Charles Dickens Great Expectations Essay

The themes that are introduced and emphasised in Chapter 8 of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations are a near complete summary of the themes of the novel as a whole and of the conditions in which the English people had to live with in the 1800’s. This chapter epitomises the circumstances in which English people lived and the situations that they faced, and it looks at many different perspectives and takes into account many different factors. The Industrial Revolution was a period in time when everything in England changed rapidly, and Dickens made sure that he captured England’s huge transition in every light he could. Dickens himself lived in poverty for a number of years, and his main motive for writing books (such as Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby) was his desire to see change. These books are based around injustice and the divide between wealth and poverty. Chapter 8 of Great Expectations clearly defines the issues that Dickens sought to deal with through writing. The very first thing that happens in Chapter 8 Pip’s uncomfortable breakfast with Mr Pumblechook. Pip states in his narrative that ‘on politely bidding him Good morning’, Pumblechook immediately asked him a mathematics question. The breakfast then proceeds to continues in this manner (‘before I had swallowed a morsel, he began a running sum that lasted throughout breakfast. ‘) This is a prime example of control. This is one of the themes that come to the fore as the novel progresses. Pip finds that he very rarely has a choice in matters, he is either forced to do something or it would be very foolish or insulting to decline making certain choices. His life his almost completely influenced by others, and he often has no control over it at all. In Chapter 8, he is controlled by Pumblechook (as afore mentioned), Estella (‘†You are to wait here, boy. â€Å"‘) and Miss Havisham (‘†Play! â€Å"‘). In particular, Miss Havisham manipulates the lives of Estella and Pip to suit her own twisted, selfish needs to the point where she is remorseful of her actions. Dickens stresses the point that, in this era, the wealthy people dictate the actions of the poorer people. The fact that Pip is sitting back and enjoying the ride, so to speak, is a result of the people around him ordering and demanding things of him. Pip rarely has a choice to make, and is manipulated and used by many people, some with good intentions (Magwitch), some with evil intentions (Miss Havisham and Compeyson). Control and the gulf between inferiority and superiority are perpetual forces in the novel.

Sense and Stylistic Analysis

Sense and stylistic analysis â€Å"The Escape† I would like to consider sense and stylistic peculiarities of the text that I have recently read. The title of the story is â€Å"The Escape†, it was written by Somerset Maugham. First of all, some facts from the author’s biography. William Somerset Maugham is one of the best known English writers of the 20th century. He was born in 1874 in Paris. He received a medical degree; however he never practised medicine, but all his life he had a great desire to write.The first novel â€Å"Liza of Lambeth† he wrote at the age of 23, but it had no success. For about 10 years he wrote manifold plays and novels and starved. But he did not give up. In 1907 he produced in London a comedy of manners â€Å"Lady Frederic† which finally brought him luck. Soon afterwards Maugham became internationally celebrated. So he became independent and began to travel. He came to know Europe, the United States, China, Spain, the So uth Seas. Some of his another famous works are â€Å"Cakes and Ale†, â€Å"Moon and Sixpence†, â€Å"Ashenden†, â€Å"Don Fernando† etc.He died in 1965 at the age of 91. Now let’s return to the story â€Å"The Escape†. It relates to the relationships between men and women. The main characters of the story are the narrator, his friend Roger Charing and a woman Ruth Barlow. The plot of the story is quite simple, but interesting at the same time. At the beginning of the text the narrator proposes a thesis that â€Å"if a woman once made up her mind to marry a man nothing but instant flight could save him†. But he says that not every man could manage to escape.And here the narrator tells us a short story, settled in one complex sentence, which has something in common with the following and the main story of the text. One narrator’s friend, having realized that a woman wanted to merry him, decided for a flight. He took ship. The aut hor uses here parenthesis â€Å"with a toothbrush for all his luggage, so conscious was he of his danger and the necessity for immediate action† in order to emphasize that a man was ready for everything to escape this marriage.Then he spent a year travelling around the world, but the first person he saw when he returned was that woman he tried to flee. The irony runs through the narration, supported by such words and phrases: â€Å"instant flight†, â€Å"inevitable loom†, â€Å"menacingly†, â€Å"thinking himself safe†. So, this short story serves as the introduction to the one following below. Then the narrator says that he knew only one man who managed to extricate himself in such situation. His name was Roger Charing. He was no longer a young man, but strong and hefty, and had plenty of money.He possessed a common sense and worldy wisdom, and was prudent. But when he fell in love with Ruth Barlow, â€Å"he went down like a row of ninepins†; this simile used by the author adds to the satirical tone of the narration. Mrs. Barlow was twice a widow, and now she made up her mind to marry Roger. She was very unfortunate person, sufferings followed her; this fact is underlined in the following sentence constructed in the form of parallel construction: â€Å"If she married a husband he beat her; if she employed a broker he cheated her; if she engaged a cook she drank†.Besides, Ruth Barlow had pretty, pathetic appearance and splendid dark eyes which were always ready to fill with tears. The author uses such epithets describing her as â€Å"splendid dark eyes†, â€Å"the most moving eyes†, â€Å"poor dear†, â€Å"helpless little thing†, â€Å"lovely eyes†, â€Å"pathetic†, â€Å"unfortunate†, â€Å"rotten time†. It was not surprising that she touched the strings of Roger’s heart, and he wanted to do something for her, to protect her, to save her from the ha zards of life. And when he decided to merry her and commit such a good action, he was very proud of himself.Here we must admit that everything was not so ambiguous. At first sight we should sorry for this poor woman, be in sympathy with her, and admire Roger’s kind heart. However, we feel that all the mentioned above stylistic devices make a humorous, ironical effect, and we understand that everything is not so sweet and sincere in this story as it seems at first sight. Further on the narrator characterizes Ruth already from another side; the author uses the epithets â€Å"stupid† and â€Å"scheming† and the simile â€Å"as hard as nails†, so that we see her false nature and the narrator’s negative attitude to her.Indeed, this woman was not so helpless, defenseless and poor, but rather cunning and artful; she used her pathetic appearance and various tricks in order to achieve her purposes, to arose Roger’s compassion and in the long run to m arry him. The author gives us to comprehend that Ruth just wanted to seem helpless and poor, but indeed she was not. As for Roger, he, on a sudden, fell out of love. The phrase â€Å"on a sudden† supposes that this was not a deep, sincere feeling, but just a shallow, surface passion.Now Roger realized what the sort of woman he had to deal with. Of course, he already did not want to merry her. But it was awkward for a man to jilt a woman and in order not to get a bad reputation he needed Ruth to release him by herself. That is why he thought over one scheme. He said Ruth nothing about that change in his feelings. He remained attentive to all her wishes, he took her to dine at restaurants, he sent her flowers, he was sympathetic and charming. And they arranged to marry as soon as they found a house that suited them. Then the house-hunting began.They examined a great number of houses, but Roger always found a fault that made a house unsuitable. He said he couldn’t bear to ask his dear Ruth to live in any but the perfect house. The narrator says: â€Å"Sometimes they were too large and sometimes they were too small, sometimes they were too far from the centre of things and sometimes they were too close; sometimes they were too expensive and sometimes they wanted too many repairs; sometimes they were too stuffy and sometimes they were too airy; sometimes they were too dark and sometimes they were too bleak†.The author deliberately uses parallel constructions to emphasize the duration of the similar actions. The author ironically depicts how long they were looking for a suitable house, how many houses they examined and inspected, and how tiresome and tiring was this business. It was obvious that Roget was trying Ruth’s patience and was waiting for her to be the first to break their relations. Of course, Ruth guessed his plan and finally lost her patience. Ruth’s letter to Roger is the climax of the story, because all the events pre ceding this one have been tensing the atmosphere.Her letter, where she informed Roger she was going to merry another man, was the final point in their relationships. So Roger reached his aim. As for me, I sympathize with none of them. I think they make a pair: Ruth had a scheme to marry him, Roger had a scheme to escape. They lied to each other, they tricked each other. I think the main idea the author wanted to bring to us is the importance of being honest. He reminds that one should stay honest to a person, even if one has fallen out of love with. But the relations based on trickery and scheming are doomed from the beginning.

