Psychology Meditation Websters Dictionary Defines Meditation As To Ref

Psychology Meditation Webster's dictionary defines meditation as "to reflect on; ponder, to engage in contemplation," which it really is, although, many people believe that meditation is a means of developing a more spiritual or religious life. Meditation does not necessarily have to be religious. Many people just meditate to relax or organize their thoughts. Meditation is a very broad subject since there are many ways in which to perform meditation. Not only are there many ways but, there are also many different religions associated with meditation. Not only is meditation good for the soul but, it is also good for the mind. I myself have experimented with meditation and have found it to be very relaxing and at the same time stimulating. One way to perform meditation is to first find a comfortable place to sit or lie down. Then you must have a precise, intense focus on one object. Follow and control your breath and note all of your body sensations or track the sequence of your though ts. Second, be allowing to any thoughts that may enter your head. Be spacious and open- hearted. This is excellent for the mind. Another form that is good for the body is body relaxation. First lie on your back on the floor, a supportive bed or a couch. Close your eyes and rest for a moment. Wait for a feeling of readiness. When you are ready to begin, tighten all the muscles that you can, but never tighten them to the point of discomfort. Hold this for thirty seconds. Next pay close attention to the sensation you feel and remember it. Then let all your muscles go and allow them to relax. Compare the feeling that you are feeling to the one that you had just felt minutes ago. After a few minutes repeat this but, allow your muscles to relax for a longer amount of time. Yoga, another form of meditation, teaches an eightfold path beginning with the acquisition of pure moral attitudes, proceeding through practices of breath control and postures designed to allow a person to concentrate without having his or her mind distracted by outside forces. By concentrating on progressively more abstract concepts the person achieves higher and higher meditative states, culminating in a contentless trance that constitutes liberation. Yogis, people that perform yoga, in more advanced stages of this process are said to be gifted with remarkable powers , such as special capacities for sight, an ability to levitate and to project their minds into other bodies, and so on. Religion is a major factor in meditation. Many people meditate to grow more in tune with their spiritual life. The religion of Taoism uses meditation as a way to find the way of harmony in life. Zen Buddhism uses meditation to see into your true nature and realize enlightenment. Buddhism is another form of religion that is based on meditation that is similar to Zen Buddhism. Buddhists use meditation as a way to release their inner illusion. Meditation is not used for religious purposes only. It may also be used to relax or dig deep into a persons soul. Meditation brings out the union of opposites. Due to this the yin-yang symbol is associated with meditation. Within the white there is black and within the black there is white. Both intervene. Some radical doctors will know prescribe meditation instead of pain kills or drugs to relax a person. They do this because meditation has no harmful side effects and can be done by anyone. The only thing meditation can do is to help an individual calm themselves and have clearer thoughts. Meditation has been found to improve mental health by reducing biochemical indicators of stress, decreasing anxiety, and enhancing psychological development. In Sweden the National Health Board conducted a nationwide epidemiological study that found that hospital admissions for psychiatric care for people that meditated was 150-200 times less common to people that did not meditate. Increased intelligence is another benefit of meditation. It has been found that college students that practice meditation over a two year period have a higher nonverbal IQ. All in all meditation is a healthy practice to do. You should be aware of the many

Health Care and Culture Essays

Health Care and Culture Essays Health Care and Culture Paper Health Care and Culture Paper Culture is an important ingredient in the mode of life of any group, be they ethnic or modern sub-cultures. In addition, culture is a very pervasive matter and that is why it also has an important impact in health care delivery. Moreover, there are some societies that are sensitive when it comes to their culture. This is the reason is why, it is necessary to tread around carefully so as not to give offense to the culture. Otherwise health care delivery will not only be seen as negative, the persons delivering the health care will also be considered as outsiders in the culture and thus, will make it harder for them to penetrate into the community. But what is culture? According to Hoult (1969), culture refers broadly to the values, norms, institutions and artifacts that a particular society holds dear. This also includes the language, the manner of communications and the nature of social relationships in any given society. Because of the surge of immigration into the United States coupled with the trend of globalization, it has become important for people from various races and culture to coexist with each other. According to Larsen (2004, pp. 1-2), in 2003, 33. 5 million people in the United States were foreign born. This accounts for more than ten percent of the total population of the United States. Given this, there is a need for people, especially those that are engaged in the delivery of important services such as health care. Cultural Competence and Effective Communication The US Department of Health and Human Services (2003) identified the concept of cultural competence in dealing with the culture of people who are in need of important services, especially in disaster mental health programs. Cultural competence refers to the changes in the perceptions, attitudes and even the basic treatment of people in connection to various cultural groups. It is exemplified by sensitivity and awareness of differences yet granting respect to different groups. Furthermore, the Department’s publication highlighted the importance of the community in the lives of ethnic and cultural groups and this is the reason why in the occurrence of disasters, it is important to get through to the community and help them recover together. An awareness and sensitivity of culture is needed in this regard. Hence, â€Å"effective communication† cannot be discounted as an important factor in getting through to the members of the community (US DHHS, 2003). Effective communication would then mean taking into account the various cultural expressions of such groups and be sensitive to these expressions. Another important reason why communication is essential is that people from cultural groups tend to bring with them their own ideas about diseases, which may not be accurate scientifically. It falls upon the health care practitioner to communicate with these people the proper way of treating diseases with proper understanding and sensitivity (â€Å"Why Language and Culture†, 2003). Cultural Group and Health Service Needs The Hispanic Americans comprise the largest nonwhite ethnic group in the United States. The focus, however, is on the elderly members of this sub-population in the US. Hispanic Americans who are 65 years old and over make up 5. 6% of the total population of older Americans. These older Hispanics are faced with various health threats such as coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, hypertension, and diabetes among others. In terms of mental health, several studies have shown that there are symptoms of depression among older Hispanic women. As such, this group of people needs to have medical assistance. On the other hand, several cultural issues that need to be addressed include language, the family, as well as religion and spirituality and how this group defines illness (Talamantes, Lindeman, Mouton, 2003). Also, given the difficulty of some members of this population to speak English, it would be necessary for health workers to have a translator handy in order to translate for them and to watch out the cultural nuances that need to be taken care of. Bhui, et. al. (2007) discovered that although there have been several attempts to incorporate cultural competence in the delivery of health care services. They concluded, however, that much of these works have been exploratory and that the efficiency and effectiveness of training has not been fully established. As such further quantitative studies and more effective trainings are called for in the future. In addition to the delivery of health care services, it is also important for the members of this population to have access to medicines. In this regard, pharmacists should also have the necessary skills in promoting cultural competence and providing service to different clients regardless of their cultural backgrounds (O’Connell, et. al. , 2007) Conclusion The world is sinking, thanks to globalization. Increasingly the United States and other countries in the world are becoming multicultural and that people share and trade off stories. Yet, the process of integration is not as easy as it looks to be, especially in the area of language and in the overall dynamics of communications. This is the reason why in the delivery of service, those who administer them should be able to relate well with other people of different cultures. Through this way, they will be more effective in communicating and in getting their points across to those who need medical help. Reference Bhui, K. , Warfa, N. , Edonya, P. , McKenzie, K. , Bhugra, D. (2007). Cultural Competence in Mental Health Care: a Review of Model Evaluations. BMC Health Services Research, 7: 15. Retrieved 12 July 2007 from pubmedcentral. nih. gov/articlerender. fcgi? artid=1800843. Hoult, T. F. (Ed) (1969). Dictionary of Modern Sociology. Totowa, NJ: Littlefields, Adams. Larsen, L. J. (2004). The Foreign-Born Population in the United States: 2003. United States Census Bureau. Accessed 9 July 2007 from census. gov/prod/2004pubs/p20-551. pdf. O, Connell, M. B. , Korner, E. J. , Rickles, N. M. Sias, J. J. (2007). Cultural Competence in Health Care and Its Implications for Pharmacy Part 1: Overview of Key Contents in Multicultural Health Care. American College of Clinical Pharmacy, 27 (7), 1062-1079. Talamantes, M. , Lindeman, R. , Mouton, C. (2003). Ethnogeriatric Curriculum Module: Health and Health Care of Hispanic/Latino American Elders. Stanford University. Retrieved 12 July 2007 from stanford. edu/group/ethnoger/hispaniclatino. html. U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2003) Developing Cultural Competence in Disaster Mental Health Programs: Guiding Principles and Recommendations. DHHS Pub. No. SMA 3828. Rockville, MD: Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Why Language and Culture Are Important. (2003). Diversity Rx. Retrieved 12 July 2007 from diversityrx. org/HTML/ESLANG. htm.

