A Critical Aaccount of a Philosopher's Educational Idea (John Dewey) Term Paper

A Critical Aaccount of a Philosopher's Educational Idea (John Dewey) And Their Usefulness to And Implications for the Bahamas - Term Paper Example This essay stresses that the contributions of John Dewey to the present education will always be felt. To him, education is as important to social life as reproduction and nutrition are important to physiological life. He viewed education as a necessity in life where a child is born knowing nothing only that it is born in a social group. According to John Dewey, all communication is educative and any individual who actively participates in communication learns something. For a society to continue existing, a teaching and learning process must be existing. An individual learns the way to respond to an event through participation in communication that involves common understanding. It has also been found earlier that living together is educative and this is especially in the experiences that the individual gains from the other members of the society. This paper makes a conclusion that the environment that surrounds a learning area has some influence in the learning process. This environment that interferes can be defined as the surrounding conditions that are related to the execution of the activity. Education can also guide, direct, or control an individual. The child knows no direction appertaining to the life customs of the society that the child has been born and will be brought up in. For the child to grow up in a way that is acceptable to the society some guidance is necessary and this guidance can only be acquired through education. Education is also important in areas such as growth, preparation of the future, conservation etc. Students in schools should also be given opportunities to play.

Human Relations Movement Essay Example for Free

Human Relations Movement Essay Human Relations Movement refers to those researchers of organizational development who study the behavior of people in groups, in particular workplace groups. It originated in the 1930s Hawthorne studies, which examined the effects of social relations, motivation and employee satisfaction on factory productivity. The movement viewed workers in terms of their psychology and fit with companies, rather than as interchangeable parts. The hallmark of human-relation theories is the primacy given to organizations as human cooperative systems rather than mechanical contraptions. George Elton Mayo stressed the following: Natural groups, in which social aspects take precedence over functional organizational structures Upwards communication, by which communication is two way, from worker to chief executive, as well as vice versa. Cohesive and good leadership is needed to communicate goals and to ensure effective and coherent decision making (Wilson Rosenfeld, Managing Organizations, McGraw Hill Book Company, London, p. 9. ) It has become a concern of many companies to improve the job-oriented interpersonal skills of employees. The teaching of these skills to employees is referred to as soft skills training. Companies need their employees to be able to successfully communicate and convey information, to be able to interpret others emotions, to be open to others feelings, and to be able to solve conflicts and arrive at resolutions. By acquiring these skills, the employees, those in management positions, and the customer can maintain more compatible relationships. (DuBrin, A. J. (2007). Human Relations Interpersonal Job-Oriented Skills, Pearson Prentice Hall, 9th. ed. , New Jersey, p. 2. ) Institutes where human relations are studied include: The Tavistock Institute, co-publishers of the Human Relations journal; the NTL Institute for Applied Behavioral Science; The Oasis School of Human Relations, Masters Degree in Globally Responsible Leadership (Oasis Press publishes human relations books and manuals); Trevecca Nazarene University, Bachelors Degree in Management and Human Relations for working adults; the University of Oklahoma offers a Bachelor of Arts in Human Relations, as well as a Master of Human Relations; Concordia University (Montreal, Canada) offers a Bachelor of Arts in Human Relations, as well as a Master of Human Systems Intervention.