University of Texas-Cancer Center Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

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Intelligence Agencies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

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Educational Leadership Theories Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Educational Leadership Theories - Research Paper Example Educational leadership includes the process of establishing teams, as well as a united staff. Transformational leadership discusses how new levels of energy and commitment which the educators show can also lead to a general transformation of the organization. In the study, Robinson, et.al., (2008) demonstrated how transformational leadership improved the capacity of the workers to collaborate with each other and to assist each other in overcoming challenges in the fulfillment of their goals (Robinson, et.al., 2008). The study also discussed that the more teachers were actively involved in applying transformational leadership and in participating in collegial discussions, the better the impact they had on their students. With active transformational leadership, there was also an oversight and coordination of the general instructional program (Robinson, et.al., 2008). Applying transformational leadership has also been apparent in good performing schools with teachers adhering to clear performance standards in their teaching. With these applications of transformational leadership, it is apparent that it is a strong leadership theory to apply in teaching. McCormick (2009) discusses the essentials of transformational leadership and he cites how this leadership is defined in terms of its idealized influence and individual considerations. McCormick (2009) also discusses that transformational teachers are those who help students consider the bigger view of education by establishing idealized influence. These teachers often communicate with their students and point out to them how important education is and how it can provide a good vision for their future. In applying this leadership, the students have to be exposed to different lifestyles; and in the process consider various opportunities for their future (McCormick, 2009). This type of leadership has also been able to encourage frequent trips for students in order to view the bigger world, and to seek strong solution s for the problems they witnessed during these trips. Through transformational leadership, educators have been able to teach their students how to view themselves as leaders. Teachers applying the transformational leadership approach were able to get their students to read Romeo and Juliet as early as their sophomore year. These teachers were able to encourage the students to narrate the story in their own in way. In effect, the students were actually able to gain much depth in their understanding of Shakespeare and his poetry. By setting high standards for their students and by encouraging them to be more active in the learning process, the students were able to gain more skills and knowledge (McCormick, 2009). Transformational teaching also involves challenging assumptions about the school system. Where students were considered ‘unteachable,’ the transformational leaders were able to prove such concept wrong by teaching their students new ways of learning, as well as and new knowledge. Alger (2008) discusses that building an organizational culture which highlights stable improvement in educational programs can be a significant challenge. The leaders can be challenged in advocating strong leadership in these instances. Transformational le

SECURITY ISSUES IN DELIVERING INFRASTRUCTURE AS A SERVICE IN CLOUD Literature review - 1

SECURITY ISSUES IN DELIVERING INFRASTRUCTURE AS A SERVICE IN CLOUD COMPUTING AND BUSINESS - Literature review Example The theme of cloud computing is that all computational resources and assets are offered by the cloud service providers to the remote users all around the globe as a service. It does not require the users to have proper knowledge and proficiency in a particular domain or technology in order to manage the resources and user can access them through internet. Cloud computing is a fairly innovative computing model and has been prominent in the field of information technology over past years. The cloud computing model enables the subscribers to utilize the computing resources and assets in the time of need, without investing higher amount of money and frees them from the worries about the complication involved in adopting other options. Nevertheless the huge number of implementations that have gotten so much higher reputation among the community of IT are oriented towards a particular business and are commercial so it does not supports the users with complex and bigger requirements and rel atively little financial resources. (Vincenzo D. Cunsolo et al, 2010, Juan D. O sorio, 2012) Cloud computing that is a modern business paradigm, involves the provision of extraordinarily scalable computing assets as a service to individual subscribers or the organizations. Companies are now adopting a trend of replacing the older IT infrastructure by consuming the ‘Infrastructure as service’ model offered by cloud computing paradigm in order to get better scalability of computing resources and to make lesser operating cost. The fundamental business of an infrastructure as a service cloud is to set up an instance of virtual machines, on-demand, for agreed period of time. The specifications (e.g. total memory storage, required operating system, executables) of the virtual machines are decided in a agreement between the cloud service provider and the consumer and service is usually provided according to some measure of QoS(

Innovative Solutions Annotated Bibliography Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

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Marginal Analysis and how it is used in the world of economics Essay

Marginal Analysis and how it is used in the world of economics - Essay Example Perhaps, it is the most important concept in the analysis of economic activities. The marginal analysis theory states that individual should make a decision based on the incremental gains and losses that emerge from that decision. In a simplistic term, the marginal analysis balances the additional costs and benefits, derived out from taking a decision. Be it a student deciding whether to revise the chapters once more, or a producer whether to expand or stop production, optimal choice requires that costs and rewards should be equilibrated on the margin. Till the time additional benefit exceeds additional cost, the individual or the firm has to continue taking action so as to ensure that all excess benefits are accrued and vice versa. (Washington State University, N.D.). Marginal analysis is the study of the costs and benefits of the next unit of a good or a factor of production. The aim of the individual or a firm is to maximize net benefits (NB), which is equal to total benefits (TB) less total costs (TC). (i.e., NB=TB-TC). In order to obtain the marginal change, we can change the control variable, say, quantity of goods purchased, amount of goods actually produced, quantity of an input used, etc. Marginal analysis focuses upon whether the control variable should be increased/decreased by one more units or not. The two concepts through which the marginal analysis is done are marginal costs and marginal benefits. Marginal costs are the addition to total costs if one additional unit of the control variable is added. On the other hand, marginal benefits are the addition to the total benefits if the control variable increases by one additional unit. When the marginal benefit rise above marginal costs, the net benefits rise with every unit increase in the control variable. Therefore, more marginal units of the control variable should be added till the marginal costs and marginal benefits are equalized. On the other hand,

Professional management practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Professional management practice - Essay Example Hence the organization must be prepared to face the consequences. The SIMS.net is a good alternative for the manual register system. SIMS will provide more benefits to the school when compared to the existing manual register maintenance. Change management is a process of transition where the staffs, resources have to be modified according to the change. The changes in the organization must be specified well in advance. This will avoid the problems that may arise due to change. Management of change is a tedious task. The changes and the corresponding requirements must be known. (Wilhelm, 2003).This can be achieved by conducting a study in the organization. A change must be done based on a framework. (Rodd, 1994).This framework will have predefined set of tasks and methods that have to be followed. By using this framework the organization can proceed with the proposed changes. This will ensure that the modifications take place in a structured manner. There are various types of changes that may take place in an organization. The changes can be made on the organizational structure, technology that is being used or in the management policies. Before implementing a proposed change, the company must conduct a feasibility study. This study will help the management to know the current situation and position of the organization. Then based on the results of the study the organization can decide whether to implement this change or not. Change management involves several tasks. Once a change is made it has to be assessed on a periodical basis. This will ensure that the changed system works well and it does not incur any loss to the company. The change management must be planned accordingly so that the employees co-operate and work in the system. The staffs must be given proper training to work on the system. Change management is a process that consists of several steps. It is a step by step routine that helps to

Theory without practice is fantasy but practice without theory is Research Paper

Theory without practice is fantasy but practice without theory is blind. Internships in organizations - Research Paper Example This could be the reason that students in universities and colleges are usually encouraged to apply for internships in organizations dealing with their various courses of study during school breaks over the vacation periods. Indeed, many students find it difficult to relate what they study in school and what they have to do in the real world of corporates. On the one hand, there are academicians who study trends and historical data to come up with solutions to problems in the real world, which can be adopted and used in practice. On the other hand are business executives and their workers who usually criticize academicians for coming up with solutions that are either too ideal, complex or which have too many assumptions to be applied in real businesses (March, 1994). This group approaches problem-solving through past experiences or by applying what is appropriate with the prevailing economic, political an social conditions. However, the reality of the matter is that none can exist wi thout the other, as summarized by Professor Vincent Ostrom in the above phrase. One important aspect that organizations’ managers usually deal with is decision-making. Many companies usually operate with the sole reason of making profits. This can only be possible by maximizing revenue while keeping costs down. The management of companies is usually tasked with the duty of making decisions that will lead to the above. However, decision-making is a very complex activity that requires more than just the basic knowledge of how the economic conditions prevail (Scott and Davis, 2007). In addition, wrong decision-making could deal a severe blow to a company which would take years to undo, failure of which the said company would go under. In this sense, decision-making requires the use of theories set out by people who have studied the process in order to be effective. Decision-making is further complicated by the fact that human beings are not always rational; hence they are prone to make decisions that are subjective rather than objective. One theory put forward to try to explain the decision making process is one called ‘Bounded Rationality’ put forward by Nobel Price winner, Herbert A. Simon in his paper Administrative Behavior which he wrote in 1947. In this theory, Simon points out that there are several reasons as to why it may not be easy for executives to make the most rational decision. One reason is due to the uncertainty of the future. Every decision made has a consequence which might be beneficial or harmful to an organization. Some of these consequences can be anticipated, but many more cannot be known at the time of the decision-making. Therefore, managers make what they perceive to be the best decision with the information they have at hand at the period, taking into consideration known risks (Herbert, 1947). Relating to this is the fact that decision makers cannot fully evaluate the worth of their decisions in the future, but only in the present. The third impediment to rational decision making is that decision makers need to be aware of all alternatives to the decision they are about to make (March and Herbert, 1958). This is not always available, making it difficult to choose the most optimal decision. With such theoretical knowledge, decision makers are in a better position to understand the decision-making process, hence be in a better position to defend their actions. Another illustration of Professor Vincent Ostrom’s phrase is applicable in the normal operations of a company. Companies usually spend large sums of money to train their employees and managers to