Poverty in canadian society Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Poverty in canadian society - Term Paper Example There is another traditional poverty measure criteria based on basic needs poverty measure, recommended by Fraser Institute. As per this measure poverty has reduced greatly in the past 60 years, as reported 4.9% in 2004 (Wikipedia para 2). Indicators of poverty have changed with the changing times. In comparison to middle class Europeans, the â€Å"poor† America possess larger homes; more than 70% have a car; about 20% have more than one transport medium; about 60% poor have two or more television sets. The traditional definition of poor denoting those who have deficiency of food, shelter, and clothing holds minimum authenticity, therefore, requires redefining (Bauman 6). Before considering poverty in relative terms we need to find the parameters to compare, what are the standards, global or the highest known standards in Canada and Europe, as examples from third world could be the worst on absolute poverty (Segal 7). Milton Freedman, one the great post-war Nobel Prize winning conservative economists put the case this way: â€Å"The programme should be designed to help people as people not as members of particular occupational groups or age groups or wage-rate groups or labour organizations or industries† (Segal 18). ... Canada could not meet the poverty targets set by the United Nations in 1996, the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty, as reported by the National Council of Welfare. Since1990s such figures have been presented that indicate a rise in the number of poor people in Canada. Even at the height of economic boom, rate of downfall in poverty was slow. There is no unanimous opinion on it, as all depends on how we define and measure poverty. Some indicators to the rise in poverty include peoples’ increasing dependence on food banks and emergency shelters. Between 1989 and 2000 the use of food banks had increased by 96%. At a boom period of 1997-2000, the food bank use increased by 9.4%. Housing has become a big issue for poor people. Canadian youth are the leading community in the matter of homelessness but when it comes to measuring poverty, computations on poverty lines are not unanimous (deGroot-Maggetti 1-3). So far as poverty lines are concerned, in Canada there is no dearth of poverty measures. The federal government has a number of poverty indicating measures. Besides, the social councils, organizations, and independent researchers have evolved their own measures. Yet provincial social help rates offer another set of poverty lines. Absolute measures stress on basic human needs while relative measures point towards the insufficiency of standards socially accepted above poverty line (deGroot-Maggetti 3). Due to different measuring standards of poverty, the term has become somewhat ambiguous. A further research into the causes of poverty in Canada can help in making the meaning clear. Many factors are responsible for poverty although there is difference in a â€Å"factor† and a â€Å"cause†. A â€Å"cause† adds to the emerging of an issue such as poverty

Public Administration Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Public Administration - Research Paper Example However, new public management (NPM) overrides the earlier new public administration (NPA) and develops to cover wide areas of management functions. Classical Public Administration establishes principles and structures of organizations, which should guide in public administration, while the NPA counters classical PA through anti positivist, anti technical, and anti bureaucratic aspects and propose for relevance, change, values, and equity goals in public administration. NPM brings in the aspect of governments to operate just like businesses and relies on price change and neo Taylorism theories. Post modernism proposes for active participation of citizens or the society in dialogue and debates of public policies, before and during implementation to reflect their needs. It is build upon Haberman discourse theory. Finally, the paper draws a conclusion between public and private sectors. Keywords: Public Policy, Public Administration, Managers, New Public Administration, Classical Public Administration, New Public Management, Post Modern Public Administration, Organizations, Government, Principles, Change, Theory, Public and Private Sectors, Business, Efficiency Public administration is only a specific part of the broad concept of administration. In the past, people and even scholars have had differences in agreeing to which field the study best fits. Some argued that it best fits in science, while others believed it was an art or philosophy. Basically, since the scientific study of the facts of administration exist, it makes it a science, just as a field of philosophy, it deals with human beings and their management, and due to practical application of knowledge, it then becomes attached to art. The word administration focuses its attention on the cooperativeness of groups’ behavior to generate the basis value, which is efficiency.

