Equality,diversity and inclusion in dementia care practice Essay

1.2 Younger people with dementia diagnoses may still be employed have children and a family and it can be a lot more distressing for them when diagnosed than someone who is older, they have a better awareness of what is coming and what is going to happen, and older person may not realise they have dementia at first, and out it down to Age, and by the time they are diagnosed they have had it for some time so the trauma is not so severe and they don’t have dependents to worry about, so the experiences can be quite different. 1.3 People with disabilities are more prone to developing dementia at an earlier age that people who have no disability, although the symptoms may be similar and they may not get the correct diagnosis or be able to understand the diagnosis. Different Ethnic Groups may have a lower awareness of dementias and they are more prone to having more than one type of dementia linked in with medical problems and this can delay diagnosis, so they are not getting the support they need early on, There is also a stigma in some cultures, thinking they are possessed they are locked up with no treatment and sometimes even killed, so it can be difficult to breach this barrier making their experiences more harrowing. It can also make it difficult to present their needs culturally as their history may not be in this country so person centred approaches can be difficult for them. End of life can mean that they have been diagnosed with dementia for some time and if there is no plan in place for palliative care, or they have not already detailed their needs then the support they get at end of life might not be what they want, they will lack understanding of what is happening and this can distress the family members. Having a good plan in plac e reduces this, so people with dementia at end of life still have their needs, wishes and preferences respected and reduce the distress caused. Read more: Principles of diversity equality and inclusion essay 1.4 A carer may become distressed, frustrated, lack sleep become depressed, dementia is a full time job, they become confused, don’t remember people who are family members, and they will eventually forget the basics of life, this can be very distressing watching a family member with dementia as they are  not recognising their children, partners ect. It is not a slow process and this affects their well-being. 2.1. The current legislation The Equality Act, The Human Rights Act and the equality and diversity policies in place all reflect what is in the agreed ways of working in the plans and policies and procedures. This makes sure that the client is always at the centre of planning and the support they receive, they are encouraged to make decisions and given the choices that are reflected in the support plans, making sure they are included, they are offered outings and encouraged to be a part of the communities they live in, this promoted inclusive practices and promotes the c lients themselves. 2.2 Because they lack understanding, they have lost their memories and the basics of life skills, this makes them very vulnerable to people thinking they are acting in their best interests, it also makes them targets for people who would want to exploit them as they have forgotten what money they had, they have been convinced to give them power of attorney, they may become reliant on their carers who keep them isolated in their homes and make excuses. 2.3 The person with dementia may feel depressed, lost, not understand what is happening, they may not realise what is happening until the damage is done and then not understand why it happened causing them to become very distressed, feel isolated, let down, it all feels strange and upsetting. 2.4 Diversity, equality and inclusion are the differences between us all in our religious beliefs, cultural needs, preferences, they are addressed by learning about their histories, their past, what they need in the religious beliefs cultural needs from diet, to clothing, support, who supports them, the activities they take part in, by having individual plans in place that reflect their individual needs and preferences, by making sure they are involved in the planning and reviewing processes all of their individual needs can be met. 4.3 I would explain to them how the individual might feel, what effect this can have on them. I would also report it to the Manager immediately so training and support can be put in place for them, this is all recorded in the staff files and it is monitored so it doesn’t happen again. We promote inclusive practices and the client is always involved in choices and decisions no one should work in any other way.

The Military- Industrial Complex

In the farewell speech of Dwight D. Eisenhower to the U. S. citizens, the president urged the nation on ‘the dangers of allowing a Military- Industrial Complex to take control of the United States’ (Lovik, par. 1). The Military-Industrial Complex is used to denote the symbiotic relationship that is present between politics, a nation’s military and the economy. The idea behind this relationship is that the nation will continue to invest a lot of its economy into contracts of the military (Lovik, par. 1-3). There is no doubt that the military- industrial complex has raised controversies in America. The Military-Industrial Complex CreationFrom its definition, this concept indicates that there is a healthy relationship between the companies that are specialized in producing equipments and weapons for war and the parties given the mandate to manage the wars. In other terms, this is referred to as ‘War for profits’, which can be tracked from the days where navy ships power and the arms races ruled the empires. The arms races that existed between Spain, Britain’s and France’s European powers were seen as a primal version of the current situations. It came up from the idea that all countries had to establish and build up a strong military which would be considered to be in power.(Military Complex, par. 1-3). Ike was very instrumental in discouraging the U. S. citizens from the military industrial complex. He stated that public policy would become a scientific-technological elite captive. This was because of the immense costs that were involved, as the government was in a contract. Consequently, the contract becomes almost a substitute for intellectual curiosity (Watts). Conclusion There is no doubt that the military- industrial complex is something which evoked great controversy in the US. Up to date, there is so much criticism associated with it. Significance of the four termsWinston Churchill is well known for leading Gr eat Britain in World War Two. After joining several political parties, Winston was elected as MP for Northwest Manchester and later Dundee between 1910 and 1922(History Learning Site, par. 1-4). It is at this period that he made a remarkable change in parliament, as he came up with the labor exchanges. He also advocated for modernization as far as war was concerned, as he supported the use of planes in combat. Additionally, he urged the government to be pro-active about Hitler and the Nazis. He completely refused to accept defeat or refusal, something that made him get honor.Due to his well played role in the war, he won a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953 (History Learning Site, par. 12-17). Nagasaki was a secluded village which only received its recognition in 1542. It became the only harbor where foreign ships were let in. In 1859, Nagasaki was declared a free port, and modernization began in the area, as it had an economic dominance. The main industry in the area was ship- buil ding, which was very important because most of the ships that were used by the Japanese Navy during the war were built in its docks and factories.However, the city was rebuilt after the destruction of the war, and up to date, it is still the first and peaceful port city with a rich shipping industry (Japanese Lifestyle, par. 7-9). Russia and the Western Allies always had differences on the rebuilding of Germany, as a result of the tension that was present between them. As a result, Russia chocked off the Western Allies from getting their supplies. The Berlin Airlift was introduced by Commander Sir Brian Robertson from Britain, and it proved to be a solution to the situation. It was also referred to as Operation warfare, and included a huge cooperative effort between several nations.The Berlin Airlift was successful as several supplies, plus tons of foods were moved over to the Western Allies during the blockade period (Wise Geek, par. 2). The ‘Hollywood Ten’ is a short film which was produced as a result of the government being blinded by fear. It is of a great historical importance to America, and resulted from the real life story of ten Hollywood men in the film industry. They were accused of being involved in pro-communist activities, and were charged to a one year prison term. Their story was filmed to show their unsuccessful fight against the blinded leadership system (Mendoza, par.2). Works Cited History Learning Site. Winston Churchill. History learning Site, 2010. Web. 6 Jun, 2010. Japanese Lifestyle. Nagasaki History. Japanese lifestyle, 2 Mar, 2010. Web. 6 Jun, 2010. Lovik John. The World of Military Industrial Complex. Political Suite, 10 Sep, 2010. Web. 6 Jun, 2010. Mendoza Luis. Sad Testimony of an Era. IMDB, 21 Aug, 2006. Web.6 Jun, 2010. Military Industrial Complex. What is Military –Industrial Complex, 2010. Web. 6 Jun, 2010. Wisegeek. What was the Berlin Airlift, 2010. Web. 6 Jun, 2010. Watts Antony. Ike’s Seco nd Warning, Hint: It is not the â€Å"Military Industrial Complex†, Watts Up With that, 21 Feb, 2009. Web. 6 Jun, 2010,

