Educational Psychology Essay

Explain the Vygotskian notion of the zone of proximal development. Evaluate the efficacy of approaches to teaching and learning [eg. reciprocal teaching, cognitive apprenticeships, and communities of learners] which incorporate this notion. Many theorists throughout the century have developed concepts that have analysed and explained how a child learns during their schooling years. Educational theorist Lev Vygotsky produced the social development theory of learning. He believed social interaction is the primary cause of cognitive development. He named this the zone of proximal development. There are many approaches to learning in the zone of proximal development such as scaffolding, reciprocal teaching, cognitive apprenticeships and communities of learning, each with their own unique way of transporting the learner into an easier more motivated state of learning. Compared to Piaget’s theory of cognitive development where the child is seen to go through four stages of development; sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operations, and formal operations, Vygotsky believed that the cognitive developmental process should be analysed through social contexts. He believed that this was a lifelong process that was influenced by social interaction with family, teachers, and friends in the cultural community surrounding the student. He emphasised the instruments that specific cultures provide to maintain thinking, and the idea that children use the instruments they’re given to build their own comprehension of the physical and natural world. He named this the Zone of Proximal Development. Vygotsky defines this as â€Å"the distance between the actual development level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers† (Vygotsky, 1978, cited from McInerney and McInerney, 2006,part 1,ch 2,p58). During this time cognitive development takes place. Throughout this development the child is said to go through four stages of growth (Gallimore and Tharp, 1990): 1. Assistance: in their routine from other more capable peers, parents, and teachers. 2. Growing independence: from their more capable peers as they begin to build their own ideas by using self directed speech and assume responsibility for their learning. 3. Automation of response: they develop, make the movement of idea automatic and internalise their thinking. Assistance from others is not needed. 4. De-automatisation and recursion: constant practice of routine is necessary so as not to lose the knowledge and re-enter the zone of proximal development. Sometimes there is always a movement between in and out of the zone of proximal development. Vygotskian principles are evident in everyday teaching practices and are maintained by parents, peers and teachers who believe that using a social constructivist perspective for education will give their child or students the opportunity to grow within themselves through the help of others from different levels of knowledge. Vygotsky believed that the role of the teacher using the zone of proximal development for learning is to find an appropriate stage of complexity for the learner to handle. This is called assisted learning. Teachers provide â€Å"strategic help in the initial stages of learning, gradually diminishing as students gain independence† (Woolfolk, 2001, p49). The teacher must simplify tasks so that they are manageable for the student to deal with. This guidance or help is called scaffolding. It is the support for learning and problem solving. The support could be clues, reminders, encouragement, breaking down the problem into steps, providing and example, or anything else that allows the student to grow as an independent learner. They provide students with the opportunities to further extend their current skills and knowledge. For example, think about a mathematics problem. Assume that the learner has made good progress and the time has come to learn how to do a Pythagoras theorem question. We know that the leaner cannot complete the task independently but has enough knowledge to master the problem with the help from a mathematics teacher. The learner is in the zone of proximal development and will be able to benefit from the scaffolding, in the form of explaining, demonstrating and guiding by the teacher. While doing this, teachers look for discrepancies between student’s effort and the solution they come up with. They are looking to control the frustration and risk that the student encounters. Also they model an idealised version of the act of learning so the learner can use it to help them solve their educational problems (Hausfather, 1996). The key to getting students to help themselves learn independently is not to make the students reinvent information or rediscover it themselves. The teacher must make the information available for the learner to examine and work out their own ideas and solutions whilst allowing them to be open to advice from people who are more informed on the subject. So although scaffolding is an extremely helpful tool for teachers to use in their teaching and their student’s learning, they must make sure that the child is educated in the right approach so as not to deter the child from making advances on their own educational capabilities. Cognitive apprenticeships have proved very useful over the centuries as an effective form of education. The bond that is formed between master and apprentice is both personal and motivating. By working alongside more experienced people, young people are able to learn the tricks of the trade first hand. There is a creation of dialogue between student and teachers that goes beyond answering questions and engages in the discourse more informally (Driscoll, 1994). Communication is important between master and apprentice and the teacher must learn to properly use proxemics, paralanguage, and kinesics right for the outcomes to be reached. The performances required of the learner are real and important and grow more complex as the learner becomes more competent (Collins, Brown, & Holum, 1991). Some academics believe that knowledge and skills learned in school have become separated from the everyday world. To compensate for this, many schools have adopted many of the features of apprenticeships. Apprenticeships in schools would focus on cognitive objectives such as reading, writing, problem solving and mathematical problems. There are six main features of cognitive apprenticeships: 1. Students observe an expert model the performance 2. Students get external support through coaching or tutoring 3. Students receive conceptual scaffolding, which is then gradually faded as the student becomes more competent and proficient 4. Students continually articulate their knowledge – putting into words their understanding of the processes and content being learned. 5. Students reflect on their progress, comparing their problem solving to an expert’s performance and to their own earlier performances 6. Students are required to explore new ways to apply what they are learning – ways that they have not practiced at the master’s side. (Woolfolk, 2001) In the classroom there is normally one teacher to 30 or so students, so where is there time for cognitive apprenticeships? Often there are students on the class that are at a much higher level of capabilities than other less capable students. Teachers put these students into groups where they can learn at a comfortable rate whilst have been immersed in a master and apprentice style learning environment. An example of a cognitive apprenticeship is the notion of reciprocal teaching. This is a method based on modelling, to teach reading comprehension strategies. The goal of reciprocal teaching is to help students understand and think deeply about what they read (Palincsar, 1986). Palincsar’s research has focused attention on strategies that improve reading comprehension. In Brown and Palincsar’s 1989 case study students and teachers took it in turns to lead small group discussions on an important issue. They were shown 4 reading strategies and the students began to teach themselves. This type of educational style showed significant gains over other instructional strategies as they did not allow students to gradually teach themselves. Research on reciprocal teaching has shown some remarkable results. Most research was carried out with students who were younger adolescents who can read fairly accurately so therefore the research doe not have results and data from students who are in a different age group and who are not very capable in reading comprehension skills. So the overall research is not very reliable, however of the students that was involved their reading abilities improved. Those who were in the lower bottom half of their class moved up to average or above average level on tests of reading comprehension. Palincsar has recognized there are three guiding principles for effective reciprocal teaching (Palincsar & Brown, 1984). 1. The shift from teacher control to student responsibility must be gradual. 2. The difficulty of the task and the responsibility must match the abilities of each student and grow as these abilities develop. 3. Teachers should carefully observe the â€Å"teaching† of each student for clues about how the student is thinking and what kinds of instruction the student needs. By considering reciprocal teaching, instructional approaches are used to emphasise social interaction between student’s active constructions of meaning. In a community of learners, students and teachers together construct a culture that values the strengths of all participants and respects their interests, abilities, languages, and dialects. Students and teachers shift among the roles of expert, researcher, learner, and teacher, supporting themselves and each other. There are different ways to help create a community of learners. Collaboration is a technique that teachers and student can use to enrich their solutions to harder and complex problems. Students may work with small groups in the classroom, between small groups creating difference of opinions and with others on a larger scale. One of the advantages of having students work in groups solving problems is that they will be called on to explain their proposed solutions to one another (Woolfolk, 2001). Putting solutions into words usually improves problem solving. Collaboration provides shared responsibility, enhanced communication, new questions, new answers, engaged learners and enthused teachers. Research suggests that computer technology is a cultural tool that mediates and internalises the students learning. Changing their learning contexts with different technology is a powerful learning activity (Crawford, 1996). With children learning more about computers at an earlier age they are able to interact with others that are not on the same level of ability as them, thus creating a technological community of learners. Teaching students in the modern era can guarantee a more exciting and unpredictable learning experience sort out by many in society. Vygotsky perspectives uphold many beliefs about how students learn. The zone of proximal development was and still is challenging modern thinking about effective teaching and learning in philosophical ways. By examining Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development teachers are able to recognise that students of similar ages will be experiencing similar concerns and interests but there will be differences for each individual. Each student is different. Different from adults, different from each other and as such teachers have to provide for these individual differences in each area of learning. The learning process is very active. Vygotsky emphasises the need for experience and social interaction and that they play a key role in development. The development of a student is an important factor in deciding on the subject matter to be taught, the resources and knowledge experiences to present, the teaching strategies to be used and the procedures for evaluating learning. In order to appreciate, transmit, correspond and cooperate with students, teachers and peers must know how they think feel and act at different ages. They must learn to use the zone of proximal development to help their students determine their own opinions and ideas on life itself in the classroom and in the home community. From assisted learning and the scaffolding style of teaching, to cognitive apprenticeships and a full community of learners, students are able to mature their knowledge levels through the zone of cognitive development so as to become a stronger and more inquisitive student during their educational years of schooling.

