Edward R. Murrow - The Father of Broadcast Journalism Essay Example for Free

Edward R. Murrow The Father of Broadcast Journalism Essay The movie Good Night and Good Luck portrays the early 1950s when America experienced the threat of communism that created fear amongst Americans. There were even some who took advantage of such situations such as Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin. But there was one person who knew of his scheme and did everything to expose his deception amongst the people, this was Edward Murrow. This film showed his and his producer’s pursuit to expose the truth. The bravery and determination of Edward Murrow to reveal the truth by the use of media made him known as the father of broadcast journalism. The bravery of Edward Murrow to deliver only the truth to his viewers was one of the reasons why he was well known during the 1950s. This movie showed how far Murrow would go just to reveal the truth. He did not consider the danger that would come with his plan to expose the public deception of Senator McCarthy. Being a journalist and a democrat, he had in him the drive to let the public know the truth no matter what (MURROW, EDWARD R.  U. S. Broadcast Journalist†). Because of this dedication, people saw him as a person who upholds public service at its best; until now, he is known for his bravery in exposing the truth. The pursuit of Edward Murrow to expose the truth about the public deception of Senator McCarthy showed his determination to reveal the truth and save his fellow Americans. Murrow made use of his resources to uncover the truth behind the communism threat to America imposed primarily by Senator McCarthy. When chaos was dominating the society, Murrow knew that he had to do something to bring back the peace among the people. He served as the voice of the people, exposing information after information of the truth behind the â€Å"red scare† that started chaos all over America (Jeff, n. d. ). Edward Murrow not only served as a journalist who wanted to reveal the truth, but most importantly he served as a hero for the Americans in their time of crisis. He did not think of the danger that he would encounter in his pursuit to expose the truth. He believed that the people deserve to know the truth and, him being a journalist, he knows that it is his job to deliver the truth to the public. Because of his bravery and dedication to his work, he was acknowledged by journalists as a person to look up to and an epitome of â€Å"journalistic excellence† (MURROW, EDWARD R. U. S. Broadcast Journalist†). These and many more are the reasons why Edward Murrow is regarded as the father of broadcast journalism.

Skills Gained In Social Care Social Work Essay

Skills Gained In Social Care Social Work Essay A significant learning experience is one in which the student has acquired knowledge and/or skills or where the experience has informed or shaped the students social care values and beliefs. Throughout the course of my placement there have been many cases upon which I have experienced significant learning. These include conversations with both staff and service users, as well as sitting in on various meetings and programs. The main learning experience I enjoyed was in relation to Personal Centred Planning folders or PCPs. Personal Centred Planning is a way of discovering how a person wants to live their life and what is required to make that possible (NDA, 2005). Personal Centred Planning primarily focuses on the person as opposed to a disability. It is about the whole person and their life, not just their disability. Personal Centred Planning is not an assessment of service users. PCPs are, an extremely effective method of helping service users meet their goals in life and also, for keeping track of their basic daily activities. It was a very interesting and useful method to learn how to use. Person centred planning is based on shared action, about finding creative solutions rather than categorising people and about problem solving and working hard over time to achieve goals. Its about changing a persons life (Sanderson 2000). PCPs seek to craft a vision for a persons life in which they can play an active role in their local community or any organisation of their choice. It also describes the action necessary to make this vision come through (McGinn Cassidy, 2006). This is accomplished through some basic stages. Firstly you must discover, understand and then address the core issues for the individual involved. Secondly you must explore choices available to the individual before you then alert and involve the individuals entire social network. A balance must then be reached between what is important for the individual and what is important for their social network. Ideally, the individuals goals for themselves are the ones most focused on and not the goals that the individuals friends and family have for them (McGinn Cassidy, 2006). There are six key principles that underpin person centred planning. These are that PCPs are an individuals perspective, creative approach to planning, uses all the resources available to the person, requires serious and genuine commitment, an art and not a science and that the development of the plan is not the objective. There are also several advantages to using Person Centred Planning. Some of these are that it sets out important goals for the future, provides a forum to make choices, it provides encouragement and support and may be viewed as a lifelong process and support (McGinn Cassidy, 2006). Person Centred Planning is based on completely different way of seeing and working with people which is fundamentally about sharing power and community inclusion (Sanderson, 2000). A good caring service mobilises all its resources to assist people with disabilities to increase control over their lives. They also set goals that are personally meaningful and express personal preferences. They offer guidance to the individual. It is only through organisations like this that the PCPs are a success (McGinn Cassidy, 2006). There are many issues to be considered when supporting people who have difficulty in making choices. Some of these issues are if you take a different perspective than that of the person, if you develop a different understanding of the person and risk assessments must be carried out. The service user also requires certain support and assistance from the PCP process. Some of these include interpreting the environment, understanding other peoples expectations and conditions for cooperation and to figure out satisfying ways to pursue what they want (McGinn Cassidy, 2006). Person Centred Planning has one plan per person. The service users key worker drives the process. The first step the key worker must take is to get to know the person. This includes getting to know their personal history, family, friends, health, hobbies and other personal details. You must talk to the person in order to gather this information. You must observe them in their natural environment too in order to get your own vision of the persons personality. A good way to add to this vision is to speak to the persons family and friends to get other opinions of the service users personality and goals in life. Finally reviewing previous documentation on the service user will give you other opinions on the service user, this time from a professional view (McGinn Cassidy, 2006). The second step is to discuss the persons own goals and dreams for the future with them. This