Australia

Australia as a nation is first and foremost an Aborigine nation. They are the people of this land, the owners if you will. By looking at neighbouring countries, it is plain to see that the white man is not native in this part of the world. As with many lands, countries, homes and village that the European has conquered for the best of mankind, the one common factor is the ignorance of the white man in trying to learn something from the native culture, overemphasizing their own culture and lifestyle, and ignoring deeply important characteristics of the land that they inhabit. Through arrogance and ignorance this was seen as an act of civilisation. In almost all nations colonised by the British especially, there has been the imperceptible formation of a new class system, with the white people at the top of that hierarchy. Over time, with a growing population unused to and with little experience of the controversy surrounding their country, the underlying issues tend to be fo!rgotten and are replaced with the current headlines of today; the rising crime rate in areas most populated by Aborigines and the subsequent need for mandatory sentencing in those areas, the debates raging over the reconciliation and native title issues. Perhaps the most confusing and controversial of all is the governments stance on this all; the continued refusal to apologise for the assimilation policy on the government agenda until 1967, and the ambiguity in the way the government chooses to react to questions and accusations. By almost promoting this bad press and highlighting the difference between the indigenous Australians and the Euro-Australians, the government is inviting a racist counter culture similar to that which has developed in the US with African Americans building a culture of their own which often thrives on anti-white feeling. This possible progression could prove to be counter product...

The Vietnam War (1955-1975) essayEssay Writing Service

The Vietnam War (1955-1975) essayEssay Writing Service The Vietnam War (1955-1975) essay The Vietnam War (1955-1975) essayThe Vietnam War is considered to be one of the most important events in the history of the United States. This event influenced the lives of millions of Americans because many citizens of the United States were enrolled in the army. According to statistical data, â€Å"Hundreds of thousands of U.S. soldiers were wounded and traumatized, and tens of thousands lost their lives† (Friedrichs 131). The war began in 1955 and ended in 1975. This historical period was the era of the Cold War, which was characterized by a lot of tension between the United States and Soviet Union. The Vietnam War took place in Vietnam, and was extended in Laos and Cambodia.The Vietnam War is also known as Vietnam Conflict and Second Indochina War. It was a prolonged struggle between nationalists aimed at unifying the territories of South and North Vietnam under a communist government and the United States with the South Vietnamese assistance aimed at preventing the sprea d of communism (Friedrichs 131). North Vietnam was backed by the People’s Republic of China, while South Vietnam was backed by the United States and defiant communist allies. American involvement in the Vietnam War can be explained as a way to prevent a communist takeover not only of South Vietnam, but also other countries.   In other words, the U.S. strategy was aimed at preventing the further spread of communism across the world (Friedrichs 131). The leaders of North Vietnam and the Viet Cong wanted to reunify Vietnam under communist government. As a result, they considered the military conflict as an example of the colonial war, which was fought initially against France, then against the United States as France was backed by the U.S.A. and, finally, against South Vietnam, which was the U.S. puppet state (Bostdorff    Goldzwig 520). According to Morena Groll, â€Å"it was the longest military conflict, which on top of everything ended in defeat for the Americans† (2). The United States was engaged in a war that many military and political experts analyzed as unnecessary war because of having no way to win. The U.S. political leaders lost the national support for the war because the U.S. citizens were against the war actions in Vietnam. Since the end of the Vietnam War, this event has become a benchmark for the U.S. leaders signifying what they should not do in all future U.S. foreign conflicts. According to researchers, â€Å"wartime disagreements about foreign policy persisted in the postwar period as Americans debated the proper ‘lessons’ of the war†(Hagopian 23).Thesis statement: Although the Vietnam War caused by the U.S. desire to stop the spread of communism had negative consequences on Americans, including social, economic and political consequences, this event helped to shape Modern World History.The Vietnam War: background informationThe Vietnam War has been widely discussed in the media and academic sources. In order to assess the role of the Vietnam War in shaping the Modern World History, it is necessary to refer to the causes, consequences and solutions to the military conflict. Special attention should be paid to the U.S. President’s policy. According to Denise M. Bostdorff   and Steven Goldzwig, â€Å"Kennedy’s rhetoric on Vietnam serves as an exemplar of how presidents balance idealistic arguments, which apply principles of genus to public problem-solving, and pragmatic arguments, which emphasize the efficacy or practicality of politics† (515). The idealistic appeals of President Kennedy provided legitimate support to his Vietnam policy, representing him as a â€Å"principled leader† (Bostdorff   Goldzwig 515). In other words, the U.S. President’s appeals helped him to avoid criticism of his foreign policy and explain the causes of slow progress.The major causes of the warNorth Vietnam was under the communist government and South Vietnam wasnt. Ho Chi Minh, the leader of the North Vietnam, wanted to spread communism in the whole Vietnam, uniting North Vietnam and South Vietnam. The leaders of the South Vietnam opposed the spread of communism. The United States took the side of South Vietnam, bringing the war in a different level (Hagopian 73). Thus, the major causes of the Vietnam War include three causes:To stop the spread of communism in Vietnam;As the French soldiers pulled out of war for a number of reasons, the U.S. was ready to take their place in the military conflict;The U.S. foreign policy was based on providing support to friend countries.There were several players in the Vietnam War: South Vietnam, North Vietnam, the USA, South Korea, People’s Republic of China, Russia.The major consequences of the warThe Vietnam War had an enormous impact on the life of Americans, including various spheres of public and private life. The consequences of the military conflict contributed to considerable changes in the U. S. foreign policy. Although the United States is considered to be the world’s greatest superpower, there are some negative effects of the U.S. President’s decision regarding the solutions to the Vietnam conflict. According to researchers, the United States â€Å"had entered Vietnam as a powerful, united nation certain of its cause and of victory† (Wiest 83). The defeat in the Vietnam War made millions of Americans reconsider and reassess the established beliefs and values. Besides the above mentioned facts, the country was left battered and depressed because of the uncertainty in the future policy, especially in the face of the complex challenges caused by the Cold War (Wiest 83).  