Organzition and Adminstraion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Organzition and Adminstraion - Essay Example This paper looks into the US judicial system in terms of its administration and organization, as well as the various issues and concerns that beset it. Further, this paper presents possible solutions to the issues and concerns, along with an organizational model that would best answer the department’s prevalent concerns. The US federal courts comprise the Judiciary Branch of the government, which is organized under the US Constitution and the laws of the US federal government. The federal government as well as each of the forty-nine states has its own criminal justice system, which all respect the rights of the individual as set forth in the court interpretation of the US Constitution, and as defined in case law (Barnett, 2008). State constitutions and laws provide the definition of the criminal justice system of each state, and delegate the authority and responsibility over criminal justice to various jurisdictions, institutions and officials, as well as provide guidelines and definitions of criminal behaviors, groups of children and acts under the jurisdiction of juvenile courts (Ibid.). Further, for the processing of criminal justice that were not established by the State, municipalities and counties define through local ordinances prescribing the local agencies responsible for such cases. The US Congress, on the other hand, has also established a criminal justice system at the federal level to respond to such crimes as bank robbery, kidnapping, and even transporting stolen goods across states (Ibid.). The US justice system has three main components – the police, the courts and the corrections, reflecting the basic processes that justice is served under the US government. Each component functions a vital part in the whole system and is essentially indispensable. In other words, the system is not complete if any of the three components missing. The US

Giving Guantanamo back to Cuba Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Giving Guantanamo back to Cuba - Case Study Example Though it is debatable, I am of the opinion that at some point we might have lost our goodwill. I have no doubt that the United States is after the well-being of humans worldwide, but that does not mean we ought to let our feet of the gas and take for granted the happenings at Guantanamo bay. I say so because for over a decade we have allowed our government to use duress in Guantanamo bay detention camp. For the first time in several, we have maintained hard line stands and consigned human dignity to oblivion. In my opinion, I think the key players who take part in the process of national decision-making have backed the wrong horse. This is because they have overtime watched with crossed hands the dismal conditions under which those who stay at the Guantanamo bay detention camp put up with on a daily basis. In handling this project description, I am going to assume the role of the Secretary of State and shed light on how I can address the issues raised by Jonathan M. Hansen in his article titled Give Guantanamo Back to Cuba. I am going to evaluate the best possible action mechanisms we can employ to put the issue to rest. At the same time, I am going to discuss the relationship between the courses of action with the aim of preserving our national interests. Supplementary to the above mentioned, I am going to take account of the possibility of handing over the leadership of Guantanamo bay Island to Cuba and weigh the consequences of such an action. Since its creation by the Congress in 1789, the State Department under the watchful eye of the Secretary of State has risen to become one of the most looked upon offices not only in the United-States but worldwide. As the Secretary of State, I would put into use my duty as the President’s prime advisor on US foreign policy and recommend the end to American rule at the Cuban based Guantanamo bay detention camp. I am convinced by far, that the closure of the Guantanamo bay detention camp shall enable the US to be the custodian of two of its most important national interests: values and international organization. I say so because those suspects detained at the camp are subjected to undignified treatment. For starters, those detained at the facility are still innocent and the prosecutors are still in the process of proving that they are responsible for the various crime charges they are facing (Air University, 2012). If recent statistics collected from the facility are anything to go by, then the fact that only one out of 172 detainees is put to trial is even more worrying. I would ensure the enactment of laws that leave the military, which is our main instrument of power at the facility with no choice but to ensure that they treat the suspects with honor and decency. I would bring to an end the physical abuse that t he suspects always go through. This is achievable by penalizing heavily those military officers who harm the captives (Air University, 2013). During the transition process, I would recommend information as an instrument of power. Information shall come out through proper guidance and counseling of the captives. Guidance and counseling is imperative because it enables the captives to know that there is hope amidst all the tribulations they face. Another reason as to why information as an instrument of power should be employed during transition is because, of the causes of death at the facility. Recent studies taken from the Guantanamo ba

Kenya education Essay Example for Free

Kenya education Essay An Overview of the Kenyan Education System: Issues and Obstacles to Learning Posted by Lee-Anne Benoit on April 27th 2013 I’m back again with an outline of what I’ve learned about the Kenyan Education system from the diverse experiences that I’ve had. You’ll notice this blog is slightly more academic in nature, but I felt that it was important to find research to back up my own observations. Education is perceived as one of the principal motivating factors behind national economic development and it is one of the most effective ways in which individuals can ever hope to achieve better opportunities and a higher standard of living in Kenya. For these reasons Kenya has invested heavily into its education system over the past twenty years. It is my primary objective in this blog to express all that I have learned about the primary and secondary education systems in Kenya in the short 12 weeks that I have been here. I discuss the structure of primary and secondary schools, the implementation of universal free primary education (FPE), limited and equitable access to education, obstacles to learning within the classroom, special needs education and inclusion. My understanding is derived from my experiences visiting and working at eleven different public and private schools in Kenya, two Masters courses in Special Needs Education that I audited, academic journal articles as well as several discussions and conversations that I have had with various individuals related to the field of education. Structure of Primary and Secondary Education To begin, I’d like to outline what I have learned about the structure of primary and secondary schooling in Kenya. I have gained most of my insight from visiting nine different public and private schools in Nairobi and Mombasa. During these visits I was able to tour each school, observe classes, and interact with administrators, teachers, and students. What follows is an account of some of the pertinent information that I have gathered. Children begin primary classes around the age of three years old. They enter a nursery program for roughly two years before commencing Standard 1. Depending on their final KCPE (Kenyan Certificate of Primary Education) examination marks at the end of Standard 8, students may or may not qualify to attend a secondary high school. Secondary school in Kenya has four levels, forms 1 – 4 and is completed only when students finish their KCSE (Kenyan Certificate of Secondary Education) examinations. Again, student grades play a key role in determining whether or not students are able to attend university. Due to the ethnic diversity in Kenya (42 different tribes), children begin school speaking a variety of languages. Because of this, all students study their subject material predominantly in Kiswahili up until Standard 3 in a homeroom classroom. It is not until Standard 4 students are immersed in English and must follow a strict timetable of up to 10 lessons a day. The subjects taught in the primary grades include Math, English, Kiswahili, Science, Social Studies and Christian Religious Studies. Depending on the location of the school, students may study Islam. Looking through the Kenyan Primary Education curriculum documents, I noticed that art and music were indeed included in the syllabus. However, after inquiring after this, I discovered that art and music have been cut from the timetable due of the cost and perceived unimportance of the subject material. From the little experience I have, it seems as though the degree to which children are allowed to express themselves creatively through art and music depends largely on the school and classroom teachers. From personal observation I can say with confidence that the approach to education in Kenya is largely teacher centered and by the book. Teachers strictly adhere to the Kenyan syllabus for both primary and secondary students and textbooks are a teacher’s