involves sitting down with the service user in what they feel is a safe environment, so that they can reveal their dreams to you without feeling threatened or embarrassed about them. You then document the service users goals in their PCP file and move onto step three which is to plan a meeting. The meeting is entirely the service users choice. They get to decide who attends, where it is, when it is and what exactly will be discussed. It is simply our job to facilitate them by giving them any help or support they might need. The meeting itself is then step four. In the company of the service user and whoever they had wished to have at the meeting you work out what has to done is the coming weeks and months to achieve the service users targets. The fifth and final step is to implement everything that had gone before. It is now that the staff starts working on achieving the agreed goals. Any progress gained should be recorded in a progress plan form. A review sheet must also be completed at the end of each month and at the six month review meeting (McGinn Cassidy, 2006). The staff involved in the Person Centred Planning process, play a crucial role and have extremely important responsibilities in ensuring the process is a success. Person centred planning requires that staff adopt a flexible and responsive approach to meeting peoples changing needs and circumstances, guided by general principles of good practice rather than standard procedures (Sanderson, 2000). It is important that the staff do not underestimate the scale of the task and should allow sufficient time for it to be completed. Initially the process involves identifying people who are likely to support the idea and then, running some information and basic training sessions for everyone likely to be directly involved, impacted or called upon for support (McGinn, 2006). The unit manager also plays an important role in the Person Centred Planning process. Managers have a significant role to play in enabling staff teams to adopt a person centred approach (Sanderson, 2000). Sanderson advocates that managers extend the principles of person centred planning to their staff teams, in order to develop what she describes as person centred teams (McGinn, 2006). There are characteristics that a person centred team leader needs in order to be successful. Some of these include being able to bring the best out in people, having a clear vision and direction, encouraging personal involvement with the people being supported and investing in community connections (Sanderson, 2003). The leader of this process needs to develop a very clear understanding of the key principles and processes of Person Centred Planning (McGinn, 2006). The leader must ensure that staff work together as a team and not as individuals which will only drag the process in different directions, accomplishing nothing. They must ensure that there is good, ongoing communication at individual plan level. It is also their job to maintain and update plans over time or assign somebody the role of doing so. At a more general level, it is important to establish a routine process of monitoring, evaluating reviewing and developing the way person centred planning is being done, so as to ensure it is having a positive effect on lives and services. Every effort should be made to ensure that the role and responsibilities of every individual, group and organisation participating in the person centred planning process is clearly understood and agreed by them and adequately supported (McGinn, 2006). Success will be achieved will the Person Centred Plan if the staff team ensure that the needs of the service user are met to the greatest extent possible, consistent with their responsibility to assess risks involved and ensure that they are acceptable and considered. It is also necessary that they build a closer relationship with the service user in order to become more acutely aware of their needs and wishes. The staff team must ensure that all risks are identified and action is taken to minimise them. They must seek to maximise opportunities for the service users self development, self esteem and independence in order to realise their fullest potential (McGinn, 2006). Finally the role of the Key worker is crucial to the success of the Person Centred Plan. The Key workers objectives are to develop a close and positive relationship with the service user. They must also work co-operatively with other staff, family, external services/professionals etc, on the service users behalf to ensure that a quality service is provided. The Key workers team role is to enable the team to effectively support the service user. To do this the Key worker must listen to others, respect and support team members, maintain commitment and communicate effectively. The Key worker enables the service user to advocate for themselves, develop new skills and build enjoyable relationships with others (McGinn, 2006). There are of course challenges to implementing Person Centred Planning. The need for everyone to develop a new perspective on people with disabilities is defiantly one of the larger ones. For a goal like that to be reached it will take a global effort and one that is not easily achieved. Other challenges include the need for a new general perspective on services, resistance to change and risks and learning curves (McGinn, 2006). All of this was being carried out on a constant basis in RehabCare Cavan while I was there. Sitting in on meetings between the key workers and the service users was an eye opening experience. It also really stood out to me just how much Unconditional Positive Regard is used in services and why it is so crucially important in a programme such as Person Centred Planning. Without it the programme would be a complete failure. The entire PCP programme worked well while I was on my placement. It was being managed very sufficiently and all staff members had an excellent relationship with each other. I personally felt that I helped the staff to show unconditional positive regard towards the service users when they were finding it tough. Most importantly I have learned and witnessed just how positive an impact the PCP programme can have on the service users when managed properly. Seeing the delight on service users faces when they achieved goals which would have been impossible without Person Centred Plans made me realise how much they need the programme and educated social care workers to manage it for them. Critical Reflective Paper My twelve week placement in RehabCare Cavan provided me with sufficient opportunities for learning and to enhance my social care knowledge, skills and values. Throughout the duration of my placement I enjoyed the experience of working with a vast variety of service users most of whom had disabilities and problems that were completely unique to themselves within the centre. I also had the chance to compare my skills as a social care worker with a number of people from different occupations including social care workers, community nurses and psychologists. They all both worked together as a team and then as individuals. Overall my placement in RehabCare Cavan was an immensely enjoyable and positive experience. There were however, a number of difficulties to deal with along the way. These included challenging behaviours from the service users and limitations from the staff. Altogether though, I believe my placement would not have been as educational had it not been for the