Religions Effect on The Wanderer :: Religion Clergy Wanderer Poetry Poem essays

Religion's Effect on The Wanderer â€Å"He who is alone often lives to find favor† (Wanderer), but is he searching needlessly? In short, â€Å"The Wanderer† is an Old English poem of a man who is exiled due to the loss of his liege lord. The man then finds himself traveling the sea in search of a new land in which he could remain. His travel is accompanied by a lament from his heart. His heart has little hope, and even that is overpowered by the lament for the land he had just been exiled from. Yet hope still manages to find a place in this sad tale, for this oral poem was made into a manuscript by the Christian Monks around the year of 975 (Wanderer). â€Å"The Wanderer† is among many of the oral traditions of the Anglo-Saxon period that have been put into print. Through this transition of being spoken to now being read, â€Å"The Wanderer† has lost and gained different components of its original form. If one were to remove the words of the author, the poem would be left with only a â€Å"sense of the harshness of circumstance and the sadness of the human lot† (Encarta), which is the average focus of poems spoken at the time. However, with the author interjecting phrases as simple as â€Å"So the wise man spoke in his heart† (Wanderer), it lifts the appeal of true harshness. The author takes this man’s most abstract and uneasy thoughts and gives a simple explanation for them, and this leads the reader to not judge the wanderer- based on his morbid thoughts- as much. The author does not go as far as to create sympathy for the wanderer, just far enough to create an understanding of him. No person wants to be judged based on personal thoughts, for things expressed only within the mind are not meant to be observed by others. It could create a wrong impression of a person, and that is what the author is making sure does not happen. There is an â€Å"elegiac note [that] finds it most eloquent expression in ‘The Wanderer’† (â€Å"Wanderer†). However, because of the clergies inserting an author, this great sense of elegy is slightly altered due to the fact: it is not completely a reflective essay anymore, but mostly because the melancholy tone is lightened by the author’s explanation, which are two key components of elegy. Granted, it is believed to be one of the best examples of elegy, but it must have been more so before it was put into manuscript.

Ronald Takaki’s A Different Mirror

Dr. Ronald Takaki, a professor in the Ethnic Studies Department at the University of California, Berkeley, describes America’s immigrant history from the perspective of the minority group in the time period from Colonial America to the Los Angeles riots of 1992 (the year before the book was published).The author examines the historical experiences of different immigrant groups upon arrival in America, their reasons and expectations for coming, and the impact of such immigrations upon the Native American tribes who were already living in America and thought they possessed the land.The groups discussed include African Americans, Chinese, Japanese and other Southeast Asians, Irish, European Jews, and Hispanics, each of whom tended to originally settle in different parts of the country and perform different types of work that was available.   This is an enormous undertaking in a book of 428 pages.The book is extremely useful to both readers and teachers through its explanation o f the reasons ethnic groups immigrated into the   parts of the country in which each settled.   For example,   Chinese immigrants were usually husbands with wives and children left in China to ensure the men would continue to send money home.The site of immigration often determined the available work and jobs.   The Chinese came to the West Coast and became railroad workers, virtually building the Central Pacific Railroad in 1869 and uniting the country.   Then they went into the agricultural industry of California and into small businesses requiring a minimal cash outlay to start.   By the 1850’s, the Chinese quarter of San Francisco existed with small stores, Chinese societies and traditions, and gangs.The Japanese family unit migrated because the Japanese government encouraged this means of maintaining Japan’s national honor.   Most came with wives or imported them to work in businesses as unpaid family labor.   The Japanese, being 2% of Californiaâ €™s population, were disliked but incorporated into a paternalistic, racial hierarchy, where they also helped to build the railroad, became farmers, and worked in canneries.Since the book is written from the ethnic groups’ perspective, the leaders of the United States, being primarily Caucasian men whose opinions reflected those of the times, often appear short-sighted and ignorant of the consequences of their actions.Dr. Takaki is particularly harsh on Benjamin Franklin, Andrew Jackson, and Thomas Jefferson, all fairly well regarded during their lives.   He also omits important women   in American history, except for writers.   The first woman mentioned is Phyllis Wheatly, an African American poetess of the Colonial Era.There were other important women in that era, as discussed in Our Founding Mothers, by Cokie Roberts.   He also does not mention any of the women involved in the Abolitionist Movement, the Women’s Suffrage Movement, or any other womenâ€⠄¢s movement.     Towards the end of the book, he mentions several female writers and their works, including Gloria Anzaldua, Gloria Steinem, Alice Walker, and Toni Morrison, all cultural minority writers.There are no stereotypes.   The settings of the book are authentic and describe in detail the way the minorities lived, the areas in which they lived, and the work they did.   Dr. Takaki discusses in detail the immigration of European Jews from Russia and Eastern Europe as refugees from the Pale, a part of Russia set apart for them, who could not return to their homelands without being killed.The Jews were typically educated, had middle class values, worked hard, and were socioeconomic mobile.   Their skin was white, they spoke English, and most changed their names to fit into existing American culture.   They settled   primarily on the East Coast and started work in the garment industry and opened small shops.All made certain that their children were well-educated an d did not have to work at such menial positions.   African-Americans began as slaves in the original American colonies.   The author mentions several famous Abolitionist men – Frederick Douglas, John Brown and Martin Delany (the leading Black Nationalist of the 19th Century, who was admitted to Harvard Medical School and told he would have to practice in Africa).He discusses how World War I created a labor shortage when European immigration was closed, creating a need for African-Americans to migrate to the northern cities where work and housing was plentiful.   The Harlem Renaissance he dismisses as imagined (page 357) by the white intellectuals.He mentions some individual African Americans of significance including Marcus Garvey (who wanted to establish a Black nation in Africa); Adam Clayton Powell (Congressman); and Zora Neal Hurston (author of Their Eyes Were Watching God).Dr. Takaki’s discussion of the Hispanic revolution is sketchy.   Part of California was settled by upper class Spaniards who created their own hierarchy by ranking darkening skin color, with pure Indians and laborers being on the bottom.     There is so much information available on how badly the government treated the Native Americans that his discussion of this material was brief by necessity.