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Moreover, the Vietnam War shaped the relations between the role of the political opinion of the public and the politics that was influenced by the media functioning during the military conflict in Vietnam. The legacy of the Vietnam War can be assessed by means of the statistical data, which affected the public opinion regarding the war. According to statistical data, â€Å"during the war in Vietnam the French lost some 76,000 dead and 65,000 wounded – while their allies lost 19,000 dead and 13,000 wounded, while American forces lost some 58,000 dead and over 300,000 wounded† (Wiest 83). The U.S. foreign policy was criticized during the war.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In addition, many historians, politicians and journalists indicted the established government policy, providing radically different opinions regarding the major causes of war and its consequences. The most popular journalists and historians were Bernard Fall, Robert Shaplen, John Lewis, George McT. Kahin and others. They provided severe criticism of the war’s efficiency (Marolda 767). The American movement against the Vietnam War promoted anti-war ideas and encouraged Americans to protest against American involvement in this military conflict. This movement influenced the decisions of Johnson’s administration, leading to the policy reversal in 1968. According to researchers, â€Å"during the Nixon administration, it hastened the U.S. troops withdrawals, continued to restrain the war, fed the deterioration in the U.S. troop morale and discipline† (Marolda 758).The major solutions to the warThe major solutions to the war are based on the fact that the Vietnam War was the most significant military conflict of the 20-th century. Although the war in Vietnam was rather small as it involved limited action of the United States, the â€Å"9 years of official American involvement in the war over 2 million Vietnamese and 58, 219 Americans lost their lives† (Wiest 5).In addition, the key military operations during the war were influenced by the relationships between the military and the civilians. Vietnam was the center of Cold War strategy. Different operations conducted during the Vietn am War were related to the tactics of the limited war. This strategy was criticized by the leaders of civilian society. There were limits set on the spread of the military conflict in Vietnam. Although the senior members of the U.S. military forces recommended expanding the scope of the military conflict, the U.S. presidents and their administrations opposed the expansion of freedom of action. Both the U.S. President John F. Kennedy and President Lyndon Johnson used democratic solutions to the war (Hagopian 24).The importance of the event in Modern World HistoryThe Vietnam War plays an important role in Modern World History. This event has changed the minds of millions of people regarding the perception of war and the role of the U.S. involvement in the military conflict. According to researchers, â€Å"the Vietnam War and its perception were unprecedented in their entire dimension,† because of the considerable social and political changes that occurred during the military co nflict (Groll 2). More specifically, there were changes in the media perception due to the emergence of television as an effective tool of political thought and political socialization. During this period, television expanded and turned into the most influential source of information for all people. Television offered massive opportunities for the U.S. leaders, including the war coverage and the public perception. The Canadian philosopher of communication theory, Marshall McLuhan, states that â€Å"television brought the brutality of war into the comfort of the living room. Vietnam was lost in the living rooms of America – not on the battlefields of Vietnam†(qtd. in Groll 2).In fact, the Vietnam War is considered to be one of the most disliked wars in the history of United States. According to researchers, â€Å"the cost of this war was the death of 60 thousands Americans and 2 to 4 million Vietnamese deaths† (Rahman Marjan 23).   The considerable changes in the development of journalism during the period of Vietnam War led to the changed public perception of the war. According to researchers, â€Å"the story of Vietnam and how pictures of bloody fights, American casualties, and killed Vietnamese civilians turned around American public opinion and, eventually, led to the withdrawal of American troops, has become a classic† (Rahman Marjan 23). The majority of reporters provided cynical representation of the war. As a result, the mass media produced confusion among the U.S. citizens because people began to express political distrust to the government (Rahman Marjan 24).The Vietnam War (1955-1975) essay part 2

How to be Succeed in the first Job Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

How to be Succeed in the first Job - Essay Example If a person has enough information about a place, he or she is likely to get used to the area quickly compared to someone who does not have any idea about the workplace. This kind of information can be accessed from the employer or other employees working at the place. This is commonly referred to as organizational learning (Kleynhans, 36). A new employee should actively interact with different employees so as to be in a position to gain knowledge about the new job. In most cases, people learn from other workers in the organization and this is very effective in as far as knowledge creation is concerned, hence the need for a new employee to interact with older employees in the company. It is also very important to conduct personal research about a workplace in order to be in a position to succeed in the first job. It is essential for a person to show that he has some knowledge about the job as well as the workplace when he joins the company. This helps to reduce the chances of confusi on when