combination o f positive and negative factors. The part of my placement which I feel most facilitated my learning was working with the inter-disciplinary team. This team consists of a list of professionals from different occupations and also collaborates with the parents or friends or next of kin for each of the service users. The service user decides who they wish to have present at the meeting from their family or friends. There are strong positive relationships between the different members of the team. At the beginning of my placement I found it quite overwhelming and complicated to understand how a team consisting of so many people managed to perform sufficiently and how mistakes werent made. I also struggled to understand how there was need for so many individuals and how they each had their own unique role within the group. At first I just sat in the corner of the room and observed the team meetings. I felt I didnt know the clients well enough to make contributions and that the staff didnt know me well enough to be able to justify accepting my contributions. It was my job for the first few weeks to simply sit, observe and analyse what was being discussed and proposed within these meetings. Over the following days and weeks I started to become more familiar with the staff, the service users and the cases. I began to feel more confident interacting with the staff and service users and believed I had a place within the centre. I could see advantages of using the interdisciplinary team system, however I quickly realised too that mistakes were made. These mistakes were few though and no system or person is flawless so they were generally accepted as small human errors and rectified. Each team member had adequate knowledge of the other team members, their profession and their disciplines. This allowed each team member to answer questions and give guidance, even if was only to tell the person involved which team member was most likely to solve their problems. As my placement progressed I was able to become more involved with the staff as I became more aware and familiar with each case. By having the opportunity to observe and ultimately work with the different professionals i nvolved I was able to gain valuable knowledge and skills relevant to each discipline which will prove valuable throughout the rest of my course and beginning of my own professional career. One aspect of the service or the centre which limited my learning was unfortunately due to cutbacks. Due to lack of funds the service was severely understaffed which meant there was an extremely heavy workload on the remaining staff members. This in turn meant that there were long periods were they had work to do and I was unable to participate. During these periods I would socialise with the service users, talking to them, playing games with them and helping them in whatever way possible. Although from a professional perspective this reduced my learning experience, personally it greatly increased it. It was during this time that I got to know the service users, their likes and dislikes, their personal ambitions and most importantly, what it was like for them individually growing up in the community with their disabilities and how RehabCare has greatly improved their lives and self-esteem. I felt that it was this information that would help and inspire me to progress through my place ment and academic years ahead. While on my placement I took a leading role in facilitating a few programmes in particular for the service users. As I have a great interest in sport personally I became involved in all sport related programmes with the service users. Every Tuesday six service users went swimming and I accompanied them. I observed how much excitement and pleasure they got on a weekly basis out of this one simple activity. I also got involved with a soccer programme with the service users. As I have a good knowledge of the game I took some training sessions with them and helped them develop their skills. They are hoping to compete and win out a regional RehabCare Soccer tournament in the New Year. I also became heavily involved in programmes that were not sport related. I helped set up a woodwork programme which had not existed before I arrived. I trained the service users in the basic skills of carpentry and through this they learned how to work on a project as a team, but most importantly they could see that they were making a difference and that their project was evolving into beautiful furniture. I witnessed a sense of pride amongst the service users that was almost unprecedented. A pleasure as small as completing a piece of furniture was enough to have them busting with pride for days. Overall the programme was a remarkable success. I am particularly proud of this group as I feel this is an area in which I was able to apply a lot of knowledge and skills to that nobody else in the centre could have. One other Key programme which I participated in was the Writing skills programme. The activities or skills that were focused on during this programme were writing, pronunciation and basic maths skills. Under these heading we worked on different needs of each client which included spelling, counting and oral communication skills. As this was a continuous weekly programme I had the opportunity to observe these service users as week by week they worked in their weaknesses and I could observe a marked improvement from when I first arrived. I was able to monitor their progress and have evaluated that it was a very effective programme. I was able to contribute my knowledge towards the class which meant that more progress was gained in the same length of time. One aspect which I feel contributed positively towards my learning was working with and witnessing the staff handle particular cases which involved serious and cautious matters involving the service users. Examples of these cases are when violence is threatened by service users or a case where one service user was being unfairly manipulated into giving away the money they earned on social benefit. The staff team in RehabCare are quite a close-knit team and conduct their work very professionally. Working alongside them was an extremely positive experience and I had no problems in asking them questions when I had queries. The staff all worked together in serious cases and did not just leave it to the service users Key worker. I could see that this was an extremely effective and positive way for them to operate as each staff member brought their own ideas and together they were able to formulate a plan more effectively than if it were just one of them. Initially I was too nervous to mak e contributions myself but as the weeks passed I began to make a few suggestions some of which were used in solving certain cases. As a result of my experiences on placement I have significantly enhanced many of my social care skills and values and expanded my knowledge. One particular area in which I feel more confident in is my communication skills with a range of professionals and services, especially when communicating with people who suffer with intellectual disabilities. I gained experience and built my ability to show empathy and unconditional positive regard, particularly when being on the receiving end of insults. It is essential that social care workers have the ability to demonstrate empathy to allow them to be more responsive to the service users needs and build better relationships based on trust and