Behavioral Influences on Health

It can be argued that various behavioral, psychological, sociocultural and lifestyle factors are related to the various causes of human mortality. Rationally, the root causes of various diseases that cause human death are associated with these factors. Therefore, we can argue on the point of view on how these factors are related to human health and the spread of various diseases that ultimately causes mortality.At one level, behavioral human factors can be argued as the characteristic phenomena of behavioral conceptions that may lead to contracting diseases. In this respect, human behavior could be argued in terms the relationship with the peer groups, morality, sexual behavior, attitudes towards oneself, virtues and moral obligations. Various ill-behavioral conceptions and tendencies have been known to act as the root cause of various diseases.For example, peer pressure may result to deviance, alcoholism, smoking and other conceptions (Joseph, 2005) From the implications of these be haviors therefore, various diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and other internal disorders and ailments that are strong causatives of human mortality tend to occur. The strength and the models of a personal behavior can therefore determine the propensity with which he/she can contract certain killer diseases and ailments at the expense of other behavioral patterns.The levels of morality which is shaped by the behavioral models can be a factor towards which killer diseases like HIV-AIDs and other sexually transmitted diseases and ailments that are vulnerable in causing mortality can be transmitted. Psychological factors are the human related factors that shape and determine the standards of ones health. Various studies in health psychology have depicted a close relationship between the cognition, personality, perception, interpersonal relationships and personal emotions towards human health related issues.Various psychological disorders that arise as a result of disruption in the psy chological context of a person have been known to cause mortality. The principal researches done on both clinical and health psychology has revealed various diseases that are psychologically related and which are of great impact to human health. The human psychological development is a complex autonomy that is attributed to both the mental and the cognitive personality.Various attributes are of great impact to the psychological provisions of a person that causes disability in the functional layout of ones psychological dispensation. Research studies have shown that the rate of mortality as a result of psychological disorders is increasingly becoming more (Benjamin, 2003) Sociocultural factors refer to the structural factors within the family footage or the society which shapes and determines the contexts of a person’s health. These structural settings dictate the functionality, response and behavior of a person within such a social context.Within the family setting, various h ealth related factors may arise such as level of dietary, physical health, family pressure, and various influences such as the level of education, income, and living standards. Either, various cultural parameters may shape the nature of human health. These include cultural integration, family relations, cultural stereotypes and other factors. The nature of the sociocultural attributes has been of great influence in shaping the contexts of human health and possibilities of contracting diseases that cause death (Ann, 1998)Lifestyles refer to the modalities of person’s way of life. It is determined by various factors such as level of education, family backgrounds, level of income, cultural factors and other. Generally, the nature of a person’s or families’ lifestyles may be attributes towards contracting diseases, the ability of seeking medical attention and the vulnerability of achieving control and preventive measures. Consequently, a person’s health is de termined preferential by the standards and levels of his/her lifestyles. (James, Simon, 2006) Behavioral Influences on Health It can be argued that various behavioral, psychological, sociocultural and lifestyle factors are related to the various causes of human mortality. Rationally, the root causes of various diseases that cause human death are associated with these factors. Therefore, we can argue on the point of view on how these factors are related to human health and the spread of various diseases that ultimately causes mortality. At one level, behavioral human factors can be argued as the characteristic phenomena of behavioral conceptions that may lead to contracting diseases.In this respect, human behavior could be argued in terms the relationship with the peer groups, morality, sexual behavior, attitudes towards oneself, virtues and moral obligations. Various ill-behavioral conceptions and tendencies have been known to act as the root cause of various diseases. For example, peer pressure may result to deviance, alcoholism, smoking and other conceptions (Joseph, 2005) From the implications of these b ehaviors therefore, various diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and other internal disorders and ailments that are strong causatives of human mortality tend to occur.The strength and the models of a personal behavior can therefore determine the propensity with which he/she can contract certain killer diseases and ailments at the expense of other behavioral patterns. The levels of morality which is shaped by the behavioral models can be a factor towards which killer diseases like HIV-AIDs and other sexually transmitted diseases and ailments that are vulnerable in causing mortality can be transmitted. Psychological factors are the human related factors that shape and determine the standards of ones health.Various studies in health psychology have depicted a close relationship between the cognition, personality, perception, interpersonal relationships and personal emotions towards human health related issues. Various psychological disorders that arise as a result of disruption in the ps ychological context of a person have been known to cause mortality. The principal researches done on both clinical and health psychology has revealed various diseases that are psychologically related and which are of great impact to human health.The human psychological development is a complex autonomy that is attributed to both the mental and the cognitive personality. Various attributes are of great impact to the psychological provisions of a person that causes disability in the functional layout of ones psychological dispensation. Research studies have shown that the rate of mortality as a result of psychological disorders is increasingly becoming more (Benjamin, 2003) Sociocultural factors refer to the structural factors within the family footage or the society which shapes and determines the contexts of a person’s health.These structural settings dictate the functionality, response and behavior of a person within such a social context. Within the family setting, various health related factors may arise such as level of dietary, physical health, family pressure, and various influences such as the level of education, income, and living standards. Either, various cultural parameters may shape the nature of human health. These include cultural integration, family relations, cultural stereotypes and other factors.The nature of the sociocultural attributes has been of great influence in shaping the contexts of human health and possibilities of contracting diseases that cause death (Ann, 1998) Lifestyles refer to the modalities of person’s way of life. It is determined by various factors such as level of education, family backgrounds, level of income, cultural factors and other. Generally, the nature of a person’s or families’ lifestyles may be attributes towards contracting diseases, the ability of seeking medical attention and the vulnerability of achieving control and preventive measures.Consequently, a person’s health is de termined preferential by the standards and levels of his/her lifestyles. (James, Simon, 2006) Reference Ann, F. (1998). Human Health and Diseases. New York, Heinemann Benjamin. G. C. (2003) Reducing unhealthy Behaviors: Where do we start? American journal f public health, Vol. 93 James, R & Simon, G (2006) What is Human Health. London, Routledge Joseph, k (2005) Social Inequalities towards Human Health, Journal of Pediatrics,

Irony In The Canterbury Tales Essay

Chaucer’s Use of Irony in The Canterbury Tales In The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer compiles a mixture of stories on a pilgrimage into a figurative depiction of the medieval society in which he lived. Chaucer’s stories have a punch and pizzazz, which, to an average reader, seem uncommon to the typical medieval writer, making his story more delightful. Certain things account for this pizzazz, especially the author’s use of irony. Many of Chaucer’s characters are ironic in the sense that they are so far from what one would expect in the roles they depict, and also the fact that they are larger than life. Every character has his distinct personality with his own behavioral traits. Chaucer also uses irony in his humor, with its unexpectedness and randomness. The wife of Bath is a prime example of one of Chaucer’s characters who is larger than life. She obviously is not what one would expect of a relatively wealthy woman in her time. Her notorious traits such as not only having five husbands, but also marrying a majority of them for wealth and money stick in the mind with their ironic abnormality and appalling connotations: â€Å"ËÅ"Johnny and Dame Alice And I myself, in the fields we went My husband was in London all that Lent; All the more fun for me†Ã¢â‚¬ I only mean The fun of seeing people and being seen By cocky lads; for how was I to know Where or what graces Fortune might bestow’. (273) Chaucer accents her irregular character in this excerpt by portraying her promiscuous actions and her lack of virtue. The wife of Bath also shows irony in her actions by her need for control over others, especially her husbands. † â€Å"ËÅ"So help me God, I have to laugh outright / Remembering how I made them work at night! / And faith I set no store by it; no pleasure / It was to me’ (264)†. Here, the wife of Bath describes her domination and control over her past, old, wealthy husbands. She shows no signs of virtue in her actions to win her husbands, and to literally take their money from them. Because of these ironic, larger than life characteristics of the wife of Bath, she is a character that allows the reader to figuratively develop an intimate relationship with her. She sticks in the reader’s mind, and is a character who is remembered forever due to her unexpected ways and exaggerated traits. The Friar is also an ironic character in his uniqueness and unexpected  traits. Part of this irony is due to the enormous amount of corruption the friar possesses. â€Å"He’d fixed up many a marriage, giving each / Of his young women what he could afford her. / He was a noble pillar to his Order (8)†. In this quote, the unexpectedness totally captures the reader by surprise as he finds out that the Friar actually impregnates women and then marries them to men. This is an ideal quote to show Chaucer’s extra pizzazz in his stories, adding to the appeal of the reader. As the friar’s larger than life traits are exposed, a mental picture develops, to almost as if the reader is in the story. â€Å"Sweetly he heard his penitents at shrift / With pleasant absolution, for a gift / He was an easy man in penance-giving / Where he could hope to make a decent living (9)†. Here, it is seen that the friar is a very worldly man who puts money at a high priority i n his life. Ironically, he took the vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience, and pathetically breaks all three vows. One of the most ironically corrupt characters in the book is the Prioress. Throughout her tale and the prologue, Chaucer portrays her as someone completely different from what she should be in accord with her vocation as a nun. First of all, the Prioress’ characteristics and actions make it appear that she is going on the pilgrimage not because of her love and respect for God, but instead to travel and to go on an adventure. â€Å"She certainly was very entertaining / Pleasant and friendly in her ways, and straining / To counterfeit a courtly kind of grace, / A stately bearing fitting to her place, / And to seem dignified in all her dealings (6-7)†. This shows that the Prioress is faking her personality, counterfeiting her true purpose of being on the pilgrimage. Also, the Prioress is one of the most hateful characters in the whole story. In the Prioress’ tale, she constantly states her anti-Semitic view towards Jews, implying that the best Jewish person is a dead Jewish person. The ironic part is that the Prioress should be a caring, loving person, for she is a holy representative of God on earth. Strangely enough, the Prioress becomes terrified at the sight of a hurt animal but could care less about Jewish people. â€Å"She used to weep if she but saw a mouse / Caught in a trap, if it were dead or bleeding (7)†. Overall, the Prioress is one of Chaucer’s most ironic characters in his story, and her actions seem unrelated to the vocation of being a nun. Chaucer frequently and successfully uses ironic humor to add to the punch of the story. Because the humor is unexpected and imaginative, it draws from the reader a yearning and interest to read on. The fable of Chanticleer and Pertelote provides an ideal illustration of Chaucer’s humor. † â€Å"ËÅ"For shame,’ she said, â€Å"ËÅ"you timorous poltroon! / Alas, what cowardice! By God above, / You’ve forfeited my heart and lost my love. / I cannot love a coward, come what may’ (216-17)†. Here, it is ironically humorous to not only have animals portraying human traits, but also to create a situation that is comparable to a married couple sitting down at the breakfast table bickering. The humor is directly exposed to the reader due to the unexpected being brought to words, mixed with a tinge of absurdity of the situation. The hilarious irony is that the married couple is actually a rooster and a hen. By using such scenes, Chaucer adds to his stor y a new twist that makes it more gratifying and amusing to read. The randomness of some of Chaucer’s tales also adds to the humor of the story. For instance, it is amusing to think about the randomness of the miller’s tale and the imaginative mind one must have to come up with such a chaotic and hilarious story. The miller’s tale is so intricately laced with puns, sexual jokes, raunchy statements, that it adds an amusing humorous side of Chaucer to the story. Between the stupid carpenter, and the outraged Absolon, dirty scenes are depicted, contributing to Chaucer’s humorous style. All in all, the randomness in Chaucer’s imaginative and unusual comic stories is associated with irony due to the fact that the stories are so unexpected. The ironic and unanticipated characteristics of some of Chaucer’s humorous scenes make the reader laugh, blush, grin, and snicker. â€Å"He lay there fainting, pale beneath his tan; / His arm in falling had been broken double†Ã‚ ¦ They told the town / That he was mad, there’d got into his blood / Some sort of nonsense about â€Å"ËÅ"Nowel’s Flood (105)†. Here, when the carpenter falls from the ceiling in his apparatus to save his life and his wife’s, it is seen how truly random and unexpected Chaucer can be. Overall, irony adds strength and diversity to Chaucer’s story, making his writings more successful. Irony combined with Chaucer’s imagination, wit,  humor, and intelligence makes The Canterbury Tales successful and interesting to the reader. This irony presented in Chaucer’s characters and his humor helps to intensify Chaucer’s writings. Conclusively, the real success of the story relies in the incredible ingeniousness of Chaucer. However, the lack of Chaucer’s use of irony would make the compilation of tales much duller and less unique. Because of this, the irony in the story adds vigor, and it allows for Chaucer to increase his overwhelming success with his readers.