primary resource during lessons. Standardized examinations are the sole assessment techniques that I have noted being used in regular classrooms thus far to report student progress. Students in every grade level must complete these standardized examinations at the end of each term, including students in preprimary programs. Grades are critical indicators of success and failure in the lives of students for they ultimately determine whether or not one is able to advance to secondary school. As I mentioned earlier, students must complete their KCP examinations at the end of standard 8. These are national, standardized exams in all subject areas and are worth a total of 400 marks. Students must achieve a minimum of 250 marks if they wish to enter secondary school. In order to graduate High School students must complete their KCSE examinations, and achieve high grades if they wish to enter university. I would like to point out that Kenyan teachers have excellent classroom management. Most of the students that I have observed are incredibly well behaved and show a level of focus and respect that I have not seen on such a large scale before. I am impressed by teacher’s classroom control especially considering the large class sizes that they handle on a daily basis. I attribute this classroom control to the use of corporal punishment, which is considered to be the norm in Kenya. It has also been argued that students’ passivity in the classroom dates back to British colonial days and has been an aid and a challenge in encouraging students to take responsibility for their learning (Ackers and Hardman, 2001). Universal Free Primary Education Another key point that warrants discussion is the implementation of FPE, Universal Free Primary Education, in Kenya. Many of the challenges that the Education system currently faces are directly linked to the implementation of FPE. G. J. Cheserek and V. K.  Mugalavai argue that the main problems facing the education system are, â€Å"issues of access, equity, quality, relevance and efficiency in the management of educational resources,† (2012, 473). The following discussion will elaborate on such issues. As of January 2003, the NARC government established the FPE program to satisfy the pledge it made during the 2002 general elections in order to provide opportunities to disadvantaged children (Makori). This project was a great success in terms of the increased enrollment of disadvantaged children. More than 1.5 million children enrolled in public schools across the country, (Makori). However, the country was not yet prepared to accommodate such a large increase as can be seen by such drastic consequences. Few primary schools were built to accommodate the influx of students, which led to over crowding and congested classrooms. There was a shortage of teachers at the time, which led to the employment of unqualified teachers (Makori). Schools lost revenue from the lack of tuition fees, which led to a strain on teaching materials and resources as well as limited physical facilities (Makori). Lastly, teachers’ challenges increased as their class sizes grew. Although Primary School tuition fees have been abolished, several factors continue to impede access to education in Kenya. Many parents still cannot afford to pay for school uniforms, textbooks, transport, meals and supplies, without which students cannot attend school (Glennerster and Kremer, 2011). These fees are especially difficult for marginalized children such as females, orphans, and the financially underprivileged. Poor health and the inability to seek medical attention also impede many children’s access to education and negatively affect their academic performance, (Glennerster and Kremer, 2011). Many children cannot attend school due to intestinal worms, malaria, and other health concerns such as malnutrition, which can seriously affect their cognitive development. A teacher at the Kiambui Primary School informed me that many of the students arrived at school without having eaten breakfast and who did not bring lunches. Many teachers, despite their low salaries, felt obligated to bring food for the most needy. Lastly, there is an issue of distance and transportation. For some, transportation is unaffordable and the distance to school is too great to walk, which renders the possibility of attending school impossible (Glennerster and Kremer, 2011). Despite advancements in accessing primary education, access to secondary education has remained quite low in comparison. There are a number of reasons that account for this. For instance, secondary schools still require tuition payments. Although these fees have been reduced, it is still quite expensive for many. Distance also plays a major role for some in accessing education. As of 2011 there were approximately 26, 000 primary schools and 6, 500 secondary schools spread across the country, which meant that many communities did not have a nearby high school (Glennerster and Kremer, 2011). Poor KCPE examinations scores at the end of Standard 8 also create a barrier in accessing Secondary School. 2004 KCPE results show that a much higher percentage of students from private schools qualify for secondary school than public school, which has led to an overrepresentation of private school graduates attending top Kenyan Secondary Schools (Glennerster and Kremer, 2011). The quality of primary education, so it seems, acts as a serious barrier to obtaining secondary education. Finally, there is limited space in secondary school so parents and students alike must compete for placement in one if not one of the elite National schools. Yet another interesting point to note is that FPE does not enable all children equitable access to quality education; the key word here being ‘quality. ’ There is an alarming difference between the quality of education that public schools offer vs. that of private schools as noted earlier. After visiting both private and public schools I can attest to the difference. The five private schools that I visited had a low teacher to student ratio, more resources and materials for students, an adequate amount of desks for their student body, as well as electricity and running water. On the contrary, some of the public schools that I visited had class sizes of 60 to 80 students, limited electricity, insufficient textbooks and desks for students. There is much speculation that the poor performance of public school graduates on the KCPE examinations is due to a number of specific factors. For example, because of the increased enrollment in primary schools in 2003, teachers had to contend with extraordinarily large class sizes made up of a diverse range of students whose preparedness varied. Circumstances such as these diminish a teacher’s ability to differentiate their instruction and give individualized attention. Resources and materials are spread thin and mobility within classrooms becomes limited. It is thought that this large influx of â€Å"first generation learners† has contributed to declining test scores in the public school system (Glennerster and Kremer, 2011). It is also thought that poor performance in primary schools is perpetuated by an increasing stratification between public and private schools. This disparity becomes all the more clear when considering the disparity between the KCPE scores of public and private school graduates (Glennerster and Kremer, 2011). Under qualified teachers has also been stated as a factor as well as corruption. Obstacles to Learning Within the Classroom â€Å"For Kenya to be internationally competitive and economically viable, the Republic of Kenya requires an education system that will produce citizens who are able to engage in lifelong learning, learn new skills quickly, perform more non – routine tasks, capable of more complex problem-solving, take more decisions, understand more about what they are working on, require less supervision, assume more responsibility, have more vital tools, have better reading culture, quantitative analysis, reasoning and expository  skills† (Cheserek and Mugalavai, 2012, 472). As this statement explains, Kenya needs a strong education system that will train individuals to meet the growing economic needs of society. However, as discussed previously, evidence shows that students in public primary schools are achieving significantly lower their private school counterparts. There are a number of factors that can account for this disparity, which directly relate to the quality of primary education and the interactions between teacher and pupil. In 2001, Jim Ackers and Frank Hardman conducted a study on classroom interactions in primary schools in Kenya and found that the predominant teaching style was characterized by the ‘transmission of knowledge’ and was teacher focused in nature. Students were motivated to participate but answered preplanned, ‘closed’ questions and lessons often involved a high degree of choral response and repetition of memorized information (Ackers and Hardman, 2001). They go on to write that, â€Å"there were few examples of interaction between teacher and pupils that extended or even encouraged higher order thinking because of the domination of the recitation mode, where typically the teacher asks a series of pre-planned questions, initiates all the topics, and rarely interacts with the substance of the pupils’ answers except to evaluate them†(Ackers and Hardman, 2001, 12). Interestingly enough, this literature mirrors my own observations. I also noted the predominance of a rote learning