honesty. Learning about the Person Centred Planning approach was probably the most valuable information I gained. I saw firsthand how well the plan works when managed sufficiently. It is a goal based system, focusing on what the service user wants to achieve in their lives. It is person focused which is the secret to is success and why it is so popular. The medication procedures in the supported accommodation branch of RehabCare were extremely interesting. The service user had to put their pills into an egg cup and then swallow them all. The support worker then had to check the service users mouth to make sure they were all swallowed. I realised then the extreme of the medication policy within RehabCare. I found it rather unsettling that the support worker had to look into the service users mouth to make sure the medication had been swallowed. Previous to distributing the medication each daily dose had to be counted to make sure that the pharmacy didnt make any mistakes while distributing it. It was surprisingly frequent how often the pharmacy had made mistakes. In conclusion my time spent on work placement has been an invaluable experience to me. I have learnt and developed many skills that will be a great attribute to me in my career as a social care practitioner. Some of these skills have included learning how to manage a Person Centred Plan, gaining practical experience in solving a wide variety of cases involving people with intellectual disabilities, improving my overall knowledge on disability awareness and most importantly learning that I can make a positive impact in any social care field that I wish to pursue. I am fully aware that becoming a successful, fully trained social care worker does not happen overnight but takes years of hard work and practice. However, seeing the positive impact that I can make of peoples lives with my career is the inspiration I need to go on and succeed. It is a long journey to get where I want to be, one that started years ago and is set to continue for a good time to come. This journey will change wh o I am, will change who I will become but only for the better. With the knowledge that I am gaining from my social care class, the lessons I am learning about myself I am sure that I will evolve into a fully competent and successful social care practitioner. Personal Learning Account Profile For the purpose of this placement, I have received a position in RehabCare Cavan, working with the Programme Facilitators at the facility. RehabCare is the health and social care division of the Rehab Group. Their aim is to enhance the lives of all of their clients through the provision of high quality, flexible, person centred services. They presently provide and are developing a number of services, including Resource Centres, Residential Services, Respite Care, Supported Accommodation and Home Based Services for people with disabilities. The role of the Programme Facilitator in the facility is to report to the Community Service Manager through the Programmes Supervisor. The Programme Facilitators facilitate service users in their choices, developing programmes within the context of a person centred model of service delivery. The programmes may include independent living, personal development and occupational and leisure activities within the context of a quality of life model. For this placement, there are a number of personal attributes and learned knowledge which will assist in getting maximum benefit from completing placement with the Programme Facilitators. Some personal attributes which play an important role in the social care role are patience, understanding, kindness and the ability to apply learned knowledge to a specific situation. Having talked to one of the Programme Facilitators I also became aware that being open-minded, compassionate flexible and a good listener play particularly important roles in this service. These are all equally important attributes as at different times they can individually and collectively be the difference between dealing well any given situation in comparison to dealing poorly with it. Due to the unfortunate discrimination that, many of the older service users received when they were younger, the Programme Facilitator must take an understanding therapeutic approach when working with these service users. For this to be successful the Programme Facilitator must apply Carl Rogers conditions for the outcome to be successful. Rogers created three conditions which a service user must believe are present b efore a therapeutic relationship can develop. These are empathetic understanding, congruence and unconditional positive regard (Sherry and Lalor, 2009). The skills and knowledge that I gained through Creative Studies (both art and drama), will play a great role in helping me assist the Programme Facilitators, in trying to ensure the service users get the best experience possible from the service. Arts and Crafts as well as drama are programmes which receive a lot of focus from the Programme Facilitators at the facility. A good understanding of people with disabilities which I gained from modules, such as Issues in Social Care and Theories in Social Care along with, reading Applied Social Care by Perry Share and Kevin Lalor will assist me throughout my placement. Also the knowledge that I gained doing woodwork in secondary school will be of great benefit, as the Programme Supervisor is planning on starting up a woodwork programme for the service users but no Programme Facilitator has any experience in the field. Communication plays a crucial role in working in RehabCare or any organisation which is designed to fit the needs of adults with intellectual disabilities. Listening is a function which we do every day without paying much notice to the information we are obtaining. However, in a facility such as RehabCare the ability to listen to clients and then digest what they are saying is of crucial importance. The ability to listen attentively to service users problems and concerns and to then support them in whatever form necessary is a skill that cannot be replaced. Considering the fragile state of mind of many of the service users you must always be compassionate when listening to them and your response must be swift. Needs Analysis Within the learning contract there are a number of objectives identified as part of key learning. Enclosed in the professional learning objectives, the task is outlined of using and critiquing social care theories. As a second year social care student I felt that it was important for me to identify theories and then critique them and recognise limitations within the theories structure and their application to real life situations. My personal learning objectives surrounded interactions with the service users. I was lacking confidence and very unsure of myself when I first started my placement. The staff were very supportive though and within a few days I found my confidence improved dramatically and with it so did my effectiveness in helping the staff and having a controlling but compassionate authority over the service users. I became firm and assertive when dealing with problematic service users and fights between them. I hope my abilities and confidence continue to grow in this ar ea which will leave me in a very strong position by the time my placement is completed. Showing Unconditional Positive Regard towards some of the service users is something I struggled with for the first few days. It was