Resourcing talent Essay Example for Free

Resourcing talent Essay The aims and objectives of this report are to: identify factors affecting an organization’s approach to attracting talent explain the benefits of attracting and retaining a diverse workforce describe factors affecting organizational approach to recruitment and selection give examples of recruitment and selection methods explain the purpose of induction and give a sample induction plan 2. ATRACTING TALENT 2. 1. 4 FACTORS THAT AFFECT AN ORGANISATION’S APPROACH TO ATTRACTING TALENT An organisation’s ability to attract talent from outside depends on how potential applicants view the company, the sector in which it operates and its culture. This is why BRAND IDENTITY seems to be one of the most important factors influencing an organisation’s approach to attracting talent. The top-notch candidates will always ask ‘what’s in this for me’? ‘Unless a business is a brand new start-up, they’re likely to have an existing reputation as an employer – whether this is intentional or not. Given that potential new employees make decisions about joining based on this impression, it pays to define a strategy to make sure the right (and real) messages are being heard. ’ (http://www. pageexecutive. com/insights/talent-attraction-through-employer-branding). WORKFORCE PLANNING which is company likely needs for talent is another very important factor. An organisation’s approach to attracting talent is determined by its workforce planning (WFP). This means: predicting organisation workforce requirements by taking into account: existing skills, training and development, retention, career progression, staff turnover, external factors like: economic climate, demographics, working patterns, and most importantly the demand and supply in labour market. Organisations need to have strategic approach to attracting talent and need to understand the importance of investment in human capital. Talent strategy must be as close to corporate strategy as possible. SIZE OF ORGANIZATION – A small organization cannot have same staffing practices which a large organization may have; it may not be able to attract highly talented staff. Even if it tries to do so it may increase the staffing cost. TYPE OF TALENT THE ORGANISATION IS LOOKING FOR is a very important factor in organisation’s approach to attracting potential employees. For example the level of staff required will determine the recruitment pool, low level team members will be easy to find locally whilst to find a senior manager or a director a company may have to resource internationally. Other factors influencing a company’s talent management are: type of product/services the company is delivering, recruitment tools/methods available, the labour market, national as well as international, legal factors, socio-culture factors or political influences. 2. 2. CIPD POINT OF VIEW ON TALENT MANAGEMENT HR professionals have a very important role in talent management. They have to understand the 4 areas of talent management which are: attracting, developing, managing and evaluating talent. In the current uncertain economic climate strategic approach to talent management is even more important than ever before. 3. A DIVERSE WORKFORCE 3. 1. 3 ORGANISATION BENEFITS OF ATRACTING AND RETAINING A DIVERSE WORKFORCE Diversity is the art of thinking independently together’ Publisher Malcolm Forbes People need to be treated differently in ways that are fair and tailored to their needs but in ways that are aligned to business needs and objectives (The business case for diversity). There are many advantages of a diverse workforce: WIDENS THE RECRUITMENT POOL ACAS points out that the working generation is getting older therefore people from different cultural ; ethnic backgrounds are entering the workforce. REDUCES LABOUR TURNOVER – looking at the UK labour market in the last 10 years, foreign workers are more motivated to work for lower salaries than people living permanently in the UK. They tend to stay in a job for long mainly due to their financial commitment to families living abroad. GIVES GOOD CORPORATE REPUTATION and this helps to attract talent. Organizations with high level of diverse workforce are valued by many people e. g. large supermarkets by having a diverse workforce on the shop floor help international customers to communicate with staff in their own languages. Other benefits of a diverse workforce include: it’s a key to fostering new ways of thinking, opens up a wealth of possibilities and helps to encourage creativity and foster innovation, gives bias-free people policies and working practices, helps to develop new products and practices, opens up new markets and provides due diligence against discrimination claims. 3. 2. CIPD POINT OF VIEW ON DIVERSE WORKFORCE Recognizing and valuing diversity is crucial to good people management practice. HR practitioners have important role in creating inclusive workplace. CIPD advises to companies to go beyond legal compliance with anti-discrimination laws and create diversity strategy or they will become less attractive to potential employees. Company diversity strategy needs to support business objectives and strategies. 4. RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION 4. 1. 3 FACTORS THAT AFFECT AN ORGANISATION’S APPROACH TO RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION Recruitment and selection is the process of having the right person, in the right place, at the right time. It should be affected by current needs as well as future plans (see workforce planning, page 3). One of the factors that can affect an organization’s approach to recruitment and selection is the EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES LEGISLATION. Companies should ensure that they take account of equality and diversity at all times. Organizations should monitor whole recruitment processes continuously to ensure their validity, and that they are non-discriminatory. Advice and guidance is provided by Equality and Human Rights Commission, for example wider advertising, flexible working hours arrangements or child care vouchers for employees. THE SIZE OF THE COMPANY AND RESOURCES AVAILABLE – small companies will have to use different recruitment and selection methods that the larger ones. The infrastructure and finance will determine if it’s a newspaper advert or TV campaign, for example: ‘Join the Army’ Campaign being used to recruit candidates. Also a small organisation will not be able to use assessment centres or psychometric testing due to low budget available. SUPPLY AND DEMAND The availability of manpower both within and outside the organization is an important determinant in the recruitment process. If the company has a demand for more professionals and there is limited supply in the market for the professionals demanded by the company, then the company will have to depend upon internal sources by providing them special training and development programs. Other factors include: costs, recruitment policy or unemployment rate. 4. 2. 3 DIFFERENT RECRUITMENT METHODS There are many recruitment methods available on the market including: advertising, agency, website, word of mouth, newspaper, posters, ‘milk round’, internships, head hunters, recommend a friend scheme, social media: Facebook, LinkedIn, job centre, etc. For the purpose of this exercise I will describe 3 methods in a table below: RECRUITMENT METHOD BENEFITS OTHER COMMENTS Advertising on the website Cost effective Creates employer’s branding Easily accessible Gives understanding of organization’s culture Broad recruitment pool HR managers are actively involved in recruitment and selection Recruitment agency Time effective Efficient Broadens the recruitment pool High standard UK eligibility and CRB checks done Is used to hire management level employees, mainly by larger organizations Recommend a friend scheme It’s less expensive than agency It comes with a recommendation of someone we already trust Used to employ all levels staff from waiters and chefs to senior management There is a risk of discrimination claim Source: Aleksandra Wozniak 2013 4. 3. 3 SELECTION METHODS There are many selection methods, including: assessment centres, speed networking, psychometric testing, daily trail – role practice, competency based interviews, telephone interviews/screening, group interviews/exercises or occupational tests. For the purpose of this exercise I will describe 3 methods in a table below: SELECTION METHOD BENEFITS OTHER COMMENTS Assessment centre Creates employer’s branding Time effective It’s expensive Doesn’t give understanding of organizational culture Face to face interview Time effective Efficient Cost effective Availability to see candidates’ attitude Opportunity for probing Needs good preparation Should be done by a trained and experienced interviewer Psychometric tests Gives highly predictive results Improves the efficiency of the recruitment process There is a risk of standardisation Source: Aleksandra Wozniak 2013 5. INDUCTION Induction is the process of familiarisation with the organisation and settling into the job (acas. org. uk). 5. 1. PURPOSE OF INDUCTION 1. Social welcome – employees feeling valued 2. Introduction to the Company’s culture 3. Physical orientation 4. Explanation of employee’s benefits: staff discount and pension scheme. 5. Check of eligibility to work in UK 6. Explanation of house rules – staff uniforms, reporting absences, etc. 5. 2. HOW DOES INDUCTION BENEFIT INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANISATIONS Most labour turnover is among new employees, and work efficiency is reached only after a period of learning and adjusting to the new environment. Induction benefits for individuals are: Builds positive attitude of the company Allows quick adjusting, especially for school leavers or people returning to the workforce Saves time The benefits of induction for an employer are: The chance to build on the positive attitude of the new recruit To answer their anxieties about how well they will get on with their co-workers and understand the standards and rules of the organisation Chance to welcome new employees and build on their positive attitude and enthusiasm for their new job An opportunity to familiarise new members of staff with your organisation To introduce them to their immediate colleagues and other members of the wider workforce Health and safety, equality and discrimination Case study illustrating the result of the lack of an induction process: A new employee starts on a Monday, reports to reception and no one knows he is due to start work on that day. He is sent to room 302 where 3 very surprised team members welcome him in a cold way. It transpires that the desk and computer are not ready and he has to share a desk with one of his colleagues. The new starter feels very lost and disappointed. He doesn’t know who to ask for help and find out only after going back home and visiting the web site. He contacts HR but the situation isn’t resolved until the following week. He doesn’t think positively about his new company and starts regretting quitting his last job. 5. 3. INDUCTION PLAN A copy of an induction plan should be kept by new starter to enable him to follow what is happening and will act as a reminder of anything missed or that needs particular attention. POSITION: EMPLOYEE START DATE: NAME: INDUCTION COMPLETION DATE: SIGNATURE: AREAS TO BE COVERED WHEN WHO HOW COMMENTS PERSONAL DOCUMENTATION/ ELIGIBILITY TO WORK IN UK CHECKED First day HR Take copies P45 First day HR Take copies NIN First day HR Take copies INTRODUCTION TO THE COMPANY First week Line manager Presentation Who’s who History Products/services/markets Future plans and developments TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT First day HR Written Written terms and conditions issued Contract of employment issued Hours, breaks, method of payment Holidays Clocking on/flexitime/reporting procedures Probationary period Period of notice Sickness provisions Pension provisions Maternity/paternity/parental leave provisions AREAS TO BE COVERED WHEN WHO HOW COMMENTS EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES POLICY AND WORKER DEVELOPMENT First week HR Verbal/Written Equal opportunities policy Training needs and objectives Further education/training policies Performance appraisal Promotion avenues Policy/procedures to prevent bullying and harassment WORKER/EMPLOYER RELATIONS First week Line manager Verbal Trade union membership Other worker representation Worker communications and consultation Grievance and disciplinary procedure Appeals procedure ORGANISATION RULES First week Mentor/Buddy Verbal/Coffee chat Smoking policy General behaviour/dress code Telephone calls/emails and use of the internet Canteen/break facilities Cloakroom/toilets/lockers HEALTH AND SAFETY First week Safety officer E learning Risk assessment Emergency procedures AREAS TO BE COVERED WHEN WHO HOW COMMENTS Awareness of hazards – any particular to type of work Safety rules Emergency procedures Clear gangways, exits Location of exits Reporting of accidents First aid Personal hygiene WELFARE AND WORKER BENEFITS/FACILITIES First month Section supervisor Coffee chat Sports facilities Protective clothing – supply, laundry, replacement Transport/parking arrangements Company discounts THE JOB First week Mentor/Buddy Coffee chat Introduction to manager/supervisor Requirements of new job Standards expected Co-workers Supervision and work performance appraisals Source: Induction, Appendix 3, acas. org. uk with small changes by Aleksandra Wozniak 2013 6. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Systemic-Functional Grammar