style of teaching while visiting a number of primary schools. The teachers that I observed lectured on a topic for a large portion of a lesson and then questioned students to see what they were able to absorb. I did not observe any inter pupil interactions or discussions during class time. Rather, students spent the remainder of the class silently copying notes and answering questions from the board. I observed this pattern across multiple subjects and classrooms. Acker and Hardman point out that impediments to learning also include a lack of teaching resources and poor physical conditions of classroom spaces (2001). From what I have noted, the blackboard and student textbooks are the primary teaching aids in a lot of schools. Another obstacle to learning within primary grades is the size of the class. In many cases, teachers can have upwards to 80 students at a time in a regular sized classroom, which creates a congested environment. In such cases it is virtually impossible for a single teacher to meet the needs of every individual learner. Differentiation becomes ineffectual, as does mobility within the classroom. Resources are spread thin and many struggling learners are overlooked. In addition to overcrowded classrooms, teachers face many challenges, which in turn affect student performance. Firstly, they are under a great deal of pressure to teach all of the curriculum outcomes in order to prepare students for their examinations. Combined with a lack of funding and classroom space, teachers are at a loss when it comes to planning creative lessons. Secondly, teachers face a strong tradition of teaching practice that is both historically and culturally embedded. Attitudes towards change can be stubborn, making transformation a slow process. Thirdly, teachers lack an appropriate amount of support and assistance within the classroom as well as opportunities for professional development. As it stands, resource and literacy programs are virtually non-existent in schools, and the government cannot afford to pay for assistants within the classroom. Few primary schools can even afford a library. Fourthly, and in part due to distance, there are barriers to communication between home and school, which negatively impacts student progress. Lastly, primary school teachers work for very low wages, which can be demotivating for some, ultimately affecting their professional pedagogical practice. For many teachers and students alike, school can be a truly sink or swim endeavor. Special Needs Education and Inclusion My insight into special needs education derives from two sources. Firstly, I have audited two Masters level courses on special needs education in Kenya entitled Guidance and Counseling of Special Needs students and Issues and Problems in Special Needs Education. Secondly, I have worked for a short time at a private special needs school entitled Bright Hills. In addition to Bright Hills, I have also visited three different ‘Special Units’ in public schools: Kaimbui Primary School, Kilimani Primary School, and Muchatha Primary School. I would like to share some of the pertinent information that I have learned. According to my own personal experience and research, special needs education is predominantly segregated from general education classes. Many primary and secondary schools have classes termed ‘Special Units. ’ These classes are home to students who have a wide range of learning needs, which â€Å"cannot† be met by regular classroom teachers. I have been told that Special Units are inclusive in the sense that all students who have a disability or a special need share a common learning space. It is the role of the special education teacher to tackle the challenging task of differentiating lessons for many students who have varying degrees of learning dependency. Many of the students of Bright Hills Special Needs School are taught the regular primary school curriculum. However, other special needs students are given vocational training, which I observed at the Kiambui Special Unit and the Deaf and Blind Unit at the Kilimani Primary School. Learning skills such as beading and weaving give students the potential to earn a livelihood outside of school and become productive members of society. Although the Kenyan Minister of Education approved a policy in 2009 that supports the equitable access to quality education and training of learners with special needs, special needs education still faces many challenges. The factors that hinder the provision of education for special needs learners include vague guidelines that describe the implementation of an inclusive policy, insufficient data on children with special needs, ineffective assessment tools, curriculum, and a lack of qualified professionals, (Lynch, McCall, Douglas, McLinden, Mogesa, Mwaura, Njoroge, 2011). Many of the discussions in which I participated in my class: Issues and Problems in Special Needs Education mirrored this argument. Major issues that were discussed include the stigmatization of persons with disabilities, a lack of funding to equip teachers with the resources, materials and support required to meet learners needs, a lack of curriculum adaptations, differentiation, appropriate methodology and qualified personnel, inappropriate and biased assessment measures and the misdiagnosis of learning disabilities, which leads to the misplacement of Students in Special Units. I have also had several discussions concerning the implementation of inclusive educational practices within Kenyan Schools. Many of my classmates believe that inclusion is indeed the way forward in reforming the issues inherent in special needs education. Others however, believe that inclusive education is too ambitious a reform to make. Dr. Mary Runo stated in a lecture that she is not certain that inclusive education is what Kenya presently needs. Rather, the focus of reform should be on government policy and persistent negative attitudes towards disabilities. Although inclusive practices are in a fledgling state in Kenya, there are a few successful cases. Take for example the Kilimani Primary School, which is the only school in Nairobi that incorporates the hearing and visually impaired into general classrooms. Numerous supports are provided to students such as braillers, translators, adaptations, and individual assistance. The Kilimani School also has a segregated Special Unit for those who are deaf or blind as well as a Special Unit specifically for those who are deaf and blind, both of which are well equipped with qualified and dedicated teachers as well as a diverse range of teaching aids and resources. It is common practice for a Primary school to pull struggling students out of the regular classroom and place them in a Special Unit for a short time until they can successfully transition back into a regular classroom. The Kyangoma Primary School has 68 special needs learners, the majority of which study in a Special Unit. However, students who have physical disabilities or are highly functioning cognitively are integrated into general classrooms in order to follow the regular school curriculum. Although integration does not equate inclusion, it is evidence that there is a growing acceptance of inclusive practices. Overall, I would argue that special needs learners are segregated from regular classrooms for the most part and that levels of inclusive practice vary from school to school, depending on financial resources, teachers’ attitudes, and community support. Conclusion It is difficult to articulate all that I have learned about the Kenyan education system in the past twelve weeks, as my experiences have been diverse and I have come to understand the cultural context within which this system works. The education system in Kenya has been undergoing considerable change since the induction of Universal Free Primary Education in 2003. Despite the many deep rooted and interconnected problems that impede equitable access to quality education, reformation is high on the government’s list of priorities. One thing that I can confidently attest to is the unquestionable confidence and positivity that I have encountered in many Kenyans who strongly believe in the advancement of the education system. Kenya’s future is bright as long as these discussions continue and individuals strive to make change. References Ackers, J. , Hardman, F. (2001). Classroom Interaction in Kenyan Primary Schools. Compare, 31(2), 245-61. Cheserek, G. , Mugalavai, V. (2012). Challenges and Reforms Facing Kenyan Education System in the 21st Century: Integrating the Principles of Vision 2030 and Constitution 2010. Journal Of Emerging Trends In Educational Research Policy Studies, 3(4), 471-478. Glennerster, R. , Kremer, M. , Mbiti, I. , Takavarasha, K. (2011). Access and Quality in the Kenyan Education System: A Review of the Progress, Challenges and Potential. Retrieved from: http://www. povertyactionlab. org/sites/default/files/publications/Access%20and%20Quality%20in%20the%20Kenyan%20Education%20System%202011. 06. 