Advantages and disadvantages of the film medium for Surrealism Essay

Advantages and disadvantages of the film medium for Surrealism - Essay Example The essay "Advantages and disadvantages of the film medium for Surrealism" discusses surrealism and the film medium. Looking at examples of surrealistic film work can provide a relational discussion of the Manifesto of Surrealism and the achievements of the artists who used film as a medium. Surrealism blossomed from the remnants of the Dada movement. Surrealism emerged to elevate objects into new imaginings of reality, recreating the world to express thoughts that were unfettered by reason and order, but free to be associated through related and unrelated imaginings. Politically, Surrealists were typically to the extreme left, embracing communism and anarchist principles in search of ways in which to liberate man from the chains of capitalistic points of view and to elevate the human spirit beyond the needs for material gain over others. If one clear message is to be gained from the overall movement and the visuals that were represented by its members, it might be said to say that à ¢â‚¬â„¢the world is not as it seems’. It is the common interpretation of the world that is challenged by the Surrealists. At a time when the entire world was struggling with the interpretation of how life should be viewed and lived, the Surrealists revealed that the perception of the world did not always reflect its reality. Therefore, to reflect reality was to, in truth, twist it until it revealed a deeper truth or an unimagined sense of how the world worked. In a work of surrealism real objects become pawns.

Influence of the IRA and the Northern Irish Conflict

Influence of the IRA and the Northern Irish Conflict The Influence of the IRA and the Northern Irish Conflict (1970s to Present) on the Writing of Irish History Khalil Jetha It has been said that history is not an assortment of facts, but rather a recollection of instances taken in a certain context. Unlike pure fact, history is heavily reliant on the documenting party. The writing of Irish history has changed dramatically since the 1970s, altering the rhetoric in which the struggle has been presented. The crippling hold of the British Imperial machine has widely been recalled as an international symbol of oppression. However, recent developments in the Irish conflict have tempered something of a defeatist attitude among Ireland’s historians, earning the circumstance enmity and even garnering sympathy for the British government. Countries that won their independence from Britain such as the United States, India, and others share the common factor of clear-cut sides; in each case, the parties at odds were Great Britain and the colonial land in question. The Irish struggle, however, has evolved into broad acquiescence to subjugation and dominance, w ith a markedly diminished sense of outrage. What started out as a universal Irish struggle plunged into disarray, with splintering factions breaking away from a common struggle and eventually accepting the creation of two Irelands: a Catholic, Irish free southern state and a Protestant, British protectorate in the north. There are three events in the last thirty years that changed the face of the Irish struggle’s historiography, all three testaments to the waning sense of urgency shared in the Northern Irish conflict. First is the radicalization of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), second is the division of Catholics manifested in Colin Cruise O’Brien’s writing and push for leadership, and third is the evolution of Irish rebellion from 1970 from that of armed struggle to non-violent protest. The IRA has long been the strongest symbol of Irish nationalism, hotly contested by some as a partisan organization dedicated to little more than a consolidation of Catholic control. Some contend that prior to the 1916 establishment of the Irish Free State there was no Irish nation, and that the national identity was in its infancy at the onset of the British occupation. However, to the Irish people â€Å"the Republic was, for a few tense years, a living reality which dominated every aspect of their lives† (Macardle 29). The tumultuous 1970s are an accurate representation of how events in the Northern Irish conflict affected the writing of Irish history. The escalation of violence on British soil in the name of Irish nationalism, followed by growing Irish resentment of the IRA, and finally the disarmament of the IRA all reflect how events changed the conflict’s historiography. Though the IRA had existed in different forms since the early 19th century, the 1970s saw â€Å"violence against British rule increased, carried out in the name of the ‘Irish Republican Army’† (Kee 613). What originally began as carefully planned attacks against British armed establishments inside Ireland proper changed into â€Å"guerrilla warfare in which the majority of the Irish people, though originally opposed to violence, supported the IRA† (Kee 613). British brutality spawned Irish violent resistance, and support for such measures was widely supported as the Irish people perceived the British occupation as a series of events that could be universally and categorically condemned. As a result, history was written heavily in the favour of the Irish cause. Up until the escalation of IRA violence on British territory, â€Å"no one who knew the meaning of nationality found it difficult to understand that the Irish had, in past centuries, resisted conques t and absorption by another race; what caused astonishment, whether hostile or sympathetic, was the passion and tenacity with which the resistance had been maintained† (Macardle 30). Historians sympathized with the Irish plight, especially given that extent of the British occupation following the establishment of the Irish Free State. The world was already aware of British Imperialism and the extent of Irish civilian losses. Irish violence in the name of the IRA saw everything shy of complete support in the international stage, and history focused on â€Å"the weighty British Administration† that â€Å"continued to operate uncertainly and with violence, while, in its midst, there functioned another government, which commanded the allegiance of the people and whose decrees produced immediate results† (Macardle 29). The early 1970s saw unparalleled international sympathy with the IRA’s cause, especially following the exodus of Irish violence from Ulster and its manifestation on British soil. Though violence was not necessarily condoned, it was not wholeheartedly condemned. Northern Ireland evolved from a sectarian conflict to one that spanned national borders, a situation history saw repeated in every part of the world. British aggression in Derry soon became a rallying cry for IRA recruitment. What took place on January 30, 1972 became known as Bloody Sunday, the pinnacle of IRA domestic and international sympathy. In the â€Å"six months prior to that day, the [British] Army had increasingly brutalized the Catholic populace, but it had done so largely on a case-by-case, individual-by-individual basis†; â€Å"on that day, the Army launched a premeditated campaign of murder against unarmed demonstrators—a campaign whose ostensible purpose was to induce the IRA to stand and fight, force the demonstrators to flee, and enable the Army to kill or capture the bulk of Derry’s IRA gunmen† (Hull 48). Historiography could have taken one of two paths. Bloody Sunday could have been perceived as a hallmark of British imperialism, or it could have been shown in a sympathetic light to the British dilemma of protecting its previously sponsored Protestant ruling class. From Dublin’s standpoint, the â€Å"world undoubtedly would have concluded that British Army actions in Derry on January 30, 1972 violated international law†; however, popular support for the Irish victims was lost â€Å"in lieu of an objective investigation,† with â€Å"more British whitewash† spread over the whole affair (Hull 183). London saw the elicitation tactics of Bloody Sunday as a utilitarian decision to spare the most civilian lives. That so many civilians perished under British gunfire was a penultimate factor in the stabilization of the region. The ends justified the means in the British â€Å"peace†; the British-sponsored probe investigating Bloody Sunday dampened the immediate public outcry, and history’s favour weaned on the Irish side. This marked the end of the image of the British aggressor. The Close of Irish Violence in London and the Loss of Popular IRA Support The gruesome bombing IRA bombing campaigns led to two significant paradigm shifts in Dublin and abroad. On one hand, history began perceiving the Irish separatist cause as one that targeted all Britons, not just those occupying Ireland. Images of Britons of all racial and religious backgrounds swept across newspapers worldwide, and the Irish cause became less about foreign occupation and more about the stasis of British national security. Moreover, Irish domestic support waned among Catholic clergy as well as the Irish layman. People throughout the island were at odds with each other; prominent scholars such as Connor Cruise O’Brien not only opposed the IRA, but also began taking part in British politics, siding with political machination as opposed to armed insurgency. Historians took the side of O’Brien, depleting the IRA’s support, morphing their public image from that of popular resistance to one of horrific aggression. As a corollary, the Irish cause was mar ked as one not between the Irish and British or Catholic and Protestant. The conflict in Northern Ireland hence became one of armed struggle versus civilized politics. O’Brien’s writings against the IRA may have cost him leadership of the Irish Republic, but their influence dwindled what used to be unified armed struggle. The IRA attempted to counter this trend, calling in bomb threats hours ahead of schedule, causing panic and not violence. However, the writing of Irish history had already shifted, and the Irish people grew weary of the fighting. The new style of bloodless bombing campaigns was ironically reflective of the end of Irish political fervour; rebellion became one of tired horror, one that was less separatist and more about divisions few recognized on the international stage. Today’s Irish conflict is one of forgotten causes; in light of the British successes in quelling the whirr of public relations following Bloody Sunday, the IRA bombing campaigns inevitably led to their condemnation by Irish politicians and scholars such as O’Brien. By the early 1980s, the entire cause had lost the passion that fuelled its patrons for the previous two centuries. Today, the IRA has been reduced to a fading memory in the collective international conscience. What remains is defeatist acquiescence; the Irish conflict’s major events did not successfully portray the Irish as victims. Instead, history has viewed the Irish conflict in the same way many Irish have perceived it themselves: a hopeless political and military quagmire against a seemingly indefatigable foe. References Hull, Roger H. (1976) The Irish Triangle: Conflict in Northern Ireland. Princeton:Princeton U P. Macardle, Dorothy. (1965) The Irish Republic. New York: Farrar, Straus, andGiroux. Kee, Robert. (1993) The Laurel and the Ivy: The Story of Charles Stewart Parnelland Irish Nationalism. Middlesex: Penguin Group. Leon O Broin and Cian O H’Eigeartaigh (ed). (1996) In Great Haste: The Lettersof Michael Collins and Kitty Kiernan. Dublin: St. Martin’s Press.