Systemic-Functional Grammar News is a special approach to report or comment the latest and important facts. Its purpose is to influence the Mass Public Opinion. The definition of the news demonstrates that news is the fact, different from the fabrication of literature. Besides the general characteristics of news, broadcasting news has its own distinct features. This paper analyzes the English broadcasting news from the choice of the process types and the transitivity of the clause by using the transitivity theory for the purpose of discovering the distribution law of the process types of the English broadcasting news text and its genre characteristicsï ¼Å½ Introduction In the 1960s, Halliday, the Professor of linguistics, developed a systematic and comprehensive theory of language, called â€Å"Systemic-Functional Grammar (SFG)†, and published his book An Introduction to Functional Grammar in 1985 and 1994. Many scholars also published a number of books and papers on systemic grammar. The research of Systemic Functional Grammar began in 1970s and became popular in the late 1980s. In Hallidays book An Introduction to Functional Grammar, he says â€Å"the theory on which this description is based, systemic theory follows in the European functional tradition. It is largely based on Firths system-structure theory, but derives more abstract principles from Hjelmslev and owes many ideas to Prague School. The organizing concept is that of the â€Å"system†, which is used essentially in Firths sense of a functional Paradigm but developed into the formal construct of a ‘system network.† (Halliday, 2000:52) SFG has two components: systemic grammar and functional grammar. In Hu Zhuanglins book Linguistics. A course Book, he holds that â€Å"Systemic grammar aims to explain the internal relations in language as a system network, or meaning potential. And this network consists of subsystem from which language users make choices. Functional grammar aims to reveal that language is a means of social interaction, based on the position that language system and the forms that make it up are inescapably determined by the uses or functions which they serve.† (Hu Zhuanglin 2001:409) â€Å"In a functional grammar, on the other hand, the direction is reversed. A language is interpreted as a System of meanings can be realized.† Halliday(1985) â€Å"Functional Grammar aims to reveal that language is a mean of social interaction, based on the position that language system and the forms that make it up are inescapably determined by the uses or functions which they serve.† Hu Zhuanglin(2001) The functions of language are the most important things in Functional Grammar. As the tool of human beings communication, language possesses many different kinds of functions. Halliday divided the functions of language into three types. They are ideational metafunction, interpersonal metafunction, and textual metafunction. In this paper, the emphasis is on ideational metafunction. The ideational metafunction is to organize the speaker or writers experience of the real or imaginary world. It includes experiential function and logical function. The meaning of experiential function is that language expresses peoples experiences in external world (things, events qualities, etc) and internal world (thoughts, beliefs, feelings, etc). What logical function refers to is that language expresses the logical relationship between two or more than two meaning units. Experiential function is chiefly embodied by transitivity and voice. â€Å"†¦ Parallel with its evolution in the function of mood, expressing the active, interpersonal aspect of meaning, the clause evolved simultaneously in another grammatical function expressing the reflective, experiential aspect of meaning. This later is the system of transitivity. Transitivity specifies the different types of process that are recognized in the language, and the structures by which they are expressed.† (Halliday,1985) Transitivity is a semantic system. Its purpose is to divide something around people into several processes involving participants and circumstantial elements. Halliday contents that transitivity includes six processes: (a) Material process. (b) Mental process. (c) Relational process. (d) Behavioral process. (e) Verbal process. (f) Existential process. (a) Material Process: process of doing Material process is a process of doing. The process usually consists of verb, actor (logical subject) and goal (noun or pronoun). Material Processes express the notion that some entity ‘does something- which may be done ‘to some other entity (Halliday, 1985) For example, A fungus destroyed the coffee plant leaves Actor Process Goal (b) Mental Process: process of thinking Mental process is a process of thinking involving perception (see, look), reaction (like, fear) and cognition (knowing, believing, and understanding) and so on. Mental process has two participants: sensor and phenomenon. Sensor refers to the person who perceives and phenomenon is the something that is perceived by the sensor. Phenomenon includes concrete person or objects, abstract things, happened events and so on. For example, He saw the whole room. Sensor Process Phenomenon (c) Relational Process: process of being Relational process is a process of being. Actually, relational process is a very complex type of process, which covers the many different ways that ‘being is expressed (Eggins 1994). However, in this analysis, we only refer two simple types, they are attributive process and identifying process. In the attributive process, the participants are attribute and carrier. For example, Her face was a bloated spotty mask. Carrier Process Attribute In the identifying process, the participants are identified and identifier. This car is hers. Identified Process Identifier (d) Behavioral Process: process of behaving Behavioral process is a process of behaving, such as breathe, dream, smile, laugh, cry, and cough. The basic components of the process are â€Å"behaver† and â€Å"process†. This point is similar to the mental process, but different from the material process. Bloor and Bloor (1995) described behavioral process as the grey area between Material and Mental processes. She cried loudly. Behaver Process Circumstantial (e) Verbal Process: process of saying Verbal process is a process of saying. â€Å"Saying† has to be interpreted in a rather broad sense; it covers any kind of symbolic exchange of meaning. The verbal words are â€Å"tell, say, talk, describe, boast, praise†. The verbalization itself is called the verbiage. The informants told the police everything Sayer Process Receiver Verbiage (f) Existential Process: process of existing Existential process is a process of existing. In every existential process, it must have an â€Å"Existent†. â€Å"There† has no representational function. There are ten of us in the party. Process Existent Circumstance Generally speaking, most of the processes representing descriptive meaning are the relational, existential process and the mental processes. However, most of the processes representing narrative meaning are material processes. â€Å"Voice is the ways in which a language expresses the relationship between a verb and the noun phrases which are associated with it. Two sentences can differ in voice and yet have the same basic meaning. However, there may be a change in emphasis and one type of sentence may be more appropriate.† (Jack C.Richards, John Platt and Heidi Platt, 2000) It is represented commonly by active voice and passive voice. In order to make the structure of the text reasonable and the context consistent, speakers or writers need to do an appropriate choice to the voice. Approach to Analyze the Text According to Huang Guowen, SFG is more suitable for analyzing a text. The reasons for it lie below. First, SFG is a text grammar, which means this kind of grammar can describe how the use of language. In this way, the meaning of the text can be understood clearly. Second, in SFG, functions of language are divided into three metafunction. The description of the systemic network of the three metafunction is quite clear. Thus, the application of the framework of SFG to analyze a text can avoid evaluating at will. Choice of Text The text chosen for analysis is from BBC Broadcasting news on its website on Thursday, 2 July, 2009. This news report can be heard in the air and its transcription is on BBC website after the reporter made an interview with Alain Bouillard, of Frances BEA accident investigation agency. This news is written in English originally, so when I picked it up, I made no translation. Whats more, this piece of news is completely authentic in that it is not edited or used for the purpose of language teaching. Context of Situation Definition of context: It is immediate environment of language activity, which is time, place, talking content, the relation among people related to transfer communicational meanings. Halliday and Hasan (1985) divided context of situation into three parts: field, tenor and mode. (a) Field refers to what is being talked about, what is it that the participants are engaged in, in which the language s as some essential components. This chosen news report is talking about the result of investigation of the France air crash. Most of the contents are from an officer, in this way, the media wants to give the public an authoritative explanation of the investigation process. (b) Tenor refers to the people involved in the communication and the relationship between them. What kinds of role relationships obtain among the participants, including permanent and temporary relationships of one kind or another, both the types of speech role that they are taking on in the dialogue and the whole cluster of socially significant relationships in which they refer to. Here the participants are the news writers or editors and the listeners of the radio or visitors or ‘readers of the websites. (c) Mode refers to how the language is functioning in the interaction, e.g. whether it is written or spoken. As for the chosen news report, its main purpose is to read to the listeners. Therefore, the language usage is rather simple and oral, which is to reduce the burden of listeners. Text Air France jet broke on impact Brazilian military personnel retrieve part of the Air France plane from the Atlantic Ocean (08 June 2009) Search teams recovered 51 bodies from the crash area â‘  French investigators trying to find out why