Spinal Immobilisation

Spinal Immobilisation: A Literature Review A review of the literature regarding spinal immobilisation has been undertaken using databases for PubMed, MEDLINE, CINAHL, OVID and Cochrane EBM. Reviews were electronically searched using the subject headings â€Å"spinal injuries†, â€Å"spinal immobilisation† and â€Å"management of spinal injuries†. The results generated by the search were limited to English language articles and reviewed for relevance to the topic. The aim of this literature review is to compare and contrast the views on spinal immobilisation and to achieve a better knowledge of evidence based practice.According to Chiles and Cooper (1996) spinal injury should always be suspected in patients with severe systemic trauma, patients with minor trauma who report spinal pain or have sensory or motor symptoms, and patients with an impaired level of consciousness after trauma. According to Caroline (2008) the primary goal of spinal immobilisation is to pre vent further injuries. Good initial and acute management is crucial no matter the degree of damage (Sheerin and Gillick, 2004). The purpose of immobilisation in suspected spinal trauma is to maintain a neutral position and avoid displacement and secondary neurological injury (Vickery, 2001).Means of immobilisation include holding the head in the midline, log rolling the person, the use of backboards and special mattresses, cervical collars, sandbags and straps (Kwan, Bunn & Roberts 2009). The Advanced Life Support Group supports the use of the long spinal board (backboard) for spinal immobilisation, despite knowledge of pressure problems and poor immobilisation in some patient groups. The spinal board was originally developed as an extrication device using its smooth surface to allow a person to be slid out of a vehicle.However, it is difficult to remove the patient from the board in the field and therefore the patient is most commonly transported to the A & E department on the spin al board (Cooke, 1998). There is considerable variation in the best technique for pre-hospital cervical spine immobilisation (Vickery, 2001). Some have advised the use 1 to 1. 5 inches of padding under the head as standard, others have advised that judgement on the use of padding be based on visual inspection (Butman, McSwain & McConnell, 1986). Conversely, several rauma texts recommend placing the patient directly against the spinal board (McSwain, 1989). In the United Kingdom, the vacuum mattress is predominately used by mountain rescue teams as it is believed to provide better overall protection of an injured casualty and is perceived to be safer and easier to transport over the terrain encountered in these situations (Herzenberg, Hensinger and Dederick, 1989). In a recent study by Luscombe and Williams (2002), it was shown that the vacuum mattress prevents significantly more movement in the longitudinal and lateral planes when subjected to a gradual tilt.Perceived comfort levels are significantly better with the vacuum mattress that with the backboard. Chan, Goldburg & Mason (1996) reviewed the use of the long spinal board and its association with pressure injury, unsatisfactory immobilisation and positioning, and the pain that it can cause (Chan, Goldburg & Tascone, 1994). A study by Lovell and Evans (1994) indicated that while a casualty resides on a backboard it may possibly lead to pressure sores in those who have sustained injury to the spinal cord. The amount of time casualties remain on backboards can exacerbate the problems of pain and pressure.Ambulance journeys and waits in accident and emergency may be lengthy and there may be long distances involved in getting to hospital (Lerner & Moscati, 2000). In addition to pressure injury and poor immobilisation, the backboard may be the cause of pain even in otherwise healthy patients, leading to unnecessary investigations, radiographs and potential ambiguity regarding the cause of pain (Chan, Goldburgh & Mason, 1996). The evidence suggests that the backboard itself is not ideal and far from a gold standard.This has led to the suggestion that the backboard should not be the preferred surface for the transfer of patients with spinal injuries (Main & Lovell, 1996). According to Vickery (2001) however, the spinal board is considered to be the gold standard for spinal immobilisation during the pre-hospital phase of trauma management. For some patients, effective spinal immobilisation is beneficial and can also be vital in preventing the devastating effects of cord damage however it has been suggested that for many the excessive use of this preventative measure may not be prudent or necessary.It has been estimated that over 50% of trauma patients with no complaint of neck or back pain were transported with full spinal immobilisation (McHugh & Taylor 1998). Inappropriate spinal immobilisation may lead to patients experiencing unnecessary pain, skin ulceration, aspiration and respiratory compromise, which in turn may lead to further unnecessary procedures, a longer hospital stay which then incurs increasing costs to the National Health Service (Kwan, Bunn & Roberts, 2001).Shooman & Rushambuza (2009) report that immobilisation is a crucial part of the management of a trauma patient. They believe that if the mechanism of injury is uncertain, the patient should remain immobilised until further imaging even if there are no symptoms of spinal instability after log rolling. However, in a recent study by Pandie, Shepherd & Lamont (2010) they concluded that on its own, standard immobilisation techniques appear to be inadequate to maintain the cervical spine in the neutral position.One argument for keeping the patient on a spinal board is that it facilitates an urgent turn should vomiting occur (Vickery 2001). Spinal immobilisation is used throughout the world however the clinical benefits of pre-hospital spinal immobilisation have been put under scrutiny. It has been argued that spinal cord damage is done at the time of impact and that subsequent movement is generally not sufficient to cause further damage (Hauswald, Ong, Tandberg & Omar 1998).In contrast, in-line stabilisation of the neck, also termed ‘neutral alignment’, is usually enhanced by using immobilisation blocks and straps that fix the patient’s head and neck to a spinal board. In-line head and neck immobilisation is important during the transfer period to hospital and remains an important part of the care of the patient (Sheerin, 2005). Butler and Bates (2001), disagree with this and suggest that cervical collars are of no additional benefit to patients already immobilised using a long spine board with straps.In a recent report it was found that many patients brought to A & E automatically had a cervical collar applied ‘as a precaution’. This usually means that the victim has been involved in an accident that could possible cause a cervical injury, although the patient shows no signs or symptoms of such an injury (Sexton, 1999). Immobilisation in suspected spinal trauma must be initiated at the scene of an accident and continued until unstable spinal injuries are ruled out.Adequacy of spinal immobilisation must be reviewed during the primary survey in the A & E department (Vickery, 2001). Once the patient has reached A & E, the spinal board should be removed as soon as possible once the patient is laterally transferred from the ambulance trolley onto an A & E or resuscitation trolley (Vickery, 2001). The early removal of spinal boards and cervical collars is advocated by spinal units (Sexton, 1999). Complications associated with prolonged use of the spinal board include pressure ulcer development, pain and discomfort (Vickery, 2001).Vickery (2001) also suggests a partial solution would be recommended that the backboard should be removed as soon as possible after arrival in the A & E department, ideally after the primary survey and res uscitation phases. Hickey (2003) agrees with this, it is vital that following initial assessment, the patient is removed from the spinal board. Porter and Allison (2003) support this by suggesting that the patient should be then transferred and nursed on an emergency trolley with head immobilisation and straps applied.This in turn should minimise the risk of pressure ulcer formation which is prevalent in patients with spinal cord injury (Sheerin and Gillick, 2004). Vickery (2001) also suggests that where a spinal injury is suspected, prompt and safe removal of the spinal board is mandatory, these are patients that are at the greatest risk of developing pressure sores. Vickery (2001) continues to say that spinal board immobilisation on the board may be inadequate ending with tragic consequences.Observational studies in the US have shown that immobilisation by rigid collars may cause airway difficulties, increased intracranial pressure (Davies, Deakin & Wilson, 1996), increased risk o f aspiration (Butman, 1996), and skin ulceration (Hewitt, 1994). Caroline (2008) also suggests that complete spinal immobilisation is painful, especially over pressure points and can also be a cause of airway constriction which in turn creates an increased risk of aspiration. It has been reported that many trauma patients do not suffer from spinal instability and will not benefit from spinal immobilisation (Orledge, 1998).The value of routine pre-hospital spinal immobilisations are questionable due to any benefits of immobilisation being outweighed by the risks (Kwan, Bunn & Roberts, 2009). Kwan, Bunn & Roberts (2009) have already indicated that inappropriate immobilisation is contributing to the increasing budget of the NHS. Dimond (2001) agrees and claims that litigation claims are increasing against the NHS. Society is becoming less tolerant of mistakes or inadequate service and litigation claims are now becoming an accepted part of daily life (Vukmir, 2004).In contrast, a study in the USA has indicated that due to the fear of litigation, over five million patients receive spinal immobilisation every year (Orledge & Pepe 1998). In this current media inclined era, media attention for high profile claims against the NHS organisations is at a high. Although most of the evidence in literature is regarding claims against hospital specialities, there have been few claims written about claims against the ambulance service (Hulbert, Riddle & Longstaff 1996).However, there may be few documented claims against the ambulance service there have been a significant number of claims settled by ambulance trusts (Vukmir, 2004). In conclusion, there are many different points of views by many authors on the subject of spinal immobilisation. Many argue that the need to immobilise suspected head, neck and spinal trauma is a priority due to the potential life threatening incident. This way of thinking has been supported by many of the authors.Others however have stated that each incident needs to be individualised as the necessity of using spinal immobilisation is increasingly being inappropriately used. Methods of spinal immobilisation are also highly debatable, calling the clinical professional to use their own training and judgements when deciding how to transfer each individual patient. It was highlighted by many authors that it was necessary for patients to be removed from the spinal board as soon as possible when being cared for within the hospital setting as this reduces the possibilities of further trauma and pressure sores.It became quite clear when conducting this research that many health professionals are now very aware of the potential to become a target for the all too common blame culture that is so prevalent in today’s society. The fear of litigation may be the cause for the higher usage of spinal immobilisation although there is limited research at this time but within the next few years we may in fact see a rise in claims against t he Ambulance Service.There is evidence that inappropriate and prolonged use of spinal immobilisation can be very detrimental to the patient’s welfare, there is a vast amount of research to suggest the need to use spinal immobilisation in most head, neck and spinal trauma. Effective and appropriate use of spinal immobilisation is best practice in all situations and should be used wisely and competently by a trained professional.

