as bad as the little rock protests due to their being laws against racism and so on that were not in place in the 50’s. The point of what I have written above is schools now are teaching their students of all ages about different cultures, ways of living, beliefs, family diversities and so on leading to a better understanding of the cultural diversity and how a Childs fellow pupil ,Only because they are different that they are not all that different and to  embrace them as a human being. If this kind of understanding was taught years ago such a divers section of communities might not be living in segregation as they are today. The ways schools teach children and young people about different cultures are: * Celebrate the customs of pupils from different religions and cultures such as Chinese New Year and Harvest festival. * Learn how to say key words in a different language. * Research different historic events in different countries. * Research different fruits and where they come from.  Experiencing the ways that the above has been explained and taught in my placement promotes diversity and uniqueness within individuals and enables children and young people to understand and embrace each other. If some of these measures are taken to understand different people from different backgrounds it will stamp out tokenism and stereotyping and lead to a better understanding of each other and in the future eradicate racism and bring together coheaded communities. 2.Understand the impact of prejudice and discrimination on children and young people. 2.1 Describe ways in which children & young people can experience prejudice and discrimination. Children and young people can experience prejudice and discrimination in the following ways; * If a child or young person is seen to have a disability they can be instantly labelled as the â€Å"thick† or â€Å"slow† person. * If a child or young person is of a different race may have racial slurs used against them. * Boys are typically stereotyped to be loud and aggressive unlike girls who are stereotyped to be quiet and more intelligent. * If a young person is unsure about their sexual orientation. * A person that has Gender Dysphoria. There are two types of discrimination; Direct discrimination An example is a school might not accept this pupil due to being disabled or because of their race. Indirect discrimination Schools need to be aware of this as schools could to this totally intentional for example, a school trip could be made where they are going to an old corn  mill where there are no elevators just steps and a pupil is in a wheel chair. Discrimination can be: * Institutional: this occurs when a establishments policies and procedures allow them to discriminate both directly and indirectly. * This could occur from individuals or groups within the establishment. Individuals could be staff, visitors or other children & young people. In my placement whilst I was being observed by my assessor I noticed a child had a case of head lice. I reported it to my line manager but because the child was stereotyped as â€Å"scruffy and low class† the case was never dealt with and a week later the parents were issued with a letter home about head lice. I feel this child was discriminated against by the members of staff because he looked different from the other children. 2.2 Describe the impact of prejudice and discrimination on children & young people. When children & young people are discriminated against it can only lead to negative effects. As well as effecting their academic education it can and will affect their health and well-being. The effects of discrimination or prejudice can manifest their self’s in the following ways: * Low self –esteem * Disempowerment * Confusion * Anger * Lack of motivation * Depression. 2.3 Assess how own attitudes, values and behaviour could impact on work with children and young people. As a teaching assistant or a teacher working with children & young people you must make sure to promote equal opportunities, inclusion and to be anti discriminatory. Doing things like: * Not speaking or teaching things about multi cultural events. * Different languages. * Being dismissive to a pupil that is different in the way of culture or  ability. * Being ignorant to a child or young person’s individual needs. All the above could lead to children & young people picking up, taking in and projecting your views onto other children, young people, adults or visitors. Overcoming stigmas attached to disabilities, races and religions is a must before working in schools, to gain understanding of these things will empower you with the knowledge to teach more efficiently and understand in a more diverse manner. I observed in my placement a child that had moved from Pakistan who could barely speak any English was segregated by the children and surprisingly the teacher. When he would try and speak she would raise her hand as a sign to be quiet and he would struggle to contribute to the class till she would verbally say â€Å"Child A be quiet†. This led to the child becoming very aggravated and unsettled for a number of weeks until he started to learn English to the point where he could interact without much thought as to what he was going to say before he said it. 2.4 Describe the importance of promoting anti-discriminatory practise in work with children and young people. The promotion of anti-discrimination should be a focal point for the majority of things that happen in and around schools. It is no good to have policies and procedures and just tokenise them, they need to be enforced so children and young people will follow the lead of the school. The best ways to do this are: * Be a good role model. * Appreciate & promote diversity and the uniqueness of children and young people’s abilities. * Listen to and involve the children and young people. * Treat each child and young person as an individual. * Have a realistic but high expectation of all children and young people. * Support the schools ethos. * Give the children and young people the tool set and skills to be able to challenge prejudice and discrimination by others in a controlled and non-abusive manner. 