an Air France plane crashed in the Atlantic say they believe it broke up on contact with water, not in the air. â‘ ¡They also found that the planes speed sensors had been a factor but not the cause of the crash. â‘ ¢All 228 people on the plane were killed when it plunged into the ocean en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris on 1 June. â‘ £Teams looking for the planes flight data recorders will continue operations for another 10 days. â‘ ¤Alain Bouillard, of Frances BEA accident investigation agency, said the crash had been an extremely difficult one to understand. â‘ ¥Between the surface of the water and 35,000ft [10,700m], we dont know what happened, Mr Bouillard said. â‘ ¦In the absence of the flight recorders, it is extremely difficult to draw conclusions. Table 2 Type of Transitivity Material Mental Relational Verbal Behavioral Existential Total 3 0 1 3 0 0 Percentage 43% 0 14% 43% 0 0 In the news above, the most processes are verbal and material process, and with only one relational process and zero existential, behavior and mental process. Generally speaking, a certain text usually contains many different kinds of transitivity process, especially material process. Hu Zhuanglin contents that people living in a material world, ‘doormake is the primary and basis, only with this can human beings hold other physiological feature to proceed other process. In this piece of news, material process takes up 43%, which is quite high in total. According to Halliday, What experiential function is that language expresses peoples experiences in external world (things, events qualities, etc) and internal world (thoughts, beliefs, feelings, etc). News is the record of the fact, is the response to the fact. News without fact is not news, news without fact or truth cannot be good news. The theory of the news writing is objectively reporting and speaking with the fact. In this news, material process takes up such a high proportion, which is just right to obey the rules that news is due to truth or fact. However, one certain process occurs more frequently is one of the factors to form the feature of a text. Halliday classes the Process Material, Mental and Relational as major process and the others as minor. The verbal process that originally belongs to the less important process in this news takes up 43%, which is the highest of all. Verbal process is a process of saying; the saying is to exchange information. Broadcasting news as a tool of media has a responsibility to transmit information to the public. It is not difficult to find out that the transitivity process of this piece of news lays particular stress on verbal process. According to other statistics I find out in another 10 pieces of BBC news show that verbal process occurs quite high in broadcasting texts. In the total 172 sentences, there are 56 verbal process, occupying 32%, only a little lower than material process. In some certain broadcasting news (such as above), verbal process equals even overruns material process. To some extent, the distribution of transitivity of discourse has a regular discipline. Whats more, the discipline has something to do with the genre of the discourse. Now we will have a further study of the news above. There are seven sentences in the news, and they are divided into separated process, each sentence and its belonging process is in the tables below. â‘   Verbal Process French investigators trying to find out why an Air France plane crashed in the Atlantic say they believe it broke up on contact with water, not in the air Sayer Process Verbiage â‘ ¡Material process They also found that the planes speed sensors had been a factor but not the cause of the crash. Actor Process Goal â‘ ¢Material Process All 228 people on the plane were killed when it plunged into the ocean en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris on 1 June Goal Process Circumstance â‘ £ (Material Process) Teams looking for the planes flight data recorders will continue Operations for another 10 days Actor Process Goal Circumstance â‘ ¤ (Verbal Process) Alain Bouillard, of Frances BEA accident investigation agency said the crash had been an extremely difficult one to understand. Sayer Process Reported â‘ ¥ (Verbal Process) â€Å"Between the surface of the water and 35,000ft [10,700m], we dont know what happened† Mr. Bouillard Said Reported Sayer Process â‘ ¦ (Relational Process) In the absence of the flight recorders it Is extremely difficult to draw conclusions Circumstance Identified Process Identifier In the news above, there are four sentences involved in verbal process. The first one as a headline lays essential place in the whole passage. Headline is a conclusion and extract of the main event. In a news report, choosing the words from an authority that responsible for the investigation of the accident is absolutely the best choice. In fact, so did the writer do. Then, to report the process of the investigation, the writer chose to use material process in that Material Process is to narrate the real world. In the second and the forth Material Process sentences, the French investigators (referred to ‘They and ‘the team in the news) are main participants. They found, they continue operations, the using the investigators to be the main participants in the continuous two material process , on one hand can make sure of the continuity of the news report, on the other hand, this news report is mainly to report the situations and opinions from investigators. In this way, pu t the words from the investigators in an essential place can illustrate the most important content of the news in front of the listeners, which is the main responsibility of a successful news report. In the second material process, the writer chose the passive voice to emphasize the victims of this accident. In this material process, these 228 people on the plane had no hope to be survived. When listening to here, we have realized something about the result of the rescue activity. Then the Material Process is finished, and led to Verbal Process. In the following 2 Verbal Materials, the contents of the speech are all from Mr. Bouillard, who is from Frances BEA accident investigation agency. By his words, the writer told the readers that the reason for the airplane accident was still unsolved and it could be a difficult task to find out clearly. The writer chose to quote the words from the investigation agency is to make sure the reliability and the depth of the news report. Whats mor e, it also can tell readers the resource of the news report, which is from the authority. Mr Bouillard, he is an officer from BEA accident investigation agency, is the direct participant of the whole survey, in that way, he could hold one-hand results of the whole search. In most cases, when an accident happens or a research being preceded, a news reporter may not be involved directly or witness at spot. Most of the report resources are due to interview afterwards. If we can contact the direct participants or the direct researchers in a research such as in this case, it will make a more vivid atmosphere for listeners or readers, and adding the reliability as well. News reports usually get the aid from the participants, the witness of the event or the people from authorities to give a hint or proclaim the resource of the news. Nevertheless, we could also see that in a news report there exists report from a reporter, which in another way explains the reason why there are more verbal processes in a news report. We can have a further look of the verbal material 1,5,7. In these three verbal material, the writer chose say, said, said, all of which are variations from say. They are very simple and oral. This is because in a broadcasting news report, the main method is to make audience listen. Broadcasting should transmit the most information in a limited period of time, so that the words chosen from broadcasting news report should be simple and near to daily life, avoiding adding burden to listeners. In fact, in this broadcasting news report, the sentence structure used are quite simple, the words chosen are rather succinct, and without many complex clauses. When it comes to the tenses used in this news report, we can find out there are not any complex tenses, just simple past and simple in turn. In the whole news report, the material process states the main fact, and the verbal process proclaims the resource of the news, and to move forward to supply and illustrate the main event. In this news report, the material process and the verbal process occur in turn, and hold different duties each other. The structure of this news report makes it active and filled with variations. The words from the authority from different ways can explain the reason why they still cannot find out the reason for the airplane accident immediately. In a word, it is a successful news report to tell audience the process of the investigation of the air crush. Conclusion In this paper, Hallidays transitivity theory and the types of transitivity have been used to analyze a piece of news report from BBC. It is found that there is a distribution law of the process types in the English broadcasting news text; Verbal Process is one of the features that form the news text. It is also illustrated that broadcasting news has its own characteristics; such as the tendency to be oral, most of sentences are short, the roughly narration that can be easy to read aloud, etc. This analysis proves that the application of functional grammar in discourse analysis is practical and operable. By the transitivity theory to analysis a discourse, it can help to seize the essence and features of a text. In addition, it can also promote to understand the connotation of a discourse. Bibliography Bloor. T and M. Bloor. 1995. The Functional Analysis of English: A Hallidayan Approach. London: Arnold Eggins, S. 1994. An Introduction to Systemic Functional Linguistics. London: Pinter Publishers Halliday, M.A.K. and R. Hasan. 1976. Cohesion in English. London: Longman. Halliday M.A.K. 1985. An Introduction to Functional Grammar. London: Edward Arnold. Halliday,M.K.A. 2000 An Introduction to Functional Grammar, Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. Hu Zhuanglin 2001 Linguistics, A course Book Beijing: Beijing University Huang Guowen 2002 Discourse and Language Functions Beijing: FLTRP Thompson, G. 1996. Introducing Functional Grammar. London: Arnold