Machine Language Essay

1- Machine independent languages The high level programming languages are machine independent, which means they don’t rely on specifications of a particular machine. Brookshear (2012, p.242) indicate that â€Å"Since the statements in a third-generation language did not refer to the attributes of any particular machine, they could be compiled as easily for one machine as for another†. Since machines can understand and execute instructions written in machine language, then a program has to be machine-specific, although the program source code language may be machine-independent, but the compiler target specific machine output. Brookshear (p.243) â€Å"A program written in a third generation language could theoretically be used on any machine simply by applying the appropriate compiler†. The pros of compiling code into machine-specific output is to perform optimizations on the output for the target machine on which the program will run, such optimization won’t be doable if the program is compiled to run on unknown target machine. Machine-independent language may offer optimization in their abstract concepts like structures, objects, loops and conditions, those are machine independent, but the most effective optimizations are those that best exploit special features of the target platform. E.g.: Instructions which do several things at once, such as decrement register and branch if not zero. Wikipedia(2013). 2- Four programming paradigms. Imperative paradigm: is the traditional approach and also known as procedural paradigm. the process of programming is a procedure has one or more actions or commands executed in sequence. the commands or steps are derived by an algorithm in order to produce the desired result. it describes the details of HOW the results are to be obtained, in terms of the underlying machine model. Functional paradigm: functional programming is to do computation by calling or applying functions. each function is an abstract of single or multiple expressions which can be evaluated. Brookshear (p.245) define how functional programming is constructed by having smaller units connected in order so that output of each unit is used as an input in another unit till the desired overall output is obtained. the functional paradigm is simple functions are nested together to build to build main one. As per (Laird ,2009, p.17), The main ideas of functional programming are high-order and pure functions, recursion, evaluation of equations, and pattern matching. Logic paradigm: This paradigm logic based and is different from other main programming paradigms. It’s designed for Artificial intelligence to deal with problems that requires extraction of knowledge and training driven from facts and making use of rules and relations. Nà ¸rmark(2010) highlighted one of its characteristics in program execution becomes a systematic search in a set of facts, making use of a set of inference rules Prolog language is one of the languages that uses logical paradigm. (Laird ,2009), In logic programming, set of facts and rules are analyzed in each step, referred as clauses. Prolog is the widely known language of logic programming. Object Oriented paradigm: Any top language is known by its support of object-oriented programming (OOP). it has gained great popularity in the recent decade. It has 3 main features: Encapsulation: classes are types that are self-contained modules and an instance of the class is an object. Inheritance: Classes could have relationships and organized in hierarchies, inheritance passes the structure and methods in one class down to child classes in the hierarchy. Polymorphism: common types can be presented by using a uniform interface. These features facilitates programming process when programs become larger and complex. Brookshear (p.247) in OOP a software system is represented as a collection of objects,each object is capable of performing actions or requestion actions from others objects. These objects interacts with each other to work out the domain problem. As per (Laird ,2009), All four of the main programming paradigms are useful in their own way, but pure programmg languages of only one paradigm are known to be slightly more limiting. Object-oriented design is currently the most versatile and widely used programming paradigm. 3- Machine language vs. assembly language Assembly Language: is the first step in the evolution of programming languages. (Rajaraman , 1998) â€Å"In an assembly language, mnemonics are used to represent operations to be performed by the computer and strings of characters to represent addresses of locations in the computer’s memory†. There’re one-to-one correspondence between assembly statement and machine code instructions. Thus, assembly language is machine dependent as it’s matched to a particular processor structure. A program written in assembly language has to be translated by an assembler to set of machine code/instructions, thus it can be executed by computer. a disassembler performs reverse function. Machine language: called machine or native code, is the lowest level representation of program. every program is made of a series of instructions executed directly by CPU. Machine language is set of instructions executed directly by CPU. every task has one or more specific instructions. Wikipedia(2013). â€Å"Unfortunately, writing programs in a machine language is a tedious task that often leads to errors that must be located and corrected (a process known as debugging) before the job is finished.† Brookshear (p.240). Although assembly language is low-level language, but is higher level than machine code. It’s more logical and human readable than machine code.

Gun control Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Gun control - Research Paper Example Some people supported the owning of fire arms by Americans while others advocated for new laws that would ban the sale of some semi-automatic firearms. These gun control calls were a measure to reduce the occurrence of a tragedy like the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting. After the incident at Sandy Hook, over 100,000 Americans signed a petition supporting renewed debate on gun control in America. Gun violence in the United States is the leading cause of calls to control guns. Gun violence is common in urban areas and more often involve young males (GIIDS, 2011). Such high profile shooting like the Sandy Hook elementary school massacre has heightened debate on gun policies in America. Statistics show that 70 percent of all homicides in the United States get perpetrated using some firearm. This includes suicides and accidental shooting incidences. Different policies at the state, federal and local levels, have made an attempt to address gun violence through a number of methods inc luding restrictions of firearm purchases by at risk population, establishment of gun buyback programs, law enforcement and policy strategies. Other measures to curb the increasing instances of gun violence include setting periods of waiting before purchasing of firearms, enactment of harsh laws of violators of gun laws, community outreach programs, and education programs for children and parents. The federal legislation aims at prohibiting the sale of firearms to criminals and insurgents. Gun policies get determined by the interpretation of the second amendment of the constitution of the United States. These amendments have been subject to several disagreements throughout the years. This second amendment protects a person’s right to own a firearm for the traditional lawful purpose of defense against trespassers in the home and within the federal enclaves. This protection extends to the states as well. There have been numerous endeavors in the United States by authorities to c ontrol the use of guns throughout the states. This has led to numerous recommendations in relation to gun laws and policies. Recommendations on the gun laws are as follows. There should be a ban to the military assault weapons that include high capacity magazines (Carter, 2006). Background checks should be expanded, and gun traffic laws should be toughened. A ban should be imposed on the sale and production of magazines with more than 10 rounds. The expanded background checks should include criminal checks to prevent an instance of criminals getting access to guns. The loophole should be closed that exempts gun buyers from any form of screening. Legislations should be passed to ban transfer or possession of armor bullets and cracking down on individuals. These people after passing the screening test hand over the guns to criminals and people forbidden from buying the guns. Top of these recommendations is the background checks issue. It is important for an individual background to be thoroughly scrutinized before getting allowed to own or even purchase a gun. There should be a ban on assault weapons. Another recommendation would be making legislation that defined gun trafficking as a federal crime. This legislation would limit the gun flow in, out and within states. There should be an addition of more legal language in the laws regarding the distribution of guns such that there are less legal hurdles in prosecution. This is because the current legal language as regards to gun laws has proved difficult

Limited Liability Partnership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Limited Liability Partnership - Essay Example In a general format of partnership business it is a legal practice that all partners have unlimited liabilities with respect to their business debts and if one person is declared insolvent then the other partners are bound by law to pay for his debts, loans and liabilities from their own personal assets and property. Limited liability on the other hand is not the same as other partnership concerns; it differs a lot in the liability context from other partnership businesses. With respect to the liability clauses, it is more resembling to the corporation. Limited liability means that partners have limited liabilities with respect to their debts and loans of the firm. One partner is not jointly and severally responsible for the actions and deeds of other partners and that his personal assets will not be used to pay for the liabilities of the firm or other partners. Therefore, every partner in the partnership firm will have limited liability towards the liabilities of the firm and other partners in the firm as well. This is very much same to the limited liability company in which every member of the company is responsible to pay for the liabilities of the company to the extent he has invested into the company. Therefore, a limited liability partnership can be defined in the following words: Thepartneror investor's liabilityislimitedto theamounthe/she has invested in thecompany. Thissetuptypically prevents each partner from beingheldaccountablefor the wrongdoings of another partner. Although an LLP can be used in manyfields, it is most commonly used inlawor accountingfirms. The laws relating to an LLP differ significantly betweencountries, and even from state to state. As the definition states that the liability of the partner or investor is limited to the extent of amount he or she has invested in the firm and that this type of partnership prevents one partner for being held responsible for the work of other partners. It is also stated that this partnership can be used in many fields but this sort of partnership is particularly important for professional firms. In professional firms as the size of the firm started to grow and more and more partners were needed to perform the work in the firm, there was a great threat of extra ordinary risk involved in the addition of other partners in the partnership firm where every partner is an agent of other partners and jointly and severally responsible for the work of other partners. Therefore, there is thought to be dire need of forming limited liability partnerships in the professional firms where matters relating to high financial values are very important to the firm and the firm's professional advice is being given relating to those high valued matters. If anything goes wrong due to the recklessness of one partner then other partner should not be held responsible for the wrong doings of that partner. The requirements for the formation and conduction of business as a limited liability company as mentioned in the law of United Kingdom under the respective acts are described in the following paragraphs. Set-Up The set up requirements as mentioned in t

Food Safety, Security in Arizona and the U.S Border Essay

Food Safety, Security in Arizona and the U.S Border - Essay Example However, it does not terminate there. Inclusive are the product’s marketing aspect and its supply and retail channels (Bagwell, Kyle, and Staiger 112). It will be appropriate then to term agribusiness a system. Since the system is a consolidation of various entities to form a working unit, similarly, agribusiness is a network of objects such as its input, processing, manufacturing, supply and retail entities. Currently, this sector is market-centered and is evolving on this basis. The consumer also wants to dictate the forces of demand and supply in this industry. Agribusiness can be attributed to various traits that clearly distinguish it from family farming. A farm operated and owned by a family is a family farm. This is not the idea propagated by the concept o agribusiness. This brings us to the first characteristic of agribusiness that is the scale. The scale of agribusiness is large. This disqualifies it as a type of family farming that is most commonly than not small scale farming. The second trait is the considerable horizontal and vertical integration. This can be best explained by an instance where a company might own an industry that produces canned fish, along with a myriad of fish farms that produce the fish as well as an enterprise that provides employees. It may be even in possession of another company whose task is to supply and retail the finished products to the consumers (Bagwell, Kyle, and Staiger 112). Of the consideration under the traits of agribusiness is how operations take place, is that Administrators are responsible for activities in an agribusiness who are preferable to having farmers running the organization. This clearly informs us that agribusiness is out to maximize profits like any other business. This gives it an extremely proficient system which is organized and streamlined which allows agribusiness to keep the costs of food low. This is achievable by minimizing the costs

