Environmentally-focused law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Environmentally-focused law - Essay Example As a person with environmental awareness, I propose that production companies should go back to the use of glass bottles which can be reused and recycled. Since plastic bottles and plastic bags are easily discarded, people tend not to worry about where these wastes go to. Therefore, the plastic materials pile up in the ocean and the unsuspecting sea animals consume the garbage, resulting to their extinction. It is also known that plastic materials do not decompose until hundreds of years. Thus, if companies cannot use glass bottles, at least they should resort to biodegradable materials. In addition, their advertisements of any form should always advocate environmental awareness to consumers so that they will become responsible in their waste disposals. As producers, companies should not simply aim for high earnings but they should also take part in the preservation of the

Impact of escalating gas prices on the U.S. Essay Example for Free

Impact of escalating gas prices on the U.S. Essay The oil prices have been creeping higher in the recent past and the current gas market conditions in the United States of America are very uncertain as well as unstable which has further led to a lot of negative effects on the gas consumers. The gas prices have been rapidly escalating in the American markets which have led to the amplification of the medium term economic effects. The American economy’s prosperity remains at risk for as long as the oil prices in the country remain very high and also unstable. The increasing oil prices in America also quantitatively affect the country’s macro economy. The impact of the escalating oil prices on the US economy The oil prices in America remain a very important determinant in the overall performance of the country’s economy. It is also important to note that the overall increase in the oil prices in America has further led to a transfer of income from the American economy to the exporting countries through a trade shift. In America the degree of the direct effects of a specified gas price is highly determined by the share of the oils’ costs in the income of the country and also the ability of the gas users to reduce their personal consumption and wholly change from the gas to other alternatives. The increasing gas prices in America has also highly affected the rate of inflation since in most of the times the consumer price index has been on the increase and this clearly shows that there is a correlation between the oil prices movements and the changes which occur in the rate of inflation. This then clearly stipulates that the increasing oil prices in America further drive up the imported oils costs and in general terms the rate of inflation. (Anne, 2007) With the worlds demand for oil rapidly increasing and the oil supplies very limited, then the American economy is more likely to suffer the damage in the short as well as long-term. The high oil prices in America are amongst the key factors which have made many economists to scale back their predictions for the country’s economic growth in the present year. The country’s economic growth rate has highly reduced because of the increasing oil prices and this has resulted to a growing rate of unemployment in America. (Brown, 2004) The gasoline prices in America are expected to even hit new highs since the American refineries are currently producing as much gasoline as they can include other oil products. In the larger picture the American authorities have not built any new refineries or even upgraded the old ones because of the environmental and the regulatory concerns. If the oil supplies were to greatly increase then the supplies of the major oil products would not substantially grow and thus the gas prices and the other refined products would stay very high. (Harvey, and Ted, 2007) The higher oil prices in America also highly spurs inflation and this further leads the federal reserves to push the interests rates up and this in turn causes the car loans the mortgages and the credit cards to become much more expensive than they already are. This whole issue sends a lot of ripples through the financial markets in America. The rising rate of inflation tends to highly affect the bond prices which further reduces the economic growth that could help in keeping the interests rates down. When the gas prices go up then the bond prices also go up because the economic growth rate is very slow but this does not similarly apply to the stock markets. On the other hand the high gas prices have a negative impact on the stock markets as this leaves the consumers with very little monies to spend as this also undermines the corporate earnings which are key to the prices in the stock markets. The depreciating US dollar has contributed to the escalating gas prices which are partly based on the dollars value. Source: Anne, F. (2007): Comparison of US gasoline Vehicle Fuel prices in the U. S. Pedant Centre on Global Climate Change, Washington In America the hurricane threats to the oil platforms, the labor strikes, the terrorist threats and the fires at the oil refineries and also other problems which are short lived they all are not wholly responsible for the escalation of the gas prices. They however push the gas prices higher but they are not the fundamentals in causing the high escalating gas prices. (Department of Transportation National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Office of the Chief Counsel 2006) Currently there has been an increasing speculation in the oil market globally and therefore there is an increase in the American gas prices and this could extend into the long term. America has the highest and the largest oil demand so far in the world and therefore the depleting domestic production and also the expanding demand by the oil consumers in the US further leads the country to import oil from the foreign countries. This dependency then has made the country very vulnerable to any disruptions in the oil supplies. In America the increasing gas prices makes the other unconventional sources of oil very attractive to the businesses. For the working class in America that includes those who earn their living without any benefits and also those who have older vehicles with an average of less than 20 MPG, they are usually faced with several alternatives. They commute by using the public transportation, the light rail, the rapid transit as well as the bus, they also carpool, scooter, motor cycle, walk or even bicycle or even relocate to the inner city if one resides in the areas that are suburban. Surprisingly many businesses are also moving away from the 24 hour operation since the higher gas prices are highly discouraging the lifestyle trends of the past. Some restaurants and also cafes are also closing down very early and they are well known for their 24 hour operating cultures. The airlines have also been heavily affected by the same and they have not been left out in introducing the fuel surcharges or they can even scale back their operations in efforts to trim the fuel costs which are spiraling. The high gas prices has also affected the schools in many districts and particularly the large school bus fleets have reduced since the schools can no longer maintain to run the high fuel costs of the buses. The ongoing gas hike in America has worried very many people especially the consumers who are spending so much The American economists further state that if the Americans will have to spend more money on their gas consumptions then they will definitely have very little money that is left for to spend on the other goods and services. Also as the gas prices go up then the prices of other goods and services especially the foods also go up. The gas prices in America are highly affected and driven by the costs of the crude oil and the escalating oil prices in America are being attributed to the to the high Americans demand . An example of this is that during the summer vacation seasons most of the American family’s require more gas since they use their vehicles for the long trips. (Bearn, 2003) Conclusion There are many reasons that lead to the increased gas prices in America and also the decrease in oil supply. This has been partly because of the Middle East’s growing turbulence and it is the world largest oil producing region in the world. In the hurricane Katrina scenario the supply flow from the gulf coast offshore rigs which is the largest oil source in America for the domestic market was heavily crippled. This further led to the a temporary shut down of two major on shore pipelines and also at least 10% of the country’s refining capacity was not in operation in the storms wake. In America despite the increase in the gas supplies the prices have continually raised at a very fast rate than in the past and this has further led to an increased discussion on the theory of the peak oil and a future possibility that would see the supply of oil highly reducing. Some experts say that even though the oil supplies themselves are not reduced the easily accessible light sweet crude sources have almost been exhausted and in the future the Americans will depend on the more expensive sources and alternatives to the heavy oil. (Anne, 2007) The united states of America always keeps about 700 million crude oil gallons for storage to cover far any national emergencies but this reserves have gone down to 650 million gallons as more oil is being diverted from the reserves to the markets at large. Reference: Standard Poors DRI, The U. S. Economy, issues 2000/12, 2001/1, 2001/2 and 2001/3. WEFA, US Outlook, issues December 2000, and January, February and March 2001 Brown, S. (2004): U. S. Gasoline Prices on the Rise Once Again, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Expand Your Insight, May http://www. dallasfed.org/eyi/usecon/0405gasoline. html ASEAN Competitiveness Study, McKinsey Company, August 2003 Higher Global Oil Prices Implications for Asia in 2005, Asian Development Bank, 2005 http://www. adb. org/Documents/Books/ADO/2004/update/part030200. asp Developing Asia and the World, Asian Development Bank, 2005, http://www. adb. org/Documents/Books/ADO/2004/update/part010000. asp Higher Global Oil Prices Implications for Asia in 2005, Asian Development Bank, 2005 http://www. adb. org/Documents/Books/ADO/2004/update/part030200. asp Switch it Off, The Asia Section, The Straits Times, June 2, 2005