Inclusive Education In Malaysia

Inclusive Education In Malaysia Malaysias move toward inclusion was given impetus by its participation in workshops and conferences set up under the auspices of the United Nations. Inclusive education was introduced in the Education Act (1998) as part of the continuum of services available for children with special needs. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the interpretation of policy pertaining to inclusion, its contradictions and its translation into practice within the Malaysian context; and to share experiences on how the national context explains and constrains inclusive practices. This paper also reviews the extent inclusion has brought benefits to children with special needs and their families; as well as examine the problematic issues associated with the interpretation and implementation of inclusive practices at community and school levels. Introduction In line with the global trend toward inclusive education, Malaysia officially began its efforts to include students with special needs in mainstream education through its involvement in workshops and activities initiated by the United Nations (UN) and United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). Standards of several UN policies affirm the right of all children to equal education without discrimination within the mainstream education system. These include the UN Convention on the rights of the Child (1989), the UN Standard Rules on the Equalisation of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities (1993), the UNESCO Salamanca Statement (1994) and the UNESCAP Biwako Millennium Framework (2002). The Salamanca Statement on Principles, Policy and Practice in Special Needs Education (UNESCO 1994) has stressed the importance to develop national capacities for policymaking and systems management in support of inclusive education and the need to address equal educati onal opportunity and access to all children including those with special educational needs. Subsequently, inclusive education was introduced in the Malaysian Education Act 1996 (1998) together with provisions for children with learning difficulties. Although huge strides have been taken in the provisions and allocations for special needs education in Malaysia, inclusive education seems elusive to many children who need it. The purpose of this article is to examine and analyse the current policy and practices pertaining to inclusive education within the parallel system of general and special education, and to share experiences on how the national context explains and constrains inclusive practices. Concepts and principles in inclusive education will be discussed against the backdrop of Malaysian general education system and school culture. Inclusive education in Malaysia originated from the special education agenda as defined in the Education Act 1996 (1998) and its approach is referred to this tradition. The discussion begins with an introduction to the development of special needs education as a discipline and as a profession in Malaysia, and its influence on the development of policy and practice toward inclusive education. The Evolutionary Phases of Special Needs Education The history of special needs education in Malaysia parallels developments seen in other helping professions in developing countries worldwide (Azuma, 1984). Foreign experts are initially relied upon to provide the knowledge and to encourage its development prior to the emergence of a profession within a country. The first professionals to provide services are usually trained abroad. The second stage followed this first stage, in which colleges and universities established programs and departments to teach the discipline and prepare the professionals. The second stage leads to the third stage, in which colleges and universities import developed from abroad to achieve standards that characterised the discipline in more developed nations. During this stage, the concepts, theories and models of implementation found in the more developed countries are taught, applied and tested; some of which may transfer more successfully than others. The fourth stage sees research initiated in the country to develop the concepts, theories and practices and technologies essential to enhance practice. The fifth and last stage is reached when this new body of knowledge developed in one country is integrated into the larger body of knowledge available internationally. As professions and disciplines of knowledge evolve from one stage to the next, they gain strength and improve qualities associated with the earlier stages of the development. Malaysia embarked on the first stage when the first school for the blind was opened in 1929, followed by a school for the deaf very much later in 1954. These schools were initiated under the programs of the Ministry of Social Welfare with the help of religious missionaries. Malaysia entered its second stage when professional preparation programs for special education were formally established by the Ministry of Education in 1961. Lacking its own expertise and technology, Malaysia entered its third stage when it began importing knowledge and expertise by sending its education professionals abroad for research degrees and in-service attachments in special needs education in the 1980s and 1990s, and attempting to customize what was learned to its national conditions. Malaysias participation in international workshops and activities of the UN and UNESCO and subsequent reforms as reflected in the Education Act (1998) describes the active development of policy and changes in practices duri ng this period. In 1993, the first preservice teacher preparation leading to a Bachelor of Education degree program in special needs education was initiated in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. The program was developed alongside a collaborative project in curriculum development with three universities in the United Kingdom, namely, the Universities of Manchester, Birmingham and Cambridge (Jelas, 1996; 1999). Special needs education in Malaysia is currently in its fourth stage with research being initiated in the local universities with funding from the government to indigenise special needs education as a discipline. The establishment of research degree programs in special needs education has generated interest among students and academics and attempts to integrate local knowledge with the larger body of knowledge internationally have started (Jelas, 1996, 1999, 2000; Azman et al., 2003; Ali et al, 2006). Development of policy: A force for or against inclusion Education for children and youth with special needs is provided for by two government agencies: The Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development (MWFCD). The MWFCD through its Welfare Department, provides learning and skills training services for children and youths with i) severe physical disabilities, ii) severe and profound intellectual disabilities; and iii) multiple disabilities. These learning and skills training services are implemented in collaboration with non-governmental bodies and community-based rehabilitation centres. The Special Education Department of the MOE is responsible for coordinating all special educations programmes in the regular schools and the administration of all special education schools which cater only to students with hearing and visual impairments. Children who are identified with i) downs syndrome, ii) mild autism, iii) developmental delays, iv) attention deficit hyperactivity disorders, and v) specific learning disabilities, are placed in self-contained special classes in the Learning Disability Programmes in regular schools. The terms special needs introduced in the Education Act 1996 (1998) are defined as follows: Pupils with special needs means pupils with visual impairment or hearing impairment or with learning disabilities And inclusive education is introduced as part of the continuum of services available for children with special needs: Special education programme means A programme which is provided in special schools for pupils with visual impairment or hearing impairment; An integrated programme in general schools for pupils with visual impairment or hearing impairment or with learning disabilities; and An inclusive education programme for pupils with special needs and who are able to attend normal classes together with normal pupils (Education Act 1996, 1998, p. 341) However, the eligibility for special education placement is based on the educability of children as assessed by a team of professionals. This is documented in the Act, which states: (1) For government and government-aided schools, pupils with special needs who are educable are eligible to attend the special education programme except for the following pupils: physically handicapped pupils with the mental ability to learn like normal pupils; and pupils with multiple disabilities or with profound physical handicap or severe mental retardation. A pupil with special needs is educable if he is able to manage himself without help and is confirmed by a panel consisting of a medical practitioner, an officer from the MOE and an officer from the Welfare Department of the MWFCD, as capable of undergoing the national educational programme (Education Act 1996, 1998, p. 342) The eligibility dilemma A number of issues and contradictions arise when we analyse policies that explicitly state a criterion for eligibility. While the current public policy for children with special educational needs, particularly those categories of children classified as experiencing learning disabilities have access to regular schools as stated in the Act, the educability criteria contradicts the goals of providing equal education opportunities as stipulated in the United Nations Standard Rules on the Equalisation of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities (1993), The Salamanca Statement (1994) and the Biwako Millenium Framework for Action (UNESCAP, 2002). These mandates are intended to promote equal rights and access to education for persons with disabilities. The educability criterion assumes that there are children who are uneducable within the public school system and thus these children are catered to within community-based rehabilitation (CBR) settings (MOE, 2006). CBR programmes are government-initiated, centre-based programmes at the community level aimed to provide education that emphasises therapy and rehabilitation to children with learning disabilities (Kuno, 2007). CBR programmes are quite detached from the mainstream school system. However, in practice, the division between both provisions is less definite, and students who should benefit from them become victims of bureaucratic procedures (Adnan Hafiz, 2001). The true meaning of equal rights and access is still evolving in the Malaysian context, as policy makers and the schools put into practice their interpretation of what they perceive those rights to be. Deciding on who does or does not have a special educational need, or who is educable and who is not poses a major problem. Before special programmes were available, students with special needs were described by their characteristics and by the instructional challenges they presented to teachers. When the education system began to respond to the needs of each emerging group of special needs students, services were established and eligibility criteria determined. From that point on, a child was identified (for school and placement purposes) as having or experiencing a special educational need and if he or she is able to manage him or herself without help (Education Act 1996, 1998), the child will be eligible for a given programme or service. This process was repeated as each new group of special needs students emerged for example, children with visual and hearing impairments in the 1960s, children with mild intellectual in the 1980s and 1990s, and more recently, children with attentio n deficit hyperactivity disorders and children with dyslexia. Thus it is regulated in the Education Act 1996 (1998) that the perspectives of professionals (a medical practitioner, an officer from the MOE and an officer from the Welfare Department of the MWFCD p. 342) have the most power in determining the way children are categorised and whether these children are capable of undergoing the national educational programme (Education Act 1996, 1998). In this context, policy makers and professionals continue to see special schools and classes as well as categories as having an important place in provisions. Responses at the Ministerial level revealed an emphasis on diversity and acceptance of human characteristics as problematic and that learning difficulties are technical problems that require specialised discipline knowledge that cannot be dealt with in the normal classes with normal children (Education Act 1996, 1998 p. 341). In this context, the MOE sees segregation as the right to be educated in a separate environment from the mainstream and i nclusion is implemented on the principle that integrate and include children with special needs where possible, and retain the right to segregate where necessary (Booth Ainscow, 1998). Within the Malaysian context, the belief that the child must be educable to be educated reflects a rigid and narrow interpretation of the concept of inclusion. The requirement reinforced what Peters (2004) referred to as the continuum of placements paradigm; where inclusion is conceptualised as a place that one needs to be eligible and not as a service delivered. Such a narrow and limited interpretation results in the exclusion of SEN students from within the school system. Jelas (2000a) summarised the interpretation of the process of inclusion in the Malaysian context in Figure 1. INCLUSION: MEETING OUR COMMITMENTS Salamanca Statement 1994 Malaysian Education Act 1996 Responses to human diversity Responses to categories Commitment to change Commitment to existing demands Rejection of medical model of disability Coexistence of medical social model perubatan sosial Equity PROCESS OF INCLUSION Educability PROCESS OF EXCLUSION Figure 1. Inclusion: Its interpretaion in the Malaysian context Rationalising exclusion While the literature on inclusive education would be in agreement over the basic philosophical stance of inclusion as it relates to issues of social justice and equity of educational opportunities, its interpretation and translation into practice remains unclear in Malaysia. The National Report on the development of education states: Inclusion in Malaysia subscribed to the concept of placing SEN students into mainstream classes to be educated alongside their peers, either with or without additional support, and within the present school system. This concept of IE (inclusive education) might not be in line with the ideal concept based on acceptance, belonging and about providing school settings in which all disadvantaged children can be valued equally and be provided with equal educational opportunities à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (MOE, 2004, p. 28), While the philosophical basis of including SEN students into mainstream schools is accepted as a policy, the continued legitimization of paradigms that exclude SEN students is also acknowledged by rationalising between the ideal and the not-so-ideal concept of inclusive education. This ambivalence is reinforced by the following statements: Prior to inclusion, especially in the early part of their formal education, SEN students are equipped with relevant basic skills and knowledge