22. pdf KENPRO (2010). Challenges Facing Inclusive Education in Regular Primary Schools in Kenya. KENPRO Online Papers Portal. Retrieved from: www. kenpro. org/papers. Lynch, P. , McCall, S. , Douglas, G. , McLinden, M. , Mogesa, B. , Mwaura, M. , †¦ Njoroge, M. (2011). Inclusive Educational Practices in Kenya: Evidencing Practice of Itinerant Teachers Who Work with Children with Visual Impairment in Local Mainstream Schools. International Journal Of Educational Development, 31(5), 478-488. Makori, A. Implementation of universal primary education in Kenya: An analysis of its impact and progress towards achieving the EFA goal in Kisii District. Retrieved from: http://www. kaeam. or. ke/articles/vol1/makorifulltext. pdf Category: Uncategorized // 16 Comments  » 16 Responses to â€Å"An Overview of the Kenyan Education System: Issues and Obstacles to Learning† 1. women fashion show 2013 // June 25th 2013 Someone essentially help to make critically posts I would state. That is the very first time I frequented your website page and so far? I surprised with the analysis you made to create this particular publish incredible. Fantastic task! 2. Graham Mulligan // July 3rd 2013 Lee-Anne, thank you for this post. I concur with everything you describe regarding the current state of Primary Education in Kenya. Although there is much hope for change, there are enormous challenges ahead. I wonder what specific improvements can be made, especially in the many isolated and impoverished public primary schools. I am currently planning a short visit to do teacher training in some of these schools. Do you have any suggestions for me? cheers Graham 3. Rahab // July 4th 2013 Your observations are very insightful and on point. It is rather disturbing that all education activities in the Kenyan system end up creating bottle necks at some point or other. What are your suggestions on making the system create paths for learners graduating from the various levels of the system? How can the system encourage student creativity and participation both in school and out of school? Is there hope that the Kenya education system will ever become learner centered rather than content and teacher centered? 4. desigual sale // July 17th 2013 Someone essentially help to make critically articles I might state. That is the first time I frequented your web page and to this point? I amazed with the analysis you made to make this actual put up extraordinary. Wonderful job! 5. Evelyn Corrado // July 17th 2013 Very insightful paper for my study; I am researching on how we can move from teacher centered approach in Kenyan education into student focused, where students can creatively use their reasoning minds, work together to problems solve and bring in their daily experiences into learning.. i agree learning molds the Kenyan society and if problem solving conflict resolution is not enhanced in schools, no wonder the ethnic conflicts in Kenya society God-father system where minority rule and the rest can’t challenge it, for lack of confidence . 6. Alice Wawira // July 29th 2013 This is quite helpful and you have done great job. Just check: KCPE mark is 500 not 400. The public schools suffer a lot of deficiency ranging from teachers to resources. If only teachers were enough something like 1:25-35 which is the current proposal to the education ministry; enough classrooms and resources, I don’t think the syllabus would be a problem however wide. I’m inclined to believe so because the private schools and the well-established national schools manage to cover the syllabus long before the end of fourth year in secondary and end of eigth year in primary. The discipline exhibited by the students in the classroom as you explained is one major strength in these schools and as such, it would be quite helpful even in content coverage. Kenya is becoming gradually aware of SEN and some progress has been made. I would however wish that we borrowed a leaf from the international system where children with SEN are allowed to sit special exams and even have assistants in classroom and during exams. In Kenya, almost all the times they sit the same exam only that special consideration and provisions(like brille and additional time) are given during and after the national exams. The worst is when a child in hospital or one who has just given birth is allowed to sit the same exam as any other in good health. News has it that computers will come in handy for the hearing-impaired and this will be great. Fantastic job you have done. Having worked in the Kenyan system and in the international as well, I can’t fail to see the flaws in the former and I hope to do something about it only that for now, I have no idea where to start. 7. Leonard Kiarago // August 2nd 2013 Indeed, Kenya has a long way to go before the government is able to provide ‘quality education’; however, we must agree that there is some progress despite the obstacles. Kenya has the resources, the manpower and the capacity to provide the young generation with quality education. Kenya has highly qualified professionals produced by top universities all over the world, unfortunately when it comes to policy development and decision making, that is left to politicians leading to wrong policies being implemented without consideration for need assessment or putting priorities right. Take, for example, the issue of laptops for every kid joining primary school; is that really a priority for the Kenyan kids? Even in developed countries like the UK the government doesn’t provide laptops/computers to every single kid, instead schools have a computer lab used during IT lessons or for lessons requiring some research. Instead of considering building and equipping more classrooms as well as recruiting more teachers, the government is thinking about laptops for schools some of which kids learn under trees and with no electricity or teachers who have basic IT knowledge. The subject of how inclusive education should be implemented is a controversial one because even in developed countries like UK, they still  maintain special schools because inclusive practice is not just a matter of closing special schools and taking children with SEN to mainstream schools. How do you put a child with special needs in a class of 80 kids and call that inclusive education? For inclusive education to be successful there must be availability of resources and manpower as well as change of attitude by those who consider themselves ‘normal’. How that can be possible in a country divided through tribal and ethnic affiliations remains a big issue. If Kenyans cannot accommodate fellow Kenyans from a different tribe, how can they accommodate those perceived to be ‘abnormal’? What is most worrying is that any time you listen to news or read newspapers, the most likely headline to find is about a certain politician from a given community attacking another one from a different community instead of engaging in constructive politics. The article posted a few days ago in daily nation in which a governor was threatening to shut down schools just because they were built on the boundary by a neighbouring county leader is a good example of what I mean: http://www. nation. co. ke/News/Leader-orders-schools-shut-in-boundary-row/-/1056/1930912/-/view/printVersion/-/khd48cz/-/index. html ‘A society’s treatment of those who are weak and dependent is one critical indicator of its social progress’. This was an observation by Kirk, Gallagher and Anastasiow (1997) who in their study of children with special needs noted that social attitudes towards the education and care of children with special needs reflect the general cultural attitudes concerning the obligations of a society to its citizens. The problem with the provision of education in Kenya can only be solved if the government allowed professionals to contribute to policies related to their field of expertise and to set aside funds for research so that policies can be validated through research to avoid implementing policies, which are politically driven. (Kiarago is a doctoral researcher at the University of Birmingham) 8. Pierre Varly // August 19th 2013 thanks a lot for your excellent article full of infos and very well structured. i have a blog on education in the developping countries where i could publish the article also if you agree. 9. Isaac Maluki // August 22nd 2013 Thank you for your good report. Kindly tell me, how many students qualify for university education in Kenya but do not make it for lack of school fees? 10. Amen K. Rahh // October 3rd 2013 Thank you for this insightful blog. I would however like to point out the roll of ICT and the growing impact online learning is having on learning in schools. With the introduction of laptops for primary school students, the Government seems to understand the survival of the failing education system is depended on IT solutions. http://www. cc-gate. com as well as the CCK are working on online content and tutoring coming in the future. 11. Edy // November 5th 2013 Hi, I found this blog a few days ago as I was looking for some research into the Kenyan education system. You have done wonderful analysis. However, one correction to your information is that Swahili is not the predominant teaching tool for Nursery-Std 4 pupils. In fact, and to the contrary, English is widely used to instruct children because apart from Swahili, all other disciplines, Math and Science included cannot be feasibly administered in Swahili. 12. John muema // November 7th 2013 these is true and i urge the government to employ more teachers 13. Agesa Akufa // November 9th 2013 This is a good, well researched and articulated work. just a point of correction, the kcpe marks total to 500 not 400. otherwise it is an impresive that will many researchers especially university students. if the government can take into account this piece of work then we should expect to see enormous steps taking root in the educational system. of course, steps to spin the country foward. i salute you! 14. THOMAS ODENY //.