The Case Of John Lacking Capacity Social Work Essay

The Case Of John Lacking Capacity Social Work Essay Within adult social care, people, issues, organisations and regulatory bodies are always involved in the discussions on risk and safety. Responsibility, duty of care, adult safeguarding and capacity are of concern. The balance of keeping service users who are viewed as vulnerable safe in society can be contradicted with living independent lives and being able to take the risks others take in everyday life. Therefore, perceptions and assessments of risk is an individual matter for each service user, the communities and society and is fraught with decisions and choices. Mitchell and Glendinning (2007) suggest that the states role and pre-occupation with risk management is under constant evaluation rather than exploring and seeking to understand service users perspectives of risk. They highlight the need for more service users and carers involvement in risks, decision making and protection (Parrott, 2006). Events during the life course such as genetic/biological factors, and childhood experiences can have a huge impact on the ability of the mind and body to develop and maintain good mental health. Ones life course can encounter a combination of stressful events which can test the human bodys ability to cope emotionally, which sometimes can trigger anxiety, depression and/or other mental health conditions. Risk factors which can have a negative impact on ones mental health can be addressed by influencing supportive relationships, a healthy lifestyle, stress management techniques and emotional coping strategies, in which social workers can be apart of ensuring happens. On an individual factor John could be facing depression/grief from the loss of his wife who passed away a year ago. John could still be in the seven emotional stages of grief (Carers UK, 2012). This involves shock or disbelief, denial, bargaining, guilt, anger, depression, and acceptance/hope. Social workers and other prof essionals should be aware that, there are no time limits on grief and no set pattern of emotions and behaviours that people can follow, everyone is different and grief does not always happen straight away. The risk factors for experiencing more serious symptoms of grief/loss of a loved one is that John could be at an increased risk of being psychiatrically unstable due to a decline of his emotional well being. The change in Johns life events/situation could have a huge impact on his mental wellbeing, not only because he has lost his wife but he was also a carer for his wife which would have meant John would have had responsibilities daily. Therefore John also faces having to deal with the loss of his caring role, which he may include him feeling guilty/ relieved, exhausted and alone. John may also feel angry that someone has contacted social services as they feel worried about him, as at this moment in time John may be thinking he is coping fine. Johns family/social factors may be a potential risk as John lives alone and his two children live some distance away and only visit monthly. John could be feeling isolated and due to lack of family support and limited social networks, John could be at risk of deteriorating emotionally and physically. John could be feeling a loss of control over his life due to these changes and he could experience all types of symptoms such as significant loss of appetite, diminished energy levels, suicide thoughts, depression, anxiety and many more (NIMH, 2012). The issues around the perceptions of risk and rights for mental health service users are different as people are sometimes perceived as a risk rather than considered at risk in vulnerable situations. Therefore, John could be at risk of being overlooked by safeguarding practices and his individual rights comprised by the Mental Health 1983 if he is assessed as lacks capacity, when maybe all John needs is some support in getting his life back together and learning how to cope w ith all his life changes. This would be a multidisciplinary decision and user involvement in risk assessment and informed decision making about risks to John and others (Ray, Pugh, Roberts Beech, 2008). Regardless of whether John is assessed as having the capacity or not to make decisions under the Mental Health Capacity Act 2005, then professionals need to raise the awareness of human rights and enable John to have these rights realised. Independence, choice, control and experiences and feelings associated with danger, fear, abuse and safety would need to be addressed with John. Sheldon (2010) suggests that in any case of risk management, the service user should have their rights explained, including their human rights and risk management should not interfere with the service users rights to dignity, respect and privacy as also suggested by the Care Council Code of Practice for Social Workers (CCW, 2002, 1.3, 1.4, 3.1). It is important that the key role of assessments of adults allows people to make their own decisions whilst minimising risk or harm. By placing John at the centre of the caring process, it would be the social workers role to discuss options of support for John as a first option. Fair Access to Care Services would enable the social worker to focus on health, safety, autonomy and involvement with his family and the community but without overlooking risks of self harm, neglect, abuse and risks to carers and others. FACS was launched in 2003 by the Department of Health, so that adults in need can be assessed for eligibility of services (DOH, 2003). It focuses on four levels of risk to independent living, which would be of use in Johns case. Risk taking is a normal part of life, however the social worker needs to ensure they have taken all the steps needed to minimise risk. With John by considering the consequences of actions and the likelihood of harm he could cause to himself, and discussing the benefits for independence and well being, a support plan for managing risk could be put in place with Johns consent (CCW, 2002, 4.3). Risk assessment will help in developing risk management plans that minimize risks (Coulshed Orme, 2006). The social work ers role would be to provide John with support to enable him to help himself. Under the National Health and Community Care Act 1990, the local authority would have a duty to assess Johns needs and to ensure thats services are available for John. Protecting and safeguarding John from harm, abuse and neglect including financial, physical, sexual, emotional and institutionally would be the social workers main role. An assessment based on the needs of John would enable the social worker to build a positive relationship with John, to gather the relevant information, form an overview of the situation and identify possible solutions for the best way forward (Parrott, 2006). Assessment and care planning will enable the local authority to provide practical and emotional support for John. During assessment and care plan the social worker would be able to treat John holistically, promote his independence whilst clarifying risks that can follow from decisions made independently and also being a ble to involve other health professionals to benefit John. Through the care plan, John would be able to access a wide range of information and services, designed specifically for him. Social workers use the Mental Health Act 2005 as a criterion to minimise risk of harm to self or others, however the downside for service users is that of potential threat to independence and freedom that sometimes makes seeking help a hard decision to make in some cases, therefore social workers working in multidisciplary teams and having the use of assessment and care planning tools, makes decision making easier. Therefore all professionals and John would have some responsibility for making decisions and every professional would have input into providing and sharing information to arrive at a considered decision (Milner OByrne, 2009). This also minimises the risk of one person being involved and making decisions solely without having the right knowledge or support to reach appropriate outcomes with John. The autonomy of John to decide whether to engage with social services, and accept that he is not coping well at the moment, conflicts with social services and his neighbours concerns of him putting himself in danger/neglect. The professionals would need good social skills and value the principle of inclusion into society and autonomy to enable John to make his own decisions and make positive changes on his own behalf. The conflict in this case is that facing the social worker in assessing Johns needs. On one hand, John doesnt seem to be coping well however he has been assessed as having capacity, but on the other hand, John is exercising his own right to self determination and autonomy as he wont accept any support. The issue the social worker faces is that of John not engaging if John is able to understand some of the presenting problems in his current situation. In order to assess whether intervention is required, three categories of risk may be required. Johns physical risk could be causing harm to himself or others. Johns social risk of becoming isolated and acting in a way that is considered outside of the social norm and emotional risk, his physical and emotional health (Webb, 2006). In the case of John lacking capacity the social worker and other professionals would be working under the framework The Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) in order to provide protection for John, who is unable to make decisions for himself. The Act contains provision for assessing whether people have the mental capacity to make decisions, procedures for making decisions on behalf of people who lack mental capacity and safeguards. Professionals would be working under the philosophy of the MCA, which is any decision made, or action taken, on behalf of John who lacks the capacity to make the decision or act for himself must be made in his best interest (Coulshed Orme, 2006). The Act is also supported by its own Code of Practice which has to be interpreted when using the Act. It is important that all professionals working with John understand his capacity might be affected only for a temporary period. The phrases used in the MCA section 2 in relation to a matter and at the material time mea ns that capacity must be assessed on a decision-by-decision basis. Therefore, capacity may not be a permanent status and John should not be described as having or lacking capacity. The level of capacity needed by John would depend on the decision to be made. For example, John may need a lower level of mental capacity to make decisions about everyday matters, such as what to eat or where to go at this moment in time. Professional should ensure John has not been assumed as lacking capacity due to his age, appearance, and mental health diagnosis or disability/medical condition (Webb, 2006). In 2007, under the Mental Health Act for England and Wales, Approved Social Workers were replaced by Approved Mental Health Practitioners (AMHPs) with the role and remit extended to other disciplines. The primary role of an AMPH is to act as the guardian of the patients rights. The AMHP has the responsibility of contacting the patients next of kin and to help any appeals against the order that the patient wants to make. In the case of John not having capacity, the AMHP may control access to some services such as day centres, respite care, residential care and other community support services, if needed (DOH, 2001). The social worker would also need to refer to other health/social care professionals if not already done so such as GP, community psychiatric nurse, physiatrist, counsellor, advice services, specific therapies to ensure an holistic approach is taken (Ray et al, 2008). The consultation report on safeguarding adults in Wales In Safe Hands (WAG, 2000) found that people were c oncerned about the balance between safeguarding and personalisation, between choice and risk. Social workers and other professionals need to ensure people have informed choices and introduce support systems. Social workers will have a distinctive role in multiagency settings and will need to ensure they develop practices to enable service users with mental health to identify and realise their own needs. The team involved in working with John will need to have broad experiences and social views of mental health problems especially in regards to discrimination, oppression, civil rights and social justice. They will need to co-ordinate efforts to support John so that he does not have negative experiences and /or perceptions of mental health and ensure he received services fairly and equably. The social worker will work with John to ensure he is not a victim of social isolation, poverty, unemployment, insecure housing and limited social and support networks and will have an independent view in assessment and care planning (Faulkner, 2012). In Johns case risk management will minimize the dangers both to and from John. However risk factors are individual and differ from professional to professional due to personal factors and the degree of control they have over the risk. A risk can be viewed as negative and positive. Risk is associated with decision making processes and should never be made in isolation. Social workers must take every precaution to protect the service user and the public, as the law makes people responsible for behaviours whether or not they were the ones who took the risk, intended or not. Practitioners can be held liable for negligence and a breach of duty. Trying to predict possibilities and risk assessing is a very important part of the social workers role (Parrott, 2006). Part 2

Learn the Law. Question the Law :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Throughout the course of human history, people have advanced technology and educated minds in ways that once would not have seemed impossible. From caves drawings to televisions and from the bow and arrow to the machine gun, humans have continually improved their standard of living over the years. Although we now have all sorts of things people could only dream of a thousand years ago, we still live like cavemen in many ways. One of these ways is our contempt refusal to tolerate severe injustice at many levels of society. Just like most problems, injustice starts at the top, and often starts with the people that are supposed to be preventing it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Corrupt police officers and law agencies have been sifting through the sieve of true justice for years, and continue to do so today. From Hitler’s horrifying Gestapo police of the 1940’s to the more recent beating of Rodney King, police officers have abused their powers like a broken record. Police have engaged in unjustified shootings, severe beatings, fatal chokings, and unnecessarily rough treatment of citizens in rural and urban areas from New York to Los Angeles. Just as the founders of our great nation stood to face the British in the 18th century, and just as our forefathers fought to free us from the shackles of slavery, we must now fight to ensure that our democracy is not tainted by the practice of unjust or discriminatory law.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Drunk Ohio Cop Found Passed Out (Drunk) In Burger King Drive-Thru.† This was a headline on CNN.com on February 21, 2005. This kind of story serves as an example that not all of our police officers are as moral as they claim to be. The most disturbing part of this story wasn’t that this police veteran was found intoxicated in his dispatch car, it’s that this man had the power of our law behind him for years before this happened. Many of the thousands of laws that help police officers do things like pull you over for no legitimate reason, or come into your house without probable cause, were constructed for just these purposes. This fact goes hand in hand with a quote from Tacitus, a famous Roman historian and philosopher, â€Å"the more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Police officers sometimes lack a crucial prerequisite for their job, common sense. Instead of getting drug dealers and other dangerous criminals off the streets, they are often seen in packs of three to five â€Å"investigating† events like fireworks in the dorms, or streakers.