to enable them to cope with mainstream learning. Only those who are diagnosed capable to cope with mainstream learning would be included fully or partially. (MOE, 2004, p. 29) The emphasis on the ability to cope with mainstream learning seemed consistent with the integration models that came about in the 1980s. Integration models mainly focused on placing students with mild disabilities, identified and diagnosed as having special needs in mainstream schools. In such models, students must adapt to the norms, expectations, styles, routines and practices of the education system instead of the education system adapting to the learner (UNESCO, 2008). The integrated programme is the dominant format for delivering services to special needs students in Malaysia, then and now. Students typically were referred to a medical practitioner to determine their eligibility and to confirm their disability, and if they met the eligibility criteria, they were placed in a special class in a regular school. Once placed, few special education students returned to the regular education class on full-time basis. Although the special classroom and special schools continued as optio ns, integrated programmes (placement in regular classrooms) for students with visual and hearing impairments are available with support from the resource teacher. Within this model, students were pulled out for part-time placement in resource rooms, or a special education teacher comes to the regular education classroom to provide remedial assistance to the student or to assist the classroom teacher. By the mid -1980s special education in the developed countries, specifically in the United States and United Kingdom, no longer relied on segregated special classes to serve students with SEN. Historically, the disenchantment of many special educators and the concern of the efficacy of the prevailing approach (Ainscow, 1994; Meyen Skrtic, 1995; Sorrells, Rieth Sindelar, 2004; Stainback Stainback, 1992) raised questions about how best to assure a quality and equitable education for students with disabilities and spawned the push for a more inclusive approach to special education programming. While these reforms were mandated in the United Nations Declarations and UNESCOs Framework of Actions on special needs education of which Malaysias policy on inclusive education subscribes to, the focus on diagnosis, prescription, and intervention continued to be central to determining eligibility and making placement decisions. Thus, although special education practices had changed, the ground ing assumptions of human pathology and organisational rationality (Biklen, 2000; Oliver, 1996; Skrtic, 1991) have not been critically examined. In this context, special education is used to maintain and legitimise exclusion of students with disabilities within a school culture and system characterised by competition and selection (Skrtic, 1995; Corbett, 1999; Slee, 2001; Kearney Kane, 2006). Inclusive education is seen as problematic; educators and policymakers have serious reservations about the widespread placement of SEN students in mainstream schools because systemic problems in the current provisions and school culture remain unresolved. Malaysia needs to recognise that integration models are not inclusion and that inclusive practices do not just mean placing SEN students into mainstream schools. The pathway to inclusion is fraught with foundational assumptions that support exclusionary processes and practices. Challenges in policy and practice Even though inclusive education was implemented at the policy level more than 10 years ago and school participation has rapidly increased quantitatively, Malaysia is far from reaching its goal of providing a responsive education path for every child and youth with SEN (MOE, 2004). Policy statements and procedural processes and requirements that are seen as safeguarding the normality of the school population (Slee, 1996, p. 25), and that which rest on the basic philosophy of exclusion and segregation as the best way to educate students with disabilities will obviously make inclusion efforts very difficult and counterproductive. There is a need to formulate policies to ensure that segregation is not practiced within the education system. The barriers created by the current policies may have many sources but three of the most critical are: (1) the non-acceptance that all children can learn; (2) the need for a reconceptualisation of special educational needs; and (3) the culture of eliti sm. The acceptance that all children can learn and have a right to education Malaysians in general and educators specifically need to acknowledge that inclusive education is part of the human rights agenda that argues that all children, irrespective of their characteristics, can learn and have access to education. Although special education is seen as a right and as an access to education, school exclusion of children who do not meet the eligibility criteria is made legal and therefore, not the responsibility of the MOE. Labeling children who do not meet the criteria for placement in schools as uneducable and denying them the opportunity to education would be an irony of the education system. Under these circumstances, they are the ones that have the greatest need for education, are the least likely to receive it. Further, denying these children of the opportunity to learn within the public school system is a violation of the childs basic rights (United Nations, 1989; United Nations, 1993). The question of whether all children with disabilities have an unqual ified right to the education system must be addressed. Opportunities for schooling should be extended to all disabled children without specifying any eligibility criteria; the MOE needs to implement a paradigm shift from a charity-based approach to the development of persons with disabilities and to accept responsibility for education for all children. In principle, Malaysia is committed to providing education for all with the implementation of compulsory education in 2003 as evident by a high participation rate of 98.49 per cent (MOE, 2004). This statement of intent towards compulsory education for all which was an amendment of the Education Act 1996, however, did not include children with disabilities: The MOE has reviewed the Education Act 1996 that regulates the provision of preschool, primary and secondary education. The review was to enable the implementation of compulsory education at primary school level. In 2002, the Education Act 1996 was amended and the compulsory education took effect in 2003. This policy ensures that every child in Malaysia beginning at age six, regardless of sex, social and economic background, and residential locality has the right to primary education. Accordingly, every Malaysian parent must ensure that their child has access to primary education when the child reaches the age of six or on the first day of the current school year when the child would be six years old. (MOE, 2004, p.4) International mandates have declared that education is a basic right for all children and have called for the inclusion of all children in primary education by 2015 (UNESCAP, 2002). Malaysia needs to include disability dimensions in all new and existing laws, policy plans, programmes and schemes. In this context, we need to strengthen our national capacity in data collection and analysis concerning disability statistics to support policy formulation and programme implementation. The exclusion of children and youth with disabilities from the broader framework of education results in their being deprived from further opportunities, thereby diminishing their access to vocational training, employment, and preventing them from achieving economic and social independence. This increases their vulnerability to marginalisation in what can become a self-perpetuating, inter-generational cycle. Conceptualisation of special educational needs The current interpretation of special educational needs in Malaysia emanates from a traditional special education framework and knowledge base that emphasise the pathological/medical model of special needs (Skrtic, 1991). The continued emphasis on explaining educational difficulties in terms of child-centered characteristics has the effect of preventing progress in creating policies and provisions for SEN students. Dyson (1990) aptly summarises the argument by saying: The fact remains that the education system as a whole, and the vast majority of institutions and teachers within it, are approaching the twenty-first century with a view of special needs the same as that with which their counterparts approached the present century. That view, for all its avowed concern for the individual child, promotes injustice on a massive scale. It demands to be changed (Dyson, 1990, p. 60-1) The radical perspective that leads to a reconceptualisation of special educational needs have been well documented for the past twenty years (Barton, 1988; Lipsky Gartner, 1989; Ainscow, 1991; Fuchs Fuchs, 1994; Clark et. al., 1998; Donoghue, 2003) and critiques argued and showed evidence how the education system creates rather than remediate disabilities (Skrtic, 1991; Corbett, 1999; Vlachou, 2004; Carrington Robinson, 2006). The new perspective on special educational needs is based on the view that the way forward must be to reform schools in ways that will make them respond positively to pupil diversity, seeing individual differences as something to be nurtured. But, as cautioned by Ainscow (1994): This kind of approach is only possible in schools where there exist a respect for individuality and a culture of collaboration that encourages and supports problem-solving. Such cultures are likely to facilitate the learning of all pupils and, alongside them, the professional learning of all teachers. Ultimately, therefore, this line of argument makes the case that increasing equity is the key to improvements in schooling for all. (Ainscow, 1994, p12) The assessment of the characteristics of the child and the childs total environment call for methods of assessment that build on the positive qualities while recognising areas of weaknesses. The interactionist perspective (Cline, 1992) adopts an ecological approach which recognises that features of the learning context, such as the curriculum, the teaching process, the management of the classroom and other variables are essential factors that influence learning. By accepting the interactionist approach to special needs, Malaysian educators would be able to look at the learning needs of students and how school policies, culture and practices enable or disable, not only students with disabilities, but all students. In identifying educational needs, Noddings (2005) emphasises that it is crucial for educators to balance the inferred needs and the expressed needs of all students, in saying that by ignoring expressed needs, we sacrifice opportunities to develop individual talents, intrinsi c motivation, and the joys of learning (p 147). The human side of education is more than just an ethics of justice issue but an ethics of care which is needs-based. This is of particular importance because it is this grounding principle of care that creates understandings, values, and beliefs that formulate policies and subsequently the practices. The culture of elitism Education in Malaysia is driven largely by an examination-oriented system characterised by curriculum rigidity and rote learning rather than critical and independent thinking. Like schools in Singapore and Hong Kong (Poon-McBrayer, 2004), school leadership are in great pressure to compete for the best examination results in terms of the percentages of passes and the number of As acquired by students in public school examinations. The competitiveness has resulted in students to enroll as many subjects they can in the Malaysian Certificate of Education with the expectations of getting the highest number of As as possible. The culture of elitism compels parents to prepare their children to be accepted into high ranking or fully residential schools which usually achieve high scores in examination results. The introduction of the Tuition Voucher Scheme (MOE, 2004) for students in Year 4, 5 and 6 with poor academic performance exemplifies the need for students to perform academically in the Year 6 Open Certification Examinations. Within the School Cluster Program (MOE, 2007), schools are encouraged to compete to strive for excellence and to be a cluster school that promises, among others, a special status. To be eligible for selection, schools need to fulfill two requirements: (1) certified excellent by the Malaysian Education Quality Standards and (2) three continuous years of excellent examination results at the Primary School Assessment, the Lower Secondary School Assessment and the end of school Open Certificate Examination. Although the intertwining of the standards and inclusion agenda can lead to p ositive consequences (Ainscow et al, 2006), the emphasis on the preparation and drill for the public examinations therefore, left little or no time for teachers to accommodate individual learning needs of students in general. Media reports on schools and students performance intensify competition and further marginalise SEN students, who, to a large extent are not expected to compete. Competing priorities make it more difficult for schools to fully include children with SEN. Conclusion Opportunities for change The Malaysian approach to inclusive education this far has been intertwined and limited to the domain of special needs education. The conception of policy provides the basis for analysing policy implications in relation to critical issues. In this paper it is argued that the current policy and practice toward inclusive education for SEN students are exclusionary and discriminatory. The concept of educability as an eligibility requirement for educational placement is a major issue that needs to be reviewed. Continued advancement of special needs education in Malaysia will require bifocal perspectives. One focus has an international perspective and requires Malaysians awareness of the international body of literature and trends in practice that enables them to take advantage of the knowledge and experience gained by those in other countries. Malaysia may also profit especially from knowledge provided by its Asian neighbours namely Japan, India and China, or other countries that seems to be struggling with many of the same issues. However, effective special needs education services require awareness of social and educational traditions, social philosophies that manifest in schooling and school culture and ways of resolving conflict that may be unique to one country and the impact these qualities have on general and special needs education services (Peters, 2003). The second perspective, thus, takes a more narrow view, one that enables the evolution of special needs education services that reflect the needs and characteristics of Malaysians. The first perspective may identify as viable goals the extension of services to students with learning difficulties, inclusion, garnering additional political support for special needs education through parent advocacy and supporting the further employment of people with disabilities. However, a more narrow focus on issues directly important to Malaysia is likely to clarify more viable future directions for students with disabilities in Malaysia. Further initiatives critical to Azumas (1984) Stage 5 will require considerable research and policy debate among Malaysians.