Social Media in Business and Society

Social Media in Business and Society Most organizations tend to look upon social media as a threat, where some even opt to ban the usage from the workplace altogether. The idea behind it being that employees would be given the opportunity to waste time online, chat, and possibly pose as a security threat to the organization. (Turban, 2011) (Smith, 2010) outlines risk of employees social media use at work, these can be both intentional or not and they could lead to legal and reputational risks for organisations. These have been categorised as three main problems: Use of social media cannot be fully regulated, monitored or controlled thus organisations are giving up control. Social media is a worldwide means of communication, once a negative post is online its only a matter of time till it goes viral thus reaching competitors, regulators and customers. Social media is emotional and employees can express their feelings of happiness and/or frustration. Furthermore, (Flynn, 2012) identifies the risks of having employees participating in social media by causing reputational damage, trigger lawsuits, cause humiliation, crush credibility, destroy careers, create electronic business records, and lead to productivity losses. (Dreher, 2014) argues that social media is not to be feared, but rather embraced and seen as an opportunity where employees can act as corporate advocates and brand ambassadors. If anything, it helps employees keep up to date with latest news related to the industry together with continuous knowledge development. Nonetheless, even though there are many studies that point out the benefits of social media, there is still no clear-cut decision whether it can influence work performance or whether it can fuel the social capital of the employees and help in knowledge transfer (Zhang, 2016). However, it cannot be denied that every organisation allowing social media at work will always have its fair deal of challenges to overcome. (Eliane Bucher, 2013) speaks about the health issues that can be encountered. Starting off with stating that there is so much information available on social media that professionals may face information overload. Not to mention the mix of work life with private life overlapping with social media. New technologies should improve workers efficiency and reduce stress levels however often the opposite occurs (Eliane Bucher, 2013). Technostress as referred to by (Brod, 1984). To be successful in the social media environment one needs to overcome the below 3 points otherwise technostress is formed: Techno-overload Increase in workload which could be actual or perceived. Techno-invasion Social media enables people to be constantly connected from almost every device. This can lead to the feeling of the need to be connected or online causing reduction in family time allowing work issues to invade the private life (Eliane Bucher, 2013). Techno-uncertainty Social media is constantly changing and therefore brings with it uncertainty as regards to what technologies and skills are needed to perform the job and what will they be in the future. Social media comes with many legal issues tied to it. These range from pre-employment to post employment. Wrong usage of social media will for sure lead to waste of time, inefficiency, reputation issues and negative image for the organisation. Some of the laws are outlined below by (Lieber, 2011): Employment Laws by tagging co-workers in certain provocative photos or videos, Defamation and Libel Laws by stating certain comments on co-workers or employers thus effecting their reputation., As stated in (Trott, 2009) a Microsoft Survey found that 41% of employers based their decision of not hiring an applicant based on what they found online in relation to their reputation. This is also known as Netrep. This constitutes a legal risk of discrimination in itself if the recruiter is basing decision on the netrep. Fair Credit Reporting Act by having interviewers friending an applicant on Facebook to acquire more information than is required for the job applied. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act by having a medical professional LinkIn with a patient. Uniform Trade Secrets Act by having employees discussing or commenting on social media about company internal only discussions or non-public projects. Employers can monitor the use of social media at work if the employees are informed in advance. Disciplinary actions can be taken once any abuse is being noticed. Policies should include what is allowed and what is considered as abuse (Trott, 2009). If the employees post on their personal accounts outside of office hours and such posts are in relation to work having a negative impact in some way to the employer or the organisation then there is still grounds for disciplinary action even though employees try to advocate for respect for private and family life, home and correspondence (article 8) or freedom of expression (article 10) from the Human Rights Act 1998. As discussed above, social media has its advantages and disadvantages and seeing that social media is here to stay organisations have little choices but to accept the new reality, address it and learn how to make good use of it. (Lieber, 2011), among others, identifies the following criteria that any organisation willing to harness social media must address: The creation and enforcement of solid social media policies within the organisations personnel addressing fair use, access during work time and general behaviour on social media (even during personal time). Directly using social media for the benefit of the organisation such as for recruitment, marketing and investigating competing organizations. Monitoring of key social networks to data mine information regarding your organisation (and potentially others as well), possibly using automated algorithms and software for maximum efficiency and accuracy. From the above-mentioned criteria, the first two deal with human resource aspect of social media where organizations lay out guidelines to their employees on how to use them, and they as the organizations can use social media directly for recruitment, marketing etc. However, as the third criteria suggests, to make most use of social networks organizations must make sure that any information/data being released on such platforms, is gathered and used effectively. It is important that an organization is always aware of what the average user is saying about their brand, effectively getting the general feel or mood while analysing the trends across time. The same principle could be applied to monitor competitors; possibly for example identifying any weak products which the competitors have and having your own similar product take advantage of the situation. Effective monitoring comes from generating good data. Data mining involves the following steps to make data meaningful for monitoring: (Raghav Bali, 2016) Removing unwanted data and noise Transformation of the raw data into data that can be used for further processing Study the data and come up with patterns that can give further insight to our data Represent the data in a way that is useful to companies or to who the data intended for. There are different data mining techniques which can be used to monitor social media use. Social media is a form of real time communication therefore an effective monitoring tool needs to monitor and provide alerts as things happen. Most text mining tools make use of search engines to go through social media sites and collect information related to the keywords or interests. (Mark My Words article) Text Analytics (Text/Data Mining)   Ã‚   Text analytics involves a complex and elaborate number of steps to strip down conversations into separate words and analyse the way these words are being used, positive or negative and even derive patterns from collected data. When we search for a movie and receive some other movie recommendations that technique is using text mining. Text Mining is made up of Data Mining (Information retrieval, Natural Language Processing Machine learning) + Text Data (Emails, Tweets, News Articles, Websites, Blogs etc.) Figure 1: Text Mining (Charu C. Aggarwal, 2012) As indicated in Figure 1, Stop Word Removal and Stemming eliminate the generic and less meaningful words form a phrase, this helps categorizing different words with same meaning as see, seen and being seen. Bag of Words (BOW) is having words separated from the sentence and each word having a numerical value which represents its importance. Limitations (Charu C. Aggarwal, 2012) outlines several limitations that can be observed and future in-depth research is required: The real-time posts on social media are a very important resource as mining data in real time as it is being posted can yield many advantages. This however remains a challenge for when these posts are not conducted from work computers or from outside work. Social media is very unstructured and some applications like twitter even limit the amount of characters per post. This brings about problems of text recognition when short length words are used like gnite gr8 etc. Social media allows different ways to express opinions or emotions these could be through images, videos and tags making the text analytics much more complex and difficult in its pre-processing stage. Method 1: Keyword Search (Rappaport, 2010) Organisations can decide which keywords they want to monitor, these may be chosen based on what is important for that company, it could be their products or emotional states. Social media is a very unstructured place containing noise and unwanted data for our data mining process. This form of search is good to capture keywords and try and form a meaning of these words and the frequency used however its very hard to come up with what is the users intent. For that reason, we then consider a more complex search method called Sentiment Analysis. Method 2: Sentiment Analysis and Emotion Analysis Sentiment Analysis is the process of identifying sentiment in text and analyse it. There are three types of sentiment analysis (Walaa Medhat, 2014): Document Level Analyse the entire document as one topic and form an opinion or sentiment on the entire document Sentence Level Analyse sentiment in each sentence Aspect Level Analyse sentiment in respect to entities as you can have more than one aspect in a sentence for the same entity. For this study, we are focusing our research on Sentence Level analysis using Semantic search. Semantic Search: Semantic search goes beyond the traditional keyword search by providing a meaning to a phrase and makes use of a wide range of resources to interpret