Philippine Culture and Filipino Essay

Understanding the Filipino Values and Culture To a person who is not familiar or aware ot the Philippine culture, understanding Filipinos is like playing a game one has never played before and of which the rules have not been explained very well. understanding the values of Filipinos pose a challenge, to enjoy the game without missing the Joys and fun of like living in the Philippines. A stranger or foreigner who has a knowledge of or exposure to the Filipino societys customs, etiquette, and manners, is less likely to experience intense culture shock. The Philippine Islands and Filipino Profile: The Phlllpplnes Is composed of 7,107 Islands with a total land area of 296,912 square kilometers (1. 6 kilometers equal 1 mile). This makes it a little larger than the British Isles and a little smaller than Japan. Its land area Is eight times larger than Taiwan, 213 the size ot either Thailand or spaln, but less than 1/30 ot the size ot the united States or Mainland China. The country is bounded on the west by the China Sea, on the east by the Pacific Ocean, and on the south by the Celebes Sea. It lies a little above the equator and is 965 kilometers (600 miles) off the southeast coast of the Asian mainland. It Is about 160 kilometers (100 miles) below Taiwan, and 24 kilometers above Borneo. Just being above the equator. puts the Philippines in the typhoon belt. The two pronounced seasons in the Philippines are the rainy months from June to October and the dry months from November to May. In between these seasons come a number of typhoons that hit the country yearly. The Philippines has a population of more than 50 million. The population of the country is rather unevenly distributed on the larger islands due to livelihood opportunities, social and economic organizations and historical factors. Its biggest islands In addition to the three (3) main islands (Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao) are Mindoro, Samar, Panay, Cebu, Palawan, Leyte, Bohol and Masbate. Its largest cities are Manila, Quezon, Davao and Cebu. The Philippine population Is characterized by an almost equal number of males and females. ot Flllplnos are below 15 years of age. Literacy stands at 82. 9 percent. The Philippines has for its languages Pilipino, English and Spanish; it has 87 different major dialects. English is widely spoken; In fact, this country is the third largest English-speaking nation In the world. Philippines is the first democratic country in Asia. Welcome to the Philippines! Welcome to this country of warm smiles and vivacious people. Getting to know the Filipinos is easy enough. If you speak English, you will find that most of the Filipinos speak the language; and what’s more, they are only too happy to make your acquaintance in English. Even if you don’t, the Filipino is so outgoing by nature that making friends out of total strangers or chance acquaintances is simply being in character. The Filipinos are a happy blend of several races, basically Malay with Chinese, Spanish, Indian and American admixtures. Their values and ways of life were shaped by several, sometimes conflicting cultures and the resulting blend is what makes their own uniquely Filipino. In their veins run the rich Christian values of Europe, the pragmatic and democratic values of America, and the spiritual values of Asia. The seven distinct elements in Filipino culture are: values, basic personality, basic social unit, politics, economics, technology and ecology. Each of these aspects of the Filipino culture has a body of ideas called â€Å"content† which gives form and meaning to each aspect. This form and meaning are expressed through â€Å"structures† or institutions which the Philippine society creates for the orderly regulation of behavior in established ways. Filipino cultural values are widely held beliefs which make some activities, relationships, goals and feelings important to the Filipino people’s identity. When these Filipino values coalesce and mesh in a mutually supportive system, it is called â€Å"Filipino value system. † The content of the Filipino values are the Filipino myths and religion while the structures are the Filipino oral and written traditions, churches, acred places, temples and mosques. The Filipinos internalize these values of their culture and thus create for themselves a â€Å"world of meanings. † The Filipino basic personality is determined by the Filipino culture because of the selection of those congruent types that are congruent with the culture. The content of the Filipino basic personality is made up of Filipino beliefs and knowledge while the structure is formed by the Filipino initiation and various rituals and formal and informal education. The Filipino basic social unit is the family which contributes to and maintains the Filipino values. The content of the Filipino social unit is the family, groups and community life while the structure is the lineage, marriage descent, neighborhood, peer group and villages. The Filipino politics are the Filipino ideas and structures related to the distribution and channeling of power within the Philippine society for its well-being, order and regulation. The content of politics is the Filipino traditional power units and democracy while the structures are the law, parliament, councils, elders and chiefs. structures which it creates for provision of food, clothing and shelter for its members. The content of Philippine economics is the production by private enterprises while its structure is capitalism and socialism. Filipino technology includes all that the Filipinos have invented to make their life easier, less arduous, and shifted from the brink of mere survival thus changing their way of life and giving them more control of their physical environment. Its contents are communication and health while its structure is composed of the various media, professional organizations, medicine, hospitals and laboratories. Filipino ecology is the relation of the Filipino to the ecosystem such as temperature, ype of soil, amount of moisture, types of crops that can be grown or types of animals present in the Philippines and other environmental features. The content of Filipino ecology is the identification of the Filipino with nature and its structure including hunting, fishing, nature worship and irrigation. Cultural Contrast: The Filipino, compared with Westerners, prefers a â€Å"structured† way of life rather than one in which he can be assertive of his own individuality. Thus, a Westerner will find the Filipino less autonomous and more dependent. This is because of the social oncept of the Filipino self-esteem. His concept of self is identified with his family. Right from childhood he is made to believe that he belongs to the family. Since childhood a Filipino is encouraged to tell all of his thoughts to his parents and submit to his parents’ direction, counsel and advice. He is admonished to be good because any disgrace that he commits is a disgrace to the family. In times of misfortune he is assured of his familys support, sympathy and love. By western standards, the Filipino parents can be considered overprotective and sometimes intrusive. However, if one understands this seemingly unreasonable control in the context of the Philippine culture wherein exists the belief in the primacy of the extended family over that of the individual and that the only source of emotional, economic, and moral support is the family, one will be more tolerant and respectful of such actuation. The Filipino Family and Kinship: The basic units of the Philippine social organization are the elementary family which includes the mother, father and children, and the bilateral extended family which embraces all relatives of the father and the mother. Of special importance is the sibling group, the unit formed by brothers and sisters. There are no clans or similar unilateral kinship groups in the Philippines. The elementary family and the sibling group form the primary bases of corporate action. influence of kinship, which centers on the family, is far-reaching. The persuasive influence of the family upon all segments of Philippine social organization can be illustrated in many ways. Religious responsibility, for example, is familial rather than church-centered. Each home has a family shrine. The influence of the family upon conomic and entrepreneurial business activities is also great. The so-called â€Å"corporations† found in urban areas are generally family holdings. The prevailing family structure emphasizes loyalty and support of the family, not of any higher level of social organization. The Filipino family is the nuclear unit around which social activities are organized – it is the basic unit of corporate action. The interests of the individual in Philippine society are secondary to those of the family. Ethical and Normative Behavior of Filipinos: Ethics bases itself on what is human. Not everything is universal in human nature. As Clyde Kluckholm and Henry A, Murray say â€Å"Every man is in certain respects (a) like all other men; (b) like some other men; (c) like no other man. It is within the context of (b) that ethical and normative behavior of people in the Philippines has its distinctive characteristics. The Filipino cultural orientation is supported by shared values which function as the basis of shared behavior common to most Filipinos. Values have reference to standards people use for evaluating what is right or wrong, good or evil. Values are elated to norms which are rules of conduct specific to given social situations. The Filipinos have two set s of paradoxical traits and patterns of relationship that are imbued by his culture. The first set is the highly structured and authoritarian familial set-up where roles are prescribed especially for younger members of the family. This is characterized by autocratic leadership of the elder-members, submitting one’s self to the decision of the family elders, and almost one-way communication in the pecking order. The second set of social relationship that the Filipino has, which ronically exists side by side with the highly structured set-up, is the strong communitarian practice called â€Å"Bayanihan† which literally means â€Å"being a hero. This practice ignores social ranking, structures, leadership roles and authority relationships. The roles in the structured set-up mentioned earlier cease to exist. Surprisingly, the Filipino is at home with both cultural practices in his social life. He shifts from one setting to another with unbelievable ease and grace. In the first set up, there is no way that a child can lead the elders in any form of decision- making. In the Bayanihan set-up, however, if a child proves that he has the right qualification needed for the task, he may lead the elders, not excluding his father and elder brother. There are three main imperatives that underlie Filipino value orientation: relational imperatives (actual person to person encounters), emotional imperatives (emotionally perceived and that the most powerful moral imperative in Filipino culture is â€Å"utang na 100b† or debt of gratitude/loyalty or commitment). Unlike in other Asian countries, women in the Philippines occupy a high status. Equality with men is a birthright of the Filipino women. Unlike her Western sisters, they didn’t have to march the streets to be heard. Women are highly respected in the Philippines. They may walk alone on the streets. They can also drive alone. Filipinos are fond of giving and attending parties. Any event can be an excuse for having a small or big party – the baptism of an infant, a birthday, a daughter’s debut, a wedding, or an engagement. Even a promotion in a Job, passing a government exam, getting one’s first paycheck or recovery from illness is enough reason to give a party.

What is strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

What is strategy - Essay Example In order for a company to attain its goals and objectives, it has to put in place the means it will use to attain this. Therefore, it is a means of attaining these goals and objectives in a business should be strictly followed. Precisely, strategy can be defined as the means of reaching the end, what is used, how it is used and carried out in order to achieve the objectives and goals and objectives, and what are the expectations of the surrounding. Therefore, strategy refers to where the business needs to be in a certain time, which activities it should conduct, and who are its competitors. Moreover, what it should do to be better than its competitors, what resources should it use, what are the main challenges that the business will face in the market and what are the expectations of those around them (Riley). In conclusion, strategy is the exact implementation of the plan and not the preventive measures or judgments of the plan and should be followed strictly in every

Foreign policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Foreign policy - Essay Example Realism was predominant during the Cold War between U.S and Soviet Union and guided the international affairs at the time. Realists are of the view that â€Å"self-interested states compete constantly for power or security† (Walt, 1998, p. 31). States are often in conflict as they struggle for power and dominance in the world order and as long as the balance of power is not maintained, war between powerful states is inevitable. The U.S and Soviet Union during the Cold War were thus fighting for power; U.S wanted to spread capitalism while the Soviet wanted to spread communism and secure its borders.There are various divisions of realism. Classical realists like Hans Morgenthau believe that states innate desire to dominate others is the cause of war while neorealists like Kenneth Waltz believe the reason for war and conflict is that states are just seeking to survive (Walt, 1998 p. 31). Recently new branches of â€Å"defensive† and â€Å"offensive† realists have e merged. Defensive theorists such as Robert Jervis, Jack Snyder and Van Evera believe in power of military in guaranteeing security and for their survival. These states have much faith in military force and exaggerated perceptions of threat thus use force to defend themselves but have no intrinsic interest in military conquest (Walt, 1998 p. 37). Offensive realists like John Mearsheimer on the other hand, believe the conflict arises from state of anarchy. States are thus encouraged to maximize their strengths in preparation for any emergence of revisionist power. This is because realism is based on Marxism which emphasized the role of capitalism in enhancing conflict among nations and whose solution is a revolution. For example, the U.S feels threatened by the rise of China which a socialist nation is and would do anything to maintain its dominant position in international affairs. International organizations such as NATO and UN are only of value if they serve the U.S interests and n ot when trying to equalize affairs among nations. Defensive realist like Evera think that war is not profitable and that in absence of militant forces such as in the post-cold war Europe, there would be peace. However, offensive realists are of the view that great powers are doomed to compete irrespective of internal characteristics hence security competition is inevitable. The U.S role is to act as Global police hence maintain peace in the world. Liberalism Just like realism, its main focus is the states. This theory advocates for cooperation among nations as the only way to end conflicts. Scholars in this field (Michael Doyle & Robert Keohane) do not believe that power is important in international affairs. Instead, they argue for democracy in believe that â€Å"democratic states are inherently more peaceful than authoritarian states† (Walt, 1998 p. 32). The democratic states aspire to be prosperous and as such, avoid being in conflict with each other but rather cooperate for future gains. This was the rationality used by U.S during Cold War to institute democracies all over Europe.

Leadership in Nursing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Leadership in Nursing - Essay Example This paper approves that there are many cities across the globe that is a home for new immigrants and physicians are bound to encounter patients who are unaware of dominant language. This form of language barrier results into health disparity comprising of differential mortality rates. Communication barriers are greatly linked with length of stay in hospital and reduced health status. Physicians and patients not communicating in a common language or social structural features are able to compound a medical situation. The rapid growth of modern clinical practice appears to be a challenge for effective communication. This is mainly because decisions need to be taken quickly and are dependent on history. This essay makes a conclusion that linguistic diversity is highlighted within this report and it is evaluated in relation to doctors working for primary care. The need of language translation is a must for health professionals who are practicing overseas. To be more precise these skills support health professionals to efficiently handle diverse cultural background patients. These professionals even share knowledge and understanding of health expectations and beliefs. However there is a high need for change since interpretation skills at times might not deliver appropriate results. On the other hand, modern techniques have to be incorporated so as to meet common goals or objectives. This study would even analyze effectiveness of organizational change in relation to certain theoretical frameworks.

Breach of EU Directive Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Breach of EU Directive - Essay Example Breach of EU Directive In the year 2005, Grant enrolled at the Sunderland University, and resorted to consuming carrot juice, in order to cope up with the heavy academic demands of university work. She was compelled to remain awake throughout the night on a regular basis, and this made her a regular consumer of a particular brand of carrot juice, namely, Hyperbunny. Grant purchased this from the Zen hypermarket; and the latter procured this product from an organic cooperative Juump AG, located in Germany. On the 1st of November, 2010, Grant was diagnosed with nibline poisoning. She had completed her Master’s Degree, just before this diagnosis. She was also informed that nibline poisoning was incurable and that it would render her permanently incapable of working. A perusal of the medical evidence, disclosed that her ailment was the result of consuming Hyperbunny carrot juice, which was seen to contain 10mg of nibline per litre. A much harried and desperate Grant made considerable study into the circumstances responsible for her debilitating condition, and discovered that the UK government had failed to implement directive 2004/222. This permitted the sale of carrot juice with even 10mg of nibline per litre. In order to advise Grant, regarding her rights against the UK Government, manufacturers of Carrot juice, Zen Hyper Market and others, the relevant EC law in respect of the proper implementation of Directives, by the Member States has to be examined.