Compare and Contrast the Speakers Essay

The Road Not Taken and Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening are both very good poems. I feel The Road Not Taken is one that reminds me of myself. I will tell you how they differ but at the same time are so much alike. In The Road Not Taken he lets us know that he has to make a decision. In order to make that decision he looks as far as he can to see what road he wants to take. He talks about how the path he took may have been the better on for him. It had been the one less traveled on. In Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening he also has a decision to make. He is walking with his horse in the woods. There are no other people around on this snowy night. He stops in the woods to watch them feel up with the snow. Even his horse thinks this is a strange thing that he is doing. It’s cold and dark, plus he knows he has miles to go before he can get any sleep. Now both speakers have a conflict to handle. One has to decide which path he will take while the other has to decide if he will stop in his path. They both are on a path and they both have to get to the end of their path. In The Road Not Taken he makes is decision by taking the path less traveled. Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening know he has miles to go in order to sleep so he can’t stop now. As you can see we all have choices to make and paths to travel. There will be things that come in your way that will get you off track, but you have to make sure you get on the path till the end.

New Science essays

New Science essays The New Science: Prosperity or Plague? As humanity approaches the new millennium, we are forced to make decisions regarding the future of our race. Our past history has shown us how far we have come and how much we have relied on technology. Will we continue to depend on the new science even with the emergence of controversial issues such We as a race must ultimately decide whether the new science is a prosperity or a plague. It is my firm belief that the increased use of science and technology will set us on road of demise that might ultimately destroy With just one command, a terrorist can detroy an entire countrys population. Just one angry terrorist can set off a World War 3. Just one. This scary thought is the culmination of our increased use of science on weapons. The craetors of biological weapons might regret their actions now, but those actions cant be changed. At that time, these craeyors believed they were creating biological weapons for the good of science, and they truly believed that this would help the world. Because of sciences lack of a limit we are forced into this tight situation in which there is no turning back. Another issue that proves how the new science will be a plague for us is cloning. At the beginning of the realization that we could create identical beings, many people were hopeful for the idea and advocated it be tested on humans. Som even proposed the idea of using clones asdonors for body organs and body parts. Many still feel the same way now. Who are we to play around with the ability to create life? That ability was meant for God and the universe to hold, not for us to play around with. And using clones for body parts? Who are we, to decide who dies? Besides the moral issues, other issues come into play when discussing cloning. One ...

How to Use the Past Participle in Italian

How to Use the Past Participle in Italian Compound tenses such as the passato prossimo are formed with the present indicative of the auxiliary verb avere or essere and the past participle (participio passato). The past participle of regular verbs is formed by dropping the infinitive ending -are, -ere, or -ire and adding the appropriate final ending: -ato, -uto, or -ito (see tables below). Using Auxiliary Verb Avere The appropriate tense of avere or essere (called the auxiliary or helping verbs) and the past participle of the target verb forms the verb phrase. Avere is used in a myriad of grammatical and linguistic situations. Learning the many conjugations and uses of the verb is crucial to the study of the Italian language. In general, transitive verbs are conjugated with avere. Transitive verbs express an action that carries over from the subject to the direct object: The teacher explains the lesson. The past participle is invariable when the passato prossimo is constructed with avere. Oggi Anna non lavora perchà ¨ ha lavorato ieri.Today Anna isnt working because she worked yesterday. The others worked yesterday too.Anche gli altri hanno lavorato ieri. When the past participle of a verb conjugated with avere is preceded by the third person direct object pronouns lo, la, le, or li, the past participle agrees with the preceding direct object pronoun in gender and number. Avere is an irregular verb (un verbo irregolare); it does not follow a predictable pattern of conjugation. Using Auxiliary Verb Essere When using essere, the past participle always agrees in gender and number with the subject of the verb. It can, therefore, have four endings: -o, -a, -i, -e. In many cases intransitive verbs (those that cannot take a direct object), especially those expressing motion, are conjugated with the auxiliary verb essere. The verb essere is also conjugated with itself as the auxiliary verb. Some of the most common verbs that form compound tenses with essere include: andare - to goarrivare- to arrivecadere- to fall, to dropcostare- to costcrescere- to growdiventare- to becomedurare- to last, to continueentrare- to entermorire- to dienascere- to be bornpartire- to leave, to departrestare- to stay, to remaintornare- to returnuscire- to exitvenire- to come Regular Past Participles Of -ARE Verbs INFINITIVE FORM- PAST PARTICIPLE camminare (to walk)- camminatoimparare (to learn)- imparatolavare (to wash)- lavatotelefonare (to telephone)- telefonato Regular Past Participles Of -ERE Verbs INFINITIVE FORM- PAST PARTICIPLE credere (to believe)- credutosapere (to know)- saputotenere (to keep)- tenuto Regular Past Participles Of -IRE Verbs INFINITIVE FORM- PAST PARTICIPLE capire (to understand)- capitofinire (to finish)- finito(to accept)- graditosentire (to feel, to smell)- sentito Below are examples of the passato prossimo with conjugated forms of the verb avere. Passato Prossimo With Regular Verbs PERSON IMPARARE (TO LEARN) CREDERE (TO BELIEVE) CAPIRE (TO UNDERSTAND) (io) ho imparato ho creduto ho capito (tu) hai imparato hai creduto hai capito (lui, lei, Lei) ha imparato ha creduto ha capito (noi) abbiamo imparato abbiamo creduto abbiamo capito (voi) avete imparato avete creduto avete capito (loro, Loro) hanno imparato hanno creduto hanno capito

Should the Number of Passengers Be Limited in Cars Driven by Teens

Should the Number of Passengers Be Limited in Cars Driven by Teens The article is about the importance of limiting the number of passengers in the cars driven by teens. Driving is quite liberating, a rite of passage for most American teenagers. It means  freedom  from parental oppression, is a way for an adolescent to have some of the responsibilities of an adult. Most teens get their driver’s license around 16 or 17 years old, during their sophomore and junior years of  high school. Teens spend hours after school, nights on the weekends, driving around with their friends. It’s a major part of their lives, with social, even spiritual, implications. However, though it’s a major part of the adolescent experience, it’s still taken for granted – not just the privilege, but dangerousness of it. And it’s because of this that the number of passengers should be limited to just two people in cars driven by minors, one of which being a licensed drivers, as well. TV HAS A NEGATIVE IMPACT ON TEENAGERS Why just two passengers in teen-driven cars? First of all, adolescent drivers just aren’t experienced enough drivers to ride around with a car packed full of other people, especially other teens. It’s too distracting for them. They aren’t thinking about safety, about a safe-driving speed, aggressive drivers on the road, etc. What’s on their minds? Popularity, looking cool and having fun are important to them – teens think they’re invincible. There are not anticipating the unexpected – a deer in the road, a drunk driver, an accident up the road. Any teen driver is too self-absorbed to think that when they are driving a car, they are at the wheel of a loaded weapon capable of taking the lives of others. They just aren’t thinking of these things. It’s not important to them. They just don’t yet have the driving experience. A federal law should be put in place limiting the number of passengers in teen-driven cars to just two for one more important reason: With fewer drivers in a car, there are fewer distractions. Teens are notorious for spending too much time on their iPhones, totally ignoring everyone and everything else around them. They don’t have the attention span to safely drive a car full of other people; and if that car is filled with loud, self-absorbed attention-seeking teens, it’s even harder for a teen driver to focus on what is important: driving safely to a destination, protecting its passengers. And that is virtually impossible when there are too many people in a car driven by an adolescent. Not only should teen-driven cars be limited to just two passengers, a licensed driver, regardless of their age, should always be in the car with a teen driver unless they are driving in the car alone. This way, that licensed passenger can help the young, inexperienced driver as a passenger – aiding them in paying attention, stopping when necessary, and when to ignore rowdy, distracting drivers. Licensed drivers also use their own experience, even if limited, to get the car safely to its destination. And this notion of legally mandating a licensed driver to ride as a passenger in a teen-driven car holds the driver more responsible – it holds them to a higher standard, because they realize this passenger, the licensed driver, will be watching them and keeping them focused, which will most likely make the teen driver a better, safer, more attentive and mindful driver. WHY MISSING A CLASS IS A BAD IDEA Let’s conclude this argument, that the number of passengers should be limited to two people total in cars driven by minors, one of which being a licensed driver. It should be no other way, potentially legally enforced in every American state. Repercussions should be extreme, as to scare young drivers into obeying the law and realizing that a car is a weapon when not driven responsibly and safely. Of course, several teen drivers are assuredly good drivers with a good perspective, who are responsible and mindful of how dangerous driving truly is. But the majority of teens do not, to the full extent, realize the potential disasters that come with driving, consequences that too often lead to premature death and serious injury. And if teen drivers are limited to just two passengers at a time, one of which being a licensed driver, then driving-related accidents will lessen, and the road will be a better, safer place for people to travel.