one is working in a certain company. Personal researches can be conducted using different strategies. The internet for instance is very effective in as far as searching for information about any particular subject is concerned (Hyder). For instance, Google search engine is very effective in as far as research about a specific area or place is concerned. Different companies now have their own websites and these are very effective since any information about a given subject can be accessed. Information related to the type of work performed can also be accessed from the internet. Individual career development is also essential in order for a person to succeed in the first job. Robbins (570) states that it is very important for a prospective employee to first assess his or her skills since the idea is to capitalise on your strengths. The other important aspect for the prospective employee is to merge what he or she likes with what he or she can do best. It becomes easier for the new employee to be a great achiever since he has the knowledge to perform different tasks in the new job. On the other hand, it can be observed that the concept of safety management has significantly gained prominence during the contemporary period. Safety management is a discipline that requires the new employee to acquire vital knowledge from the people who are experienced in the same type of work. The experienced workers can impart their vital knowledge to new workers and this can also help to ensure their safety. During the current period, it can be seen that organizations are more concerned with ensuring that employees are working in a safe environment. For instance, in mining, construction or any other manufacturing industry, it can be seen that safety management is given the priority it deserves. Companies provide booklets that have information about the safety procedures that can be taken during the period they are performing their job. Each department also has a supervisor who will be concerned with ensuring that all the new employees have understood the demands of their work. This also helps them to minimise chances of getting injured at the workplace since they will have the right knowledge about safety at the workplace. When one is visiting a construction site in a building

Pop Culture-one artifact Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Pop Culture-one artifact - Essay Example There is one real leg of a person and a prosthetic limb with a message persisting that there are no original spare parts for the human body in the poster. The company uses logos to tell the people that the human body must always be under great care. It uses the words in the advertisement, as a form of logos to convey the message that people should be careful whilst engaging in dangerous activities. In this case, the company is insisting that drunk driving can result in an outrageous accident that can make individuals lose their body parts. There are no spare parts for the human body and thus people must avoid drunk-driving at all costs. The company uses pathos to capture the attention of audience by describing the potential dangers for drunk driving. The photo showing a person with one real human leg and a prosthetic limb seeks to imply the potential effects for drunk driving, and effectively portrays pathos. It is portraying the dangers a person is exposing himself or herself to, by driving while drunk. BMW uses the photo to show the prospect of losing a body part and recovery difficulty. The photo exhibits the jeopardy of drunk driving. The utilization of this image is supposed to initiate mental thoughts and conceptions among the audience regarding the fundamental effects of driving while drunk. By understanding the potential dangers, the audience is supposed to become thoughtful of drunk driving. The â€Å"BMW† logo at the right corner of the poster portrays the use of ethos. The company is an established car-manufacturer and the usage of the logo will win the trust of many people. It is likely that many people will consider reading the message and put it into practice because of the brand name â€Å"BMW†. The company is advertising itself for the sale of cars but at the same time using its brand to sensitize people against driving while drunk. This is a

Crown sports Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Crown sports - Essay Example The Company has nearly 50,000 club members with 22 mid sized health and fitness clubs across England on a whole all over U.K . The crown company is well known for their health services like gymnasiums, swimming pools and their environment areas crown sports plc was formed with the merging of the golf club holdings a famous golf course operating company in U.K with assets of eight golf courses at the time of acquisition. The other strategic business entities include sports based publishing, horse racing and sporting information, land and property investment. The main strategic business unit is the health clubs, as the company has much presence in the health club market. Crown has diversified in various business entities as the company performance registered a considerable growth in the initial phase of the new millennium. The crown sports company has a large number of members around the U.K. to enhance the customer experience they have entered into a new market avenue by exploiting th e market share of the local players who already existed in that region. In the golf industry, according to the then the MARTIN KNIGHT the Deputy Chairman of Crown Sports PLC growth potential for crown sports very good because there are a large number of courses that are not fulfilling their potential. The deputy backed the management skills, operational skills and understanding of the company fulfill customer requirements and propel will give the ability to acquire courses and manage them better.Resources and capabilities As we say services, it is performances and is frequently produced by humans and no two services will be precisely alike. The employees delivering the service frequently are the service in the customer's eyes, and people may differ in their performance from day to day or even hour to hour. The consumer is a part of the production process so the delivery system must go to the market or the customer must come to the delivery system. The concept of bringing customer to the product started working well as it has registered profits in 1999 and 2000. Analysts predicted there is huge potential for Crown to drive revenues by selling products to its members. The company superiors planned to expand the business to other sports related entities as a dynamic expansion strategy. It was revealed in the company chairman's words as "We think that there is a significant amount of consolidation likely to happen in the sports asset industry in the United Kingdom and that is where we are going to concentrate our activities over the next two years". Initially the company started thinking that it should not confine to a specific sport utility supplier and measured the options of diverging into new avenues and started working to that path. The basic idea behind this move is to expand their span of market and to increase the potential market base by merging with a company which has good customer base and was in healthy condition to takeover and to move with the crown sports . crown sports initiatives succeeded in acquiring the Dragon health club plc in last month of December 2000.The dragon's health club equally big as crown sports and has an admirable number of customer. The company performance can be actively studied with the help of the porter's generic strategies. Porter's theory specified that the company with different entities should havefreedom in their