Efficacy of Rehabilitative Programs Essay -- Correctional Programs, re

Criminal justice programs around the world face various challenges especially in rehabilitating the behavior of inmates within correctional facilities. The purpose of this research paper will be to assess the various issues that exist in rehabilitative programs within prison systems. Basically, rehabilitation programs are used to correct and rehabilitate criminal offenders so that they can emerge as useful members of society once they complete their prison sentences. Some of the rehabilitation programs that are commonly used to reform inmates include counseling, health and fitness programs, transcendental meditation, academic programs and religious programs. These rehabilitative programs are usually based on the assumption that criminal behavior in most suspects is caused by some contributing factor such as a history of violence, psychological or mental disorders (Barkan & Bryjak, 2009). Such an assumption does not refute that some criminals make their own personal choices to break the law but rather it argues that these personal choices are usually caused by certain factors which contribute to criminal behavior. Rehabilitation programs are therefore based on such perspectives where the various correctional programs are designed to deal with criminal enforcing behavior. For example counseling programs could focus on the behavior that led to the criminal offender committing the offense while educational programs could focus on how to change negative behavior to positive behavior. Correctional programs in prison facilities are therefore important in reducing the recurrence of criminal behavior as well as reducing recidivism among probationers and parolees (Barkan & Bryjak, 2009). In general, rehabilitation programs have been effe... ...on are usually focused on keeping the prisoners mentally happy. Religious programs provide inmates with coping mechanisms and spiritual guidance which enable them to deal with prison life. These programs also provide forums for prisoners where they can be able to forgive motivate and reconcile with their fellow inmates within the prison (O’Conner & Pallone, 2003). The efficacy of these programs has also not been determined by criminologists given that most prisoners who practice religion in prison fail to do so once they are released. Religious programs are therefore seen as temporary measures that enable prisoners to find spiritual solace in either Christian religious programs or Qaran readings. The overall effectiveness of these programs will however be determined by the number of prisoners who have not recorded any repeat offenses on being released from prison.