Health care Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Health care Education - Essay Example It is vital to place persons as well as their families in suitable context. Comprehending the wider cultural context in which families are entangled can help as important related data for directing assessments and scheduling intervention approaches. Ethnic facets such as ethics, principles, customs, and pattern of family may be utilized as clues, as a portion of the entire information gathered concerning clients who are taught. Gay (2000) has described culturally responsive teaching as consuming the cultural knowledge, previous involvements, and individual needs of diverse students in order to make learning more suitable and operative for them.  He has also defined culturally responsive teaching as comprising of these characteristics: Ethnicity is also a vital variable in how people with disabilities and/or illness are looked upon and treated by the members of their family as well as how their household, in turn, is observed by their community overall. Cultural influences facilitate ways in which symptoms are recognized and understood, suitable manners of expression of pain as well as discomfort, whether a specific chronic condition is extremely denounced or established, and whether the dependence that escorts chronic illness is disvalued or deliberated upon as a portion of the normal sequence of life. Finally, ethnicity may have a major impact on the ways in which families cooperate with health specialists and deliberations that practitioners must give for their care to be most operational. For instance, in the Latina culture, as a symbol of respect, elder persons should be spoken to by using their last name. Signalling should not be used because apparently benevolent body or hand movements may have contrary connotations in the rest of the cultures. Outright interrogative of expert such as a physician is offensive in some

Describe the impact of regulation and standards on an organization and Assignment

Describe the impact of regulation and standards on an organization and its stakeholders - Assignment Example In fact, shareholders get motivated to take part in the issues affecting the organization only when they receive inducements beyond the value of their contributions. A responsible team of management should always involve shareholders in all stages of important decision making. Organizational management must be extra careful while making vital decisions on behalf of the stakeholders more so on matters of new technology otherwise the project may not succeed. It is important to note that there is a growing demand for information technology in the contemporary society making investment inevitable. All the stakeholders ought to be informed on the need of investing in any particular IT project. This calls for a rigorous business case justifying the need for the new venture. This involves ways of accessing costs and expected returns. General Motors Company had been faced with net loss in 1980 due to stiff competition from foreign companies. This necessitated them to spend $40 billion in a program that would see it regain its position in the market through implementation of new technology that would see the company manufacture fuel efficient vehicles as demanded by the market. Most stakeholders who consisted of managers, investors, and the local community had varying feelings about the idea and the management decided to overlook them which eventually landed the company in huge spending. The genesis of this problem was on the failure of the management to involve all the stakeholders in decision making. Krajewski, M. (2003). National regulation and trade liberalization in services: The legal impact of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) on national regulatory autonomy. The Hague [u.a.: Kluwer Law Internat. Ulrich, D., Goldsmith, M., & Carter, L. (2004). Best Practices in Leadership Development and Organization Change: How the Best Companies Ensure Meaningful Change and Sustainable Leadership. Hoboken: John Wiley &

Being a Stepmother Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Being a Stepmother - Essay Example In the year 2001, my husband was in the process of getting sole custody of his two daughters and thus, since I had gotten married to him recently, I was going to be a part of a ‘package deal’. Today those two children are like a blessing in my life, they have helped me a great deal in learning a lot of things about life and gaining experiences. Sometimes however, I do wish that I was their real mother because it is a tough task to watch these children grow up with a ‘friend’ rather than with a mother or a guiding light in the true sense. Despite these adversities however, being a stepmother is a very difficult thing to do and to accomplish this task over time is an even tougher aspect of life. It was extremely sad to know that their mother abandoned them because no child wants to grow up to question why their mother left them; these children still have a void in their life which I have been trying to fill every single day. In the beginning, it was difficult for me to converse with them knowing that I would have to be their mother for the rest of their life and that it was their choice whether or not to accept me as the same. It is not easy for young girls, especially ones whose dad was in the army and they had thus grown up against the backdrop of a hard life, to be able to accept someone into their hearts so easily. Knowing this, I plunged into the situation trying to become their friend rather than their mother because I knew that the only way I could teach them and help them along their journey of life was by letting them know that I would be there as a friend first and that I was not trying to replace their mother in any way. Even though their mother abandoned them, the children were not furious about the situation; had they been so, they would have been extremely reluctant to accept another mother in their life for fear of losing out on her as well. However, they took me in as a big sister or a friend first and slowly with time ha ve come to terms with the fact that I am to play the role of the mother in their lives. A stepmother has a wicked stereotype in today’s world, and even though it is easy for children to accept stepfathers today, being a stepmother is hard because of the immense number of stories that a child hears these days about bad stepmothers. Since both the daughters were at a young stage in their lives, scared and vulnerable with respect to their emotions and feelings, it was indeed very difficult for me to sort out my feelings with respect to them and adopt them as my own. For me as well, I wanted to give birth to children rather than to have them already blossoming into young girls, however today I have realised the importance of raising a child; it does not matter what the child’s age is but how the child responds to their parents and what kind of a human being the child has been shaped into by the parents, from whichever age onwards it might be. I was extremely scared to be r ejected by my daughters initially as well, however, with love from both sides, we were able to make each other’s understand that this change that was going to be taking place in all our lives would be a significant and successful one with lots of love and affection as well as understanding being delivered on a mutual basis. Today, I am extremely close to the children since my husband is in the military and thus we get to spend

Fallacies Composition and Division Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Fallacies Composition and Division - Essay Example Hence, fallacious arguments are not always true and should be taken with a pinch of salt. A fallacious argument follows certain reasons that might be considered as logical to come to a conclusion in one’s favor. The pattern of reasoning in fallacy is based on criteria that is confined to promote the interests of the person and primarily relates to the expected conclusions or to conclude the argument as the wishes of the person. The person may follow any of the following set of reasons: Cite an authority to prove one’s point; quote categorized statistics; refer to one’s personal experience; and use analogies. Interestingly, while the person may consider the arguments as logical, the very pattern of reasoning makes it highly illogical because they lack the basic principles of universal validation processes. The most common fallacious argument that is prevalent in the society is that of Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc version of fallacy. These arguments base their reasoning on the events that has led to certain conclusion. The cause and effect theory is generally applied to prove one’s point of view. In the above example, the cause is false because merely pointing out that John and family had become sick due to vegetarian diet is inadequate for concluding that vegetarian diet is bad. There might have been a number of things that could have made them sick. There could have been many reasons like inadequate clothing, irregular eating habit, weak immunity system or even the fact that they might have been extremely tired and overworked, that could be responsible for their being sick. The conclusion is based on some previous event that is not substantial enough to warrant such conclusion. Hence it can be safely stated that the person has used the fallacious statement to prove his point. It cannot be accepted as a logical argument which will be universally

Teaching Practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Teaching Practice - Essay Example Unraveling the idea about teacher efficacy however helps a lot in the process of developing a fine and efficient way of teaching students especially that of the second language education. (Milson, 2001, 32) Certainly, teacher efficacy in this sense is assessed as something that is most applicable in every sense of teaching even among age-diversified students. IT could be observed that there are indeed different factors needed to be given constant attention in considering cases of teaching students belonging to different age-bracket. Every factor though leads to the assessment of the efficiency of teachers to handle the situation in a much effective way that would be most beneficial to all the students that he or she handles in class. Education has and will always be an important aspect in the society. This idea is mainly true because of the fact that it ensures an individual sense of responsibility and it promotes independence by equipping individuals in the society valuable knowledge and skills for them to survive and become existent to their purpose. In general perspective, education significantly promotes the development and further advancement of the society as a whole by enabling the young people to become knowledgeable individuals capable of enhancing the current lifestyle and culture of the society (Campbell, 1996, 117). Thus, in like manner, the act and concept of teaching is indeed significant since it is one and the major link between education and the society. Teaching in either private or public educational institutions is always perceived to be a great and respectable profession however; challenges and problems also exist in this field (Colbert, 2006, 216). The recognition of the importance of the concept of teaching to the society is very important because of its significant benefits it offers for the individuals seeking knowledge and education. Secular teaching in the established educational institutions is generally considered by this author as a profession that is well honored and valued by the people. However, many problems and issues are still needed to be address and developed to fully recognize the significance of this concept for the society. Society has always been increasing and the population and likewise its number of students because of which, facilities in the educational institutions must also be expanded to accommodate the said increase. (Ross, 2006, 179) This author believes that every student has their own right to claim and have access to education thus they must be given a way for them to do so. Aside from the classroom, outside facilities must also be given to the student population such as laboratories, athletic fields and others. These facilities will greatly promote the enthusiasm and the educational pursuit of the students and also aid in their complete personal development in different humanistic aspect. DISCUSSIONS AND FURTHER IMPLICATIONS The Idealisms of Teacher Efficacy Teaching, generally also involves the professional and interaction between the students and the teacher wherein it is culturally perceived that the teacher has the authority over the situation (Guskey, 1993, 6). However, this

Total Quality Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words - 1

Total Quality Management - Essay Example Various ways of improvements that can lead to its success and development of the company in a more holistic way has also been discussed in this study. Total Quality Management (TQM) at Toyota Japanese organisations were the first to adopt quality management principles during the early 1950s (Ho, 2011, p. 12). The fundamental concepts behind TQM which include methods like Just-in-Time (JIT) and "jidoka" meaning in-station quality were not originally developed by Toyota. However the production followed by Toyota are widely studied and followed by many organisations operating their businesses worldwide. Kaizen or continuous quality forms the basis of Toyota Production System (TPS). Kaizen is found to be enforced at almost every levels of the company. It helps in increasing the commitment levels of the employees of the organization, thereby helping it to reduce its costs and increase in its performance levels. The total quality management system followed by Toyota is commonly known as To yota Production System (TPS). ... The organisation needs to have a top-down approach towards implementing TQM to have any kind of meaningful effects generating out of it. Hence the TQM strategy needs to be initiated by the top management of the organisation and from there it would percolate down to all the management levels of the organisation. 2) The Scope: The scope of TQM within an organisation is not limited to certain people or departments. To implement TQM in the organisational system it is necessary to involve each and every individual working for the company and it also needs to include all the business processes carried on within the organisation. There must be some pre-defined goals or objectives of the organisation and each of the departments of the company would be working together for the fulfilment of the goals of the organisation as a whole. 3) The Scale: Each and every person working for an organisation are meant to have some responsibilities at the personal levels for the improvement and maintenance of quality of the products or services offered by the company and ensuring the satisfaction of its customers. Along with the external customers associated with a business organisation, the internal customers who are mainly the employees of the organisation are also required to be satisfied with the working environment within the company. Proper communication levels and teamwork must be ensured through concerted efforts by all the internal customers of the organisation. 4) The Philosophy: The philosophy behind the concept of TQM is that it does not aim for detection of any kinds of defects or errors but is aimed at the prevention of occurrence of such defects or errors. Hence in