Theories of Learning for Classrooms

Theories of Learning for Classrooms Learning is the process that results in a relatively enduring change in a person or persons (Alexander et al, 2009: 186). Learning is a dynamic process whereby the students knowledge and skills are different before to after learning (Winn, 1990). Teaching is by definition the promotion of learning and ought therefore to be informed by the best of our knowledge about learning. Learning and teaching poses a synergistic relationship; that is teachers need to teach with an approach that reinforces how students naturally learn (Muijs brooks book). A number of educational researchers offer learning paradigms to explain how individuals learn. The way students learn can be used to foster effective teaching practices, and ultimately align teaching with positive learning and educational experiences. Understanding how knowledge is developed and comprehended can allow teachers to shape the methodological delivery of their subject content to match the theoretical frameworks, underpinning how knowledge is processed. Attending to the nature of student learning can allow teachers to improve their practice and in turn the quality of the learners experience (Macleod Golby, 2003). The extremes of this learning theory spectrum are represented by the Behaviourist and Constructivist theories of learning. Behaviouristic Theory of Learning Learning, according to behaviourists (Watson, Pavlov), is defined as acquisition of new behaviour. The focus of behaviourism is on the conditioning of observable human behaviour and is based on the principal conception that a reaction is made in response to a specific stimulus. This reaction leads to a consequence. If the consequence is pleasant and positive, the behaviour change becomes reinforced. With consistent reinforcement, the behaviour pattern becomes conditioned and is automatically activated upon stimuli presentation. Physiologically, behaviourist theories propose that learning is achieved through reinforcement of a particular neural pathway, which links the stimuli and response in the brain. This activation and reinforcement results in a faster, smoother implementation of certain reactions and responses. The connections between the stimuli and specific responses are built correctly and then reinforced over time through practise and repetition, which ultimately strengthens the neural pathways, resulting in a more efficient response to the stimuli. (Pritchard). Behaviourists term this form of learning conditioning, whereby with consistent reinforcement the behaviour pattern becomes conditioned. Classical conditioning involves the reinforcement of a natural reflex or behaviours which occur naturally as a response to a specific stimulus. In contrast, operant conditioning involves reinforcing a behaviour by praising it, or discouraging undesirable behaviour with punishment. The rewarding phases of this conditioning processing is known as reinforcement. However, this stimulus-response relationship discounts any mental processes which may be involved in learning. Researchers, including Vygotsky 1962 amongst others, began to criticise the behaviourist approach, as it was seen too teacher centred and directed, void of meaningful learning and the teacher process was focused too much on individual rather than collaborative group work. In addition, the constructivist perspective challenged the implied separation between mental processing and knowledge, which had to be bridged by the role of a teacher. Constructivist Theory The constructivist movement was formed on Piagets (1976) and Vygotsky (1986) work who view learning as the effect of mental construction, whereby learners combine their existing knowledge with new information, to construct meaning and formulate their understanding. The constructivist theory proposes that learning is an active process, a social activity, contextual, centred on constructing meaning and regards the learner as a responsible agent in their knowledge acquisition (Loyens 2007. In constructivist learning, individuals draw in their experience of the world around them and work to make sense of what they perceive in order to build an understanding of what is surrounding them (Harris, 1994). Since constructivism involves learners to interact with their immediate learning environment, learning has been considered to be situation-specific and context-bound activity (McInerney and McInerney, 2002. Constructivism is an umbrella term to encompass the wide range of constructivist perspectives, which can be separated into two branches; cognitive constructivism (Piaget, 1976) and social constructivism (Vygotsky, 1986). Both sub-types believe that knowledge is actively constructed by individuals Birenbaum 2003, however through the use of different mediums; either through a series of internal, intellectual stages (cognitive constructivism), or by social interaction including interactions with world based, external experiences (social constructivism). The numerous perspectives on constructivism within these two sub-types could be essentially grouped around a rooted assumption about learning. That is, knowledge is actively constructed by the learner (Birenbaum 2003; Harris and Alexander 1998) Piagets developmental stages theory, which represents cognitive constructivism, presents four age-referenced development stages which provide a theory of gradual cognitive development up to the age of eleven years old. The stages refer to an explicit age range and characterise the cognitive abilities necessary at each stage to construct meaning of ones environment. Social constructivism emphasises the role of language in the process of intellectual development. Vygotsky considered dialogue, usually but not always with a more knowledgeable other, as a vehicle by which