Is online education proving to be successful Essay

Is online education proving to be successful - Essay Example Their instructors provide automatic feedback to the students. In most cases, more concern is on learning content rather than communication between the teacher and the students. With this information, the paper will explain how online learning works and analyse whether online education is successful or it is prone to fail in the future. Online education involves the use of educational technology, information technology, communication technologies and organized electronic media in teaching students. This learning system can occur inside or outside the classroom and can be an instructor-led, self-paced or asynchronous learning. The hallmark of this online education system is that it favors distance learners since it is flexible and has blended learning process (Palloff & Pratt 2007, 44). The system can range from a scale of none online education to complete online education. This system appeals to young learners who embrace technology and E-learning. Online education became common in the 21st century following the increased demand of people to learn. Most universities offer various online certificates and programs online. It has become an easy and convenient way through which institutions make profit at the same time learners’ benefit from the reduced distance. The system is cheaper and saves much of the time. Access to the internet and the skills of utilizing the system are the principal factors that see success in utilization of online education. May students have graduated with online degrees and masters (Castano-Munoz, Sancho-Vinuesa & Duart, 2013, pg. 245). Others are increasing enrolling for both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in various institutions. There is an increased competition between various institutions in order to provide the best quality and attract more students. This competition is healthy because it improves the quality of education. Regardless of the efforts done, there

Brand Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Brand Marketing - Essay Example According to the report findings a mass-market product has little differentiation, and is often marketed as a generic, low cost alternative. Of course, no marketing would exist without two driving forces to sustain it. These forces are the consumer and the competition. The consumer can be generally placed into two categories, a hedonic or utilitarian purchaser. Competition is based solely on brand ownership and product differentiation as they are marketed towards the customer. As the paper declares consumer’s can be identified as hedonic and utilitarian. This is an important concept of product and brand marketing, because consumers perceptions of a purchase based on their personal desire to fulfill a need or fulfill a self-indulgence has a strong bearing on why there are different types of products. To better understand the branding of products as prestige, masstige, or mass-market, a short background of the average customer is presented here. The traditional concepts of cost and benefit values are perceived as having characteristics of exclusively product and price, the standard economics of supply and demand where the consumers experience is exclusively based on the products quality and price evaluations to control consumption choices and demands, and yet this does not define the reasoning of consumers emotional connections, where "A fourth definition equates value with an overall assessment of subjective worth considering all relevant evaluative criteria" (Babin and Darden p 645 1994), in a sense the overall assessment is the consumers emotional constructs, the sociological and psychological desire to feel rewarded in more than the physical sense of achievement. Babin and Darden analyze that shopping has both utilitarian and hedonic traits, where a methodology only encompasses the consumable and its dimensional and monetary values lacks the ability to fully measure the shoppers' experience, a concept expressed as having importance in other research, although "Far less research has been conducted to examine whether contrast effects occur among hedonic experiences (i.e., experiences of pleasure or pain)" (Novemsky and

Financial intermediation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

Financial intermediation - Essay Example It was based on the efficiency hypothesis model and was distinguished from the imminent failure model. After analyzing 33 mergers during the 1867-1935 period, the author found that the consolidation and integration (which result as consequences of mergers and acquisitions) reduce systemic risk. An important variable in this finding is the identification of the role of diversification in the dilution and management of risks. The study also proposed the empirical validity of concentration-stability hypothesis as a framework for explaining the stability of Canadian banks. It was found that strong concentration of banks, which came as an offshoot of mergers and acquisitions, was a strong predictor of stability. What is good about the paper The paper is significant for several reasons. It contains important insights on the developmental evolution of the Canadian banking sector. The author has also proposed and explained insights that could enrich the extant literature on the positive impa ct of mergers and acquisitions (M&As). The successful use and evaluation of hypotheses and the systematic assessment approaches included can provide helpful insights to researchers interested in the same or in related research topics. These constitute the reasons why it is worthy of publication. This section will explain this in detail. An important insight postulated by the study is the explanation why the Canadian banking system outperformed the United States banking system during the Great Depression (p.6). The author was able to provide important evidences, most particularly, the argument that Canada avoided the crisis by maintaining a banking system typified by risk diversification through branching (p.6). This aspect in the study contributes an insight to the body of literature in regard to the incidence of bank failures, vulnerabilities and risks that could be avoided. The emerging principle is that mergers have cushioned the Canadian banking system from the Great Depression by diluting the risks. Here, a theoretical evidence was presented: the cases of the cross-province acquisitions from 1900-1931led to risk diversification because the bulk of business for each bank in a consolidated financial institution is based on its home province, hence, the risk for the entire organization is allocated according to its branches, operating in their respective locations. Furthermore, the study also explained the differences between mergers and acquisitions than simply branching out. If the bank is concerned with risks or is interested with diluting it, branching would be an option because it also meant the diversification of operation across Canada. However, it was explained how M&As have different degree of risk exposure than branching, effectively classifying one from the other. If one does think about it, mergers and acquisitions diversify through integration and accumulation of resources whereas branching diversifies by expanding and spending resources. In the former, there is an inward flow of resources where the latter sees an outflow. This is the reason why in the study's comparative analysis, it was found that "out of the 10 chartered banks that remained in business in 1935, six had been involved in acquisitions," and that "only one out of the 26 failed banks was involved in bank consolidation" (p.9). The study used Fisher's exact test to evaluate the relationship it revealed that bank consolidations did not result or

The negative effects on children whose parents push them in sports Term Paper

The negative effects on children whose parents push them in sports - Term Paper Example 397). However, a child’s perception of parental support can greatly influence how or if the child obtains the benefits associated with sport (Lerner, Lerner and Finkelstein 2001, 706). Observable negative effects of parental pressure on children in sport include low self-esteem, increase fear of failing, an increase in physical complaints/illness/injury, feeling inadequate, feeling guilty, anxious and general discontent with sport participation (Lerner, Lerner and Finkelstein 2001, 706). In order to demonstrate the negative effects of parental pressure on children’s participation in sport an exploration and analysis of the literature on the importance of parental pressure and support in the child’s sport participation is conducted. A survey was distributed among 6th grade students at a local elementary school and their parents to compare their different perspectives on sports. The findings in both the literature review and the empirical research study are discussed with general suggestions for parents relative to how they approach parenting in terms of supporting their children’s participation in sports. This research study examines the negative effects of parents pushing their children’s participation in sport. As a lead into this study, it is important to underline the different perspectives parents and children have of sport participation. Studies suggest that children engage in sport for a variety of reasons. For some studies children sport participation is aligned with acceptance by peers (Horn 2008, 279). Other studies suggest that children engage in sport activities for the sheer excitement of winning and competing or to simply improve their social and physical skills (Grolnick 2003, 135). For younger children sport is merely a method for playing and having fun (Laker 2000, 29). Inevitably, studies agree for the most part that how

The Virgin Mary painting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

The Virgin Mary painting - Essay Example The essay "The Virgin Mary painting" explores the importance of religion in Mexican art ad discovers The Virgin Mary painting. The Virgin Mary also has a very prominent position in the religious art of Mexico and this is mainly because of the fact that she is highly venerated in the country with many Mexicans considering her to be the mother of the entire nation. In addition, many Mexicans during their prayers seek the help of the Virgin Mary as they ask her to intercede to God and Jesus on their behalf and this has ensured that she has come to be revered by all the people in the nation. The prominence of the Virgin Mary in the national psyche has ensured that she is also given a prominent position in art, because Mexican artists, like all Mexican people, are very devoted to her. This has led to a situation where most of the art in the country has some religious aspect in one way or the other and this has ensured that the religious spirit of Mexican artwork has remained prevalent wit h little sign of its diminishing in the coming years. Religion has been a source of inspiration for Mexican art for many years and it is for this reason that a large number of art that it produced in this country, even that in the secular realm, has some aspect of religion within it. As has been mentioned above, Roman Catholicism is the most dominant religion within Mexico and this has been the case since the founding of the state after the Spanish conquest. However, it has been found that the Catholicism is highly syncretic.