left difficult when service users were constantly rude, disruptive and fighting. I have felt myself improving though and believe over the next few weeks I will have perfected it. During my induction week I had numerous policies and procedures to familiarise myself with. There are policies and procedures regarding health and safety, fire evacuation, risk management, prevent and control, child and adult protection, swine flu, confidentiality, medication policy and staff supervision etc. A basic knowledge of these policies and procedures is paramount in order for me to play an effective and positive role during my placement. Action Planning and Activity Throughout the course of this placement, I shall partake in a number of activities with the service users, which will assist me in meeting my learning objectives. Areas of activity include practical work such as arts and crafts and woodwork while sports and drama both play key roles in the centre too. Communication skills and independent living skills have a high priority too, as RehabCare is an organisation, designed to bridge the gap from full support to independent living. Assisting the programme facilitators in training the service users through these programmes, I felt I would meet my learning objectives. The programmes are usually done on a 10(service users)-2(programme facilitator and myself) basis. I will have several opportunities to practice my communication skills as I will have to give my input and express my opinion in different cases involving different service users and different programme facilitators. Through the communications programme I will also get a chance to train some of the users in the basic forms of communication, i.e. teach them how to, write a letter to a friend, use the telephone and practice various verbal and non- verbal communication skills. During the placement it is highly important that I test a number of theories which I learned through academic means. Through applying theories to real life situations, and recognising when a theory is used, the applicability and usefulness of the theory should be examined. As a social care student, the ability to recognise the limitations within theories will assist in identifying the best practice for the service user. I can practice this in different programmes and in free time that I spend just talking to the service users. Throughout placement knowledge of policies and procedures surrounding disability awareness will be obtained through dealing with the different cases and service users. I will have to familiarise myself with all government and RehabCare policies and procedures. I shall also become aware of them through hands on work throughout the duration of my placement. Evaluation A consideration of the learning goals following the completion of the placement, there is a sense of achievement as I believe all learning goals were reached and an in dept knowledge of disability awareness and the role of a programme facilitator were gained. I believe I successfully completed identifying and applying theories. I was very happy with my supervision classes as I was able to discuss with my supervisor what I did well and what I did not so well. I was able to discuss troubling issues which I had witnessed and discover the background stories and mental reasons for such incidents arising. Treating the service users with empathy and unconditional positive regard proved crucial time and time again as I managed to keep the service users trust in compromising and threatening situations. It also allowed some of the service users to open up about their feelings and their lives. Due to their mental disabilities some service users wouldnt disclose such information while others would have without being treated with empathy or unconditional positive regard. They didnt know any different. An example of where these theories didnt work was when a service user threatened violence against both myself and the staff members in the centre. This situation arose on numerous occasions. There was a considerable improvement in my communication skills throughout my placement. I was slightly shy on my first day in the centre both with staff and the service users. It took me the length of the induction week to overcome this shyness and be able to give a genuine account of myself. By the time my placement was completed shyness was a problem of the past and communication was free flowing between me and the service users. An example of this communication is when I took programmes with up to ten service users and took a teacher like approach with them. I regularly took the writing skills programme which involved me stand

aztecs: Incas :: essays research papers

Aztecs: Incas   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  At the time the Spaniards arrived to the New World they found different Indian civilizations with many similitude and differences. In Mexico the Spaniards found a very stable empire called the Aztecs; the Aztec empire controlled a region stretching from the Valley of Mexico in central Mexico east to the Gulf of Mexico and south to Guatemala. The Aztec built great cities and developed a complex social, political, and religious structure. Spaniards found another Indian civilization called Incas Empire; it was a vast kingdom in the Andes Mountains of South America, but at the time of the Spaniards conquest the empire was in a huge crisis caused by the death of their leader. Before the crisis, the Inca government system was among the most complex political organizations of many Native American cultures. Although the Incas lacked both a written language and the concept of the wheel, they built large stone structures without mortar and constructed suspension bridges and roads that crossed the steep mountain valleys of the Andes. These two empires were passing for different situations at the moment of the contact; finally the Spaniards obtained the control and star controlling the empires.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Aztec Empire was a Native American state that ruled much of what is now Mexico from about 1428 until 1521, when the empire which was very stable; The Aztecs empire was conquered by the Spaniards. The Aztecs empire represented the highest point in the development of the rich Aztec civilization that had begun more than a century earlier. The Aztec built great cities and developed a complex social, political, and religious structure. Their capital, Tenochtitlà ¡n, was located on the site of present-day Mexico City. Tenochtitlà ¡n was an elaborate metropolis built on islands and reclaimed marsh land, Tenochtitlà ¡n was possibly the largest city in the world at the time of the Spanish conquest. Tenochtitlà ¡n featured a huge temple complex, a royal palace, and numerous canals. Aztec cities were also dominated by giant stone pyramids topped by temples where human sacrifices were dedicated to their Gods.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Aztec society was highly structured, based on agriculture, and guided by a religion that pervaded every aspect of life. The Aztec worshiped Gods represented natural forces that were vital to their agricultural economy. Although Aztec society had strict classes, a person’s status could change based on his or her contribution to society. The society was divided into different classes like for example the leader, the nobility, local rulers, military, priestly, artisans, and commoners (Class notes from 5/12/05).