Team Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Team Development - Essay Example This paper covers the various aspects of teamwork, importance of trust in cross-functional teams, ways in which managers can create trust among cross-functional teams, cohesiveness, and strategies to help in creating, developing, and leading effective cross-functional work teams in Google Corporation. Team Development There are a number of ways in which teamwork can be created in the Google’s HR Group. Motivation is one of the key factors that affect the morale of employees in many organizations. It is important for individuals in management positions in Google to ensure that all employees posses positive sentiments towards their job in Human Resource. Teamwork is created when leadership becomes a collective responsibility within the workplace. Google should strive to ensure that all employees in Human Resource develop a sense of accountability. Empowerment of the workers and allowing workers to plan their activities in an effective manner that suits their needs within organiz ational goals is also important in the creation of teamwork (Parker, 2003). All these gives workers the liberty to make their own decisions as long as these decisions are in line with the organizational objectives and also boosts their ability in making work related resolutions. According to Parker (2003), involving all stakeholders in creating and putting into practice organizational plans of action also ensures the creation of team work.... It is also important to ensure that each employee has a clear understanding of his/her duties. This reduces conflicts within the organization hence boosts teamwork. Instructing teamwork competencies To understand teamwork within Google Human Resource department, it is important to elucidate the ways in which Human Resource team members could have been instructed in the teamwork competencies. The tem could have been trained on analytical and investigative techniques that would enable them resolve organizational problems effectively. Other ways of instructing the team on competencies include aiding and supporting them in the comprehension, identification of resolutions, and in researching significant information and statistics that would help them deal with organizational issues. It would also be important to help the team members categorize, classify, supervise, and control various activities within the department. Instructing teamwork competencies also involves availing or creating f avorable situations within the workplace that will boost teamwork, aiding conflict resolutions, and also allowing the amendments of unsuitable strategies or organizational objectives in a bid to boost teamwork (Werner, Schuler & Jackson, 2012). Trust in cross-functional teams According to Hurn and Tomalin (2013), trust is important in cross-functional teams as it affects teamwork. Based on the fact that team members may at times convene rarely, trust boosts teamwork and reduces conflicts within the organization. The absence of trust between team members makes it hard to resolve conflicts and may lead to chauvinism. It is the duty of the managers in Google to be observant and attentive enough so that they can identify any occurrences of mistrust within the organizations. Early

To be determined Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

To be determined - Research Paper Example One short story will be used as an example to illustrate the dual existence between the inter and out worlds of different aspects of the Russian society and its ramifications. To conclude, it will be shown that Chekhov had a double role himself. He wrote about the ludicrousy of the upper classes in Tsarist Russian while establishing his own genre of short story writing. In 19th century Russia, Chekhov wrote about Russian society without ever talking about societal issues. It has never been part of Russian culture to complain about the trials and tribulations of society or the government. To judge the Tsar would have meant imprisonment. Folk literature, fairy tales, allegorical tale became part of the culture out of necessity. The need to express dissatisfaction cannot be suppressed. Historically this trend has gone through to the 21rst century. The Industrial Revolution was late in coming to Russia. It had started in Europe in the 18th century. (Nurijand, 2007) With the growth of the industrial revolution in the 19th century, there was a displacement of populations from the rural areas into the cities. (Nurijand, 2007) Populations started social conflicted as social differences became more pronounced. The government was a dictatorial monarchy. Self expression was only allowed under Tsarist terms. Chekhov developed a technique of writing which would be the equivalent of writing a symphony without writing a symphonic poem. He had music without meaning. He wrote where the reader would have to interpret the social and cultural changes which were needed. He developed a new genre of short story. Feelings, thoughts, timbre, and movement are expressed. He was advanced before his time but his existentialism has been used afterwards by such writers as James Joyce, Albert Camus, etc.. In the 19th century, after reading a short story, a reader had questions about himself and society. Many of the societal questions which should have been put on the front page of a newspaper are discretely brought up in his stories for the reader to interpret in the way he sees. In Lady and a Dog, there are many social issues which are addressed. How did the upper class live; what did they do with their time; why were the ladies so suppressed; what was the difference in life in St Petersburg and Moscow? The questions are never ending. Literature has been used in the last two hundred years as a means to express the problems of societies. When society is suppressed, literature is expressed allegorically or through the use of symbolism. It was impossible to explicitly talk about the social problems, but it was possible to write about the socio-psychological condition of man. 19th century literature in France indicated the social unrest of the classes in Paris. Victor Hugo wrote Les Miserables and spoke about such issues as the death penalty. In England, the 19th century showed the social issues of the poor in Charles Dickens' Tale of Two Cities; and the decadency of the r ich with Pride and Prejudice of Jane Austen. In 19th century Russia, Chekhov was confronted about the strict social structure. People could not change easily. They were controlled and judged.. The class structure comprised of 5 distinct and separate groups which was strict and demanding. It wasn't abolished until the Bolshevik Revolution in 1905. "The upper class were the nobility, the landowners (serfdoms) and the capitalists. The middle class were the merchants, tradesmen, civil servants

What are the ultimate principles of morals for both Hume and Kant Essay

What are the ultimate principles of morals for both Hume and Kant - Essay Example He goes on to observe that only good will is good sans qualification. Good will is always good in itself and not just for the things that it produces. Will is good if will comes from duty, as well as other moral motives, which do not simply conform to duty. For instance, grocers who give the right change because of fairness, rather than from the fear of being caught, do so from good will. The reasoning goal is not in producing happiness but rather producing will that can be seen to be good in it. The satisfaction of man’s desires, which is happiness, is not determinate enough to use as a workable guide. Good will cannot act as the complete and sole good, although it is the worthy condition of being happy and the highest good. Complete good can only be goodwill combined with happiness. Rationality possesses its own laws of objectiveness. Because man is rational only partially, he experiences the various laws as constraints and imperatives that he is required to follow. These im peratives are grounded on the premise that is valid for all rational beings as such. These imperatives, according to Kant, could be hypothetical, i.e. if one wants to get to end E, then he should do A, or categorical, which is he ought to perform A. Ethics that are based on imperatives that are hypothetical are heteronymous because they involve following laws set by another. Categorical imperatives are hard to understand, although their content is clear. The basic imperative of category states that man acts on principle and these principles can be willed on everybody (Laursen 21). Ethics and morals are autonomous if they are based on categorical imperatives because man follows their own laws. Kant’s supreme moral principle is the universal law formula, which contends that man should act on a maxim that they follow to be used as a universal law (Laursen 23). Kant continues by applying his formula to two duties that are perfect and exception-less. These are not making promises with deceit and not committing suicide, as well as two imperfect duties, which to help those who have needs and development of one’s talents. These ideas can be expressed more loosely in two ways. Firstly, it is to treat all humanity, both you and others, not as a means only, but also as an end in itself (Laursen 23). Secondly, man should act as if one’s action maxim would be turned into nature’s universal law. Kant also connects freedom with morality. According to him, to be free means to follow one’s own principles of rationality rather than following our desires only. This means that one should follow their own legislation and act on maxims that they would follow, rather than the universal laws (Laursen 24). Therefore, freedom is morality. So morality and freedom, ultimately, are the same mystery. It is not possible to explain what free will is. It is only possible to assume what it is and reject all objections against it. Man knows that he/she is free through knowledge of his/her duties. Since probably an individual could have acted in a different way, then one is free. In order for man to recognize himself as free, he needs to see himself as being a member to two worlds. These worlds are a higher intelligible world and a sensible world. Acting in a moral way, therefore, has a supreme moral worth since through it, one participates in an existence of a higher order. This can be perceived as the foundation of human dignity as an end to itself (Laursen 24). Hume, on the other hand, contends that reason and moral sense combine to make our moral judgments. He says that moral sense is essential in making a distinction between virtue and vice,