Crime Control (SC3031C) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Crime Control (SC3031C) - Essay Example e by the state through the criminal justice system† (Davies, Croall and Tyrer, 2005) Legal systems in the civilized world – whether in civil or common law jurisdictions -- have, at least in theory, given primacy to the rights of the accused, understanding that ambiguity should be resolved in his or her favor. In practice however, we see how police officers routinely violate the human rights of those they apprehend. The implicit message is that these are criminals anyway – thugs, petty thieves, gangsters, punks, drug addicts, alcoholics – and they are doing society a favor by treating them brusquely. Indeed if there is one thing that distinguishes (or should distinguish) crime control strategies in contemporary times from medieval times or less-than-modern societies, it is the regard for due process and the rights of the accused. Furthermore, crime control is attended by rehabilitation for the offender and helping him take steps towards reintegration. In contemporary times, we see a departure, albeit gradual, from strong-arm tactics. It has, after all, been proven that there is a higher incidence of crime in states where the police force is known for their brutality. For example, in states like New York and Los Angeles where there is a relatively great number of cases filed against members of the police force for misconduct, the crime rate is astronomical. The strong-arm tactics of law enforcement officers have done little to quell the rising tide of crime and have in fact exacerbated it. On the other hand, the desire to preserve society and prevent crime is equally valid. It would seem that society has been ill-equipped to come up with answers and solutions to address it definitively (Norrie, 1996). It is imperative however to disabuse oneself of the simplistic approach that is often used when analyzing crime rates. Many are wont to believe that a rise in crime rates signifies a social problem, and a decrease is something to be lauded. In fact, a rise in

Investment research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Investment research - Essay Example Similarly, appended graph 1 shows the variations of these companies’ returns over the same period of time. We can see in the graph that the National Australian Bank and Westpac Banking show the greatest variation amongst the five options. This signifies the high risk involvement. Nonetheless, Woolworths shows the least variation and a moderate return and appears to be the best option for investment. The picture will be further clarified with the help of average returns and risk measurements. Woolworths is the best option amongst the five investment options as seen in appended table 2. The company provides one of the best returns with least amount of risk involvement. Similarly, Telstra also seems to be a viable option for the investment as it provides a moderate return with least risk entanglements. However, greater returns involve higher risks. Westpac Banking provides the highest returns amongst the options; nonetheless, it is also the riskiest option amongst them. On the other hand, National Australian Bank is one of the worst options to be availed as it provides the least return with a high risk factor. Thus, E must see the highest investment in the portfolio. However, in a portfolio, we need to balance our investment. We will need to make investments in all the five options so that we can earn a moderate return in all the situations. Since, Woolworths is the best possible company; therefore it must see the largest chuck of the investment. Similarly, another major chuck must be invested in Telstra. The other companies must only see a small chuck of investment to balance the

Public Law and Administration Assessed Problem Question Essay

Public Law and Administration Assessed Problem Question - Essay Example Introduction Section 71, Part 1 of the Children Act 1989, requires that every local authority should keep a register of all childminders, within the authority’s area (The National Archives, 2013). All childcares should register with a regulatory authority such as Ofsted. These childcares include childminders and nurseries (Islington, 2013, p, 3). In running childcares such as nurseries, welfare requirements should safeguarded through child protection, suitability of people through appropriate training, maintenance of health and ensuring suitability of premises, environment and equipment. These requirements were reinforced by the death of Peter Connelly in 2007, whereby steps had to be taken to protect children from harm (Macleod, Hart, Jeffes, & Wilkin, 2010). There are various types of childcares that operate in the UK. Childcare on domestic premises refers to a case when four or more persons take care of children in someone’s home while childcare on non-domestic homes is when a person /organisation provides care for children on non-private premises (Ofsted, 2013). These include nurseries and village halls that are built with the purpose of providing children with care and education. They can be private nurseries, pre-schools and voluntary nurseries. Childminders are people who provide childcare for one or more children (Ofsted, 2013). These children are normally aged between zero to five years and they are not related to the childminders, and the childminders undertake this activity in someone’s home, usually their own home, with the aim of a reward (Ofsted, 2013). This paper provides advice on the possible success of a judicial review application, bringing action in private law or seeking redress through alternative grievance resolution mechanisms involving four different cases. These cases involve Flowerpot Nursery, Lambkins Nursery, Kingdom Nursery and Elephant Nursery. Advice is provided in regards to The Nursery Registration Act 2013 , which gives local authorities a duty to register and inspect childcare services, revoke registration and licences of nurseries and award grants to Childcare providers. X (minors) v Bedfordshire County council a) Flowerpot Nursery The Flowerpot Nursery had its licence revoked by the local authority. Before, revocation of the nursery’s licence, there was a public hearing, which was chaired by the inspector who inspected the nursery and recommended revocation of the nursery & apos’s registration. The Flowerpot Nursery’s premises were pronounced unsafe for children because the equipment in the outdoor area had a serious health and safety risk to the children, according to the inspector. However, during the public hearing, The Flowerpot Nursery was not permitted to have legal representation. On the other hand, the local authority brought forward several expert witnesses to support the case for revocation, and owners of the Flowerpot Nursery did not get an opportuni ty to cross examine the expert witnesses. The Flowerpot Nursery has become insolvent due to the revocation of its licence. It should be noted that childcare centre’s buildings should comply with the Building Act, Building Regulations, London Buildings Act and the Department for Education (Islington, 2013, p, 10). Secondly, the local authori

Rewards of Teaching ( A Reflection of Experience) Essay Example for Free

Rewards of Teaching ( A Reflection of Experience) Essay â€Å"Never in my wildest dreams have I dreamt of becoming a teacher.† This was my introductory line when I delivered my impromptu speech in front of a group of teachers who took master’s class at Xavier University. Along with this line were scenarios flashing back. . . My elementary and high school teachers tagging along not just big bags full of teaching materials but with commercial stuff to help augment the meager income they received in doing the taxing and heart quenching job of teaching. They were to me, missionaries who painstakingly labored their way out just to reach out to the young populace in far flung areas and made education available despite low salaries and in limbo benefits. Teachers were images of sacrifice, of service, and of deprivation to financial stability. They are sacrificial lambs in many occasions and situations which call for heroism. They are full of passion and are too busy to be in fashion and I could see how laborious their work was. These were reasons why I told myself that I should not become one. But fate has it all that brought me to my most dreaded profession. Situations and conditions pre-determined my destiny and it took me awhile to realize that it was never an accident that I matriculated education during college and that I was meant to become a teacher for life. It was during my early years of teaching when I truly realized that indeed teaching has never been an easy task. It is always paralleled with drawbacks, challenging responsibilities and unswerving demands of the job. It is twinned with orders, circulars, and memorandums which are bound to be followed and implemented. It is in fact, a profession which requires a certain degree of commitment, patience, service-orientation, level-headedness, and docility of heart to perform the tasks/responsibilities expected of it. In teaching, the teachers are duty bound to obey (sometimes blind obedience is deemed necessary) any policy and to perform its vast and enormous culpability. That is why teachers are always at risk and are prone to various stressors which in many cases have caused frailty. A lot of factors are to be considered in order not be weighed down by its pressures. Often times, the call of duty impede our personal desires and whimsical pleasures. The deadlines we have to meet, the requirements we have submit, the lessons and strategies we have to prepare, the clienteles we have to face, the co- workers we have to deal and the superiors we have to obey orders with are the myriad responsibilities a teacher has to perform. But my number of years in teaching has aligned my thoughts and has shaped my emotions. The day to day experiences and encounter with children has proven me wrong that despite the demands and challenges, there is fulfillment in teaching. There is a sense of pride and joy in knowing that children under your care have been formed into a total person and have become successful and great assets in the society where they belong. When students come back and say their pieces of sincere thank you, a certain feeling of elation is somehow felt bringing to mind the fruition of what I have labored for. With this thought, an inmost joy is felt knowing that I had my share in the most noble profession and mission of molding the hearts and minds of the children and above all, I have my share in building a nation with a promising future †¦ Furthermore, there is a rewarding feeling, knowing that, what I do in the service of the youngsters is my way of serving my creator, the Greatest Author and Teacher of all times. And in faith I know that my sacrifices will never be in vain in the eyes of my Master Teacher my unseen partner. My only prayer is to bloom in this vineyard where He has planted me and not to grow weary despite the tests that He prepared for me! Now I realized that, â€Å"never in my wildest dreams have I dreamt of becoming a teacher† because I was molded and predestined to be. HE is my potter and I’m just a clay.