Toni Morrison and Elizabeth Fox-Genovese :: Biography Biographies Essays

Toni Morrison and Elizabeth Fox-Genovese In this I essay will be discussing two unique authors, Toni Morrison and Elizabeth Fox-Genovese. Morrison is a Nobel Prize winning author, and Fox-Genovese, is a history professor at Harvard. Both of these women have interesting perspectives on race and gender. According to the articles I have read, Toni and Fox-Genovese claim the way people view women and minorities is wrong. In a Vibe Magazine interview, Toni claims that In a recent British nanny case, there was "complaint about the mother not being home with child...she she should have been home with her children, said some people" (Vibe 1998 p.2). Morrison states that it would be an entirely different situation, had the mother been a poor black women. A black women "should work, even if that work is taking care of somebady else's children" (Vibe 1998). This is a wrong way to look at things; "we fought a long time to have 'Women taking care of children' understood to be work. Now its understood to be something else" (Vibe 1998 p.3). According to Toni, people size up who you are by what you look like, what your name is, and by what you do. However this is only "part of who you are. When I was a little girl, a man came up to me and said, 'are you a Willis?' - referring to my mother's maiden name-'I thought so, by the way you walk.' I moved to New York and people said, 'What do you do' So you say' I'm a writer..but you that's only part of who you are" (Vibe 1998 p.3). Often people wrap their identity in what they do. This can be troublesome when your not performing to someones expectations, one might think there is some thing wrong with who they are, which is not true. The same thing applies to gender and race. It is unfair to already have a preconcieved notion about someone without checking him or her out first. Fox-Genovese claims that many articles of literature exclude certain people. Like Morrison, Fox-Genovese agrees that elite culture "denied the values and perceptions of all others and imposed itself as an absolute standard" (Fox-Genovese 1998).

Entrepreuer :: GCSE Business Marketing Coursework

Entrepreuer Entrepreneur, one who assumes the responsibility and the risk for a business operation with the expectation of making a profit, the entrepreneur generally decides on the product, acquires the facilities, and brings together the labor force, capital, and production materials. If the business succeeds, the entrepreneur reaps the reward of profits; if it fails, he or she takes the loss. Entrepreneurial leadership is vital to an individual and to a corporation?s success. Entrepreneurial firms are a major source of innovation and change. They create jobs, new tax revenues, and other transfers of money. At a time when U.S. productivity growth is lagging behind other countries, and when our large corporations are laying off workers and focusing on core businesses, entrepreneurial firms assume a more significant role; They do what large companies are not doing The process itself consists of the set of activities necessary to identify an opportunity, develop a business concept, and then manag e and harvest the venture. As a process, it has applicability to organizations of all sizes and types. The entrepreneurship construct has three underlying dimensions: innovativeness, or the development of novel or unique products, services or processes; risk-taking, or willingness to pursue opportunities having a reasonable chance of costly failure; and proactive ness, or an emphasis on persistence and creativity in overcoming obstacles until the innovative concept is fully implemented. In 1953 the US government created an independent agency called the Small Business Administration. Its functions are to make loans to small businesses unable to obtain financing from private sources on reasonable terms, to help small firms sell

Universal Education

11 important Problems of Universalization of Education and their Remedies SWASTIK Universalization of Elementary Education is Constitutional directive. Education is every body's birth-right and it is binding on any government to provide facilities for education for children who are born and reach the school-going age. It was stipulated to achieve Universalization within 10 years from the introduction of Constitution and that is by 1960. But it is now more than three decades after the scheduled time.Now the problems with certain possible remedies to solve them have been discussed as follows: (1) Faulty Policy of Government: The constitutional directive is that states shall endeavour to provide free and compulsory education to all children until they complete the age of 14 years. But it is a matter of regret that the prescribed goal has not been reached as yet. The main cause for this is that the policy of Government was based on idealism. Basic education was accepted as the form of na tional education.Being inspired with this aim, work started to convert the existing primary schools into basic schools. India is a vast country with a very large population. Money was too much in shortage for implementation of so expensive a scheme of conversion of a large number of Elementary Schools. Government has also admitted this. In such a situation, the best policy would have been to make separate treatment for the basic schools along with the general primary and middle schools. (2) Political Difficulties: Education is the basis of democracy.It is necessary to educate the citizens in order to make democracy a success. But so far the Government of India has not been able to devote their full attention towards education. Main reason is that since the attainment of Independence, Government had to face the problems of food, of inimical neighbours, the problem of Kashmir, the problem of linguistic states etc. Those problems still exist and these problems have all along forced to allocate so much money that Government has not been able to devote their due attention for elementary education.The Government is responsible to solve the political problems; the Government is also duty-bound for smooth progress of public education. On no account, this indifference of Government towards universal primary education could be justified. (3) Faulty Administration of Education: In most of the states the responsibility of universal primary education is on the authorities of Blocks, Municipalities and Educational Districts. The progress of expansion of primary education gets slow because of the indifference and incapability of these institutions.In fact, it is the responsibility of the nation to educate its citizens. It is necessary that the Government of India should take upon itself the sacred work of universal enrolment and universal retention at the Elementary stage. In fact it is the responsibility of the action to educate its citizens. (4) Dearth of Money: Inadequacy of money is a serious problem that confronts primary schools. Income of the local institutions responsible for primary education is so much limited that they are totally incapable of meeting the expenditure of compulsory education.To meet the requirements of compulsory basis education it was estimated that an annual expenditure of Rs. 269. 