concepts are considered, shared and developed. The dialogue, which is based on learners pre existing and current knowledge (schemas), is then exploited to develop and construct new ideas and understanding. Vygotsky advocates that the process of learning involves moving into and across a zone of proximal development, which is aided by the intervention of another through support. The zone of proximal development is a theoretical space of understanding which is just above the level of an individuals current understanding. The process of giving support to learners at the appropriate time and level of sophistication to meet the individual needs is termed scaffolding. Scaffolding can allow the movement from one zone to another and assists in the passing through the zone of proximal devel opment. From reviewing the literature, educational researchers which employ these constructivist principles select aspects from both strands of this learning theory (Biggs, 1979, Cunningham, 1996), and use constructivist theories as a generalised term. However, as Mathews and Lui highlight, combining the plethora of constructivist variants is questionable, and generalisations made may have less significance and loss of meaning. Therefore, for the purpose of this assignment, the term constructivism will reflect a collaboration of both social and cognitive strands; however specific branches and the implications of these strands are highlighted where necessary. Critique of learning theories and associated implications upon classroom practice A review of the literature suggests that behaviouristic learning does not offer students the chance to develop deep meaning and understanding (Einworth and Collins), but instead has a tendency to promote superficial learning of skills (Fosnot, 1996). Making a correct response and remembering content does not necessarily imply understanding, and consequently the actual understanding achieved through behavioural approaches is challenged. Hounsell, Entwistle, 1997 conclude that the use of rote memorisation represents a learning approach to a surface level of understanding, whilst establishing connections with current knowledge reflects an approach for a deeper level of understanding. In contrast, from a constructivist perspective, the principle of learning using prior experience is beneficial in promoting a deeper and richer understanding (Pressley, Harris Marks, 1992). Demerici advises that information which is connected to a learners prior experiences is more likely to be retained, explaining higher retention rates when a constructivist approach is adopted. (Demirici). According to Fosnot, the focus of attention in constructivist perspective is concept development and deeper understanding. This research suggests that constructivist approaches lead to a great, richer and deeper understanding. It is therefore plausible to suggest that the quality and depth of understanding associated to a constructivist teaching approach is more likely to exceed that of the behaviourist approach. However, as Entwhistle and Smith (2002) identify, the association between memorisation and surface approach may be weak. Kember, 1996; Watkins Biggs, 1996 reported that memorisation can be used to learn unfamiliar terminology, as the first stage to establishing understanding. This concept, where memorisation is part of meaningful learning, is defined as memorising with understanding (Marton, Watkins,Tang, 1997; Meyer, 2000, and has been conducted by students as a successful revision tool (Entwistle Entwistle, 2001) In addition, (Smith, 2001, 2002a) affirms that rote learning can contribute to understanding. Therefore, it appears that behaviouristic learning approaches can be beneficial for certain tasks such as establishing classroom behaviour (Fulton). Teachers could consider deploying beahviorusitlic approaches to the learning of classroom behaviour, especially for pupils who display anxious tendencies and low motivation (Prittard; Fulton). Those of higher academic ability perceive simplistic drill and practice unsatisfying and dull (Prittard). In addition, some students demand understanding, yet adhering to behaviouristic learning approaches does not accommodate this craving. In other situations, the concepts of learning without understanding can fuel frustration, lead to misconceptions and generate a difficult learning environment (Prittard). Controversially, Fox (2001) suggests that the constructivist theory may imply that remembering is not important, and that learning is solely centred on understanding concepts. However, neither of these are true, and being able to remember knowledge is an important prerequisite of learning. In addition, Biggs, (1998) and Jin and Ortazzi, (1998) have reported that constructivist teaching approaches dont consistently guarantee teaching effectiveness. Instead, traditional, more behaviourist approaches to learning in large classes has proven to be successful internationally, such as in China. Fox, 2001, argues that constructivism neglects the role of memorisation and mechanical learning techniques Arguably, due to the varying nature of meaning which is uncontrollably constructed by students, in some cases, rote learning and memorisation may be more useful when teaching factual concepts and where clarity in understanding is required. Rote learning may be used to help students cope better with some aspects of work that they find difficult. However, teachers must consider that rote learning is not an approach to develop understanding and therefore where possible, should be followed by attempts to encourage understanding. Standard school and classroom routines and expectations for behaviour can be learnt through behaviouristic approaches. In the case of behaviour management, a strategy to quieten the class, such as raising of the hand, or counting down from three could be effectively used. In this case, the stimulus, such as the teacher raising their hand or calling out the number three, must be fully explained to the class. In addition, the stimuli must be fully visible and audible to the students, which is possible with a clearly risen hand or an assertive voice. The response desired, such as a student raising of the hand and silence, must be fully understood by students. It is important that the stimulus-response occurrence should be repeated by the teacher and used regularly. The same strategy should be employed every time the teacher wants to quieten the class, establishing consistency of stimuli and behavioural response. This repeated activation strengthens the pathways, affording for a smoother and faster implementation of the response. . Pupils should be made aware of the negative and positive consequences if they do not respond to the stimuli as desired and the consequences need