Applying Cyber Policy to Law . Vulnerability Disclosure Analysis Essay

Applying Cyber Policy to Law . Vulnerability Disclosure Analysis - Essay Example They protect the organization or business against cyber crimes which jeopardizes the operation of the business. With regard to this, every business organization should analyze its Cyber Law risks as well as needs on a regular basis. Applying cyber policy to law significantly helps in preventing cyber attacks. These are deliberate actions that aim at altering, disrupting, deceiving, degrading or destroying computer systems as well as networks. Federal and State Cyber-security Law For over a decade, several experts in the United States and abroad are expressing increasing concerns with regard to cyber-security (Kerr, 2009). This is the light of the growing impact, sophistication and frequency of attacks on information systems, not only in the US but also different parts of the world. Current research indicates that the framework for cyber-security needs revision. The complex federal responsibility in cyber-security takes into consideration securing federal systems as well as helping in protection of nonfederal systems (Kerr, 2009). With regard to the current law, all federal agencies have roles in cyber-security relating to their own systems. The state government is attempting to revise its laws for the purpose of improving cyber-security. It is doing so through increasing public visibility of firms having weak security. California passed the Notice of Security Breach Act in 2003, which requires that any organization which maintains personal information of citizens of California and has a security breach have to disclose all the details of the event. Other states in the US also followed the same (Bosworth & Whyne, 2009). The security breach regulations usually punish organizations due to their failure. They do so while giving them freedom of choosing how to secure their systems. Ina addition, this regulation helps in creating an incentive for organizations to voluntarily invest heavily in cyber-security (Bosworth & Whyne, 2009). This is for the purpose of avoidin g the potential destruction of reputation as well as resulting economic loss that can arise from a cyber-attack. Both the state and federal laws aim at improving the security of information systems of organization. They both dictate that organization maintain a considerable level of security (Bosworth & Whyne, 2009). They also advocate on improvement of the laws for the purpose of maintaining acceptable standards of cyber-security. Nevertheless, both the state and state law on cyber-security requires a reasonable level of cyber-security which leaves a room for interpretation until the establishment of the case laws. Taking the United States into consideration it is a fact that it puts a lot of concern with respect to cyber-security (Bosworth & Whyne, 2009). This makes the country less susceptible to cyber-attacks as compared to other countries in different parts of the world. Existing laws with regard to cyber-security in many countries do not put a lot of emphasis to deal with cybe r-security. Due to this, criminals usually conduct a lot of crimes on the internet for the purpose of taking advantages of the less severe punishments in these countries. However, governments and industries are now realizing the severe threats of cyber-attacks on economic as well as political security, without forgetting the interest of the public (Bosworth & Whyne, 2009). Nevertheless cybercrimes are becoming difficult to fight back. This is therefore calling for

Majors Forces That Have Privatized Religion Essay

Majors Forces That Have Privatized Religion - Essay Example Individualism has made privacy and personal beliefs to become more crucial than society-wide shared convictions. Multiculturalism has made forbearance win out upon religious intolerance; nowadays, religious persons are protected lawfully against prejudice. This denotes that no specific religious organism can dictate law, introducing a level playing-field for creeds to contend. This regularly leads to devotees becoming disillusioned concerning which conviction is appropriate, permitting people the option to desert religion completely. Science, education and intelligence are all roots of the end of religion, since they cause individuals to be incapable of remaining religious. Lastly, the human rights concept has made numerous religious practices appear immoral and barbaric, as gender impartiality, racism and bias against homosexuals have been conquering over religious doctrines, which oppress and stigmatize some individuals. This paper will identify and critically discuss the major for ces, which have privatized religion in modernity. Compartmentalism and Modernism Modernism, in respect to religion, is mainly tied up with compartmentalism and individualism. These entails the way a person’s private life has become detached to one’s political opinions, intellectual achievements, religious beliefs and work-life. This compartmentalism, therefore, has made religion to let down its central duty within people's lives. Religion was present from birth-death; however, now each phase of people’s lives has diverse authorities. Secular regime now decrees law and education; however, until lately both had been seized by Christian establishments. People pick their employment, lifestyles and beliefs largely autonomously. They must fit round each other. Therefore, modernism has made religion capitulate to tolerance and reason: currently, there is an open market not only for merchandises, but for faiths. This is as well because of multiculturalism (Wilson 4). On the 20th Century advent, Pope Pius X professed that modernism is the establishment of all dissents. That modernism places the axe on the root, and not on the branch. Obviously, Pope Pius X was correct. Modernism is the cause of all heresies, which has gone to the heart of belief traditions, confronting the very concept of doctrine. He was right concerning the profound pulsating of the roots, which modernism caused to Catholicism as well as to religion at large (Wilson 4). Individualism (Religion is not Public, is Private) In the contemporary democratic society, there is an ethnicity of moderation and toleration towards dogmas, so that individuals are ready to assent to the most radical belief differences as signifying personal preference, not as signifying moral dilemmas, which require Church or state intervention. Intelligent debates and discussions are available in books and Internet, covering each aspect of faith. The individualism era has rendered religion to a private preferen ce, not a collective one. Persons can pick as well as choose their faiths from those round them and strict religious groups capable of imposing the advent of appropriate belief are in inexistence. Belief has been internalized in synchronization with the manner in which the personal opinion dominance reigns over the now defunct notion of a communal religious norm (Giddens 2008). Currently, public religion does not exist. People have accepted that dogmas are dogmas; discrete from the distinctiveness of a person, and no religion or government has the right to enforce their beliefs on people. Empathy on persons who have diverse beliefs has intensified because of an augmented accent given upon the morals of individual

“Give me a stand point and I will move the earth” Archimedes Essay Example for Free

â€Å"Give me a stand point and I will move the earth† Archimedes Essay Feminists are of the opinion that women in this world have been neglected by history and men through out the ages and liberating them would be synonymous with giving them a stand point to move the world. Klues looks to the pioneers of female research in antiquity whose glimpsing women history through a record from which the female sex has been excised for millennial by patriarchal bias, must have been like constructing a house out of the space between the slats of a fence. Further Klues considers that assiduous and objective scholarship produced an unassailable picture of the role of women in classical Athens, a picture now almost universally accepted, in which domination of male over female is there seen as complete and crushing. Only one wave of classical scholarship, obviously by anthropology, looks to male-female relationship as a significant determinant in Athenian society, as in any other: an ingredient of total culture no less fundamental than its economy or its religion or its political structure. More authors have argued that women did not have a place in history. However, Hasel making reference to Pauline Schmitt –Pantel makes a note worthy reminder of Greek philosophers works such as Aristotle and Plato that made relation to different sexes. A similar reference is made about the Greek cosmologies meaning that women have always had such a place. Hasel has therefore put forth a vivid conclusion. â€Å"The image of the Topos then might not hold much because it is based on seclusion of women in antiquity which may not be the case. † The portraits of Lipia as discussed in Bartman had an effect in creating a stronger imperial Rome. Though there are undertones of their use in propaganda and other political machinations and maneuvers, Bartman note that they were sculpted in the spirit of compromise which he refers as ‘give and take’ between the sculptor and the sponsor. Scott say that there was a moment not all that ago, when feminists thought gender to be an invincible barrier against biology. The sex/ gender distinction would analytically separate the physical body from the social body; it would then no longer be conceivable that anatomy was destiny. Though women might be viewed as ‘non- actors’ thus acting in the realms of those who built and wielded political power to which they were subject to had a private life which of course influences public life. In the words of Scott, those absent from official account none the less partook in the making of history; those who are silent speak eloquently about meaning of power. This reawakening Scott notes has brought about congruence in thought between political historians and writers penning ‘her story’. It has also brought about to the way changes occurred in law, politics and symbolic presentations. A further implication Scott explains is that there are social explanations rather than biological and characterological to the different behavior of men and women and their unequal positions. The feminists are thus challenged in this argument for neglecting female agency by diminishing the historical importance of personal life encapsulated in its three elements- family, sexuality and sociability. Thus irrespective of what feminists think women have always had the stand point and have moved the world as much. Reference Bartman ‘Portraits Of Livia Joan W. Scott, (1988) Gender and the Politics of History (New York 1988) 15-50. Joan W. Scott, `Millenial Fantasies`. The Future of Gender in the 21st Century`, in: Claudia Honegger – Caroline Arni (eds. ), Gender. Die Tucken einer Kategorie (Zurich 2001) 19-37 Wagner Hasel (1989)Women’s life in oriental seclusion? On history and and use of Topos. Pauline Schmitt –Pantel (1992) â€Å"Greek thought on the position of women resolved†. Pg 79.