the phrase and thus providing a more accurate result. Some examples of semantic search in our daily lives: Conversational searches:   Figure 2: Conversational Search (Google, 2017) Auto Correct spelling mistakes: Figure 3: Auto Correct (Google, 2017) Display information in graphics format: Figure 4: Information in graphics format (Google, 2017) (Charu C. Aggarwal, 2012) outlines some challenges that are encountered when going through mining. These are the difficulty in recognising opinions, subjective phrases and emotions. Opinion mining challenges. When using semantic search method on a post one needs to understand that the post can contain all the following: Positive opinions I like the computer I bought, it has a very clear screen Negative opinions however my wife thinks its too expensive Different targets The targets in the positive opinions relate to the computer and the screen whereas the targets in the negative opinions are the price Different opinion holders The positive opinions are mine however the negative opinions are of my wife Subjectivity mining challenges Posts are also made up of objective and subjective comments. Subjective expressions like opinions, desire, assumptions amongst others may not contain opinions or may not express any positive or negative comments. Emotions mining challenges Emotions (love, joy, anger, fear, sadness, happiness and more) fall under a form of subjective expression. Sometimes emotions give no opinions in a phrase. To observe the usefulness and ideal approach towards the analysis of social media related posts and messaging, a software algorithm was designed and partially developed to illustrate this scenario. The idea behind this software is to have the user write inside a textbox, mimicking an actual employee typing using a company machine, while the system monitors such text and acts per what it registers. Therefore, this tool will be presented as a standalone software/algorithm concept, emulating an actual activity of a possible employee, and as such must be adapted accordingly to make use of it in a real-life situation. The basic principle of the solution proposed is made up of three modules: The key logger that monitors the users input at runtime and effects certain rules The keyword and semantic analysis on the data gathered The storage of produced analysis and log The following flowchart outlines the lifecycle of said solution, followed by a detailed analysis of each component mentioned above, as well as possible ways on how it can be further enhanced to produce even more accurate results. The flow of the proposed solution. Created using draw.io (https://www.draw.io/) Collecting and Processing Data In this solution, key logging is used to monitor the data inputted by the user, which is a constant monitoring of the keystrokes registered by ones activity, and registered as a stream of text ready to be dissected and analysed as required. The main advantage of using such a strategy is that data is collected and used in real-time, making it ideal for scenarios where an alarm (for example a negative post related to work) needs to be raised as quickly as possible to the relevant personnel, providing a detailed log of what the employee has typed (through the key logger) eliminating the need to monitor and access the relevant social media to check what has been posted. Note: there are other strategies one can pursuit to monitor the users activity, such as firewall policies or general network surveillance, however in real-life situations such solutions can prove rather difficult to setup due to the expertise required; while web encryption and proxy services makes it even harder to effectively monitor the traffic generated by the users. A key logger, even if effective, generates a lot of unneeded garbage beyond the scope of social media. For example, an employee working on his station would be constantly registering keystrokes which the logger is then adding them up to its own text stream. This could prove to be very problematic for three main reasons: The logger would begin to amass a significant amount of storage space, unless the key logger is given a limit of how much information it can hold and removing old data to make up space for the new data, but than some information can get permanently lost. The analysis of the text stream generated can be quite intensive, which can significantly affect the performance of the machine doing the analysis, especially when considering that the analysis is assumed to be processed on the users machine which most probably isnt very well suited for such intensive work. Furthermore, following the previous point, the garbage log is being analysed too needlessly. The chances are that an employee would spend very little time on social media, thus logging and analysing the work-related activity is quite pointless for such a scope. To overcome the above-mentioned issues, the proposed solution makes use of predefined social media trigger keywords i.e. a list of social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc., where depending on such triggers being hit or not, the key logger will have two states, passive monitoring and active monitoring. When the tool is running normally, the key logger is in a passive state keeping only the last 30 characters in its memory, without processing the stream. The only thing it does however, is to constantly check the stream read from the textbox in the tool against the trigger keywords, and if any of the keywords is found to have been registered then the key logger would go into active state. While in this state the key logger would increase its maximum capacity, and begin to log every keystroke while constantly analysing the feed. The key logger will go back to passive state when the predefined character limit is reached or enough time has passed. Following this logic, only a set of keystrokes would be registered, reducing the chance of collecting and processing unneeded information while maintaining the workload and storage use of the machine to a minimum. Note: in this approach once the key logger goes into active state, it is monitoring and analysing the feed at runtime locally, and this could prove to be quite intensive depending on the parameters set and the overall performance of the users machines. Organizations implementing this solution can opt to have the log analysed after the key loggers goes back into passive state and therefore analysing the data only once. Better yet, since the solution assumes that the key logger is analysing the data locally, instead the logs can be sent to a common server and be analysed as a scheduled task. Once this data is captured through the key logger the feed can be processed by means of the methods discussed earlier (Method 1 and 2). Based on the outcome we store the data in our information system and align the data based on the organisations social policy. Approaching data analysis using keyword and semantic methods The designed software makes use of two different types of analysis algorithms, keyword based and semantic based, and are used together to try and cancel each others limitations and thus providing much more accurate results. Keyword based analysis The more traditional keyword analysis algorithm consists of having a list of keywords i.e. a predefined set of texts, and hit the data to be analysed against that list to determine whether any keywords have been hit and at what frequency. For example, having a text (representing the data) analysed against a list of negative texts (the keywords) would provide a set of statistical information which could be used to evaluate how negative the text is, which is conceptually what a social media monitoring tool should be trying to achieve. However, the major flaw of this analysis algorithm within the context of social media monitoring, is that keyword based analysis is far too broad and prone to false alarms if not controlled. Having the data gathered from the key logger (therefore filtered to social media activity) analysed against a set of negative texts, the statistical information produced may not be relevant to the organizations interest. An employee could simply be posting a feed about how bad the weather is and how much s/he hates it, which the keyword analysis algorithm would recognize as negative and report accordingly. In the proposed solution, the keyword based algorithm uses two different sets of keywords against the gathered data, with the aim to filter the batches of logged texts by relevance. The first set consists of a list of works related text, such as work, job, company, [company name] etc. i.e. every keyword that could somehow link the user to the organization implementing the solution. In the second set, a list of keywords/texts associated with negativity are stored, such as bored, unhappy, hate, dull, sick and tired etc. When the data passed along through the key logger reaches the keyword analysis module, it would first check the log against the first set and therefore determine whether the data fed is of any relevance to work, and if not simply do nothing. On the other hand, if any of the keywords from the first set is hit, it means that the data inputted is relevant and therefore must be analysed further. In this case, the tool would analyse the entire log within the key logger (which is currently in an active state as described in the previous section) and extract the statistical information with regards to the second set. The flow of the full keyword based algorithm adapted in the tool Created using draw.io (https://www.draw.io/) Examples Keywords to assume: First Set (work): WORK, JOB Second Set (negative): BORED, UNHAPPY, SAD, HATE, DULL, TIRED, SICK AND TIRED, ANNOYED, FED UP Example 1: Input Hate this weather, its severely effecting my mood. Constantly feeling tired and sad. Output None Example 2: Input At work and bored. Wish I could find a better job, this one is just so annoying. Output BORED x 1 [full log] Example 3: Input Never a dull moment at work. At the end of the day, the management brought in pizzas, fresh doughnuts and beer. In a couple of hours, the food was gone leaving everyone too tired to move. Got to love this company, always making sure their employees are never bored and unhappy. Output DULL x 1 TIRED x 1 BORED x 1 UNHAPPY x 1 [full log] From the examples above one can note a few limitations concerning the keyword based analysis algorithm. In example 2 the logged text is alarming, which most probably would require the full attention of the responsible personnel, but due to the limited keywords, only a single piece of text was hit which would make the output seem not so alarming. Furthermore, the logged