Public Schools vs Private Schools Essay

Introduction Are private school students better than those in public schools? What are some of the factors that separate the quality of education received by the two groups of students? Controversy has in the past brewed over studies that have indicated that students in private schools perform better than those in public schools. This paper is therefore meant at an in-depth analysis of both the public and private stakeholders in the education system. The paper will focus on a study that reveals the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats experienced by students going through both systems. The study employs a unique selection model that involve religious and non-religious in comparison to public schools. The study focuses on how these factors affect the selection of schools by individuals and what exactly make private schools attractive. The paper also evaluates measures that can be taken to ensure that both the public schools and the private schools offer the same quality of education. Research problem The competition between private and public schools has been ongoing for a long time. It is only with determining which one is better that we can establish who is better between private school students and public school students. Although research has been continuous for quite some time, it is impossible for anyway to state empirically that one system is better than the other. Similarly, there hasn’t been enough improvement in the educational sector despite the fact that recommendations have been made constantly as to how to try and equalize these systems. This therefore begs the question. How can the research be carried out in such a way that it highlights major issues in the educational sector that need to be addressed? The research is also supposed to bring to light an empirical way through which the quality of public school students can be measured against that of  private school students. Human beings tend to be proud of institutions that they are affiliate to. That being said, conduction of an analysis of the system could be hindered by exaggeration or even false witness statements. Research questions and variables The study should allow for the comprehension of issues that lead to the rift between public and private schools. It should also allow for the answering of questions such as are private school students better than public school students? If so how different are they from public school student? Or rather, in what aspects do these students differ? The paper should also address the possibility of an intervention in the education sector so as to address the issues that demarcate the two institutions in terms of quality education. This should be able to create a lasting solution to the quality issue. Variables involved in this study include socioeconomic status, parental education, peer group characteristics and community support. Socioeconomic status This is commonly referred to as SES. This could affect education at the home level as well as the attitude towards education. The materials read at home could be very resourceful in improving the student’s intake of knowledge. Similarly, a good environment, one without parental quarrels, where all the basic human needs are met can ensure that the student can focus more on education. Availability of books and access to the internet is a major contributor to the learning process. These facilities are not available to all though and this could affect the quality of education. Socioeconomic status could also affect the attitude towards education making data collection during the research rather difficult. Parental education The level of education of the parents is also a variable in this study. Parents could influence their children to either, study hard and achieve as much as they did or to disregard education all the same. Parents with a lower education level are not able to monitor their children’s progress in school or even to determine if they are receiving quality education. This may lead to reduced standards in education. Parental education could affect the quality of a students work at school as well. Peer group characteristics. The company that is to be found at a prospective school may without a doubt determine whether a parent considers the school for his/her child. Parents always want what is best for their children. The thought that negative behavior is quite common in public schools could be a negative aspect. This study should however establish whether this is true and find ways to mitigate the same. Community support The community does in a way regulate the activities of a learning institution. The community influences discipline and behavioral mannerism that are acceptable. This is a major variable since different communities could prefer different behavior. Importance and benefits of research This research could without a doubt be the elusive solution to the issues surrounding equality and equity in the educational sector. The research will also answer the unanswered questions like what factors make private and public school students different, whether the students are different or not as well as the question as to what can be done to ensure that there is a lasting solution to these issues. Research objectives. The study and subsequently the research process, is meant to highlight issues that separate quality education provision between the public and private schools. It should also establish if at all public schools are better than private schools and vice versa. The research process will highlight areas where these two differ and find ways to resolve these issues creating a lasting solution to the issues that have plagued the educational sector for a very long time. This paper, with the focus on past studies, will also look at past recommendations and what has been done to put them into effect not to mention the results they have achieved so far. What challenges have been faced during the implementation process and how they can be remedied in the future are also questions meant to be answered in the study. Literature review The literature reviews in this paper has paid special emphasis on the choice of schools. The academic article has been tackled by David N. Figlio and Joe A. Stone. The ideas and measures stipulated in this article are as per stipulated by the two researchers. Their study is mainly aimed at comparing private and public schools. Several factors have been put into consideration. They include the performance, management of the school, the quality of the teaching process, class size and the facilities offered by the school. The writer of this article argue that private schools are more superior than public schools because the learners in private schools are more likely to successfully graduate from high school and get chances in colleges or universities. The proponents of this article can be criticized by the fact that public schools offer comparatively equal quality education. Also this article has used data from different private and public schools to understand the best school between private and public schools. This article has also placed a special emphasis on the unique difference that occurs between the public schools and private schools sponsored by the church. Reality stipulates that other factors apart from religion can influence the quality of education that can be provided. For example the writers of this research article should have considered factors such as the selection process. Perhaps the selection process used during the intake of private schools mainly focuses on bright students. The second article that has been tackled in this literature review a research that was done by The Center of Educational policy. The most unique thing with this research is that it recognizes that factors such as family background and the level of the school should be considered before making a comparison between any public and private schools. Also, a lot of studies that have been done in the past by scholars such as Hoffer, Coleman and Kilgore(1982) made conclusions that private schools are incomparably better than public schools. It is important to consider other important aspects of family life during any study. The good thing about this research is that it did appreciate the fact that the difference in issues such as the family of origin can make a great difference in the performance of different students. Although this study has considered these factors, it is still vivid that there are other issues within their methodology that have made their conclusion that those public schools are better and private schools appear lame. They argue that public schools improve the value of students and help them to continue maintaining the spirit of their private school performance, but there are still others who whose performance indicate a dropping graph. The other article dealt with in the literature review is the comparison made between private schools, public schools and market schools done by Andrew J. Coulson. His paper focused on informally collected information and this is likely to be biased. Sometimes, the media can encode information that private schools are better than public schools so that they can only create a public opinion that private schools should be preferred to public schools. The strength found in this article is that the information used is data that has been collected from various parts of this world such as Chile, Thailand, India, Nigeria and Indonesia among other countries. The Educational Next JournaL IS the last article of the literature review in this proposal. The author of this article is known as Elena Llaudet and Paul E. Peterson. This journal was written on winter 2007. They used NCES model that used to infer to a student’s background during the study and comparison of family backgrounds to identify incidences of poverty in families. They argued that the use of this model would help to identify the strengths of both private and public schools considering that the factor of poverty should be held constant. They also analyzed the number of students who had language difficulties and researched to see the language used in their homes. The writers of this article should have considered to analyze other factors that are likely to affect a student’s performance apart from their backgrounds. Research design The research design of this particular study is mainly based on the understanding that a lot of comparison and analysis should be done in order to be able to answer the research problem. This research will be carried out by the use of field interviews, questionnaires and other methods that will be found workable at that time. To ensure that all possible comparison is made, the researcher will ensure that they make a list of Ten public school and ten Private schools to compare several variables about them. The main area of comparison is the academic performance, but other factors that are likely to affect academic performance will also be considered. These factors include; facilities, human resource, discipline and the environment among other vital factors. Data collection methodology The data collection methodology of this research proposal is aimed at collecting data from students, teachers, the ministry of education and its departments together with youth correction institutions. Correctional Institutions for the youth will be very resourceful to help us to understand the rate of school truancy between the population from the public and the private schools. The data should be collected by means of questionnaires, interviews, as well as hypothesis. The questionnaire should also be aimed at helping the researcher to understand how students feel about being in a public or private schools. Other possible questions include; Do you think you would perform better if you were in a private school? Or Do you think that you would add more value in private or public school? If you were given a chance to rate the facilities of your school out of ten, what value would you give? Also, the interviews will be conducted to students in school (both private and public), teachers, Heads of various school departments and the parents too. Expected results When family background is taken into account, the following results are expected from the research; First and foremost, young adults whose education was at private schools are likely no to be engaged in civic activities compared to young adults whose education was at public schools that are known to have limited resources and traditional ways of education. Also, when the population of young adults who schooled in private schools is compared to those who schooled in public schools, it is clear and vivid that those people who attended traditional public high schools are more satisfied with their jobs compared to the others who schooled in private schools. The performance of students in public schools is also expected to be better than those in private schools considering that they are trained to be more independent. Finally the people who are more likely to attend college are those in public schools and not private schools. Generally, these expectations are meant to reveal that the people in private schools neither receive short term nor long-term academic advantages. Conclusion In conclusion, it is unequivocally vivid that to understand the differences and uniqueness of both public and private schools, a lot of analysis has to be done. This research is only a proposal of a lot of work which is in the offing to try and answer the research question. Public schools have various shortcomings and strengths at the same time. In the same way, private schools also have their uniqueness and shortcomings too. References Andrew J. Coulson, Routledge Taylor and Francis Group, (2009) Comparing Public, Private, and Market Schools: The International Evidence, Journal of School Choice Coleman, J. S. , Hoffer, T. , & Kilgore, S. (1981). Public and private schools. Washington, D. C.? : National Center for Education Statistics :. Coleman, J. S. , Hoffer, T. , & Kilgore, S. (1982). High school achievement: public, Catholic, and private schools compared. New York: Basic Books. David N. Figlio, School Choice and Student Performance: Are Private Schools Really Better? , , September 1997 Elena Llaudet, Paul E. Peterson, The NCES Private-Public School Study, Winter 2007/Vol. 7/NO. 1 Hoxby, C. M. (1994). Do private schools provide competition for public schools?. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research. Mendelssohn, J. (2007). Which school? : beyond public vs private. North Melbourne: Pluto Press.