5 crores will be required. But in the First Five Year Plan the allocation was Rs. 93 crores and this allocation was reduced to Rs. 89 crores in the Second Plan. So sincere and honest efforts should be made to educate as many children as possible so as to banish illiteracy to the maximum extent possible. Only after abolition of illiteracy, quality of education as a matter of importance should come. (5) Dearth of Trained Teachers: There is shortage of trained teachers to make Elementary Education Universal and compulsory.Nowadays, the young teachers do not wish to work in rural areas. But the fact remains that majority of Primary Schools are in rur al areas. The chief reason of non-availability of suitable teachers is that teaching work is not attractive for many persons, since the salary of primary teachers is hopelessly low. The condition of Scheduled areas is still more miserable. The hilly and impassable jungle areas with very poor communication and transport facilities fail to attract the present day luxury-loving young men.Teachers should be provided with proper residence in the villages of their work. The question of Women teachers is very much special. So the question of teacher's quarters, residential schools, especially residential Ashram Schools in the Scheduled areas should be provided. The quality of teachers can be improved by executing a training progrmme for the untrained teachers in service on basis of study-leave basis. (6) Establishment and School Buildings: Even the Third and Fourth All India Educational Surveys indicate that even now there are lakhs of villages and habitations without schools.There are nea rly 4 lakhs schoolless villages in India which are to be given schools. It is not that easy to provide necessary funds for setting up such a large number of schools with buildings and other equipments. In order to meet this problem of new buildings along with the existing schools in private houses, temples, verandah of rich persons, residence of teachers etc. should be met by construction of low cost houses of thatch or tile with local materials; looking to the weather conditions of certain places open air stands may be taken up in the ShantiNiketan pattern.All the same, the Primary schools should have accommodations of their own as far as practicable. Problem of school houses along with the problem of lack of teachers in all the primary schools can be solved through shift system in the existing schools. In order to enrol the additional age-group 6-14 children additional section rooms should be constructed. (7) Unsuitable Curriculum: The curriculum for primary schools is narrow and unsuitable to the local needs. The curriculum should be interesting for the children for its continuance.Learning by work should replace the emphasis on monotonous bookish knowledge. Education of craft should be given in the primary schools in accordance with the local needs and requirements. But the schemes of craft education in the primary schools should not of highly expensive ones. (8) Wastage and Stagnation: It is another major problem and great obstacle for universalization of Elementary Education. Out of every 100 students enrolled in class – I more than half leave schools by Class IV, only 32 pupils reach class V and only 26 reach class VIII.This is due to the lack of educational atmosphere, undesirable environment, lack of devoted teachers, poor economic condition of parents, absence of proper equipment etc. In order to check such massive wastage and stagnation at the primary stage, existing educational system and curriculum should be reformed, teaching method should be interesting, school buildings should be adequate and neat and clean, and the parents should be educated. These may help the problem of wastage and stagnation to be solved. (9) Natural Obstacles: Natural barriers are the great obstacles in the way of expansion of compulsory education.The village and small habitations in areas of Himalayan regions, Kashmir, Garhwal, Almora with less population are situated in distances apart. So also the desert areas in Rajasthan, the dense forest areas in Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Assam and many Southern States create problems for expected enrolment. These are very very difficult areas with lack of communication and of Education and School Organization absence of transport. It is desirable to make provision, for schooling facilities even in small habitations without leaving much for mobility of small children in the severe cold, heat or heavy rains 10) Social Evils: Social evils like superstition, illiteracy faith in ancient conventions and customs , child marriages, untouchability, pardah system etc. create innumerable obstacle in the expansion of compulsory primary education. Still man; persons get their sons and daughters married at a very minor age against the Child Marriage Prohibition Act and deprive these school-going children of the fruits of education. Because of illiteracy and ignorance these social evils grow. The educated young men and women should volunteer themselves to remove these evils of society in their neighbourhood.Against these social evils, the work of expansion of universal enrolment should not be slackened, since social evils flourish because of illiteracy and ignorance. (11) Language Problem: 1961 Census reports about 826 languages and 1652 dialects in the country. The Constitution of India, 1950 mentions 14 languages, which can be made medium of education. Compulsory education has not been fully introduced among the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and denotified tribes in the country. This is d ue to the hindrances of languages as medium of education.In the Five Year Plans the incentive programmes of free text-books, free uniform, stipends in hostels, and conversion of Residential Ashram Schools etc. do not improve matters much. The responsibility of education of these castes and tribes, who are staggering under the weight of misery and poverty for centuries, should not be left alone on Govt. Voluntary and philanthropic organization and people should come forward to assist the Government in this sacred and significant work of the nation.