What can be gained by engaging in comparative education studies

What can be gained by engaging in comparative education studies It is in the very nature of logical activity to make comparisons. Comparing is a elementary part of thought process which enables us to make sense of the world and our experience of it. Indeed, it can be said that only by making comparisons can we properly defend our position on most questions of importance which requires the making of the judgments. Comparing causes us to make statements to the effect that one thing is intellectually or morally preferable to or more effective or better than the other, and this can be clearly exposed in the education field, where the quest for improvement for doing things better is always compelling. In a world which is mainly focused on intense global economic competition and growing beliefs in the key role of education as the source of potential advantage, governments have become increasingly obsessed with the international rankings of measured educational outcomes. Educational policy is increasingly driven by national attempts to copy the perceived advantage associated with the educational strategies and techniques of other countries. Margret Brown argues that documenting practices in high-scoring countries that give ideas for change are very important (as cited in Broadfoot 2000, p.361). It would be at least as important to find out why similar projects have not been successful in other countries. (Shorrocks-Taylor Jenkins 2000, p.16) It is crucial to assess any suggested practices from one country to another. Teachers and the general public need to be informed about the problems of putting something borrowed into practice and reform ideas from other countries to our own system. The increasing international importance of a policy discourse of learning in relation to conventional educational institutions such as schools and universities, reflects the contemporary understanding of the implication of the knowledge society (Broadfoot 2000, p.358); It is of great potential and inevitability for the whole population to be capable and disposed to take advantage of the new methods for accessing new knowledge that information and communications technology is making available. This also reflects the growing recognition that learning is not equivalent with teaching. Todays growing concern is lifelong learning which is powerfully described in a recent European Commission report: The Treasure Within. (Broadfoot 2000, p.358) Different perspective of comparative education by different scholars Antoine Jullien de Paris in 1817 saw comparative education as an analytical study of education in all countries with a view to perfect national schooling systems with adaptation and changes from which policymakers can borrow ideas to implement in their own-country (Bray 2007, p.1). In Hans view the utility of comparative education was that type of education which analyzes comparative law, comparative literature or comparative anatomy in order to highlights the differences in the forces and origins that create the differences in the educational systems (C.S. Oni 2005, p.244). Lewis approached the issue of comparative education in terms of an Island formation. Lewis asserted that, no country is an island; that each is a part of the world; therefore, no educational system anywhere in the world is worth anything unless it is comparable to some other systems in the world.(Quoted from C.S. Oni 2005, p.244). Comparative education for Blishen is the branch of educational theory that has to do with analyzing and interpreting the educational practices and policies in different countries and culture (C.S. Oni 2005, p. 244). Le Thanh Khoi believed that comparative education is a multidisciplinary area when he said that it is not strictly a discipline, but a field of study covering all the disciplines which serve to understand and explain education (quoted from Bray 2007, p. 35). In addition to learning about other people and cultures, comparative education also helps the researcher to know about oneself. As George Bereday puts it: It is self-knowledge born of the awareness of others that is the finest lesson comparative education can afford.(Quoted from Kubow Fossum 2003, p. 11). With the enhancement of nationalism and the increasing importance of the nation states in the beginning of the 19th century comparative education was pushed ahead. The objective was to learn useful lessons from foreign countries, especially concerning education systems. This contained a very colonialist view of the western societies on the foreign countries. School systems were seen as a resource of new educational ideas, which could be borrowed to improve the own school system. Comparative education transferred itself from highly pure description level to a more sophisticated analysis. With the rise of the social sciences in the 1950s the historical aspect became insignificant. Instead comparative education was introduced as a true science by using statistical techniques and more quantitative methods. The main approach was structural functionalism. The aims of comparative education: The aims of comparative education are to describe educational systems, processes, and ending products as well as to assist in the development of educational institutions and practices. It also highlights the relationships between education and society and establishes generalized statements about education that is valid in more than one country. Comparative education also deepens our understanding of our education and society; it can be of great aid to policy makers and administrators; and can be of great asset in the education of teachers (Bray 2007, p.15). Comparative research also helps us understand better our own past; locate ourselves more exactly in the present; and see more clearly what our educational future may be. Comparative education gives the researcher the ability to describe what might be the consequence of certain courses of political and economical action, by looking at experience in a range of countries. From the theories mentioned above extracted from different sch olars, we can see that comparative education facilitates the researchers to learn from the accomplishment and faults that other countries have made in the process of solving similar educational problems. The focal point of comparative study in education is the collection and categorization of information, both descriptive and quantitative. As Sadler stated in one of his lectures delivered in 1900: In studying foreign systems of education we should not forget that the things outside the schools matter even more than the things inside the school, and govern and interpret the things inside. We cannot wander at pleasure among the education systems of the world, like a child strolling through a garden, and picking flowers from one bush and some leaves from another, and then expect that if we stick what we have gathered into the soil at home, we shall have a living plant. A national education system of education is a living thing, the outcome of forgotten struggles and of battles long ago. It has in it some of the secret workings of national life. (Quoted from Philips in Alexander et. al 1999, p.19). On Comparing The comparative education researcher should go far from the familiar to see the unfamiliar to make the familiar strange, in order to broader the principles, geographical and epistemological view (Broadfoot 2000, p.363). When comparing in education researchers are producing a variety of descriptive and explanatory data which differ from micro to macro comparative data analysis, allowing us to see various practices and procedures in a very wide context that helps us to throw light upon them (Sultana as cited in Borg 2009, p.21). While less developed countries have a tendency to look at more developed countries to learn from them, more developed countries tent to look at countries that are on the same economic and educational level to make cross-national comparisons. Examples of this are number of countries that looked at USA as their model. Switzerland in mid-1990 apart from looking up to USA, it also hired American consultants to develop a reform package for schools (Steiner- Khamsi 2002, p.76 as cited in Bray 2007, p.18). On the other hand, America learned also from other countries (Levin 2010, p.96 in www.kappanmagazine.org) like East Asia, (Bray 2007, p.21-22) where the US department of education made an intensive study of Japanese education and came out with 12 principles of good practices. Educators and policy makers went to Finland, which is the top-performing country in the first three rounds of PISA, in order to find the key to education success to achieve high marks in PISA. Private companies like Cisco and McKinsey, are issuing reports on the quality of education around the world. Comparisons across time provide information about improvement or decline over the years like comparing the different periods in the history of education. These comparisons though are limited in the nature of the reference groups or criteria used: that is they are usually limited to school systems similar to those being evaluated. When policy makers look at the past to learn for the future as the British policy makers used to do in 1980s to make comparisons with their own past rather than with other countries. Sometimes the reason to compare with the predecessors is to see how the society has developed as well as to learn from the mistakes that were done in the past (Bray 2007, p.23, Bradburn Gilford 1990, p.2). Comparisons with other localities or between states, provincials and regions compare similar local educational systems within the same state, or with those in other states or the nation as a whole. Comparisons with other states or the nation as a whole have the advantage of comparing between educational systems that are broadly similar. They provide information on particular nations level of achievement in education to the much broader area of the worlds education system (Bradburn Gilford 1990, p.2).Example of such comparison is the comparison between the education systems of Hong Kong (Bray 2007, p.131) or the education systems of Macao (Bray 2007,p.134). When comparing the researcher has to identify the areas; countries or places, and cannot be generalised. As Le Than Khoi (in Sultana as cited in Borg 2009, p.16) gave the example of the Mediterranean. There are too many differences in the region that we call the Mediterranean to make it the object of comparative analyses. Culture is an important factor when comparing places. An example of this is the result that Finland got in the PISA in 2002 compared to other places which was based on the reading competences. Finland achieved well as it has centuries of cultural tradition that long promoted the reading ability (Bray 2007, p.167). A comparative education researcher must try not to be prejudiced either on political, national, religious, racial, gender or ideological aspects. It is crucial that the paradigms used are relevant to all geographic areas and nations that are included in the study. Differences between inter and intra-national research present challenges in comparative research that must be recognized. Such differences are often significant resource of cultural variation (Bradburn Gilford (1990), p.21). The contribution of developing countries in international studies adds information to the development of local research capacity and also widens the sample of participating countries. Third-world participation develops North South dialogues as well as East- West linkages as it serves as a good source for building trust and co-operation (Bradburn Gilford (1990), p.22). As the economic sector is increasing its value and the importance of having a sound education system, the business and industry sector may consult comparative educational studies in their international planning. Textbook publishers, developers of educational software and other educational traders use comparative education to categorize the needs and markets for new products. So the question raised is In whose interests do the education system and decisions taken, work? (My lecture notes). Though comparisons in education are of great benefit there are also who is sceptic and critic about it. There is the belief amongst these that comparative research will lead to a homogeneous-world approach to education that impede proper attention to each countrys unique history, culture, and people.(Bray 2007, p.178). This idea comes from experiences with international institutions that forced economic policies that had negative consequences in less-developed countries. It is vital for policy makers to keep in mind that not all the methods of any country can or should be put into practice in other countries. (Lavin 2010, p.96 in www.kappanmagazine.org, Stromquist 2002, p.87) It is important that insiders and outsiders work collaboratively in order to research and development work that is more sensitive to local, social constructions of reality. (Crossley 2002, p.82) Education research projects and organizations: As global economic competition increases, increases also the beliefs in the education as the source of marginal advantage, governments have become increasingly obsessed with the international rankings of measured educational outcomes. However the issue and impact of power on the educational institutions differentiate form in society to another. It is becoming important more than ever as the decision making in education is changing considerably. The main actors are no longer those most affected by education like the students, parents and the teachers but rather private agencies and international financial institutions (Stromquist 2002, p.87). International agencies compare patterns and results in different countries in order to improve the advice that they give to national governments and policy makers. The UNESCO, World Bank and OECD are amongst international agencies each emphasising their own aims varying from pedagogy, curriculum, economic and financial matters, which play an important part in the education arena. Their aim is to assist countries in designing and implementing successful policies to address the challenges that the educational systems are facing. They also create schemes for promoting lifelong learning in relation with other socio-economic policies (Bray 2007, p. 31). New ideas gained from international studies such as PISA, TIMMS and Survey -Lang can be tried to see if they will improve the education system and to understand why the performance of students in different countries differs (Shorrocks-Taylor Jenkins 2000). Since the late 1950s with the founding of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) such large scale comparative studies have taken on considerable significance in education. From the beginning the IEA has been committed to studying learning in the basic school subjects and to conducting on a regular basis survey of educational achievement. Over time, these outcome data have been increasingly linked to analyses of the effects of curriculum and school organization upon learning and the relationship between achievement and pupil attitudes (Shorrocks- Taylor 2000, p.14). There are different methods on how to measure the comparative aspect which differs from theoretical grounded studies intended to build or test complex models of educational systems to descriptive studies whose purpose is to monitor different features of educational systems, practices and outcomes. The purpose of theoretically oriented studies is mainly to examine relationships among variables and look for casual explanations. It is designed to examine links between school achievement and such characteristics as curricula, teaching