Macbeth- The Witches Essay

It could be said that the witches in ‘Macbeth’, are possibly some of the best known characters in Shakespeare’s work. With famous words like ‘Hubble, bubble, toil and trouble’, it is true to say that they have probably heavily influenced the depiction of witches in later works to a great extent. The play derives from a time when witchcraft was something of great public concern. Extreme persecution of anyone found to be practising something that could be interpreted as ‘black arts’ was common in Stuart society. (Old women who kept cats were in extreme danger of meeting the requirements for stereotypical ‘witch’) The play, which tells the fate, of the Scottish royal family, had real-life connections with the Scottish royal family at the time. The character Banquo was supposedly a relative of King James who was the King of Scotland. (Although it has been discovered that he never existed, he was made up at the birth of the Stuart dynasty) The heavy influences of the witches on the play, also matched King James’s interest in Demonology. So the question has been asked was ‘Macbeth’ written for King James? Throughout the 16th and 17th centuries ‘witches’, were terrifying but also fascinating to the general public. During this time hundreds of witches were persecuted, and were hung or burnt at stake. Witches were so greatly feared, because of the apparent ‘powers’ which they possessed, which allegedly included; the ability to fly, the ability to raise storms and control the weather, possession of people, and an ability to kill livestock. However curiously inspite of these powers of ‘deadly destruction’, people took a great interest in the lives and ways of witches. (Rather like Macbeth when he meets them for the first time) Thousands of pamphlets were printed and sold with incredible sales; on a par with those achieved by a popular magazine or broadsheet today. These pamphlets contained gory accounts of witch trials, or sad stories from the victims of ‘witchcraft’. It is quite possible that these pamphlets were a catalyst for the probl em with witches, by making everyone paranoid of ‘supernatural threats’. The cruel and unjust persecution of the witches was based on stereotypes. You may well have found yourself persecuted as a witch for example if you were; physically deformed or scarred in any way, old (especially if you were a woman, as many of the women persecuted as witches were old women who kept cats which were apparently familiars), mentally ill, or even if you just didn’t fit in. In 1604, when Parliament passed an act, making the practice of witchcraft punishable by death, the situation got even worse. In ‘Macbeth’ the witches appear four times; Act 1 Scene 1, Act1 Scene 3, Act 3 Scene 5, and Act 4 Scene 1. Although the originality of the appearance in Act 3 is controversial. It is thought that this scene and the character Hecate (who also briefly appears in Act 4) were not written by Shakespeare and that they were written into the script at a later date. In Act 1 Scene 1, the witches open the play in what is described in the text as a desolate place. The scene is brief, in the conversation that the three witches have, they decide to meet Macbeth on ‘the heath.’ In Act 1 Scene 3, the three witches have gathered on the heath, and are awaiting Macbeth who is returning from battle. When Macbeth and his companion Banquo come by they move from their place of hiding and greet Macbeth: FIRST WITCH: All hail Macbeth, hail to thee, thane of Glamis. SECOND WITCH: All hail to Macbeth, hail to thee, thane of Cawdor. THIRD WITCH: All hail Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter. (Act 1, Scene 3, lines 46-48) After the witches have given this prophecy, Banquo criticises the witches and makes jokes at them calling them â€Å"not like the inhabitants of this earth.† Macbeth however is intrigued but before he can find out anymore the witches vanish. Act 3 Scene 5, is the controversial Hecate scene. In the scene Hecate does most of the talking, and she warns that they should not have done what they did to Macbeth. In Act 4 Scene 1, the scene begins with the witches entering and casting a spell. Then Macbeth (who is now King) enters and confronts the witches, demanding to know more about his future. In response the witches show Macbeth three apparitions which reveal his fate. The three apparitions tell Macbeth this: â€Å"Macbeth, Macbeth, Macbeth, beware Macduff.† (First apparition) â€Å"None of woman born shall harm Macbeth† (second apparition) â€Å"Macbeth shall never be vanquished until great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane shall come against him† (third apparition). Macbeth is pleased by what he hears. The witches then show Macbeth a ‘show of eight kings’, after Macbeth sees this he is angered, and curses the witches, but soon after they vanish. Right from the very first scene the witches make a dramatic impression on the play. To audiences the first scene has a wonderful way of captivating them, generating attention and interest in the play from the first word. The odd setting and droning language of the witches makes the dialogue interesting and unusual. On stage or in the cinema, use of smoke, lightning and thunder effects give an exciting feel to the opening moments. The short length of the scene means that the audience is listening all the time. (Research has shown that most audiences will stop listening after about a minute unless there is something to draw their attention back to the story) Another point about the first scene is that after all the smoke and thunder, the play moves to another much more friendly place, with a normal conversation, between normal people. The comparison between the witches’ supernatural appearance, and the normality of human life, is an excellent way of showing the contrast between ordinary and extraordinary, and good and evil. Which is a contrast that appears throughout the play. One place where these contrasts appear between ordinary and extraordinary is in the witches. Aside from adding their weird supernatural side to the plot they also contribute in a manner that brings the whole story together. If you took the witches away from the play then this is what the storyline looks like: Macbeth an ambitious thane, is returning from a hard fought battle, when he is told that he is to receive the title of thane of Cawdor. Seeing the potential of this new position, Macbeth sets his sights on higher things. Macbeth successfully assassinates the king with the help of his wife, and scares away the heirs to the throne. On the throne Macbeth is a harsh King and, as questions arise about the Duncan’s murder, he becomes a tyrant and many former friends are killed. Eventually his crimes are too much and Macbeth is overthrown and killed by the true heir to the throne. Much as this is a fairly good storyline, when you add in the witches it becomes a great story. (Indeed Macbeth is recognised as a theatrical masterpiece) The witches add many new dimensions and contrasts and raise many questions. Like is fate fixed? What is the balance between good and evil? What the witches do is enter the play and tell Macbeth his prophecy, by doing this they set Macbeth off exploiting an ambitious flaw in his personality. One question that surrounds