to be kept consistent. Therefore, consistency of behaviour management strategies is crucial and classroom practice must adhere to the same strategise as the same stimuli is presented for a specific response. Behaviourism relies on reinforcement which is employed to condition the behaviour, and therefore is essentially the tool which brings about learning. Therefore rewards and punishments for behaviours must play a crucial role and actively administered within classroom practice. Behaviourism may therefore stimulate and encourage more use of positive reinforcement which has been a long standing effective classroom practice (Elliott and Busse, 1991 fulton book). However teachers must consider that rewarding children who are already highly motivated may not be as effective, and may actually lead to a loss of interest (Fulton) Rewards and praise have been shown to enhance motivation, and serve as an effective behaviour management tool, however, praising students may not come naturally to teachers. However, behaviourist approaches dont take account of mental cognitive processing involved in learning. In contrast, constructivism emphasises that the learners must develop their understanding for themselves and constructivist researchers advocate that mental activity is the lifeblood of learning and the extent of what is learnt (Howe 1999). Teachers cannot assume that the products of learning are solely the teachers effort and thought; instead learning requires effort on the part of the learner. Teachers need to offer scope of activities where the accustomed effort and activity falls on the learners responsibility. Such opportunities would afford learner engagement and optimise the possibility of effective lasting learning taking place (Prittard). A vast array of supportive literature endorses the success of constructive approaches. Research informs that learning through such constructive mediums, like discussion, participation, practice, are successful and associated with learning gains and knowledge retention. Demirci Yavuz (2009). Dericimi also reported a significant difference in post-test grades and retention learning tests grades, with the constructivist approach being more efficient than the conventional, behaviouristic approach. However, the constructivist theory may imply that all individual differences in learning come down to the consequences of each learners history of learning )Loyens, 2008. Furthermore, although we do learn by acquiring knowledge from our environments through interacting with the external world, Fox highlights that the environment also acts upon learners. That is, we act and react and learning can be achieved from both experiences. However, constructivism appears to fail to acknowledge adaptive instinctive responses as reactive forms of learning (Fox, 2001) and the role of talent in cognitive development. Furthermore, Fox (2001) and Bredo, (2000) argues that constructivism discounts the role of innate, motivational and genetic factors in knowledge construction, which have been proven to play a role in cognitive development and ealrning Carey Spelke, 1994). Another assumption refers to an epistemological assumption that students actively seek resources and experiences, which are anchored by their pre-existing knowledge. In addition, it is assumed that learners utilise the construed data to actively construct their knowledge (Renkl). Therefore, this approach to learning relies on students encountering experiences and applying these experiences to their pre-existing knowledge to develop their understanding. However, such experiences and world-based interactions may not be feasible or available to students due to their lifestyle circumstances. Consequently, teachers need to be aware that understanding and meaning is limited to the individual experiences of the students. In accordance with this assumption, the constructivist theory can explain why pupils conceptions and meaning do vary between each other (Taber, 2000). Given that learning is achieved through the constructing activity of the student, the individual can only understand or kno w what he or she has constructed (Dunn and Cunningham, 1996). Therefore, constructivism may be seen as subjective and relative (Duffy and Cunningham, 1996).. This may lead to marking criteria discrepancies, confusion and inconsistency, and student misconceptions, which do not match reality. In addition, Duffy and Cunningham propose that if the constructions and meanings are different amongst students, the little shared understanding may challenge the ease of communication between learners and the class. This may jeopardise the effectiveness of class discussions and social interactions as a tool to enhance learning. Similarly, as construction is activity on part of the learner (Bruner 1966, 1971), what is constructed cannot be controlled by the teacher. Instead the learner has autonomy and self-regulates what understanding is established. Therefore the students constructed understanding may not parallel with other students, with reality or with the teachers construction and understanding. Consequently, teachers must not assume that the construction and understanding of a concept is universal between all students. Instead teachers must actively access and consider the alternative perceptions and understanding of the learners hence why a transmission approach is fruitless. On the other hand, teachers come into the classroom with their own construction and conceptions of subject content, and according to Patrick 1988, are not neutral. Therefore, a teachers understanding can colour the students understanding, and together, Patrick, 1998 and Marton and Booth (1997) suggested that some teachers moulded the students construction of a concept to align with their concept interpretation. Ellisowths review concludes that the form of understanding impressed onto students is largely dependent on the teachers personal interpretation of the subject content. Therefore, although the constructivist theory assumes that the construction of understanding is the product of the learners interpretation exclusively, the constructivist theory does not account for the interplay between teachers and learners comprehension. Importantly, to help progressive learning and avoid developing misconceptions, teachers need to provide a clear focus and goals, with explicit learning objectives, which are rooted within pupils existing knowledge. The clear objectives allow students to construct their ideas using current knowledge and understand the overarching direction and progression oftheir learning. Activating prior knowledge is important to elicit pre-knowledge, allowing teachers to decipher the conceptual frameworks they are operating within. Teachers need to highlight the links