Management and Indian Culture Essay

1. Evaluate the managerial style of Brian Moseley and explain how it fits with Indian culture. Be specific in identifying any mistakes Brian made in managing Indian workers. * Brian spoke with managers and employees, made mental notes of conversations (3 months) * Identified employees whom he felt should be replaced and whom had greatest potential for advancement * After 3 months, met with senior managers and proposed that they collectively formulate turnaround strategy * Suggested changes such as pay-for-performance programs, annual performance reviews, management by objectives, 360-performance appraisal program * Highly frustrated, he sometimes criticized members of managerial team in front of subordinates relationship with managers became increasingly strained * â€Å"Big Boss† manager who had little understanding of Indian culture * Rajan criticized Brian as being too direct and forceful â€Å"culturally imperialistic†, saying Brian was too immature, concerned that Brian was trying to change culture to fit American Management * His style of management was way too direct and forceful, didn’t fit with the Indian culture at all as they are more relaxed and laid back. * He made the mistake by trying to force it upon all the managers and if they didn’t give in, they should just quit, which they did. 2. Rank the following principals and justify the ranking in terms of responsibility for the lack of change at the Bindi Brake Company: Brian, Rajan, Aspen, the Indian Manager. * Brian – Although he was very excited to implement change, he didn’t implement the change according to the differences in cultures that India is accustomed to. He tried to hard to implement an American strategy rather than adapting to the culture surrounding him. * Indian Manager – I believe that hes the most responsible because people that work for the company look up to the manager, listens to the manager and will accept changes in the company if the manager asks them to do so. Because of their refusal to accept changes, they didn’t initiate or implement the strategies towards their employees, which made it that much more difficult to implement change. * Rajan – he was being stubborn and not listening to his directing officer. Even though he didn’t believe in the change process, he could’ve at least attempted to implement the change within the employees to see if it would make the company more efficient. His refusal to accept responsibility and take action caused the company’s plans to fail. * Aspen – sent an employee who they thought was experienced and competent to complete the job. 3. What could each of the above-named principals have done differently to avoid the situation? * Brian – adapted to the cultures instead of being stubborn and trying to implement a completely new culture into an organization that isn’t accustomed to it * Indian Manager – listen to his commanding officer and attempted to improve the company * Rajan – instead of being negative about all the ideas, comply to them and test them and see where it goes. Offer suggestions instead of just refusing to do anything * Aspen – monitor Brians progress and see how well he’s doing. Hire a more competent and easy-going person for the job 4. What should Brian do now? * He should learn to adapt to the Indian culture and develop new strategies to implement in order to improve the companies efficiency. *   * Brian selected to direct organizational change effort because of his past accomplishments, to improve overall efficiency and profitability of Bindi Brake Company * MBA in management from Michigan State * Bindi produced reasonably high-quality breaks, low labour costs, but just not efficient * Plant crippled with bureaucracy and there was no incentive for exceptional performance * Too many employees drinking tea and socializing instead of working * No performance reviews, pay for performance was never considered * Employees were never fired, even if they were not suited and performed poorly * Pay increases based on sonority, hired based on relation with current employees, high # of sick days * All of the managers were Indian and educated at Indian universities. * Rajan Patel – studied in London, postgrad for Econ, Brian felt he was one of the most promising candidates for advancement, hoped that he would take lead in change in management program * Brian became dissatisfied with progress by Indian Managers