methods, family expectations and funding levels. These highlight the level of differences between schools or classes as well as on differences between students as the unit of analysis. (Bradburn Gilford 1990, p.5) Belatedly, the intensification of international competition, spurred on by globalization, neo-liberalism and marketizing, has major implications for cross-national studies of educational achievement, for those engaged in or dealing with the powerful influence of national and international league tables, and for the theoretical frameworks that we employ in our analyses. If the funding of research is increasingly linked to commercial interests, for example, the potential for critical theory, or for alternative cultural perspectives to influence the construction of new knowledge, may be increasingly challenged. Questions of power and whose knowledge counts?, in the process of development arise, perhaps, more strongly than ever before ( reference from my lecture notes). As Sultana stated, comparative education should go further than the concern with comparing like with like (Sultana as cited in Borg 2009, p.9). It focuses more on finding a particular point from where educational and related social phenomenon can be seen from different perspectives; create a deeper understanding of the dynamics as well come up with new ideas. Comparative education provides insights on higher education, educational innovation, teacher education, power and education researches each bringing the experience of the researchers country, or the country or the countries that researcher has studied and came together in order to share these issues in debating sessions. Comparative education and globalization: In a globalise world, schools have come under greater national enquiry regarding the ways they can contribute to or delay a national progress. Claxton (1998) has described the rapidly-changing times we are living as the Age of Uncertainty in which it is impossible to predict the state and shape of the world in few years time (as cited in Broadfoot 2000, p. 358). The educational world today encounters systems which may eventually prove to be a revolution in what is to be taught, to whom and how, since, as Edmund King implies, all its established systems were developed for a world that no longer exists (quoted in Broadfoot p.267). Accountability and educational transformation rose questioning on the education process itself. The heightened interest in and concern over education has encouraged educators to re-evaluate in the light of new global realities, the purpose of schooling, the underlying theories about the relationship between education and development and questioning about educator professionalism. (Watson as cited in Crossley 2002, p.81) The ways in which educators in different countries view these issues and the strategies employed to address them must be understood in the light of different cultural, social and political context in each country. By viewing the educational issue from the perspective of two diverse countries the researcher can identify factor that might be missed when viewing the issue within the context of own country alone. If the research area is related to researchers own cultural environment, it is not always easy to perceive its special characteristics. The case may appear too understandable and non-problematic. A fish cannot see that it is living in water (quoted in http://www2.uiah.fi/projects/metodi/172.htm). Multiple cultural perspectives thinking and analytic frameworks from a multiplicity of disciple the research would provide an international context as well as tools for opening perspective to enhance the way of seeing education. Critical thinking on Comparative education: Comparative education and the critical perspective taking that comparative inquiry, help the researcher to go into a deeper analysis of the relationship among society, development, education and the role that citizens either directly or indirectly play in the education process. Through the development of comparative thinking skills researchers should be able to undertake analyses of their home cultures and systems with a more understanding of the various cultural factors at play. Comparative education encourages both researchers and educators to ask questions like: What kind of educational policies, planning and teaching are appropriate and for what kind of society? The field of comparative education focuses attention on what might be appropriate and inappropriate policy while encourage awareness of philosophies underlying educational policies and encourages interdisciplinary critique. (Klein 1990, 1996, Epstein 1983 as cited in Kubow Fossum 2003, p.7). Comparative education is beneficial and necessary not only for scholars and policy makers but for education practitioners as well. As Gutek said, teachers function in two dimensions: as citizens of particular nation-states, they foster students national identity; and second as citizens of a global society, they recognize that possibilities of humans growth and threats to human survival going beyond national boundaries (Gutek 1993 as cited in Kubow Fossum 2003, p.251). Teachers must learn to look at other equivalent classroom and school practices throughout the world. As Stake (1978) said we observe that people intrinsically pursue the general by looking at the specific. People make sense out of the new circumstances they encounter by comparing that particulars to the universe that includes their own frames of reference. We have named the process of performing cross-cultural investigation and then deriving insights from these investigations the skills of comparative perspective takin g (quoted in Kubow Fossum 2003, p.252). Schools are compared with arenas which constitute tension and combination of forces. In order to understand and control such condition, involves critical skills and the ability to understand the political underlining of societal and educational circumstances (Kaplan 1991 as cited in Kubow Fossum 2003, p. 252). These kinds of critical thinking can promote critical questions like: What is the intention of schooling? What are the equitable education and who decides? What is the appropriate balance between educator authority and accountability? What factors reinforce or hinder teacher professionalism? (Quoted from Kubow Fossum 2003, p. 252). The field of comparative education continues to define its identity and significance in the new thinking about education, society, colonialism and development. Ideas from post-foundational thinking, post-modernism, post-structuralism and post-colonialism, are of great importance in comparative research because they deal with common metanarratives of progress, modernity, dominance and subordination that there have been the fulcrum of the main ideas in comparative education.(Mehta Ninnes 2003, p.238), Crossley 2002, p.82). Examples of Case studies: Case study 1: Comparing literacy The usefulness of comparative education is seen in the number of different case studies. An example of a case study is Literacy skills in Maltese-English bilingual children by Rachael Xuereb (2009). The study examines the reading and phonological awareness skills in English and Maltese of children whose mother tongue is Maltese and second language English. A sample of 50 typically developing Maltese children aging between 8 years 0 months to 10 years 5 months was chosen to participate in this study. The children acquired Maltese as a first language within the family and later acquired English as a second language through Kindergarten and/or the early school years. The participants in this study attend a church school situated in the south-western part of the island. Since children star going to school at the age of 5 years, the children have been learning to read in Maltese and also in English. For the purpose of this study, Maltese reading and reading-related tests were created to parallel the UK and US standardised assessments. All the children sat for the novel tests and the standardised tests. According to the results found by Xuereb, Maltese children read better in Maltese than in English, which is the language of instruction in most of the subjects. Each child was tested on the following measures in both languages: word and non word reading, non word repetition, spelling, segmenting words and non words elision, rapid naming of letters, numbers and colours, forward memory for digits. Increasing research has addressed this issue for bilingual students, in relationship to whether phonological awareness in the first language predicts phonological awareness in the second language (Quiroga, Lemos-Britton, Mostafapour, Abbott Berninger, 2002). Studies comparing first language and second language decoding skills in readers of different orthographies suggest that these skills are positively correlated and that individual differences in the development of these skills can be predicted on the basis of underlying cognitive and linguistic abilities such as phonological skills, memory, orthographic knowledge and speed of processing (Geva Wade-Woolley, 1998 as cited in Xuereb 2009, p.331). This study aimed to find answer for how do Maltese-English bilingual children perform on reading and phonological tasks and to verify whether prior findings of cross-language transfer from first language phonological awareness to reading or to second language phonological awareness be replicated in this sample of Maltese-speaking students. Case study 2: Comparing the role of gender and age on students perceptions towards online education. This study conducted by Fahme Dabaj, and Havva BaÃ…Å ¸ak, was conducted in order to question and analyze the perceptions and attitudes of the students to online distance education by means of email and the World Wide Web as the method of delivering instruction through on-line diploma programs offered by Sakarya University in Turkey with respect to their age and gender. The research was based on a questionnaire as a mean of data collection method. The findings of the analysis explained that although the students registered to the online program by will, they preference was for the traditional face-to-face education due to the difficulty of the nonverbal communication, their lack of ability in using the technology required, and their belief in traditional face-to face learning more than online education. The research methodology of this study used the quantitative statistical methods and techniques such as significance differences, correlation and the cross-tabulation distribution to find out if there is a significant relationship between the independent and the dependent variable questions, measuring the role of age and gender of students towards their perceptions regarding distant education. The quantitative data was collected by survey questionnaire and was analyzed via quantitative statistical methods. All the students enrolled in the distance education programs and the online courses in the autumn term of the 2005/2006 Academic Year took part in the research. Regarding gender, the results proofed that the female students have a better awareness of the online education contrasting to the male students. Regarding age, the results showed that the older the students preference moves towards attending face-to face classes. Case study 3: Comparing different Art methodologies. I also attempted to make a small comparative study in which I compared Art methodology adopted in a state school compared with that adopted by the Verdala International School. The Verdala International is a co-ed international school in which foreign students resident in Malta can attend. The Art department in this school in based on two Art Programs; the IG which is equivalent to O level exam and the IB which is equivalent to the A level exam. My research was aimed at bringing out the difference in teachers and students approach towards the subject. The first difference which I pointed out was the level of organization in the state schools Art room in comparison with the organized chaos that ruled in the Verdala International. Both teachers response to my comments about the Art room environment was that it reflects the methodology they adopt towards the subject. Art lessons in the state school are more structured; students have to follow rules which hinder them from using their imagination freely. In both schools the lessons where introduced in the same manner there was a lot of teacher talk with the teacher orchestrating the whole thing. The children were only asked to participate when the teacher asked them for suggestions. The two lessons differed in the way they developed while in the state school, the students followed the traditional method by copying the teachers examples from the whiteboard and were very limited in experimentation, at Vedala international the students were much freer to experiment and be creative. The reason was that although the Art syllabi of both schools are very similar, the methodology adopted is different. The teacher at the state school believes that in order to break the rules in Art first the student has to learn them by using the traditional method by copying. While Art lessons at the state school are more exams oriented, although at Verdala International they do have an end of year test, the focus is more on helping students develop creative ideas. During my observation sessions at the state school, which were carried out in the beginning of November, the teacher consistently reminded the students about the exam. On the other hand at Verdala International the final test was never mentioned. At the Verdala International I also tried to compare Maltese students who have been to a state school and are now attending Verdala International with foreign students who had been attending to Art classes in their own countries are now at Verdala. The aim of such comparison was to identify students perspectives of the methodologies used for the teaching of Art in Malta and abroad. The foreign students interviewed were from Italy, USA, Sweden, Germany, Russia and England. From the response given it resulted that the conservative Art methodology used in Maltese state schools is very similar to that in Russia and in the early years of the middle school in Germany. Lessons at Verdala International are more similar to those in Italy where the students are active participants and able to take decisions on what they should do. While in state schools every lesson planned out by the teacher following the syllabus that is to be covered, at Verdala International the lesson is in the form of a group discussion. Each student decides on a theme that he/she would like work on and the teacher will facilitate his learning. This way, different students might be working on different projects unlike in state schools where everyone would be doing the same thing. Maltese students prefer more the methodology used at the Verdala International than the Art methodology used in the state school. The research methodology of this study consisted of observation sessions, interviews with students both on individual bases and in groups, and interviews with four teachers (one at Verdala International and 3 at state school). The number of students that took part in this study was 45 students (22 at Verdala International and 23 at state school). Conclusion The comparative education area is composed by what researchers declare about its nature, origins, purposes, futures, by the truths people support and by the struggle over what made true comparative education (Mehta Ninnes 2003, p.240). The significance in studying this area using intellectual accuracy, the working and foreign systems of education will result in our better fitted to study and understand our own while helps to extend and d