What Were the Problems Facing a Newly Independent India After the Partition of 1947

August, 14, 1947 and August, 15, 1947 the Indian partition of 1947 was created and it granted Indian its freedom from its 350 year of British ruling. After India’s freedom was granted it was divided into two states which were Dominion of Pakistan later known as Islamic republic of Pakistan and Union of India later known as Republic of India. Right after the partition of 1947, it declared that it was leader or King of the state to decide if the state should follow the Muslim or a Hindu religion. This Policy separated the people of India and Pakistan, and caused a lot of hatred between both sides.This policy also cause huge problems because some states would have a huge population of Hindus, and the king would be Muslim which made Hindus follow the beliefs and religious acts of the Muslims. Since this policy was cause of the partition of 1947 it made Muslims in India to migrate to Pakistan, and Hindu’s in Pakistan migrate to India, in between this transition or migration, there were many riots, looting, and rapes which left both countries in devastation and a breakdown of the civil government.The breakdown of the civil government, made it impossible for an army to restore order preventing any crimes such as murders or arson by locals. The newly formed governments were completely unequipped to deal with migrations of such staggering magnitude, and massive violence and slaughter occurred on both sides of the border. Estimates of the number of deaths range around roughly 500,000, with low estimates at 200,000 and high estimates at 1,000,000. If there were an army to restore order there would be less people killed during this tragic event.Hindu Sindhis would have remained in Sindh following the Partition, if wasn’t for the violence that erupted, when massive amounts of Urdu speaking Muslims started pouring into Sindh. They began attacking the Hindu population. Before the announcement of the Partition, there were 1,400,000 Hindu Sindhis in their a ncestral land Sindh. However, in a space of less than a year approximately 1,200,000 Hindus Sindhis fled their homes, most of them leaving with little more than the clothes on their bodies.The province of Bengal was divided into the two separate entities of West Bengal which went to India, and East Bengal which went to Pakistan. East Bengal later was renamed to East Pakistan, and later became the independent nation of Bangladesh after the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971 also known as the indo-Pakistan war of 1971. Kashmir was created in 1846 after its victory in the first Angelo-Sikh war. Kashmir was a princely state in the British Empire in India. The princely state lasted until 1948.After the Indian partition of 1947 was pass it gave princely states of India a choice to move to India or Pakistan or stay independent. The ruler of Kashmir wanted to remain independent which led to a war which is known as the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947 which was fought between Pakistan and Indian ov er the region of Kashmir. The war lasted a year and it was first war between the two newly independent nations. Early November 1947, India attack successfully broke through enemy defenses.Even though the attack was such an early success the Indian army suffered a setback in December of that year because of logistical problems. These problems gave the forces of Azad Kashmir to take the initiative and force the Indian troops to retreat from the Border States which the war was taken place. Azad Kashmir was also known as free Kashmir because it was part of Kashmir that was under control by Pakistanis. By spring of 1948, the Indian had another offensive to retake some of the ground that it had lost.Fearing that the war might move into Pakistan property, the Pakistani army became more actively involved. As the problem escalated more and more, the Indian leadership was quick to realize that the war could not be brought to an end unless Pakistan stops aiding the Azad Kashmir forces. The Ind ian government sought United Nations mediation of the conflict on December 31, 1947. There was some opposition to this move within the cabinet by those who did not agree with referring the Kashmir dispute to the United Nations.The United Nations mediation process brought the war to an end on January 1. The mediation force Pakistan to retreat its forces, while letting India to maintain some strength of its forces in the state to preserve some law and order. It gave Pakistan two-fifths of Kashmir and India maintaining the remind three fifths of Kashmir which included the most populous and fertile regions. This war caused 1500 soldiers died on each side. On August 5, 1965 the second Indo-Pakistani war took place. The conflict was also over Kashmir, it also started without a formal declaration of war.The war was started by Pakistan, Pakistan also though it was great timing to start this war with India because they assumed that India’s military would be unable to defend against a quick military campaign in Kashmir. The first major battle in this war between Pakistan and India took place on August 15, when Indian forces scored a major victory after a prolonged artillery barrage and took over three important mountains positions in the northern sector. A month later, Pakistan counter attacked, which moved the war near Tithwal, Uri, and Punch.This attack provoked India to thrust into Azad Kashmir. India also had other forces gain position on other mountains and eventually took over Haji Pir Pass which was eight kilometers into Pakistan territory. India’s claiming Haji Pir Pass, made Pakistani move all forces to the southern sector in Punjab, to catch Indian forces of guard which was a success and India suffered a heavy loss. On September 20th the UN passed a resolution which called for a cease fire which ended the war on September 23. India lost 3,000 and Pakistani lost 3,800 during this war.Both sides signed a declaration on January 10, 1966 which requir ed both sides to move all positions that was held during the war. The declaration also reached an agreement on the new cease fire line on June 30, 1965. The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a nine month long conflict between the people of then East Pakistan and the military rulers of Pakistan, which ended in two week long armed conflict between Mukti Bahini aided by India against Pakistan in December of 1971. India intervened on behalf of East Pakistan, later Bangladesh, in its civil war with West Pakistan.The war began as the Pakistani Civil War . A conflict between the traditionally dominant West Pakistanis and the East Pakistanis whose Awami League party had won the most seats in the 1970 Pakistani election and who claimed the right to form the government. The largely West Pakistani military was called in by President Yahya Khan. After several days of rioting on the morning of March 25 the citizens of Dhaka woke to discover the city shut down by the military. Mass arrests of dissid ents began, and attempts were made to disarm the East Pakistani members of the armed forces.The Awami League was banned and its members began to flee into exile in India. As the month progressed the situation developed into a full scale civil war. The West Pakistani army began killing thousands and the East Pakistanis armed themselves forming Mukti Bahini guerilla group. Ziaur Rahman, a major in the Pakistani army formed a government in exile in India and proclaimed an independent Bangladesh. The East Pakistan Rifles, an elite paramilitary force defected and joined the rebellion. On December 3 the Pakistani air force launched sorties on eight airfields in northern India.It was based on the Arab- Israeli six day war and the success of the Israeli preemptive strike. The Indians had anticipated such a move and the raid was a resounding failure. The next day the Indian forces responded with a coordinated and massive air, sea, and land assault on East Pakistan. Against the West the India military mounted smaller probing attacks designed to pin down Pakistani forces. In the East a five pronged land assault quickly routed the Pakistani forces. The Indians repeatedly broke through Pakistani defenses and outflanked and outfought the Pakistani defenders.On December 16 the Pakistani forces in East Pakistan surrendered. The next day Indira Gandhi announced a unilateral cease fire, to which Pakistan agreed. In conclusion I think the aftermath partition of 1947 was horrible and led to many wars. As you can see three different wars took place and two of the war’s conflicts were almost the same. I felt all these problems should have been handled a little differently meaning without the wars because it led to many deaths. But in the end of the wars it reached to an agreement and most of the agreements were successful.