text had the word annoying which in the negative keyword set is listed as annoyed, but still this was not captured. Therefore, this means that this algorithm is highly dependent on the keywords lists and possible deviations of each text. In example 3 the output looks very alarming since the negative keywords list was hit 4 times, but the input is very positive. The algorithm was unable to take into consideration the context of how the negative words were used and simply counted the number of times they were encountered within the log, hence raising a false alarm. To overcome such limitations, other algorithms must be used in conjunction with the keyword based, where in this solution the semantic based approach is used to compliment the algorithm and try to provide more accurate results. Semantic based analysis As explained in previous sections, semantic analysis introduces a certain degree of understanding when analysing a given text, and this is achieved by giving meaning to what it is fed. In this proposed software algorithm, this type of analysis is used to evaluate the sentiment and emotion behind the fed input, and therefore can determine whether the users work related activity on social media is negative or positive, which by extension may be able to overcome the limitations of keyword based approach. Basic forms of semantic based algorithms used to analyse text in relation to sentiment and emotion, often providing a single value output denoted by a percentage, where 0% means that the text is absolutely negative and a 100% would indicate that without a doubt it is positive. However, semantic analysis is capable to go beyond a simple value, where some of which can produce a fully detailed report indicating the level of emotions for multiple types, such as anger, fearfulness and joy. The following is an example of such a report produced by the tool Tone Analyser offered by (Cloud, 2017). Example report of a semantic based algorithm offered by IBM Watson Developer Cloud Applying such an algorithm which produces a very detailed report, may be well beyond the scope of monitoring work related activity on social media. In the end, what the proposed solution is trying to achieve is to detect negative activity which would harm said organizations, that when detected, the log of that activity is passed along to the corresponding personnel with perhaps a brief report of the analysis. Another drawback to be considered in this scenario, is that light weight semantic algorithms are much less intensive than algorithms which consider different types of emotions when analysing a text, and given that in the solution such an analysis will be triggered almost constantly, having a heavy algorithm being triggered would result in a very negative experience to said users. This is why in the proposed solution a lighter semantic analysis is considered, that is the API provided by (ParallelDots, 2017). Note: one could argue that using a semantic analysis algorithm which produces a detailed report, could replace the entire algorithm which is using both the keyword based analysis and the light weight semantic based analysis. However, performance wise the latter would operate much smoother, and from a technical point of view considerably easier to setup. Note: in the proposed solution, the semantic analysis will be conditional to whether the keyword based algorithm is triggered or not, and therefore subject to the filter which is detecting whether the activity on social media is related to work or not. Examples using the sentiment analysis demo provided by (ParallelDots, 2017), which outputs single value percentages 0% being negative, while 100% being positive. Example 1: Input Hate this weather, its severely effecting my mood. Constantly feeling tired and sad. Output 0% Example 2: Input At work and bored. Wish I could find a better job, this one is just so annoying. Output 6% Example 3: Input Never a dull moment at work. At the end of the day, the management brought in pizzas, fresh doughnuts and beer. In a couple of hours, the food was gone leaving everyone too tired to move. Got to love this company, always making sure their employees are never bored and unhappy. Output 79% Classifying severity based on score and frequency of words Thus far, the algorithm detected negative activity on social media relating to work, using both keywords and semantic analysis. However, the term negative can be rather broad and it may be the case that the organization would not want to be alerted for every minor negative activity, since that will become counterproductive. As such the proposed algorithm has a threshold mechanism which determines whether to send in alerts or not. The threshold settings are two. The minimum number of negative words the activity must contain, and the minimum percentage of negativity to be considered. Right after the key logger is finished monitoring the social media activity, if work related activity is logged, the system evaluates the log based on the threshold set by the administrators of the system, and proceed accordingly. Using same parameters of previous example for keyword and semantic based approaches. The thresholds are set as follows: Minimum Keywords 1, Minimum Semantic Percentage 30%. Example 1: Input Hate this weather, its severely effecting my mood. Constantly feeling tired and sad. Output None (not work related) Alert No Example 2: Input At work and bored. Wish I could find a better job, this one is just so annoying. Output Keywords hit: 1 Semantic: 6% Alert Yes Example 3: Input Never a dull moment at work. At the end of the day, the management brought in pizzas, fresh doughnuts and beer. In a couple of hours, the food was gone leaving everyone too tired to move. Got to love this comp

Movie Rating :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Going to the movies is a favorite past-time event of American lives. A long time ago, however, there wasn’t any rating system. Making one seemed like a good idea at the time. Today, the system is still the same way and doesn’t fit today’s changed time. Therefore, the movie rating system should be revised because the current rating system is outdated.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Today’s kids are growing up faster and maturing at a faster rate than ever before. Twenty years ago it would be impossible to show breasts in a PG-13 movie. Today, kids are being taught the fasts of life younger than anyone could of imagined. This is all due to older brothers, the Internet and schools teaching kids about sex at the age of twelve. If everything else is changing except the rating’s no one is going to obey the law.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are a total of four ratings that they show at most cinemas: G, PG, PG-13, and R. One would think that with so many different types of movies, there would be more ratings. Movies today have a very complex storyline and don’t want to give away any of the movie in the commercial. If there were more ratings you can tell what kind of movie it is and what is shown in the movie. For Example, the movie A.I. (directed by Stephen Speilberg) would be D_L-SC. This is because the movie is a drama, has language and has sexual content. If you saw that in a commercial rather than PG-13, you would have a better idea on if you wanted to see this movie or not.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Next, if this kind of rating took place then it could become universal and more socially excepted than every country with it’s own system for rating. Imagine, you can go to other countries (Europe perhaps) and watch movies made in English there. This might send some sort of bond between countries in rivalry. If the rating system is more universal then DVD players won’t need to have region block outs. This would enable people to buy a regular DVD player and watch movies from other countries. Plus, this would save the manufacturer money by not having to put more money into a region block out chip. This would also help out people buying DVD players by having them become cheaper. If we could watch movies from other countries, that would encourage us to expand our horizon on movies from other countries. Movie Rating :: essays research papers   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Going to the movies is a favorite past-time event of American lives. A long time ago, however, there wasn’t any rating system. Making one seemed like a good idea at the time. Today, the system is still the same way and doesn’t fit today’s changed time. Therefore, the movie rating system should be revised because the current rating system is outdated.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Today’s kids are growing up faster and maturing at a faster rate than ever before. Twenty years ago it would be impossible to show breasts in a PG-13 movie. Today, kids are being taught the fasts of life younger than anyone could of imagined. This is all due to older brothers, the Internet and schools teaching kids about sex at the age of twelve. If everything else is changing except the rating’s no one is going to obey the law.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are a total of four ratings that they show at most cinemas: G, PG, PG-13, and R. One would think that with so many different types of movies, there would be more ratings. Movies today have a very complex storyline and don’t want to give away any of the movie in the commercial. If there were more ratings you can tell what kind of movie it is and what is shown in the movie. For Example, the movie A.I. (directed by Stephen Speilberg) would be D_L-SC. This is because the movie is a drama, has language and has sexual content. If you saw that in a commercial rather than PG-13, you would have a better idea on if you wanted to see this movie or not.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Next, if this kind of rating took place then it could become universal and more socially excepted than every country with it’s own system for rating. Imagine, you can go to other countries (Europe perhaps) and watch movies made in English there. This might send some sort of bond between countries in rivalry. If the rating system is more universal then DVD players won’t need to have region block outs. This would enable people to buy a regular DVD player and watch movies from other countries. Plus, this would save the manufacturer money by not having to put more money into a region block out chip. This would also help out people buying DVD players by having them become cheaper. If we could watch movies from other countries, that would encourage us to expand our horizon on movies from other countries.