Factors influencing entrepreneurial intention

Factors influencing entrepreneurial intention Purpose- the purpose of this research is to investigate what the causes influenced among students in Universiti Teknologi Mara in Shah Alam branch in entrepreneurial intention and to make an evaluation for their entrepreneurship orientation by comparing them with non-entrepreneurially inclined students. Design/methodology/approach- Findings- the result of this test showed that Research limitations/implications- the study comprises respondent 300 of students at all course fields in Universiti Teknologi Mara in Shah Alam branch and the percentage of students in the sample who wish to be entrepreneurs is Practical implications This study provides insight into entrepreneurship education, as to which entrepreneurial characteristics can be developed to raise good entrepreneurs. Originality/value This study contributes to understanding the differences between characteristics of entrepreneurially inclined and non-inclined students at the edge of graduation. Nowadays entrepreneurship has captured their attention among people especially teenagers in all over the world. The main reason of this concern is the growing need for entrepreneurs who accelerate economic development through generating new ideas and converting them into money-making ventures. However, it has a more critical role for economies of developing countries since entrepreneurship is seen as an engine of economic progress, job creation and social adjustment. Thus, small business growth or new business formation is widely encouraged by national economic policies to stimulate economic growth and wealth creation. In parallel with developing interest in entrepreneurship throughout the world, Malaysia has also witnessed an increasing interest in entrepreneurship fields both among their academic scholars and amongst government policy makers and business leaders. Obviously, understanding perceptions of students at higher education level is a necessary step in this process. The purp ose of the current study is to analyze the entrepreneurial intention of university students in Universiti Teknologi Mara Shah Alam . Scope of study The scope in this study is the students in Universiti Teknologi Mara Shah Alam. It comprises all the students in all field of study. The respondent involved 300 students and this amount is using for sample survey in this study. Problem statement The interest making money among the teenagers nowadays make intention in entrepreneurship is getting higher. But have a few of them have a desire to open the business but because of lack of entrepreneur knowledge. Research objective Objective in doing this research is to identify: The factor that influenced student in university to do the business before they done their study. The opinion from the students that already have their own business. How they balance their study and business at the same time. Those who have business experiences in their background Research questions What the factors that influenced university student to do the business? Who you prefer to borrow money to open the business? Significance of study The significant of this study is to analyze the entrepreneurial intention of university students. In this study, a model that mainly focuses on the impacts of some contextual factors was proposed and empirically tested on university students. Furthermore, the study contributes to the literature by theorizing and empirically testing how some factors affect entrepreneurial intention of university students. It is believed that the results of study may have some significant implications for the policy makers and educators. INTRODUCTION Entrepreneurship has captured the attention of both scholars and policy makers during the last decades. The main reason of this concern is the growing need for entrepreneurs who accelerate economic development through generating new ideas and converting them into profitable ventures. Entrepreneurial activities are not only the incubators of technological innovation; they provide employment opportunity and increase competitiveness also (Reynolds, 1987; Zahra, 1999). Some scholars primarily focus on the effect of personality characteristics on decision making process (Bonnett and Furnham, 1991; Brockhaus, 1980; Johnson,1990). Although the results vary across the studies, they often indicate a link between entrepreneurial intention and some personality factors, such as self-confidence, risk-taking ability, need to achievement, and locus of control. However, a person is surrounded by an extended range of cultural, social, economical, political, demographical, and technological factors. Therefore, personality traits cannot be isolated from these contextual factors. In the literature, there are some studies that take into account the role of these factors also. For instance, according to Hisrich (1990), people can be pushed or pulled by the situational factors, which are related with their personal backgrounds and present lives. From a broader point of view, the cultural and institutional frameworks also affect entrepreneurship (Wennekers and Thurik, 1999). The review of literature on entrepreneurship shows that most of the scholars have focused on adult entrepreneurs. In these studies, adult entrepreneurs were examined after choosing their entrepreneurial careers. Since people are likely to start a business within the age range of 25 to 44 (Liles, 1974), it is also critical to focus on people who are younger than 25 and understand which factors affect their intentions to start-up a business in the future. As Henderson and Robertson (2000) also stated . . . the future working environment will depend on the creativity and individuality of the young. However, indeed relatively little is known about young adult views on entrepreneurship (p.279). The purpose of the current study is to analyse the entrepreneurial intention of university students. In the study, a model that mainly focuses on the impacts of some contextual factors was proposed and empirically tested on university students. Therefore, the study contributes to the literature by theorizing and empirically testing how some factors affect entrepreneurial intention of university students. It is believed that the results of study may have some significant implications for the policy makers and educators. VARIABLES Dependent variable: Entrepreneur intentions among students. Independent variables: Educational support, structural support and relational support Educational support The first dimension of model is educational support. It is obvious that professional education in universities is an efficient way of obtaining necessary knowledge about entrepreneurship. Although, in their study, Wang and Wong (2004, p. 170) mainly focused on personality characteristics of students, they also pointed out the fact that the entrepreneurial dreams of many students are hindered by inadequate preparation; . . .their business knowledge is insufficient, and more importantly, they are not prepared to take risk to realize their dreams.. In the literature, some studies analyse how these entrepreneurial interests of universities affect entrepreneurial inclination of students. The study of Gorman and Hanlon (1997) showed that entrepreneurial attributes can be positively influenced by educational programmes. It is clear that an effective education on entrepreneurship can be a factor to push people towards an entrepreneurial career (Henderson and Robertson, 2000). Structural support The second factor in the model is structural support which are we are social, cultural, economical, political and technological factors. The current context of entrepreneurship is mainly shaped by economical and political mechanisms, which are governed by the actors in the public, private, and non-governmental sectors. In such a system, there can be some opportunities or threats for entrepreneurs. For instance, if there are some barriers to entry into the market, people might show a lower tendency for entrepreneurship. However, if they find the given conditions adequate and favourable, it might be expected that they are more likely to start a business. Relational support The study of Henderson and Robertson (2000) showed that family was the second factor influencing career choice of respondents after their personal experience. Therefore, the support of family and friends is likely to affect ones career selection. In the current study, this relational support mainly indicates the sentimental and monetary supports of family and friends. If someone knows that there will be such type of support when s/he starts a business, she or he might be encouraged to choose an entrepreneurial career. Moderating variable: Self Confidence The model also considers the impact of one personality trait, self-confidence, as moderator variable. However, the level of self-confidence that is generally defined as believing in oneselfmay influence ones perception as well. Self-confidence is widely accepted as avaluable individual asset and a key to personal success. In their study, BeÂÂ ´nabou and Tirole(2002) explained why an optimistic self-view is seen as a good thing. According to them, self-confidence is valuable because it makes people happier, it makes it easier to convince others (rightly or wrongly) and improves the individuals motivation to undertake projects and persevere in the pursuit of his goals (p.877). Based on this conceptualization, it might be expected that more self-confident people may perceive their environment more favourably than others and have more optimistic perspective about their future. Therefore, if a person has a high level of self-confidence, the strength of the proposed link between educa tional support, structural support, relational support and entrepreneurial intention may also increase. THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK Self-Confidence Entrepreneur Interest Structural Support Relational Support Educational Support INDEPENDENT VARIABLES MODERATING DEPENDENT VARIABLE VARIABLE TABLE 1.1: THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK RELATIONSHIP Hypothesis 1: Entrepreneurial intention of university students positively relates with perceived educational support. Hypothesis 2: Entrepreneurial intention relates with perceived structural support. Hypothesis 3: The entrepreneurial intention positively relates to perceived relational support. Moderating hypothesis: 1) The strength of the relationship between entrepreneurial intention and perceived educational support is affected by the level of self-confidence. 2)The strength of the relationship between entrepreneurial intention and perceived structural support is affected by the level of self-confidence. 3) The strength of the relationship between entrepreneurial intention and perceived relational support is affected by the level of self-confidence. 