Accounting information systems development Essay

Accounting information systems development - Essay Example The company in this scenario is a small, local CPA firm. The personnel at the organization include three new CPAs and an office manager. Primarily, the company's business consists of tax and write-up work.However, recently the company has required a new client: a homeowner's association with a total of 150 homeowners.The firm has agreed to provide the homeowner's association with several services. There are six service areas that the company has agreed to service the homeowner's association with: billing, collection, payments, reporting, tax, and advisory. With billing, each homeowner will be sent an itemized bill each quarter, dues being payable by the month. Late fees accumulate at one percent of the unpaid balance each month that passes. On the first day of the last month of the quarter, bills are mailed out to the homeowners, and payment is expected by the quarter's end.With collection, the accounting firm is responsible for collecting the payments from the post office box that i t has rented specially for the homeowner's association. They are also responsible for depositing the checks they collect.With the large, new client, the company is hoping to expand that area of their practice by computerizing the main functions of their system. The goal of the company is to computerized the system's main functions. The main focus of the computerization will be on billing and reporting. Other than the actual interface of the new system, the checking account, financial statements, and tax preparation parts will not be computerized at this time. Instead, the billing and collections portions of the system will be computerized. The System and Manual Functions (Inputs, Outputs, and Controls) BusinessTown (2008) tell us to "Think of the accounting system as a wheel whose hub is the general ledger (G/L). Feeding the hub information are the spokes of the wheel. These include accounts receivable, accounts payable, order entry, inventory control, cost accounting, payroll, and fixed assets accounting." Each of these items is a subledger of the general ledger, and each summarizes the entries and then feeds that information to the general ledger. There are a few differences between manual and automated ledgers. In order to consider this, think of the general ledger as a piece of paper that shows assets, liabilities, income, and expenses where all transactions are recorded by hand in a manual fashion. While some of the entries from the different subledgers flow upwards, others are entered manually through the utilization of a general journal entry. "The same concept of a sheet of paper holds for each subledger that feeds the general ledger. A computerized accounting system works the same way, except that the general ledger and subledgers are computer files instead of sheets of paper. Entries are posted to each and summarized, then the summary is sent up to the G/L for posting" (BusinessTown, 2008). Billing is the first component that will be computerized at the firm. This will be highly beneficial to the organization since "Accounting firms can improve their profitability and relations with clients by automating client billing with computers. Accounting firms c

The negative effects on children whose parents push them in sports Term Paper

The negative effects on children whose parents push them in sports - Term Paper Example 397). However, a child’s perception of parental support can greatly influence how or if the child obtains the benefits associated with sport (Lerner, Lerner and Finkelstein 2001, 706). Observable negative effects of parental pressure on children in sport include low self-esteem, increase fear of failing, an increase in physical complaints/illness/injury, feeling inadequate, feeling guilty, anxious and general discontent with sport participation (Lerner, Lerner and Finkelstein 2001, 706). In order to demonstrate the negative effects of parental pressure on children’s participation in sport an exploration and analysis of the literature on the importance of parental pressure and support in the child’s sport participation is conducted. A survey was distributed among 6th grade students at a local elementary school and their parents to compare their different perspectives on sports. The findings in both the literature review and the empirical research study are discussed with general suggestions for parents relative to how they approach parenting in terms of supporting their children’s participation in sports. This research study examines the negative effects of parents pushing their children’s participation in sport. As a lead into this study, it is important to underline the different perspectives parents and children have of sport participation. Studies suggest that children engage in sport for a variety of reasons. For some studies children sport participation is aligned with acceptance by peers (Horn 2008, 279). Other studies suggest that children engage in sport activities for the sheer excitement of winning and competing or to simply improve their social and physical skills (Grolnick 2003, 135). For younger children sport is merely a method for playing and having fun (Laker 2000, 29). Inevitably, studies agree for the most part that how

Accounting information systems development Essay

Accounting information systems development - Essay Example The company in this scenario is a small, local CPA firm. The personnel at the organization include three new CPAs and an office manager. Primarily, the company's business consists of tax and write-up work.However, recently the company has required a new client: a homeowner's association with a total of 150 homeowners.The firm has agreed to provide the homeowner's association with several services. There are six service areas that the company has agreed to service the homeowner's association with: billing, collection, payments, reporting, tax, and advisory. With billing, each homeowner will be sent an itemized bill each quarter, dues being payable by the month. Late fees accumulate at one percent of the unpaid balance each month that passes. On the first day of the last month of the quarter, bills are mailed out to the homeowners, and payment is expected by the quarter's end.With collection, the accounting firm is responsible for collecting the payments from the post office box that i t has rented specially for the homeowner's association. They are also responsible for depositing the checks they collect.With the large, new client, the company is hoping to expand that area of their practice by computerizing the main functions of their system. The goal of the company is to computerized the system's main functions. The main focus of the computerization will be on billing and reporting. Other than the actual interface of the new system, the checking account, financial statements, and tax preparation parts will not be computerized at this time. Instead, the billing and collections portions of the system will be computerized. The System and Manual Functions (Inputs, Outputs, and Controls) BusinessTown (2008) tell us to "Think of the accounting system as a wheel whose hub is the general ledger (G/L). Feeding the hub information are the spokes of the wheel. These include accounts receivable, accounts payable, order entry, inventory control, cost accounting, payroll, and fixed assets accounting." Each of these items is a subledger of the general ledger, and each summarizes the entries and then feeds that information to the general ledger. There are a few differences between manual and automated ledgers. In order to consider this, think of the general ledger as a piece of paper that shows assets, liabilities, income, and expenses where all transactions are recorded by hand in a manual fashion. While some of the entries from the different subledgers flow upwards, others are entered manually through the utilization of a general journal entry. "The same concept of a sheet of paper holds for each subledger that feeds the general ledger. A computerized accounting system works the same way, except that the general ledger and subledgers are computer files instead of sheets of paper. Entries are posted to each and summarized, then the summary is sent up to the G/L for posting" (BusinessTown, 2008). Billing is the first component that will be computerized at the firm. This will be highly beneficial to the organization since "Accounting firms can improve their profitability and relations with clients by automating client billing with computers. Accounting firms c

Scientology Definition Essay Example for Free

Scientology Definition Essay Scientology by many people is viewed as a cult and has no religious backing but according to Faith, Religion Theology (FRT) a religion constitutes as people (being able) to recognize that what matters most in life is or includes a level of reality that transcends, or goes beyond, what normally understands as human or finite meaning an ultimate mystery or Divine (Knitter 166). FRT also states that religion deals with ethical reasons how to behave and beliefs along with a creed, code, and ceremonies (Knitter 163). So according to FRT scientology would be a religion because it does believe in the higher being that is talked about in the first quote. Scientology also has a set ethical code that determines how people should behave inside their religion. The question that comes from this is where does Scientology get their creed, code, and ceremonies? Scientology began in the 1950s based on the findings of L. Ron Hubbard. Hubbard is known as the father of Scientology (Church). A formed the religion of Scientology after studying the human mind and life known as Dianectics (Church). So as Hubbards research expanded, so did the ideas of Scientology until it incorporated all the ideas from all of Hubbards publications. All this being said their creed, also written by Hubbard, is like most creeds a basis of what everyone in the religion believes in. Hubbard also wrote the 4 codes that Scientology is based around; The Auditors code, The Code of Scientology, The Code of Honor, and a code called The Way of Happiness. All of these codes play a key role in the scientologists life and what they believe in (Church). They believe in a God but they leave the image of God to the individuals. That leaves the ceremonies performed in Scientology. They perform a lot of ceremonies common to Christianity such as weddings, Sunday services, naming services, counseling, and funeral services Although they have the same ceremonies they are viewed in different perspectives because they have different beliefs than any other religion. With this different view they still show the connection between their ceremonies and their beliefs. This is apparent throughout what they do during their services and the layout of the church and chapel. Sundays services are headed by a minister whose main job is auditing or tutoring, because services are not a main focus of the religion, although they are offered (Beliefnet). The service is more a meeting place to get everyone on the same page and let people know they have fellow people on this journey with them. Most Scientologist still attend these services because it is another chance to take a step towards the eighth dynamic, which is the ultimate goal of scientology, and will be explained in a later paragraph. The service starts with the Creed of the Church of Scientology, Sermon, L. Ron Hubbard Lecture, group auditing, Announcements, and ends with the Prayer for Total Freedom. The opening of the service is an obvious showing of the overlapping of creed and ceremony (Church). It is difficult to tell when the sermon ends and the lecture begins since they usually have the same idea and lesson. They usually have the same idea and lesson. The goal of these lessons is for the people to take them and apply them to the real life situations. They believe that helping others is the only way to improve their lives. Next is the group auditing, considered the most important part of the service, which is led by the minister (Church). The minister also gives a few instructions to help the listener free themselves from the material world and make them more spiritually aware and open to improving their life. The announcements are the next part of mass and this is a chance for the minister to let followers know what is going on around the community. This plays into the role of scientologists always wanting to better mankind. Finally service closes with the Pray for Total Freedom. In this prayer the people ask the author of the universe to make their goals possible and to help all those that are in need (Church). After attending these two ceremonies I realized I still did not understand Scientologys view on God. This is when I met the man who would answer that and so much more. Ajax approached me after service and told me he would explain Scientology to me. He started with the layout of the chapel. From the doorway it looked like a normal worship room, but once inside there are posters going the distance of the room showing different aspects of the church. I will try and explain as well as Ajax explained to me. He started with the creed of Scientology. Ajax explained that you have to look deeper than the creed he then continued to talk about how this creed is more as a guide for you to find your own God as you want to picture him, but none of us can picture him until we have reached infinity (Ajax). I hope this confuses you as much as it confused me. He then had me watch a video on the eight dynamics which showed the different dynamics that humans have to go through before finding God. The seven dynamics go as follow: self, creativity, group survival, species, life forms, physical universe, and spiritual dynamic. A man has to reach the perfection of the first 6 dynamics before finishing the 7th. They say this because you have to have respect for everything in your life before you can be spiritually strong. Once the 7th dynamic is fulfilled only then will the eight dynamic appear to man. This dynamic is known as God or the creator by most religions, but the correct term for Scientology is infinity (Scientology). According to Hubbard Infinity is the allness of all (Church). This is where ones true vision of God will show itself and until then no one knows what their God truly looks like. This is why Scientology does not push one Dogma onto their followers (Scientology). Ajax proceeded to give me specifics on how other aspects of scientology works; such as auditing and classes. After the tour was over, I asked him What makes Scientology the right path to finding God and how does the services help this process of finding our God? Ajax took a deep breath and then proceeded to give me the following response Well, Seth have you ever had a doubt in your religion? I already know the answer it is yes, you know why I know this? because most religions are based on faith. Scientology is not like that. It is based on proven facts. I can tell you how people are going to act to certain events just because of who they are and how they carry themselves. The reason I know these is Scientology. This carries over to God. I came to America from Pakistan for college. I was brought up as a Muslim and firmly believed in Allah which I still do but I was brought into this religion and it just made sense to me, as it should for you too. I just view Allah in a different view now as being infinity and something I cannot picture till I fulfill everything else. I started studying Scientology, yes studying because Scientology does what a religion should be about, which is doing not believing which is how most religions are based on. So by doing these things we find ourselves and by doing that we find God. So that is what makes Scientology the right choice over other religions (Ajax) this round about answer was the thing that made everything about this religion finally click. The idea is that they believe in a God, but it is different for every follower since this belief system is their idea of the way of reaching Nirvana, Heaven, or in their case Infinity (Beliefnet). The best way to put it is how it is put on their offical website which says Scientology is not a dogmatic religion in which one is asked to accept anything on faith alone. On the contrary, one discovers for oneself that the principles of Scientology are true by applying its principles and observing or experiencing the results (Church). Scientology bases everything on experiences and through my experience there I learned that Scientology is a whole new idea that seems like a far cry from a religion, but after experiencing all that, I can see why people put everything they want into Scientology. Do I buy into it? Some things yes, but not the whole religion, although it helped me find more concrete reasons why I believe in my own religion. Work CIted Ajax. Tour of the Church. Personal interview. 28 Oct. 2012. Ajax gave me a in-depth tour of every aspect of the church and everything they do and through this tour I learned more than i could have ever imagined about Scientology. Beliefnet. What Do Scientologists Believe? Beliefnet.com. What Do Scientologists Believe? Beliefnet.com. Beliefnet, 01 Oct. 2011. Web. 30 Sept. 2012. http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Scientology/What-Do-Scientologists-Believe.aspx. This website shows a general outline of what people who follow Scientology believe. It also describes how their religion works and in little detail how the world works through their eyes. The author is not told but their intended audience is someone who is curious about Scientology and they do a great job of making it simple and easy to understand for someone who is just starting to look into it. Church of Scientology International. Church of Scientology: Religion Beliefs-What Is Scientology?, L. Ron Hubbard. Church of Scientology: Religion Beliefs-What Is Scientology?, L. Ron Hubbard, News. Church of Scientology International, 2012. Web. 30 Sept. 2012. http://www.scientology.org/. This is the offical website for Scientology. It is very detailed in every aspect of the religion that is Scientology. Everything from who created Scientology to beliefs and practices. It also gives examples of multiple places of worship. The website was made by the international Scientology organization. Their goal of this page is to inform people on what they are doing at churches and how they work and how people in this religion are. Besides the obvious talking up of the religion the site seems very accurate and reliable. Knitter, Paul, and William Madges. Chapter Six Religion: What Is It? Faith, Religion Theology. By Brennan R. Hill. Mystic, CT: Twenty-Third Publications, 1997. 161-90. Print. This chapter focuses on what a religion is and what makes up a religion. It bases it on the knowing of something that is farther than humans. Then explains that code, creed, and ceremony is basis of behavior and beliefs. This source is targeted for students and is very reliable since it is used in a college course. Scienctology. Prod. OrgSync. Church of Scientology, 2010. DVD. Ajax gave me 8 hours of supplemental videos that went into farther depth of each of the topics he explained to me. Everything from their service projects to the 8 dynamics.