the play is whether the witches possess Macbeth and make him commit the crimes, or whether they merely use an ability to predict the future, to set Macbeth off. After this Macbeth’s ambition drives him on to commit many murders and a regicide. Well there is certainly evidence within the play that Macbeth is possessed. When he meets the witches for the first time he is obsessed with them and maybe this is the beginning of his possession. Macbeth also shows stereotypical signs of possession in his behaviour and speech: in Act 1 Scene 3 when Macbeth first comes across the witches Banquo says â€Å"look how our partner’s rapt† because Macbeth appears to be entranced; which was a typical sign of possession. Also he shows an inability to pray, in Act 2 Scene 2 he says â€Å"Amen, stuck in my throat† being unable to pray was linked to the fact that according to 17th century folk-lore the possessed was being controlled by a minion of Satan. However there is also a possibility that Macbeth is in fact only ‘inspired’ by the witches when he hears his fate. Then the witches coax him on with illusions, and tricks. Like the appearance of the dagger that leads Macbeth to King Duncan’s room in Act 2 Scene 1, Banquo’s ghost in Act 3 Scene 4, and perhaps the possession of Lady Macbeth. If this is the case then one has to ask would Macbeth have become King anyway if he just waited, and that his fate was fixed that he did become a legitimate King. However his knowledge of his fate led him off course. Whichever way (if either of them) it is definite that the witches were a changing part of Macbeth’s psychology. As has been mentioned, when Macbeth’s fate is prophesised by the witches in Act 3 Scene 1, he is entranced. Perhaps this due to a possession, perhaps this is due to some form of euphoria that has come over him after he finds out that he will become King. Either way he is very serious about the witches’ prophecies and he holds a high view of the witches as they can provide him with information about his future, which to Macbeth sounds very promising. This stands in direct contrast to Banquo’s opinion of the witches; he criticises the witches and ignores their predictions. Later on the scheme of events has played out and Macbeth is on the throne, again by possession or by ambition. By now Macbeth is starting to realise the potential mess he has got himself into, and so he goes to find the witches. After receiving new information, Macbeth is fooled by the witches, into thinking he has some sort of immortality. However he does not ignore their advice and he still respects what they say, so he is not feeling so powerful that he feels he can ignore the apparitions and the witches. For example in response to the apparition’s warning, â€Å"beware Macduff,† Macbeth has Macduff’s family murdered. However the sense of immortality soon fades. When he finds that Malcolm and his allies are marching to Dunsinane Castle, he realises the tricks that the witches have played on him. He sees that the apparitions were meant to fool him into thinking he was invulnerable to death, and he refers to the witches as â€Å"juggling fiends†. Macbeth realises the trap that he is caught in, and sees that he was part of the witches’ game. At this point whatever is driving Macbeth; possession or hatred dies and turns to hate for life. Although Macbeth may have been possessed he did not ask to be, however his wife Lady Macbeth did. Similarly to Macbeth though she could either be controlled by ambition, thinking that she was possessed or actually under possession. Her need for power begins when she reads Macbeth’s letter In Act 1 Scene 5, she (like Macbeth when he first hears the news of his destiny) is fascinated. In the same scene as she receives the letter she calls upon the power of the spirits to ‘un-sex’ her and â€Å"fill me from the crown to the toe topfull of direst cruelty.† (Lines 37-52) She demands that her emotional weakness is removed and that she is filled with the evil intent to murder the king. It shows from this time until Duncan’s murder that she has indeed been filled with this evil. It is she who really pushes Macbeth to murder Duncan, possibly with a little help from the witches. However almost immediately after the King is murdered, this evil leaves her. In Act 2 Scene 2, an owl shrieks, and Lady Macbeth is terrified. Just earlier that evening she had been driving and pushing Macbeth to murder the King, who had just given Macbeth a title for being faithful to the crown! Indeed she becomes so unhinged that she goes completely mad. Some productions of Macbeth have Lady Macbeth playing one of the witches. Some people have also suggested that maybe Lady Macbeth is one of the witches, and that there has been a disagreement among the witches, and the tragic events of Macbeth are in fact the witches punishing Lady Macbeth. The witches stand out in ‘Macbeth’ in many ways, not only in character, and appearance, but also in the way that they speak. Most of the play is written in iambic pentameter, or blank verse. The witches however speak in trochaic verse, which not only has a different rhythm to iambic pentameter, but rhymes as well. The fact that the witches are the only characters to rhyme their speech makes them stand out; the droning chant in the first scene is made really eerie by use of rhyming language, with long syllables. The frequent use of antithesis, which is the use of opposites in the same sentence, is also common within the language of the witches. For example in Act 1 Scene 1 â€Å"when the battle is lost and won† This use of contradictive language sounds unusual, and therefore alienates the witches further. Sometimes the witches also speak ‘as one’; they often chant lines as a group, particularly â€Å"Hubble, bubble, toil and trouble†. This can appear eerie to watchers, as it conveys strength in the form of unit efficiency. Sometimes the witches seem to have a telepathic ability, for example when Macbeth demands to know more about his destiny, in Act 5 Scene 1 the script looks like this: FIRST WITCH: Speak! SECOND WITCH: Demand! THIRD WITCH: We’ll answer. Of course a telepathic ability is certainly not normal, and therefore this also adds to the eerie feel that surrounds the witches. ‘Macbeth’ is a not only an excellent play, but also manages to bring into question various philosophical and moral issues. The supernatural edge to Macbeth makes you wonder about witches and the power of evil. Are there forces of evil, which can influence us? Are good and evil internal or external? The main issue surrounding Macbeth is that of fate. Is it fixed, is our path in life set or can we change or at least influence it? What is the relationship between fate and time? If one’s fate is discovered, will it influence us to either strive for this future, or if we don’t like what fate holds in store, will we try to change it? However you perceive ‘Macbeth’, I believe it is summed up like this. Whatever it was that drove Macbeth, ambition, possession or something else entirely, it poisoned him. People are around whose ambition will be a threat to society, and if you feel it exists, then witchcraft is also a threat to society. Yet de spite of these threats, the forces of good are on the side of the innocent. Order will be restored to its rightful owners.