between students existing knowledge and the new subject knowledge, to help the learner form bridges and facilitate their mental construction and cognitive processes (REF). By forming these links, students can activate and recall their pre-existing knowledge, and use this foundation to build and integrate new concepts. Teachers should encourage students to relate new knowledge to current knowledge and external experiences, allowing the new subject content to become embedded within the existing knowledge structures, contributing to or amending to the students schema. Since learning constructively is based on the addition of new content to current knowledge, the learner must have sufficient levels of understanding before new content can be used to construct more complex meaning and progress. Teachers and educators need to consider that new content cannot be built up until the foundations, such as current knowledge, is secured. To accommodate these pre-requisites of learning, the individuals knowledge needs to be continually assessed. As a regular classroom practice, formative assessment could be used as a regular approach to assess existing and new understanding, before moving to the next lesson. Formative assessment is a regular, informal mode of assessment, allowing teachers to monitor students progress, gain an appreciation of what has been learnt and adapt their teaching practices to optimise further learning (Black and Wiliam, 1998). Accordingly, given that learning is an active and evolving processes, formative assessment can be used by teachers to assess, monitor, challenge unclear perspectives and adapt classroom practices to accommodate the constructivist principles of learning. Therefore, it is reasonable to believe that constructivist approaches to learning favour the use of formative assessment and may prompt its use in the classrooms, which Lamon, 2001 reports as being more valuable. Since formative assessment alone is associated with learning gains, (Black and Wiliam 1998), learning is positively influenced indirectly via adopting teaching strategies which are aligned to learning constructively. Formative assessment may be undertaken through questioning, teacher and pupil discussion, peer assessment and interaction with peers. Formative assessment will also identify pupils individual learning needs, supporting teachers conduct in differentiation to assure pupils are moving forward, across their ZPD and optimise learning gains. Formative assessment can be achieved in the classroom, through discussion, questioning, peer assessment, self-assessment and feedback. However, with behaviourism, the opportunities for feedback are confined to only whether the response desired is correct or not. There is little scope for learning, or how to improve in order to meet the desired response. Therefore, under behaviourist approaches, feedback cannot be used for learning purposes, therefore opportunities for assessment for learning, which have shown to enhance learning, may not be fruitful. Consequently, limited feedback combined with the objective outcomes of behaviourist approaches mean that individual student needs are not necessarily part of the formulae when considering teaching strategies and subject content. The need to consider individual needs is undeniable, therefore such constraints of feedback extent presents a multitude of problems to the teaching and learning of students. When constructing new concepts and developing understanding, reviewing and reflecting on what has already been learnt also helps to establish and secure students previous knowledge. In addition, by asking what students understand before embarking on a new concept would help students form links between new and previous knowledge (Fulton). This reviewing could be done as a starter, but also plays a role at the end of the lesson, forming a plenary. Teachers should consider, incorporate and plan for well managed plenary to consolidate knowledge. Time to reflect upon what has been undertaken, the processes and the content gives the opportunity for internalisation and for a deeper level of understanding to be developed. Similarly, learning is most effective when learners become engaged, which means that teachers need to adopt an active approach to learning and involve engaging tasks to promote learning in the classroom. Learning using authentic tasks, which allow pupils to relate to their own experience inside and outside the classroom (Selinger, 2001) increases the probability of engagement with the task and supports findings that learning in a familiar context is most effective. Authentic tasks are likely to hold the attention and interest of children, and lead to a deeper level of engagement than with non-authentic or less authentic tasks (Fulton). Favourably, the constructivist principles match those fundamentals associated with effective learning. This active perspective of constructive learning (Phillips, 1995) is often contrasted with behaviourist stimulus-response relationship, which has been defined as a passive view in learning. However, reading and listening are included within this constructive approach to teaching, which could be argued to be more passive approaches. Whilst this suggests that all cognition is active, to talking and writing, listening and reading are relatively passive. Traditionalists do not deny the importance of dialogue, and this may be utilised in questioning and answering, it is more that behaviourists place greater emphasis on knowledge and on the teacher as being knowledgeable, rather than learners and their existing knowledge (Fox). A balance is needed between emphasis on the teachers and learners, since too much emphasis on either part can lead to prescriptions for teaching which may ignore the students needs or dismiss the teachers as a significant resource of knowledge. An active learning approach can be achieved by encouraging students to explore concepts and ideas, and to follow their instincts (Wray and Lewis, 1997). Given that exploration can promote sequential development of ideas, it is likely to assist in the construction of new knowledge; the roots to constructivism. Classroom practice could be based on a discovery-based approach Huitt, 2004;, where students can find answers out for themselves, answer their own questions through experimenting with new ideas and discuss their beliefs and thinking patterns with their peers. Importantly, engaging with each other reflects social interactions, which can be a vehicle to develop understanding using social interaction. Unlike behaviourist approaches where the teacher is the primary resources of knowledge and is influenced by their interests and perspective; knowledge construction offers the opportunity of learning to become dynamic and