Business Leadership Essay Example for Free

Business Leadership Essay 3. Introduction Leadership has long been a major field of interest among the organization and businesses in the world. It is an issue that affects us all, be in the corporate world or at home. Not only we influenced and affected by it, we are also called upon to exercise it. Whether we are involved in leading government or business, guiding young minds or leading a family, everyone has a leadership role to play. Morse and Buss (2007) defines leadership as a process of influence where a person or group influences others to work towards a common goal. Good leaders inspire others to do their best. They help others to work together to accomplish their goals. Leadership is also about being a good role model. According to Stashevsky and Burke (2006) leadership is about coping with change. Leaders set up direction by developing a vision of the future, aligning others by communication the vision and inspiring their people to overcome problems. According to McKinney (2000), American newspaper commentator Walter Lippmann defined leaders as the custodians of a nations ideals, the beliefs it cherishes, of its permanent hopes, of the faith which makes a nation out of a mere aggregation of individuals. In other words, leaders have the ability to affect human behavior to accomplish a mission or to achieve a specific goal. Leadership is subjected to close research from the theoretical and practical viewpoints. In the early days, leadership theories mainly focused on the characteristics or behaviors of successful leaders. Today, leadership theories have expanded to consider the role of the followers and contextual natural of leadership. Adair (2003, page 7-38) described a leader as a person (with leadership qualities) who has the appropriate knowledge and skill to lead a group to achieve their goals and objectives willingly. However, personality and character cannot be left out of the leadership. Their personal qualities, their reaction to the demands of the situation, or a combination of these, attract followers to their leadership style. An individual who is appointed to a leadership position (manager), must possess adequate personal attitude and skills to lead the team. They need to continuously improve their attitude, skills and knowledge to achieve higher levels of excellence. According to Coate (2007, p.304) leaders and managers need to see beyond the next quarterly returns or the immediate production deadline. They need to look at the big pictures, peep into the future, and set the organization’s mission and vision firmly in place. An effective leader is a good planner, instructor and organizer. Leader needs to be good at evaluating performance, judging people (customers or crews) and to be able to foresee the outcome of an action (or inaction). The visionary leader leads the team to stay focused on their targets and objectives. Leaders can push a team to achieve things they didn’t know were possible. Visionary leadership is an indispensable guide leaders at all levels, from top executives to head of divisions and departments, from large corporations to small business, from manufacturing and service organizations to government and non-profit institutions (Bass, 1995). Leadership style models help to achieve effective leaders which include the involvement of the employees in discussions with their supervisors from time to time and decision making. The leadership style will have great impact on others. Effective leaders provide motivation, inspiration and are well connected with their team members. Effective leadership style will bring proper accomplishment of goals and objectives. It also helps to understand human behaviour in wider perspective and helps in developing positive self-awareness. They providing mentorship and guidance, and rallying the team to achieve bigger and better things. Motivation is another important aspect of good leadership (Curry, 1998). Motivation can improve morale and productivity, resulting in overall improvement in efficiency and team productivity. Every organization needs leaders at every level. Leadership in business is important because it is about building teams and communicating so that everyone works to crate synergy. This is a key ingredient to successful businesses and championship teams. Although thousands of research studies have been conducted to prove which leadership style is best applicable in the organization, but still there are no conclusions. The â€Å"best† leadership seems to occur when the leaders’ style matches to the actual situation. Each of the leadership styles can be effective in the right situation. The most effective leadership styles depend on the interaction among people, characteristics of the situation, and the leader (manager) personality. 4. The analysis of Steve Jobs personality and leadership with leadership theories Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO and the man who almost single handed-ly made Apple one of the key players in advance technologies. I disagree that Steve Jobs’ leadership style does not match the theories of leadership. Although he had his fair share of unconventional ways, Steve did indeed practice numerous leadership styles that are aligned to theories presented in textbooks and business journals. In fact, there is a general consensus that Steve Jobs is a wilful and driven leader and he is the leader of one of the most outstanding companies in the history of business. Visionary and Transformational Leadership Steve Jobs once said â€Å"I want to put a ding in the universe.†-Steve Jobs (Kahney, 2011. p.150). This statement gives us some insight into his leadership characteristics and the focus on ideation that led Apple to where it is today under his leadership. Indeed, Steve was driven by passion and a powerful vision. Steve’s visionary leadership articulate his people with great inspiration, thus transforming it in same way. The strength of Steve’s vision and passion, coupled with innovation culture that was already in place made the generation of group passion, and eventually the task, and ultimately the sale, much easier (Sander, 2012 p.52). He was able to combine his great ideas with his strong perception of consumer desires, marketing strategy and management skills. Steve had planned for the products; he provided the visions, the tools and the solid working environment for his people. He transmitted energy to his people, giving them a new sense of confidence in a chieving the vision. He was a follower of Zen (Sander, 2012), honed by Zen’s training and ideology. Focus was ingrained in Steve’s personality. A leader needs to love what he or she does (Graves, 2011). Steve focuses his attention on his products, believes in his ideas and never gives in to failure. These are perhaps the keys to his success as a transformational leader. Cherry (2012) defined transformational leadership as a type of leadership style that leaders to positive changes in those who follow. Transformational leaders are generally energetic, enthusiastic, visionary and passionate. Not only are these leaders concerned and involved in the process; they are also focused on helping every member of the group succeed. Steve Jobs has created the whole culture within his company, a culture that pursues innovation, devotion to creating great â€Å"killer† products, motivation and promotion of self-interest among his people, marketing vision and concentration on quality. Transformational leaders encourages promotes values, belief, and sense of responsibilities (Bass Ringgio, 2006). Steve Jobs has all the necessary att ributes to be considered on. In 1997, Steve returned to Apple when the company was in the crisis. He took the reins and made sweeping changes, re-structuring and resizing the organization. He reviewed the situation and concluded that a small team of talents is more useful and productive than crowds of less talented people. From there, he delegated and gave full support to the team. One of the recurring themes was Jobs’ â€Å"reality distortion field,† his ability to convince those around him that his version of reality was true, his ability to impose his will upon others in a way that made the seemingly impossible become possible. Jobs felt that if he could make Apple’s products attractive, stylish and appealing, people would ultimately flock to them. Jobs was convinces that he knew the best, eschewing market research in lieu of the belief that consumers would want what he tells them to want, insisting on a closed system of end –to-end control by Apple because he didn’t want outsiders screwing up what he was creating. â€Å"The more you saw him as having mystique, the more it went hand in hand with him being a visionary.† (Dailey, 2011) Steve Jobs’ carefully constructed web secrecy, peppered with some hints of vulnerability and accessibility-he was famous for answering customer emails-only added to the looming legend that grew with each Apple innovation. Jobs had received numbers of honors and recognition for his influence in the mobile technology and music industries. He has widely been referred as visionary leader. Charismatic Leadership Steve Jobs also classified as charismatic and visionary leader. Charismatic leadership results when a leader uses the force of personal abilities and talents to create profound and extraordinary effect on followers (Nelson, 2012). Many people who worked for Jobs experienced burnout and describes him as an intimidators, but on hindsight they appreciate and relish the experience. Research shows that people who work for the intimidator (Steve Jobs) were often find the experience â€Å"profoundly educational, even transformational.† (Kahney, 2011 p.172) Steve often insists on things that are seemingly impossible. He believes that eventually even the thorniest problem is solvable. He works people hard and heaps on stress. But, the end result is usually a great piece of work. He believes in his decisions for the company; and his self-confidence led him to success. True leaders are always looking over the horizon for the next opportunity. It is this quest that keeps them going and so metimes they find their true mission along the way, as Steve did (Elliot Simon, 2011). Innovative Leadership Sander (2012) defined innovation in a way that made sense to Steve Jobs â€Å"Innovation is an invention with customer and a marketable vision in mind† Innovation is to introduce something new. A combination of two processes: generating new ideas and implementation the new idea. Innovation calls for good leadership and management at all levels of the organization. Good leaders will stimulate their team to be more ‘hands on’ and to have greater interest in their work, which in turn, leads to the generation of more great ideas (Adair and Thomas, 2004). An innovative leader faces two key challenges. Firstly, to strike the right balance between running the current business and growing the new business. Secondly, in sensing untapped market needs and choosing a promising area to purse (Deschamps, 2008). In Steve’s innovation model has six important components: Customer, Vision, Culture, Product, Message and Brand (Sander, 2012). Steve Jobs inspired his people, he is deeply involved at almost every level with almost every critical projects. He injects energy and guides his people towards developing a solution. His deep involvement makes them feel important and as a result, eager to beat expectation. â€Å"There’s not an ounce of democracy at Apple. That’s what makes it a paragon of such traditional corporate values as top-down leadership, sharply hierarchical organisation and centralised control. It’s Steve’s company — pursuing his vision, at his pace, with his team, making his products. Without Steve Jobs’ authoritarian leadership, Apple would be just another Silicon Valley outfit†(Chaudhury, 2012). When Steve return to Apple, he was described as practising tyrannical leadership style — fire and forced at will — t o ensure that his employees delivered products that consumers lusted for, in an ever-evolving digital world. It certainly worked. Steve is the follower of Zen. Maslin (2001) researched that â€Å"His Zen awareness was not accompanied by an excess of calm, peace of mind or interpersonal mellowness,† and â€Å"He could stun an unsuspecting victim with an emotional towel-snap, perfectly aimed.† As an autocratic leader, Steve Jobs is forceful and demands nothing less than total control. He makes the decisions, announces them and expecting others to carry them out without a question. One of the things that Mr Jobs did, which was very unlike anyone else, was he did it his way, (Dailey, 2011). Steve Jobs choose to lead his team from the front, spearheading the innovation and constantly renewed products of the company. The autocratic nature of his leadership also bears some transactional traits, such as using verbal lashings at employees (Lin, 2011). In meetings, Jobs was infamous for creating an atmosphere of fear. He had been described by some as being harsh, petulant and even boorish at times. Although it was not easy working for J obs, those who can weather it tend to be loyal (Kahney, 2011. p.108). Steve gained respect from both inside and outside the company by maintaining his focus despite his fame and fortune. He was certainly one of the most influential business leaders of his time. â€Å"There’s not an ounce of democracy at Apple. That’s what makes it a paragon of such traditional corporate values as top-down leadership, sharply hierarchical organisation and centralised control. It’s Steve’s company — pursuing his vision, at his pace, with his team, making his products. Without Steve Jobs’ authoritarian leadership, Apple would be just another Silicon Valley outfit†(Chaudhury, 2012). When Steve return to Apple, he was described as practising tyrannical leadership style — fire and forced at will — to ensure that his employees delivered products that consumers lusted for, in an ever-evolving digital world. It certainly worked. Steve is the follower of Zen. Maslin (2001) researched that â€Å"His Zen awareness was not accompanied by an excess of calm, peace of mind or interpersonal mellowness,† and â€Å"He could stun an unsuspecting victim with an emotional towel-snap, perfectly aimed.† A s an autocratic leader, Steve Jobs is forceful and demands nothing less than total control. He makes the decisions, announces them and expecting others to carry them out without a question. One of the things that Mr Jobs did, which was very unlike anyone else, was he did it his way, (Dailey, 2011). Steve Jobs choose to lead his team from the front, spearheading the innovation and constantly renewed products of the company. The autocratic nature of his leadership also bears some transactional traits, such as using verbal lashings at employees (Lin, 2011). In meetings, Jobs was infamous for creating an atmosphere of fear. He had been described by some as being harsh, petulant and even boorish at times. Although it was not easy working for Jobs, those who can weather it tend to be loyal (Kahney, 2011. p.108). Steve gained respect from both inside and outside the company by maintaining his focus despite his fame and fortune. He was certainly one of the most influential business leaders of his time. â€Å"There’s not an ounce of democracy at Apple. That’s what makes it a paragon of such traditional corporate values as top-down leadership, sharply hierarchical organisation and centralised control. It’s Steve’s company — pursuing his vision, at his pace, with his team, making his products. Without Steve Jobs’ authoritarian leadership, Apple would be just another Silicon Valley outfit†(Chaudhury, 2012). When Steve return to Apple, he was described as practising tyrannical leadership style — fire and forced at will — to ensure that his employees delivered products that consumers lusted for, in an ever-evolving digital world. It certainly worked. Steve is the follower of Zen. Maslin (2001) researched that â€Å"His Zen awareness was not accompanied by an excess of calm, peace of mind or interpersonal mellowness,† and â€Å"He could stun an unsuspecting victim with an emotional towel-snap, perfectly aimed.