How Self Evaluation is implemented for school improvement

How Self Evaluation is implemented for school improvement The aim of the study is to investigate how School Self-Evaluation (SSE) is implemented for school improvement. There is an increasing international trend of democratisation and decentralisation of education, from the bureaucratic national to an autonomous school based education, in terms of financial management, human resource management and curriculum management. The Department of education observes that with the democratisation of education and associated decentralisation of authority, schools are increasingly being held accountable for their performance (DoE, 2004). School Self-Evaluation is defined as a procedure involving systematic information gathering which is initiated by the school itself and aims to assess the functioning of the school and the attainment of its education goals for the purpose of supporting decision-making and learning for fostering school improvement as a whole (Schildkamp, 2007). Paradoxically, the quality of education that is offered, especially in rural schools of South Africa, is decreasing dramatically. This is confirmed by national and international assessment bodies like the Systemic Evaluation (SE), the Trends in Mathematics and Science Studies (TIMSS), the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), and the Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ). The Department of Basic Education, (2010) contends that both the Systemic Evaluation in 2004 and SACMEQ in 2000 indicated that less than one in four Grade 6 learners passed minimum standards in mathematics (DBE, 2010). It further stipulates that the international tests that South Africa participates in show that the top 10% of learners in South Africa do worse than the top 10% of learners in other developing countries such as Kenya, Indonesia and Chile (DBE, 2010). School improvement is defined as a systematic, sustained effort in changing learning conditions and other related internal conditions in one or more schools with the ultimate of accomplishing educational goals more effectively (Van Veltzen, Miles, Ekholm, Hamemyer, and Robin, 1985). The above observations do not presume that the decline in the quality of education in South Africa is due to the democratisation and decentralisation of education, but rather depicts an inevitable demand for a more relevant mechanism, at school level, to be put in place to ensure high quality education and continuous school improvement. This condition imposes that an effective implementation and monitoring of School Self-Evaluation (SSE) is indispensable. Vanhoof, Maeyer and Petegem (2011) confirm that schools are increasingly required to assume a greater share of the responsibility for developing and guaranteeing educational quality (Vanhoof, Maeyer and Petegem, 2011). SSE is a school-based evaluation that is supposed to be implemented by principals, School Management Teams (SMTs), School Governing Bodies (SGBs) and the community, on an annual basis, to ensure continuous improvement and high quality education in all schools. problem statement and rationale for the study School self-evaluation was introduces by the former Minister of education, Professor Kader Asmal in 2001. It is the initial phase of Whole School Evaluation (WSE), preceding external evaluation. In his foreword, the minister states that the National Policy on Whole School Evaluation introduces an effective monitoring and evaluation process that is vital to the improvement of quality and standards of performance in schools (DBE, 2002). This policy aims at improving the overall quality of education in South African schools, and its purpose is to facilitate improvement of school performance through approaches characterised by partnership, collaboration, mentoring and guidance (DBE, 2002). According to the National Education Policy Act (No.27 of 1996), the Minister is mandated to direct that standards of education provision, delivery and performance are monitored though out the country. It remains a worrying factor that rural schools seem not to be considered as part of South African sch ools by these education policies. This view is confirmed by the New Vision for Rural Schooling, (2005) which states that the states commitment to social justice in all matters and especially to universal access to education, written into the Constitution, remains unfulfilled for a large number of children, youths and adults living in rural areas (DoE, 2005). A plethora of education policies have been developed in the new political dispensation, but the serious challenge is that they do not translate into school improvement. Schildkamp and Visscher (2010) argue that enormous resources are invested to develop and implement school self-evaluation instruments, but how schools actually use the instrument has never been thoroughly evaluated longitudinally (Schildkamp and Visscher, 2010). Furthermore, they contend that several studies report a lack of effect of school self-evaluation feedback, but this lack of effect may be caused by a lack of use of school self-evaluation feedback (Schildkamp and Visscher, 2010). McNamara and OHara (2008) note that there has been a remarkable rise in the regulation of public services and servants, especially in education, in an attempt to counterbalance the autonomy of schools. Furthermore, external evaluation and inspection has been an important element of this trend, however as their limitations become more apparent, the concept of internal or self evaluation has grown in importance (McNamara and OHara, 2008). These authors proceed to warn that the greater emphasis an evaluation system places on teacher appraisal and accountability, the less useful that system is likely to be for school improvement and professional development (McNamara and OHara, 2008). The European Parliament and Council on European Cooperation in Quality Evaluation in school education, in McNamara and OHara (2008), argue that improvements in European schools evaluation provisions are dependant on the enhancement of schools abilities to evaluate themselves and call for all member states of the European Union (EU) to encourage school self-evaluation as a method of creating learning and improving schools (McNamara and OHara, 2008). This analysis is echoed by the OECD report which views development of school evaluation skills within the education system as being a critical component of the drive to improving educational provision in OECD member states (McNamara and OHara, 2008) During the apartheid era, prior 1994, traditional quality assurance approaches like school inspection were vehemently opposed by teacher unions who felt that their members were intimidated. When WSE was introduced, there was hope that this democratic process would bring satisfaction to educators and yield better learner attainment results, particularly in previously disadvantaged areas, but that positive change is still being awaited. Despite the surfeit of education policies, South Africa is facing a serious challenge of a growing trend of dysfunctional and underperforming schools, especially in previously disadvantaged areas. Efforts by the government to swivel this proclivity have been in vane. This is confirmed by the fact that the government has made some strides to develop education policies that should have culminated in school improvement, but that outcome has not yet been realised. The Whole School Evaluation policy was introduced in 2001 to improve school performance, but c onversely, schools are performing worse as time goes by, as revealed by national and international studies like Systemic Evaluation, TIMSS, SACMEQ and PIRLS. It should be a worrying factor to every educationist as to why this education policy is not yielding the expected outcomes. It is a cause for concern to find out if this policy is being implemented as prescribed by the relevant policy document. Even though the Mpumalanga province of South Africa has reported an 8,9 % improvement in grade 12 results in 2010, it is still the lowest province in terms of learner attainment in the country, sitting at 56,8 % (MDoE, 2011). Poor performance is shoddier in rural schools where socio-economic challenges and challenges of providing qualified teachers, adequate physical and financial resources are still overwhelming. This situation is exacerbated by the fact that a good number of these rural primary schools are multi-graded farm schools. As a principal of one of the rural primary schools in the neighbourhood of one of the worse performing secondary schools in the sub-region, I have an obligation to find out the root course of underperformance in rural school. It has also come to my realisation that during school visitations by the circuit management, district office or provincial external evaluation team, the school self evaluation instrument is neither enquired about nor monitored. There is no link or correlation between inspection and school-based evaluation. According to the WSE policy, schools must complete and submit self evaluation forms A and B before the end of March on an annual basis (DoE, 2004). On the contrary not even a single school submits such a document to the regional office. I have also noted that in my three years of experience as a principal, not even a single official from any of the structures of the education department has ever enquired about the self evaluation instrument. One then tends to wonder what purpose is this education policy serving. Whether they are meant to improve the quality of education or they were just developed for symbolism still remains mysterious. I am therefore determined to come out with a turn around strategy to ensure effective implementation of the self-evaluation instrument of the WSE policy so as to ensure accountability and improvement in the education quality of rural schools. This study will investigate how and to what extent the school self-evaluation instrument is utilised in rural schools. It will further explore the perceptions of school principals towards school self-evaluation. Lastly, it will determine how school self-evaluation could be better utilised to ensure school improvement and quality education. It is my conviction that if school self-evaluation can be efficiently implemented, school improvement and quality education can be achieved. Moreover, the school self-evaluation findings must easily accessible to all stakeholders, analysed, and its recommendations must be implemented so as to realise the desired outcomes of school improvement. This study will advocate for keeping all stakeholders informed about the performance of their school, and