varied, opposed to being static and prescribed (Sudizna). The use of resources promotes more interactive learning and interest, which are both shown to positively influence learning. Behaviourist approaches have been criticised for not addressing this dynamic nature of learning as its theory assumes a static and standardised view of knowledge learning. Supported by Winn 1990, student knowledge is dynamic and changes, that is knowledge and skills are different before learning to after instruction, and behaviourism does not take this into account. In addition, behaviourism theory does not appreciate that students come into classrooms with prior knowledge. Conversely, the constructivist theory acknowledges that pre-existing knowledge is requisite of learning and that students enter classrooms with pre-conceptions, knowledge and beliefs which they deploy in constructing new understanding. (Jones, Carter, Rua, 1999) As already discussed, scaffolding is crucial for the learner to pass through their zone of proximal development, and can be undertaken by the teacher. Scaffolding can be practiced in the classroom in many ways, and teachers need to appreciate that this is fundamental to the educational progression of students and how this may be achieved. Support materials need to be widely available, such as a writing frame to support a particular style of prose, or a list of words to help in the process of completing an exercise, designed to assist understanding The provision of practical apparatus, especially in science, may help to explain the solution to a problem and is an engaging approach. Students can evidence reality and attach a sense of perspective and reality to their learning. Given the exploratory nature of constructivism, classroom practice needs to be supportive and generate an environment where the student feels safe to ask for help and comfortable in approaching the teacher. The teacher must be aware of the different supportive needs of the class, and meet these through differentiation and allowing time for class discussion, misconceptions and any lack of understanding. To help the teacher identify those who need more support than others, formative assessment can be incorporated to highlight the students individual needs that need to be addressed. Ultimately, this will allow tasks to be designed and geared towards the individuals learning ability. Unlike, behaviourism theories, constructivist theory accounts for the role of social learning and potential of interaction and recognises the importance of social interaction (Phillips, 1995). Incorporating social interaction opportunities, using language as a medium to construct ideas in groups of varying sizes, both with and without the teacher are encouraged and popular in classroom practice today (Jones and Brader-anjerie, 2002). Dialouge is proposed to constitue a crucial component of the constructivism paradigm ((Greeno et al. 1996; (Steffe and Gale 1995).Loyens, 2008. Discussion is fundamental and can be used through augmenting, debating, discussing concepts, teacher questioning and pupils presenting. Teachers should encourage students to work collaboratively, in pairs or small groups, and allow them to help each other and construct their own meaning in their own words of a concept. Dialogue with others allows additional and alternative perspectives to be taken into account when developing personal conclusions. Different knowledge, points of view and understanding can be given and considered before moving on. Teachers should listen to pupils, and use their words for explaining concepts and draw on other opinions of class members. Constructivist theory also takes into account that learning is contextual. Evidence suggests that learning occurs in real-life contexts and learning is actually linked to a context, as deduced by Macleod and Goldby 2003. Children working with new ideas in a familiar content are more likely to engage with the ideas, than if the same ideas were present in an alien context. Therefore teachers should strive to include more authentic tasks and set learning concepts which are aligned with students familiar contexts. If a learning activity falls beyond the cultural understanding of the learning, then learning is likely to be less successful than if it had been situated in a more familiar setting. .Meaningful contexts for learning are very important; however, what is meaningful for a teacher is not necessarily meaningful for the student. The association between the concept of learning being situated and the need for authentic learning tasks is evidence (McFarlane, 1997). However, the recommended approach to situation learning in meaningful contexts (e.g. Lave Wenger, 1991) has been argued against. Walkerdine, 1988, for example argued that if school learning became situated solely within the lived world of daily experiences, the opportunities for abstract reasoning and reflective activity, which are all constituents of constructivism, would become limited and sacrificed, whilst confining students to their local xxxxxxx? The exactness of the Piaget stage of development has been criticised, that is to say children may pass through the stage, but it is not clear that they will pass through the stages at specific ages, however, as a developmental trail, this theory is useful in teaching practices. Piagets stage developmental theory offers guidance covering the level of complexity that may be expected in a childs thought processes at approximate stages in their development. Whilst Piagets developmental stage theory influences principally primary school teaching practices, given the ages this theory is related to, the appreciation and awareness that c

Persuasive Essay Men and Women are Equal -- essays research papers

Men and Women There is constantly cessation why women and men cohabitate, nurture, desire, and endure. Many shrug the similarities and differences to the side due to the complex nature that is involved in understanding the progression. Since the beginning of time, according to the bible, man was placed as the dominant sex, fending for the families well being. The woman has tended to the important jobs around the homestead as situations arose. Often in society, one will find himself in a battle depending on the views of the receiving recipients. Following is a dialogue explaining a safe and metro sexual view as a general whole. Based on scientific beliefs, one is to think we come from a less intelligent species through evolution. There is also the often believed but sadly never proven fact that we could have possibly derived from a higher power that designed our every millimeter. Also possible we started as a single celled organism by a higher power, but not monitored throughout growth into what we are now. Whichever the...