Analytical Essay Sample on the Story #8220;All My Sons#8221; by Arthur Miller

Analytical Essay Sample on the Story #8220;All My Sons#8221; by Arthur Miller In the story All My Sons by Arthur Miller, there are many symbols that influence the characters’ actions and other events. Symbols such as the tree in the yard and the date November 25th represent the remembrance of Larry Keller. The downed tree also hints to the letter at the end of the story. Other symbols stand for past events in the characters’ lives and give the reader a view into the important father-son relationship between Joe and Chris Keller. One of the major symbols in the play was the tree in the yard. The tree was important to the Kellers because it was planted on the day that their son, Larry, disappeared. The importance can be seen when the tree was knocked over. The Kellers and their neighbors saw the fallen tree and remembered Larry. Also, the fallen tree hints to the revelation of Larry’s suicide letter. Another symbol that pertained to Larry was the date November 25th. After Larry went missing, the family started to work on a horoscope for Larry in order to determine if it was his favorable day. This was important to Kate Keller because she believed that her son could not possibly have died on his favorable day. Chris Keller wanting to marry Ann also represents the idea of Larry. Certain people in the family tried to persuade Chris not to marry Ann because Larry had been engaged to Ann. Also, Joe told Chris not to marry Ann because his mother would be greatly upset because she saw Chris’s marrying A nn as the recognition that Larry had actually died. Another symbol that was significant is the title, â€Å"All My Sons.† This saying was viewed differently through the eyes of Joe and Chris Keller. Chris viewed all of the other soldiers as his brothers, making them all (the Kellers and the soldiers) a large family. This view is different from the view of his father, Joe, who only recognizes his offspring .as his â€Å"sons.† A perfect example of Joe’s view influencing his actions is Joe telling Steve to send out the cracked heads. Joe’s narrow-mindedness did not allow him to realize that men would actually die from using the bad heads. Joe’s view can also be seen when he validates his actions by saying that he had done it for his family. Chris took offense to his father’s comments because Chris saw all the soldiers as his brothers. In the story, All My Sons, symbols play an important role and influence some characters’ actions. Th tree, â€Å"November 25th†, and Chris’s marrying Ann all have to do with Larry Keller, and the title shows the differences between Joe and Chris Keller. It also shows the reader a good view of the strange relationship between Chris and his father.

Task of a group leader Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Task of a group leader - Essay Example in accomplishing its objectives by correctly diagnosing how well the group is functioning as a problem solving or decision making entity and to as well intervening to alter the groups’ operating behaviour. Ideal leadership implies a forward motion of an organisation in the positive direction. The critical capabilities of an ideal leader include; having a vision, values that constitute his or her philosophy, wisdom and courage that compose the leader’s personal composition and as well should have the trust and voice that enable them to influence others. Some vital leadership conditions that are necessary for the ideal leadership capacities include a place where the leader can hold sway, a period that calls for their leadership, a position that conveys leadership authority and a people who are ready for leadership. It is important to note that failure in leadership is related to unfavourable conditions or inadequate capital. Ideal leadership implies a forward motion of an organisation in the positive direction. Confrontation in the course of operation is at times necessary and forms an appropriate administrative technique to ensure the safe and efficient operation of any department or group. Administrative confrontation refers to the encounter where the group leader encourages the members to acknowledge something that is painful or objectionable and if and when used appropriately, it is a powerful tool in facilitating the resolution of problematic behaviours. Confrontation must be mastered over time through careful attention to person-centred techniques and strategies. For example, the need for direct engagement and correction must be balanced with the support and consideration for how it will affect feelings and what it will do to the relationship between the leader and the member. The most effective confrontation strategy is the direct, assertive, angry confrontation where if something gets one angry, they first have to identify the exact cause of the anger,

Socrates vs Confucius Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Socrates vs Confucius - Essay Example The difference in the attitude towards the means of solving the issues disturbing society came out of the peculiarities if historical preconditions and the period they lived in. Both Socrates and Confucius at the time of significant social changes accompanied by frequent wars, as well as society demoralization and political perturbations. Socrates witnessed florescence of Greece as Pericles was in reign, as well as did he see its overwhelming defeat in the Peloponnesian wars and severe rule of the Thirty Tyrants. Confucius lived at the time when the traditional slave-owning system was on the verge of decline while various political powers were fighting for power. All these factors lead to crises, and the philosophers tried to find a way to understand them and their origins and tackle them mending the social structure. Basically, this was the main common aim of Socrates and Confucius.The principal difference between them lay in the way they chose to treat the issue. The view on human nature and morality is considered to be theoretical basis of their teachings. Socrates shifted focus from speculations about the afterlife, the gods and the nature to meditation on how to live in this world. He saw the solution of a problem in reason. Reason is what can open the essence of a â€Å"paragon† for order; what we wish to create should be first developed in our mind. Socrates’ famous admonition â€Å"Know thyself† implies the importance of knowledge in human affairs.