encourage them to positively contribution to the improvement of their school. It will also assist different officers in all structures of education, from the school principal to the provincial Superintend ent Generals, to perform their designated duties diligently. Finally policy makers will get feedback of implementation of the policy such that they can evaluate its impact and make possible amendments if necessary. main research question In order to address the problem statement, this study must give an explicit answer to the following question:- How and to what extent is school self-evaluation implemented for school improvement in rural schools? structure of the proposal Section 1 of the proposal is the introduction of school self-evaluation, enunciation of the problem statement and rational, and elocution of the main research question. Section 2 portrays the context of the study and section 3 presents the literature that has been reviewed. Section 4 will demonstrate the research design and methods that will be implemented and section 5 will illustrate the timeline for the whole research process. Section 6 will give the outline of chapters and section 7 will be the list references. Context for the study The study will take place in the rural schools of Mpumalanga province. Mpumalanga is one of the provinces that have the lowest socio-economic status. Consequently, most schools are in quintiles one and two, indicating that the learners in these schools are from destitute families. Learners have to travel for over five Kilometres every single day, to get to school, posing absenteeism problems to educators. Some of these schools have no electricity and sanitation, such that introduction of the new forms of technologically advanced equipment is implausible. Mpumalanga has the least percentage decrease in the number of learners at farm schools. The new vision for rural schooling states that between 1996 and 2000, it decreased by -65% (DoE, 2005). This figure shows that there is a steady increase in the number of learners at farm schools. The Ermelo sub-district has three circuits with ninety seven schools, out of which only eight are in town. The rest of them are located in very remote farms such that access to such schools for the support teams in a daunting task. There are no secondary farm school, but combined schools. This is because the enrolment of these schools does not allow them to be fully fledged secondary schools. A good number of primary schools have multi-graded classes, combining learners from different grades into one class. This situation does not only present management problems but pedagogical challenges as well. It is unbearable for educators to manage curriculum delivery under such adverse conditions. Even though conditions seem to be unfavourable for provision of quality education, rural schools are also expected to improve their performance. School self-evaluation must be implemented just in the same way or better than it should be implemented in urban schools. The WSE policy however recognises that the inauspicious conditions may retard the pace of school improvement. A provision was made in the policy, to evaluate each school based on its contextual factors. One of the principles of the WSE policy is seek to understand why schools are where they are and to use the particular circumstances to the school as the main starting point of evaluation (DoE, 2001). literature review introduction This section reviews researches that were conducted in Ireland, Netherlands, England and South Africa, based on School Self-Evaluation (SSE). A comparison is made to identify and best international practices and set them as a benchmark for implementation of School Self-Evaluation for school improvement in South Africa. A DISCUSSION OF research conducted internationally AS WELL AS studies in south africa SCHOOL SELF-EVALUATION IN IRELAND In Ireland, the first system of evaluation that was piloted between 1990 and 1999 is the Whole School Evaluation (WSE). This system culminated in a series of rancorous industrial disputes that lasted until 2003. The reason for these quarrels was that educators viewed evaluation as reductionist and managerialist interference in their profession while stakeholders such as parents, learners and business community demanded hard data from a transparent school evaluation process (McNamara and OHara, 2006). In 2004, a new framework for school evaluation, Looking At Our School (LAOS), was implemented (McNamara and OHara, 2006). McNamara and OHara explain that the School Self-Evaluation (SSE) is based on a broad framework for inspection and evaluation of schools that includes five areas of evaluation that are subdivided into 143 themes for self-evaluation, which are used to prepare for external evaluation by the inspectorate (McNamara and OHara, 2006). In short, SSE precedes external evaluati on and it is conducted by each schools stakeholders, unlike external evaluation which is conducted by external officials called inspectorates. McNamara and OHara (2006) also contend that Ireland is adopting a model of quality assurance that emphasizes school development planning through internal school-review and self-evaluation, with the support of external evaluation carried out by the Inspectorate (McNamara and OHara, 2006). This model concurs with MacBeaths idea which argues that the role of external evaluation and inspection is merely to ensure that internal systems of evaluation and self-review are implemented effectively (McNamara and OHara, 2006). In their study, McNamara and OHara (2006) reveal that principals expressed their view that any form of external evaluation was by its nature superficial, underestimated the non-academic achievements of schools and raised deep concerns among teachers, yet to the contrary, self-evaluation with no external mandate or monitoring was perceived as a major success (McNamara and OHara, 2006). According to McNamara and OHara, self-evaluation in Ireland had its negatives. Firstly, LAOS documents lack suggestions as to how schools should collect the data on which the effectiveness and credibility of the whole system must rest (McNamara and OHara, 2006). Secondly, the judgments in the areas, aspects and components requires data that in the present system does not exist- there is, for instance, no data regarding the ability and general expectations of pupils (McNamara and OHara, 2006). McNamara and OHara argue that evaluation, whether external or internal, mandated or self-driven, requires at a minimum the collection and analysis of real data on which firm conclusions can be based (McNamara and OHara, 2006). Thirdly, the Chief Inspector shifted the responsibility of addressing weaknesses identified during inspection to self-governing and self-evaluating institutions. McNamara and OHara argue that the weaknesses identified during inspection should not be a responsibility of sch ools to address them since they do not have the capacity to control over resources, teacher tenure and conditions of employment, and issue. Moreover, schools cannot solve all problems themselves in-house-that is a fiction (McNamara and OHara, 2006). After the court judgment, the honours of whether to release none, some or all of the Inspection Report lies solely on schools management team. Fourthly, LAOS is silent about the appropriate role of parents, teachers and learners in the school evaluation process. One other worrying factor is that the concept of an ongoing self-evaluation was said to be puzzling to most schools (McNamara and OHara, 2006). Lastly, McNamara and OHara (2008) lament that the lack of any guidelines in LAOS as to criteria or research methods that might inform judgments has led to what amounts to data-free evaluation in practice, and moreover, it is clear that without such guidelines and the provision of training and research support for schools, the situation is not likely to change (McNamara and OHara, 2008). The study by McNamara and OHara reveal acceptance of the new themes of self-evaluation to give a comprehensive picture of all schools activities and not just their academic outcomes (McNamara and OHara, 2006). According to McNamara and OHara (2006), the above point was particularly stressed by respondents from the two primary schools designated disadvantaged, which felt very strongly that the affirmation of good practice provided by the inspectors was of extraordinary importance to teachers in disadvantaged school who rarely feel valued or supported. This was perceived as a considerable achievement in an education community deeply suspicious of evaluation, inspection and appraisal (McNamara and OHara, 2006). SCHOOL SELF-EVALUATION IN SCOTLAND Croxford, Grek and Shaik (2009) state that despite the change from Conservative to Labour government in 1997, education policy in Scotland and elsewhere in the United Kingdom (UK) continued to reflect an emphasis on quality assurance and a belief that competition and setting standards would enhance quality and ensure accountability (Croxford et al., 2009). They further stipulate that Scotlands approach to Quality Assurance and Evaluation (QAE) has a greater emphasis on self-evaluation by schools, whereas England had a stronger focus on hard performance indicators (Croxford et al., 2009). The Inspectorate is a major influence on the formulation of education policies. In 1980, the Inspectorates set up a Management of Education Resource Unit (MERU) that later became the Audit Unit, to promote good management achieve value for money in education. It started publishing papers that identified characteristics of effective schools in an attempt to encourage secondary schools to evaluate thei r own practice and performance (MacBeath and Mortimore, 2001). In 1990/91 it began publishing annually information for parents series-reports giving the details of schools attainment data; school costs; attendance and absence rates and school leaver destination for secondary schools. In 1991, it published the role of school development plans in managing schools effectiveness as well as statistical information about examination performance per school, which was used for school self-evaluation. Standards Tables were used each year to compare the performance by subject departments within each school and nationally, the Relative Ratings and National Comparison Factors, respectively (Croxford et al. 2009). The Scottish Office Education Industry Department (SOEID) in Croxford et al. ( 2009) state that the process of self-evaluation and development planning were set out more explicitly by the Audit Unit publication How good is our school? (HGIOS?), which provided a set of performance indic