Emotional intelligence: The rapprochement of reason and emotion Essay

The past few decades have seen increasing interest in emotion research. Although much remains to be learned, agreement is beginning to emerge regarding the way emotion should be viewed. Emotions provide a unique source of information for individuals about their environment, which informs and shapes their thoughts, actions, and subsequent feelings, and there is a growing view that emotion information can be used more or less intelligently. A notion central to emotional intelligence theory is that individuals differ in their ability to perceive, understand and use emotional information, and this ability significantly contributes to intellectual and emotional well-being and growth. Emotional intelligence as a concept has prospered, in part, because of the increasing personal importance of emotion management for individuals in modern society. Indeed, researchers have commonly claimed that emotional intelligence predicts important educational and occupational criteria beyond that predicted by general intellectual ability (e.g. Elias & Weissberg, 2000; Fisher & Ashkansy, 2000; Fox & Spector, 2000; Goleman, 1995; Mehrabian, 2000; Saarni, 1999, Scherer, 1997). Furthermore, the chief proponents of emotional intelligence appear to have made strides towards understanding its nature, components, determinants, effect, developmental track, and modes of modification (Matthews, Zeidner & Roberts, 2001) Since Goleman’s (1995) best-seller, Emotional Intelligence, popularized the concept, researchers have used an extensive number of attributes or abilities drawn from psychology to define emotional intelligence. Goleman’s book contains definitions and descriptions of what he identifies as the five key components of emotional intelligence: knowing emotions, managing emotions, motivating oneself, recognizing emotions in others, and handling relationships. Goleman attributes varying sets of personality attributes to each component, the final effect being that most of personality is covered by his definitions. Towards the end of his book, he claims â€Å"there is an old-fashioned word for the body of skills that emotional intelligence represents: character† (p. 285). As such, variations in the manner with which people think, feel, and act are ostensibly ascribed to differences in â€Å"disposition† and â€Å"style†. The notions of disposition and style however do not accommoda... ... of the Southeastern Psychological Association, Atlanta, GA. Thorndike, E.L. (1920) Intelligence and its use. Harper Magaazine, 140, 227-235. Thoits, P.A. (1985). Self-labelling process in mental illness: The role of emotional deviance. American Journal of Sociology, 91, 221-249. Vagg, P. R. & Spielberger, C. D. (1998). Occupational stress: Measuring job pressure and organizational support in the workplace. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 3, 294-305. Van Maanen, J. (1973) Observations on the making of a policeman. Human Organization, 32, 407-417. Walt Disney Productions. (1982) Your role in the Walt Disney World Show. Orlando, FL: Author. Watson, D. & Pennebaker, J. W. (1989). Health complaints, stress, and distress: Exploring the central role of negative affectivity. Psychological Review, 96, 234-254. Welbourne, T.M., Johnson, D.E., & Erez, A. (1998). The role-based performance scale: Validity analysis of a theory-based measure. Academy of Management Journal, 41, 540-556. Weisinger, H. (1998). Emotional intelligence at work: The untapped edge for success. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Woodsworth, R.S. (1940). Psychology (4th ed.) New York: Holt.

Oedipus: Aristotelian or Formalist Theory Essay

Teiresias’s speech at the end of scene one of Sophocles’ play Oedipus Rex is fairly short but it is in this encounter between Oedipus and Teiresias where the main conflict of the story begins to unfold. This is a pivotal speech in the play as it helps to develop some of the major themes in the play as well as begin to build up the tragic irony at the center of the story. When this speech is analyzed using either Aristotelian or Formalist theory key elements can be found that are effective in increasing the drama in the play and in tying together one of the play’s central theme. In the Poetics Aristotle outlines his vision of a successful tragedy and states that plot and character are the first two principle features of tragedy. Teiresias’s final speech helps to develop both of these key components of tragedy in Oedipus Rex successfully. During his conversation with the king Teiresias introduces the first source of conflict into the play as Oedipus tries to convince the old man to reveal what he knows about Laios’s murder. Aristotle termed this moment of the plot the â€Å"desis† which in modern literary terms is known as the complication which serves to build up the drama of a story towards the climax, and Teiresias’s speech here achieves that purpose. There is also an effective use of foreshadowing in Teiresias’s speech in which he reveals to the audience the twist of fate that Oedipus will experience even though the king at this point is unaware of Teiresias’s true meaning. The reversal of fortune and recognition contained in Oedipus Rex are praised by Aristotle as being characteristics of an ideal plot and the foreshadowing found in Teiresias’s speech help to build up the anticipation towards the revelation of Oedipus’s identity. In the perfect tragedy Aristotle stated that character should support the plot and Teiresias’s final speech was indirectly very effective in building Oedipus’s character. Until his meeting with Teiresias Oedipus was seen a considerate king looking out for the interest of his people in trying to discover Laios’s killer. In his conversation with Teiresias the audience gets its first glimpse of Oedipus’s anger and can begin to see him as capable of being the murderer they are searching for. Teiresias’s final speech also reveals to the audience Oedipus’s â€Å"tragic flaw† of not knowing who he truly is, which will eventually be his downfall. In revealing Oedipus’s genuine ignorance to his true identity through this speech the audience feels more pity for the king when the revelation occurs and this heightens the tragedy of the play. From a Formalist theory perspective of Teiresias’s speech two literary devices are used that effectively increase the drama of the play and tie in a central theme and those are symbolism and tone. Symbolism in Teiresias’s speech begins to build the tragic irony of the play and to establish one of the themes of the play of sight versus knowledge. Teiresias describes the killer as â€Å"a blind man, Who has his eyes now†, but he is also referring to Oedipus’s inability to see the truth (Sophocles 720). Teiresias himself is a powerful symbol as well in the play as he is blind but he can see the truth of better than Oedipus despite the king’s attempts to discover the truth so vigorously. In the end of the play when Oedipus blinds himself upon finally learning the truth he completes the imagery that was begun in Teiresias’s final speech. The tone of Teiresias’s speech is ominous and foreboding and it serves to change the tone of the entire play. At this point the audience is becoming aware that things will not end well for Oedipus and his valiant quest to find Laios’s killer is going to result in dire consequences. The graphic imagery in the line â€Å"Who came to his father’s bed, wet with his father’s blood† helped establish this ominous tone that serves to build the tension through the rest of the play (Sophocles 720). After his encounter with Teiresias Oedipus becomes increasing confrontational with other characters in the play and the tone set by Teiresias’s speech helps to establish much of that conflict. Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex is such a well-rounded piece of literature that regardless of what literary approach is used to analyze it the play will provide an endless vehicle for discovery. There are so many complex images, themes, and symbols weaved together that it is an ideal story to study.