3.1 Research Design 3.1.1 Purpose of study Fostering entrepreneurship needs a twofold policy that should focus on both the current situation and future prospect of entrepreneurship. Although many scholars and policy makers devote their attention to the first foci of issue, it is equally important to map out the future context of entrepreneurship. The purpose of this paper is to fill this void by analyzing the impacts of some contextual factors on entrepreneurial intention of university students. 3.1.2 Type of investigation The type if investigation for this research is correlation study. This is because the researchers want to identify the important of the factors or variables associated with the problem. It is to determine whether relational support, structured support and educational support and the intention to become an entrepreneur among student is correlated. The researchers also want to know what are the significant amount of the independent variables in the intention to become an entrepreneur among student. If they are significant between these two variables, which among these three variables examined is the one that has the greatest association with it, which is the next and which is the third? It is to see if there is any relationship exist among the variables investigated. The answer to this correlational study will help to determine the extent of the intention to become an entrepreneur or to start a business among UiTM students are influenced by the relational support, structured support an d educational support. 3.1.3 Extend of researcher interference with the study. We have study the intention among students towards entrepreneur. In other words, we want to do a correlational study. Here, we will collect data among UiTM students to indicate how much factors of relational, educational and structural influence them to have intention to be an entrepreneur or start the business. By correlating three variables the answer being sought can be found. In this case, beyond administering a questionnaire to the student, we have not interfered with the students` normal activities. In other words, our interference has been at minimal because the variables are beyond our control. It is depends on each of respondents background. 3.1.4 Study setting The study setting of our research is field study. We want to analyze the relationship between the relational, structural and educational support with the intention to become an entrepreneur. We try to correlate between dependent and independent variables by looking at whether the respondents have high level of education, received full support from family members and also the economic situation as the intention to be an entrepreneur increase. Therefore this is a field study. Research here is done in a non contrived setting with no interference with the five independent variables. 3.1.5 Unit of analysis In this study, we want to know factors that influence intention among customers of Bank Islam. For this purpose, data will have to be collected from the sample which is 150 students and the units of analysis are individual. 3.1.6 Time frame The time frame for our research is one-shot or cross-sectional studies. Date was collected from to students between September and October to study the factors that influence intention among UiTM students to participate in entrepreneurship. This is because we only need to gather our data just once that is over a period of weeks, in order to answer the research question. Data with respect to this research had not been collected before, nor will they be collected again for this research. 3.2 Sampling design/case In our research, the sampling design that be used is non probability sampling which is convenience sampling. Convenience sampling refers to the collection of information from members of the population who are conveniently available to provide it. We used these types of sampling design because it is the best way of getting basic information quickly and efficiently and it is also less expensive. In addition, these types of sampling are the most easily accessible to our respondents as subject. These types of sampling are most often used during the exploratory phase of a research project. We do not have the knowledge or predetermine chance of respondents being selected as subject. In thousands of UiTM students, we do not know who the 300 respondents are. 3.3 Data Collection Method 3.2.1 Primary data Primary data refer to information obtained first-hand by the researcher on the variables of interest for the specific purpose of the study. In this research the sources from our primary data is our respondents where we obtained the data through the administered questionnaire. 3.2.2 Secondary Data Secondary data refer to information gathered from sources that already exist. Our secondary source of data is through the analysis of industry offered by the media in the internet which is in form of journal. This information gathered by someone other than the researcher. The advantages of seeking secondary data sources is savings time and costs of acquiring the information. 5.00 Conclusion and Recommendation 5.1 Conclusion The results of survey revealed that only two subsets of proposed model were significant predictors of entrepreneurial intention. The first factor is educational support that indicates mainly a supportive university environment. According to the results, if a university provides adequate knowledge and inspiration for entrepreneurship, the possibility of choosing an entrepreneurial career might increase among young people. It is obvious that this result confirms the key role of education in the development of entrepreneurial intention. Therefore, in the light of the current study, it might be stated that entrepreneurship can be fostered as a result of a learning process. This result is not only interesting from the theoretical point of view, but it is also a challenge for the educators and policy-makers. Since entrepreneurial activities are becoming vital to the economic development of a country, both of these groups might focus on the design of more effective educational policies. Alt hough there is no consensus on the content and structure of entrepreneurship education, the findings of current study showed that universities should, at least, encourage the development of creative ideas for being an entrepreneur, provide the necessary knowledge about entrepreneurship, and develop the entrepreneurial skills. However, the strength of the link between educational support and entrepreneurial intention was not affected by the level of self-confidence. Second factor, which also emerged significant in the survey, is structural support. It is obvious that fostering entrepreneurship requires a more comprehensive support including the collaboration of all sectors in the society. Despite its weak explanatory power, the analysis also showed that this type of structural support might affect entrepreneurial intention of university students. One of the interesting results in the study is the impact of moderating variable on the proposed link between perceived structural support and entrepreneurial intention. The hypothesis test confirmed that self-confident respondents perceive structural support more favorable than others. In this case, the level of self- confidence might affect ones perception on external environment. Although the structural conditions are similar for everyone living in the same context, the perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors might vary. Therefore, the structural support for entrepreneurship is very significant to stimulate people to be an entrepreneur. Another interesting result of survey appears when comparing the explanatory powers of educational and structural supports; the former has slightly higher beta coefficient than the latter. In this case, educational support was perceived more important than structural support. The possible reason for this result might be the timing differences between these two support factors. It is clear that the main focus of structural support is existing entrepreneurs in the economy. Although studen ts are currently aware of this support, they might think that this type of large scale supports will affect them in the future. On the other hand, educational support might be perceived as an immediate factor. Therefore, it is logical that the impact of educational support was higher than structural support. 5.2 Limitation of study The current study is subject to some limitations. Firstly, similar to the previous studies in the literature, the study focuses on the intentionality. It is clear that intentions may not turn into actual behaviors in the future. Therefore, even if one respondent stated a high entrepreneurial intention in the survey, s/he might choose a completely different career path in the future. In fact, it has been a common problem for almost all study in the literature and currently there is no other accurate way to measure the tendency for entrepreneurship. Therefore, the statements of respondents about their entrepreneurial intention were taken as a reliable source of information. However, it might be more useful to measure this variable through multiple items in order to reduce measurement error in the further studies.Since the collected data was based on the perceptions of the students, a second limitation might appear on a possible difference between perceptions and reality.Obviously, ther e is always a risk that the perceptions of students on outside world might be different than the reality. The studies that aim to show such realities may indicate that, for instance, the universities are successful to stimulate entrepreneurship or financial system are supporting entrepreneurs sufficiently etc. These types of studies are highly valuable to take a picture of entrepreneurial environment. However, it is equally important to analyse how these given conditions are perceived by entrepreneurs or potential entrepreneurs even if they have limited knowledge of outside world. The current study aims to understand the perceptions of students on the context.Another limitation is that some factors in the model were broadly defined and so broadly measured in the survey. For instance, educational support factor were measured through three broad statements, which assess the education support for stimulating creative ideas, providing knowledge about entrepreneurship, and developing en trepreneurial skills and abilities. The main reason of such broadness is to increase the generalizability of the model and make it available for the use of new studies in different contexts. When considering the variety of entrepreneurship education in all around the world, it might be more reasonable to analyse the general nature of entrepreneurship education, rather than focusing on a specific context. As it is mentioned previously, there is a great variety among universities on the entrepreneurial education even in the same country (GuÂÂ ¨ rol and Atsan, 2006, p. 27).