† A s an autocratic leader, Steve Jobs is forceful and demands nothing less than total control. He makes the decisions, announces them and expecting others to carry them out without a question. One of the things that Mr Jobs did, which was very unlike anyone else, was he did it his way, (Dailey, 2011). Steve Jobs choose to lead his team from the front, spearheading the innovation and constantly renewed products of the company. The autocratic nature of his leadership also bears some transactional traits, such as using verbal lashings at employees (Lin, 2011). In meetings, Jobs was infamous for creating an atmosphere of fear. He had been described by some as being harsh, petulant and even boorish at times. Although it was not easy working for Jobs, those who can weather it tend to be loyal (Kahney, 2011. p.108). Steve gained respect from both inside and outside the company by maintaining his focus despite his fame and fortune. He was certainly one of the most influential business leaders of his time. â€Å"There’s not an ounce of democracy at Apple. That’s what makes it a paragon of such traditional corporate values as top-down leadership, sharply hierarchical organisation and centralised control. It’s Steve’s company — pursuing his vision, at his pace, with his team, making his products. Without Steve Jobs’ authoritarian leadership, Apple would be just another Silicon Valley outfit†(Chaudhury, 2012). When Steve return to Apple, he was described as practising tyrannical leadership style — fire and forced at will — to ensure that his employees delivered products that consumers lusted for, in an ever-evolving digital world. It certainly worked. Steve is the follower of Zen. Maslin (2001) researched that â€Å"His Zen awareness was not accompanied by an excess of calm, peace of mind or interpersonal mellowness,† and â€Å"He could stun an unsuspecting victim with an emotional towel-snap, perfectly aimed.† As an autocratic leader, Steve Jobs is forceful and demands nothing less than total control. He makes the decisions, announces them and expecting others to carry them out without a question. One of the things that Mr Jobs did, which was very unlike anyone else, was he did it his way, (Dailey, 2011). Steve Jobs choose to lead his team from the front, spearheading the innovation and constantly renewed products of the company. The autocratic nature of his leadership also bears some transactional traits, such as using verbal lashings at employees (Lin, 2011). In meetings, Jobs was infamous for creating an atmosphere of fear. He had been described by some as being harsh, petulant and even boorish at times. Although it was not easy working for Jobs, those who can weather it tend to be loyal (Kahney, 2011. p.108). Steve gained respect from both inside and outside the company by maintaining his focus despite his fame and fortune. He was certainly one of the most influential business leaders of his time. In reality, Steve truly appreciates and cherishes his people. Free products are the norm, with every employee receiving an iPhone at the product’s launch. According to Elliot and Simon (2011, p.73-83), the most memorable example is Steve’s decision that the signature of the original engineer would be etched on the inside of the cases of Macs. Such rewards created much staff satisfaction and motivation, as they felt that they are part of the product. People become more connected to their work. Indeed, he finds ways to assure his employees that he appreciates their contribution and that they are essential to the product’s success. Steve Jobs’ leadership style was complex. He was intensely focused when committed, confident to take risky leaps, and charismatic enough to enlist corps of employees and customers in the incessant pursuit of his aspirations. Steve was firm when he stepped back into Apple and began his drastic reorganization. He was clear and knew what had to be done. He is passionate of what he did, believing that he is pursuing a higher cause in the processes. The result is an Apple culture that borders brand fanaticism and radical customer devotion. Although Jobs was highly criticized for his autocratic leadership style, he has successfully revolutionized the Apple Company. 5. Steve Jobs’ leadership style within contemporary leader Steve Jobs will likely be remembered as one of the most successful and iconic leaders of the last half century. He is admired for his vision, innovation and passion on products yet often hated for his autocratic and intimidating leadership style. In comparison, William (Bill) H. Gates III, co-founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Microsoft Corporation has also been described as one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world. Despite their similar ambitions in the technology and business arena, they have very different personality and leadership style. The competition and rivalry between Gates and Jobs has become one of the most enduring and fascinating subject in the American business industry. Both of them had important impacts on the world. Both young men were born in the same year (1955), they set out from the same beginning point, but with radically different personalities. Both dropped out of college and launched their own businesses. Apple ushered in the era of personal mobile computing in many respects. Microsoft’s had made it possible for a generation of computer scientists to learn and thrive. Apple has perfected the art of delivering fantastic consumer products. Microsoft has worked diligently to make the enterprise more efficient. It is impossible to deny each corporation’s contribution. Each has his own unique strengths. Nevertheless, both are well-known and idolized by many. Comparing their business philosophy, Microsoft’s â€Å"A computer on every desk in every house, running Microsoft software† (Livingston, 1994) is concerned about running their software in every computer. Apple’s â€Å"Make computers accessible to everyone and make it easy to use† (Gruman, 2011) is more about making their computers easy to use and easily accessible to everyone. â€Å"He was every bit as intense, believed in revoluti onary way of using computers. But not in engineer approach, (but rather) a design approach, and that had huge strength, particularly the last where he ran Apple. He was able to do incredible work.† (Parrish, 2012) Steve Jobs was more intuitive and had a greater instinct to make â€Å"impossible† happen and design delightful. He had passion for perfection, which make him demanding. In Steve Jobs organization, there are only two categories, thought: If you weren’t brilliant, you were that other thing, a bozo. But with Steve, no matter how brilliant he knew you were, one remark that didn’t, by his standard, measure up, and he’d immediately label you a bozo. Even in front of other people (Elliot and Simon, 2011). Steve Jobs relies on forcing to resolve conflict such as in questions about design issues (DuBrin, 2008). According to Kahney (2011), Steve is forceful, intimidating, brutal, and ruthless, and tyrants were words used to describe Steve’s autocratic leadership style. He was obsessively controlling, throwing tantrums and yelling at employees and board members. â€Å"A bunch of amateurs† or â⠂¬Å"well, you’re a bunch of idiots.† (Kahney, 2011) He could tear down someone’s ideas or the person in public if they not able to achieve what he wanted. Bill is known to project a more democratic leadership style. Although he does not address anyone by name, hand out praise or stroke any egos, he does listens intently and has his temper mostly in check. He is good in computer technology knowledge and coding. His thinks more practically. His mind is more practical, disciplines and abundant in analytic processing power. Even when he disagreed with a staff’s analysis of certain issue, his response was â€Å"Educate me on that†. After a minute or so, he cuts off the discussion by saying, â€Å"Send me the specs† (Isaacson, 1997). In Apple, there is much secrecy in corporate decision making, which often led to sudden and unanticipated changes. According to Elliot and Simon (2011), Steve will gather the people in separate teams, kept isolated from the distractions and interferences of the rest of the company. Each team knew only of the parts they need to create, without any discussion or knowledge of the big picture. In contrast, Gates spends much of his time communicating with his team and consulting his IT specialist about how new products can be woven into industry standard products. He involved his subordinate in decision making. Bill Gates’ democratic leadership style is a reflection of his more practical and disciplined mind set (Isaacson, 1997). Under Gates’ leadership, Microsoft Corporation flourished, consistently landing in Fortune’s â€Å"100 Best Companies to Work For† (Lussier, 2008). Both leaders are practising different leadership style: Democratic and Autocratic. The leadership styles are extreme, whereas in practice the behaviour of many, perhaps most, leaders in business will be somewhere between the two. Jobs and Gates believe in recruiting and retaining the best talents. However, Apple does not offer relevant formal training or development opportunities for its employees. Rather, employees are expected to gain new knowledge on their own (Muller, 2010). One of the Steve’s principal is to hire the best-â€Å"A-people† (Elliot and Simon, 2011). Steve wants only real talent people in the company. There are no training or knowledge sharing in projects or pr oducts. He expects excellent ideas and results from his people. In Microsoft, on the other hand, believes in staff training and development. â€Å"We’ve had technology a long time. We had some very sophisticated staff members. What Gates really allowed us to do is to roll it out further to more locations and people and give our staff the training and support to make that happen. (Greiner, 2003) They believe training is the most basic and sometimes most overlooked from knowledge sharing that need to go in a company. Despite the past decade of U.S. economic stagnation, Apple have grown continuously, and the stock price has advanced to the point where Apple is now the world’s most valuable firm, with a market cap of $391 billion, followed by Exxon-Mobil ($380 billion), IBM ($230 billion), and Microsoft ($228 billion) (Salsman, 2011). Steve Jobs had owned the wealthy company. Nevertheless, Steve Jobs is not known to be a philanthropist. Neither is he active in the charity work as compare to Bill Gates. Steve only concentrated on his products and company. He only public face his visions and products. He does not have the sense of â€Å"giving back† to the community. As a charity leader, Bill Gates frequently encourages his staff to contribute to charity, both in terms of money and time. Giving is large part of Microsoft’s corporate culture. Bill Gates and his wife started The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; take up issues such as poverty, famine, and disease around the world (Lesinski, 2009). This foundation focus on finding cures of diseases which are common in poor nations, also global development in farming and education. Bill Gates’ contribution to the community is a reflection of his character and moral. Bill Gates has shown a good example that other leaders should practice and imitate his humanity towards other nations who need helps. Steve Jobs is respected for his products, but Bill Gates is respected for both his products and philanthropic leadership. A well-rounded organization is not unlike a well-rounded individual, they should balance the prio rity of work, family, charity and personal interest (Brown, 2006). Gates’ visionary leadership style did not stop at product creation but extended to the creation of a dynasty. Microsoft has sales offices in nearly 60 countries and an international staff of 6200. Almost all of the employees are natives of the country in which they work. It is estimated that each overseas employees generates more than $1million in annual revenues. Gates tries to make certain that his foreign partners are in charge and that they share in the wealth (Lowe and Gates, 1998 p.74). He had acquired great wealth, something which he gladly shared with stockholders and employees. From his caring nature, Bill Gates had created â€Å"Microsoft Millionaires† from his programmers, managers and even secretaries. Gates’ vision of wealthy sharing has resulted in lifestyle improvement for every level of his employees. Although, Apple staff are well paid, their rewards for success are vastly and nowhere near that of Microsoft’s. According to Yourdon (2004), Steve commented that Macintosh projects â€Å"The journey is the reward.† Rewards in Apple are different. Steve allowed each designer to personally sign a placard that was reproduced and placed inside each Mac case (Sander, 2012). Rewards are nice and this is the way Steve reward and recognize his people. As a charismatic and autocratic leader, Steve’s vision ended at creating the most iconic and desired technological products in history, building the most valuable and renowned brand of his time. There is no doubt that Steve’s influence and vision will live on in the products and company he created. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates are the visionary leader who always think creatively and have great insight to expect the future, which eventually transform the IT technology and changed the world greatly. 6. Conclusion The purpose of this paper is to discuss of the relevant leadership idea and to explore the leadership styles and to explore the Steve Jobs’s leadership approach. Considering his influence and success at Apple, it is clear that a study of his leadership can provide valuable lessons for current and aspiring leaders. Steve has often been names one of the most prominent leaders in the US business circles. Despite his early demise, Steve Jobs has and is still touching the lives of people all around the world today. His life makes an amazing story because despite all the hardships he faced and against all odds he achieved what he said he set out to achieve: become a millionaire. He had dream and he would not stop until it was lived out. Despite the fact that Steve’s leadership style is sometimes considered overly authoritative and that his company as being too personality-centered, he was able to achieve unprecedented success. Some of his styles and principals can be considered universal and applicable to other business, but others should be applied with caution or adapted to the actual business situation. This brings to mind, one of the essential characteristics of the true leader-to be able to adopt and adapt as well as to accept differing opinion. There is much that we can learn from Steve-his passion, focus and influential nature. Influence does not stem from a set of management rules and techniques. Leaders who are passionate about their work, who are able to focus on things that matter most, and exercise unwavering resolve in their decision tend to have a greater influence on people around them. Only with such influence, can a leader create positive impact on their followers, their organization and even on themselves. 7. Reference : Adair, John (2003) Concise Adair on Leadership. Olympia Elibrary (Online) Available at : http://library.olympia.edu.my:2051/lib/olympia/docDetail.action?docID=10071301p00=good%20leader (Accessed : 21 May 2012). Adair, John and Thomas, Neil (2004) Concise Adair on Creativity and Innovation. London, GBR: Thorogood Publishing. Bass, Bernard M and Riggio, Ronald E (2008) Transformational Leadership, 2ndEdition. United States: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Bass, Jossey (1995) Visionary Leadership: creating a compelling sense of direction for your organization. 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