ators of what a good school should look like (Croxford et al. 2009). Schools were encouraged to use the same performance indicators as those used by the HMI in school inspection to identify, report and take action where required on strengths and weaknesses (Croxford et al., 2009). In 1997, HMI set out its vision of working in partnership with local authorities and schools through the quality initiative in Scotland schools. This was endorsed in the standards in Scotlands schools Act 2000. According to Cowie and Croxford, in Croxford et al. (2009), this act places local authorities under great pressure to implement the required quality assurance procedures by the threat of adverse inspection by HMI of education (HMIE) (Croxford et al., 2009). A new professional group of Quality Improvement Officers (QIO) has been established to challenge and support schools. They scrutinise statistics on school performance, seek to ensure a robust self-evaluation structure within schools and identify areas that need to be addressed (Croxford et al., 2009). They carry out a regular cycle of visits to schools to: assess the schools progress with its school development plan; discuss improvement issues with management and staff; and support the schools management in making improvements (Croxford et al., 2009). The local authorities themselves are inspected by HMIE, with special regard to their own self-evaluation and the extent to which they support and challenge their schools (Croxford et al., 2009). In Scotland, schools are required to evaluate their own performance each year using the 30 quality Indicators from HGIOS and their performance on the indicators is extremely judged on a regular basis through inspection of schools carried out by HMIE. The indicators are based on key performance outcomes, delivery of education, policy development and planning, management and support staff, partnership and resources, leadership capacity for improvement (Croxford et al., 2009). Self-evalua tion procedure requires schools to look at each aspect of provision and ask: How are we doing? How do we know? What are we going to do now? For each indicator, schools must gather evidence in order to evaluate their performance, on a six-point scale from 1 [unsatisfactory], to 6 [excellent] (Croxford et al. 2009). SCHOOL SELF-EVALUATION IN ENGLAND Prior 1990, the government of England implemented a top down strategy to school monitor performance of schools. A change was seen in 1997 when the government showed some commitment to support and promote school self-evaluation (Turnbull, 2007). The Department for Education and Skills (DfES), 2004 notes that in 1999, a revised framework was of inspecting schools that included guidance for schools on using it for school self-evaluation, and not just inspection was introduced (DfES, 2004). Local authorities had been providing support for head teachers as they increase their efforts to manage and lead the self-evaluation process and procedures now expected in their schools (Plowright, 2008). The Office for standards in education (Ofsted), in Plowright (2008) contends that the school that knows and understands itself is on the way to solving any problem it hasà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ self-evaluation provides the key to improvement (Plowright, 2008). In his empirical research, Plowright discovered that head teachers held a positive view of the use of self-evaluation in contributing to school improvement (Plowright, 2008). The introduction of the new inspection framework in September 2005 in England culminated in an obligation that every school had to maintain and submit an online Self-Evaluation Form (SEF) that records the judgments of its current performance and its priorities for improvement (Bubb, Early, Ahtaridou, Jones and Taylor, 2007). According to Ofsted in Bubb, et al. (2007), intelligent accountability is based on a schools own views of how well it serves its learners and suggests that all schools need to be able to answer two key questions: How well are we doing? And how can we do better? Bubb, et al. (2007) further argue that even though the SEF is not statutory but all schools seem to use it, which is unsurprising as their inspection is largely based around the SEF which includes the performance data (Bubb, et al., 2007). The areas of evaluation are: the characteristics of the school; views of learners, parents/carers and other stakeholders; leadership and management; overall effectivenes s and efficiency (Bubb, et al., 2007). Leung, 2005 emphasises that unless teachers beliefs are changed, and shared meaning is achieved, for example believing in the importance of evidence-based evaluation methods for self-evaluation and the importance of continuous self-improvement, there will not be commitment towards the reform initiatives and success cannot be guaranteed (Leung, 2005). She further warns that restructuring, changing only procedures, designing performance indicators and mandating the public announcement of evaluation results cannot help us but providing assistance to schools, supporting professionals networks and providing school-based on-going school development is vital (Leung, 2005). Scholars like Hargreaves and Fullan ascertain only that recruiting can facilitate educational professionals to transform their old beliefs and practices (Leung, 2005). In their research on 38 schools across England, where they were investigating self-evaluation and school improvement progress, Bubb, et al. (2007) discovered that SEF are completed in many different ways, ranging from individual efforts by head teachers to involvement of external consultants to collective efforts by all staff members (Bubb, et al., 2007). They also found out that some dissatisfaction demonstrated by support staff who felt left out and expressed that they could have made crucial contributions if they were not excluded. The process started with training the whole staff so as to raise awareness of the process and its requirements. Each staff member, including heads of departments, would the complete his/her form under supervision of their Senior Leadership Group (SLG) (Bubb, et al., 2007). In her study, Turnbull, (2007) discovered that head teachers in England saw that self-evaluation in some form became a reality of practice through the intervention of Local Education Authorities (LEAs), reflecting the growing impact of globalisation and accountability of schools (Turnbull, 2007). SCHOOL SELF-EVALUATION IN SOUTH AFRICA Prior 1994, schools performance was monitored through inspection, but there was no requirement or expectation of schools to undertake self-evaluation in South Africa (Turnbull, 2007). Some form of self-evaluation was introduced in 1998 through the Developmental Appraisal System (DAS), and Whole School Evaluation (WSE) in 2001 for full implementation in 2003 (Turnbull, 2007). These systems aimed at involving all educators in evaluating their practice, enabling self-evaluation of the WSE and impact of management, and they were to be monitored by the external supervisors from the provincial office of the Department of Education (DoE) (Turnbull, 2007). Both systems failed to realize their objective and a new Integrated Quality Management System (IQMS) was introduced in 2003, combining DAS, WSE and Performance Measurement (PM). School Self-Evaluation (SSE) is the initial phase of the two-phased WSE. The second phase is external evaluation conducted by provincial supervisors in a three year cycle. Both phases utilise the same instrument for evaluation. There are 9 key areas of evaluation namely: basic functionality of the school; leadership, management and communication, governance and relationships; quality teaching and learning and educator development; curriculum provision and resources; learner achievement; school safety, security and discipline; school infrastructure and parent and community (DoE, 2001). The process of evaluation cycle includes pre-evaluation; school self-evaluation; detailed on-site evaluation, post-evaluation reporting and post evaluation support. Each supervisory team will have a team leader who has the responsibility to build a brief profile about the general level of functionality of the school and to share with the school the procedures that will be followed by the evaluation team. The team leader also has overall responsibility for the evaluation process and the conduct of the supervisors. Supervisory teams will comprise accredited supervisors capable of evaluating the nine areas for evaluation. Members should have the experience to evaluate at least one subject/learning area and have an awareness of the key elements of good provision for Learners with Special Education Needs (LSEN). The number of supervisors will normally be within the range of four to six, depending on the school size and resources available. Evaluations will normally be conducted between th ree to four days of the week, depending on the size of the school. A school will be helped by district support services to formulate and implement an improvement plan based on the recommendations in the report and provide the school with support as it seeks to implement the plan (DoE, 2001) The findings in Turnbulls research disclose that all educators interviewed identified that the various attempts to introduce self-evaluation had failed, though all saw that the concept was one that should be in place, but attempts to use self-evaluation to improve the quality of teaching and learning in individual schools were taking place, with individual teachers working together on classroom practice and in some schools using IQMS, with senior team ensuring that every member of staff was observed at least once a year, met with the observer, and those seen to have issues being visited (Turnbull, 2007). The failure of introduction of self-evaluation is attributed to two groups of factors. The first issues are managerial and they include: the linking of the use of self-evaluation to the annual pay increments making it impossible to award someone less than satisfactory even though he/she deserves it, especially in township schools; the unwieldy nature of the system needed to implement policy; and the lack of capacity of the local DoE to either monitor the process, or provide support for schools where a need was identified. The second issues are cultural/historical and they include: the limited experience of educators of any form of self-evaluation and limited training provided; the limited practical training of the majority of township teachers and principals; the impact of the previous political system leading to a resistance to change; and in township schools the real danger o