The Coalescent Theory and Evolution

The Coalescent Theory and Evolution One part of the modern synthesis of evolutionary theory involves population biology and, on an even smaller level, population genetics. Since evolution is measured in units within populations and only populations can evolve and not individuals, then population biology and population genetics are intricate parts of the Theory of Evolution through Natural Selection. How the Coalescent Theory Affects the Theory of Evolution When Charles Darwin first published his ideas of evolution and natural selection, the field of Genetics had yet to be discovered. Since tracing alleles and genetics is a very important part of population biology and population genetics, Darwin did not fully cover those ideas in his books. Now, with more technology and knowledge under our belts, we can incorporate more population biology and population genetics into the Theory of Evolution. One way this is done is through the coalescence of alleles. Population biologists look at the gene pool and all available alleles within the population. They then try to trace the origin of these alleles back through time to see where they started. The alleles can be traced back through various lineages on a phylogenetic tree to see where they coalesce or come back together (an alternate way of looking at it is when the alleles branched off from one another). Traits always coalesce at a point called the most recent common ancestor. After the most recent common ancestor, the alleles separated and evolved into new traits and most likely the populations gave rise to new species. The Coalescent Theory, much like Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium, has a few assumptions that eliminate changes in alleles through chance events. The Coalescent Theory assumes there is no random genetic flow or genetic drift of alleles into or out of the populations, natural selection is not working on the selected population over the given time period, and there is no recombination of alleles to form new or more complex alleles. If this holds true, then the most recent common ancestor can be found for two different lineages of similar species. If any of the above are in play, then there are several obstacles that have to be overcome before the most recent common ancestor can be pinpointed for those species. As technology and understanding of the Coalescent Theory become more readily available, the mathematical model that accompanies it has been tweaked. These changes to the mathematical model allow some of the previously inhibitive and complex issues with population biology and population genetics have been taken care of and all types of populations may then be used and examined using the theory.

Hamlet 2000 essays

Hamlet 2000 essays Hamlet 2000 was a movie about a young prince of a corporation, which was taken over by his own flesh and blood uncle who murdered his father. The wife of the murdered king marries the uncle to keep power in the Denmark Corporation. Hamlet seemingly drifting towards madness, seeks to take justice into his own hands by devising a plan to get revenge for his fathers death. Although Hamlet 2000 purports to be a re-stylized version of William Shakespeares Hamlet, it draws few parallels to the original Hamlet. In fact, Hamlet 2000 draws a great deal of contrast to the Hamlet portrayed by Sir Laurence Olivier. Hamlet is a young prince whose father has just died. He has lapsed into a state of sadness and confusion. Hamlet is saddened by the events that are happening in the family into which he was born. This is mostly due to the occurrence of his mother marring his dead fathers brother only a month after his death. Hamlets dearest friend Horatio saw the ghost of King Hamlet in the building at which they were staying. Horatio tells Hamlet about what he has seen and they agree to try to see this ghost the next night. The following night arrives and after waiting most of the night, King Hamlet finally appears. Hamlet has a shocked and confused look about his face as he looks into his father eyes once again. Hamlet talks to the Dead King and the King tells young Hamlet of what his brother has done to him. He also tells Hamlet that he should seek revenge for his death. From these revelations, Hamlet plots how he is going to achieve revenge for his fathers death. His plot is to appear mad and use it as an explanation in everything he does. If successful, they wont be suspicious. He will be perceived mad and they will look the other way. Hamlet doesnt tell anyone about his plot other then Horatio. Hamlet tries to convey his plot to the girl he loves, Ophelia, by saying Get thee to a nunnery, fare...