2.5 Describe how to challenge discrimination. Challenging discrimination is a must in any sort of situation. To do this you need to make sure you know your anti-discrimination policy within your school. The role as a teacher or teaching assistant is to protect children  and young people from discrimination. If you was to overhear or receive a complaint from a parent or pupil about a discriminatory act that has taken place and you ignore it ,you are giving the person victimising the victim the impression it is ok to do, this can then quickly turn into a discrimination epidemic of sorts if left unchecked. To be able to deal with discrimination efficiently you will have to first feel comfortable with your policies, procedures and codes of conduct on the matter. Then approach your line manager or alternately if it is them that is conducting the discrimination then go to your head teacher, explain what has been said to the person or group, state the impact it has had on him/her or them and then suggest a way to enforce your anti-discrimination policy. 3 Understand inclusion and inclusive practises in work with children and young people. 3.1 Describe what is meant by inclusion and inclusive practise. Inclusive: To identify, understand and quash any barriers to participation, education and the feeling of belonging. Inclusive steps taken within schools will ensure that all pupils feel valued, equal and safe in their environment. To do this making sure that you recognise, accept and celebrate a child or young person’s differences and similarities. Inclusion: to ensure all children and young people of and background, situation or ability level are able to participate fully in all aspects of their academic life. Inclusion is not about categorising of viewing everyone as a collective but more like assessing people as individuals and supplying them with the same opportunities as any other pupil. 3.2 Describe features of an inclusive setting for children and young people. * There are some barriers in schools that staff are aware may affect pupils development academically so they make it as accessible as possible. * Pupils are never segregated from their peers as this may make them appear to be inferior to others instead the pupil will receive support whiles working alongside their peers. * Children and young people are encouraged to use their voice to make heard their opinions and views weather this be in an informal manner or through the school council. * Regular training is provided to keep staff up to date on inclusion, diversity and equal opportunity policies and procedures. * The schools work in partnership  with the governors, parents, staff and the pupils. * Schools pro-actively work with other professions like speech and language therapists and educational psychologists to ensure children and young people receive the correct support for their individual needs. 3.3 Describe how inclusion works in own sector of the children’s workforce. All sectors that work with or come into contact with children all share the common concept of inclusion and what it is. The way it is implemented may vary depending on the company/ organisation and it what way they work with children, but whatever the company / organisation they must always keep the child, children or young people at the centre of all practises. Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and the National Curriculum all give clear outlines on how the curriculum should be delivered, how to make it inclusive and to the learning and assessment of the material being taught. The National Curriculum Inclusion statement states that schools must: * Provide a curriculum that is accessible and achievable to all pupils. * Recognise that â€Å"All pupils are entitle to a high standard or education†. * Meet the interests of both individual and all pupils as a whole. * To Assess, recognise and remove any barriers that may be stopping learning and assessment. In my placement there is a child with severe hearing difficulties , we assessed her hearing level with an outside agency that works with the local hospital to find she could hear nothing when being spoke to in school. We spoke to the specialist who supplied us with a tower speaker and a microphone that clips on your top so, when you speak the sound of your voice is amplified on the wave length of the Childs hearing aid allowing her to hear clearly in turn providing a solid education. Personalised learning To raise standards in schools and to help people with special educational needs to achieve personal learning was developed. Personal learning is catered to a child or young person’s specific needs to ensure they receive a healthy and fulfilling education regardless of their background, culture, special educational needs or disability they will receive the support to make progress. The key elements to making personalised learning so successful are: * Receiving a challenging curriculum at their level. * Staff who have high but reasonable expectations. * Setting personal targets. * Highly focused assessments. * Early identification and interception when targets are not being achieved.