Capital Punishment Essay - I Stand Against :: Argumentative Persuasive Essays

Essays - I Stand Against Capital Punishment      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Capital punishment is what I consider, â€Å"the legal† punishment of a criminal.   Capital punishment has been used as a form of punishment for many years. At modern time, capital punishment is more controlled. Although, when capital punishment is mentioned it brings shivers down the back of most of society. Being it is a factor of death, capital punishment , should not be taken so lightly.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The term capital does not represent or signify any ideas in the negative aspect.   Capital is defined as first or foremost; first rate or excellent.   Punishment, on the other hand, is defined as the rough handling or penalization for a wrong doing.   Neither of these terms, when mentioned individually signify anything in the negative aspect.   Although when these two terms are combined   there is alot more meaning to them than just excellent or penalization.   These now strictly signify, death.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Capital punishment has been a form of â€Å"disciplining† since 1750 B.C., when it was part of the code of Hammarabi.   The bible itself, also prescribes death as a penalty for any of thirty crimes committed. The crimes ranged from any between murder and fornication.   In the 18th century more than two hundred capital crimes were recognized, and as a result over one thousand people a year were faced with the sentence of death.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Now at modern time, the death penalty, has been rekindled. Although, it is not as barbaric as it was.   Now the law only allows itself the use certain types of â€Å"disciplining†. In the early 18th and 19th century the death penalty was inflicted in many ways.   Some ways were, crucifixion, boiling in oil, drawing and quartering, impalement, beheading, burning alive, crushing, tearing asunder, stoning and drowning.   In the late 19th century the types of punishments were limited and only a few of them remained permissible by law.   In the 19th century capital punishment was to only be inflicted by the following methods: hanging, electrocution, the gas chamber, firing squad and lethal injection.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The opinions brought upon us stating that the death penalty is a very strong deterrent against crime holds allot of water.   It is a proven statistical fact that states that have reinstated and now enforce the death penalty show no difference in their crime and murder rate.   In some cases, states that do impose the death penalty have a higher crime rate than the states that do not impose this â€Å"disciplinary† action.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"Whosoever shed man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed† (Genesis 9:6).   With this statement from Genesis, some people could almost