Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Motivation in Burger King Essay

All employees who undergo training at Burger King are not charged however they are expected to fund for the normal living expenses such as commuting and accommodation costs.  For new employees such as till staff and kitchen staff Burger King has a ‘Right Track Training Programme’ to ensure they have the best start to Burger King. This training programme is a comprehensive induction and training programme covering everything from Health & Safety and Food safety through to working in the dining area, front counter or kitchen and how to make each product. Through providing an induction to all new staff it allows new staff to see how they’ll be working, where they’ll be working and who their fellow employees are. Also how things are done to help them fit in.  Burger King believes that all their employees will learn what they need to know by shadowing which is when they work alongside others as well as using their new interactive DVD Programmes. It would be beneficial for Burger King to carry out an appraisal system but instead of annually it may be more favourable for them to be carried out every few months. This would then help employees to see what they are working well at and what things to improve on; these could then be made into targets which success could result in promotion or pay rise. The quicker employees feel wanted, the quicker they are earning money for Burger King. From reviewing staff progress more frequently it may give employees more motivation to stay working at Burger King for a longer period as they now have aims and goals which could improve their career. This would mean less training costs for Burger King and also in the long run a low staff turnover. At present I believe the techniques that Burger King is using to train their employees and managers, such as shadowing and induction programmes are effective in what they are doing. However, if Burger King want to ensure that employees stay in the job for a longer period it may be beneficial for them to do other training techniques such as training weekends away. This will build team skills and also allow employees to interact with staff from other sectors in which they work in. Motivation in Burger King In this section I am going to explore the different motivational theorists and see how their theories affect Burger King.  Motivation is having the desire and willingness to do something. A motivated person can be reaching for either a long-term goal or a short term goal. Motivation is important as if employees are motivated to work; it increases the quality of products and therefore the reputation of a business. This is a major factor within Burger King as they are known for a high staff turnover. However, if their staff were more motivated and saw the long term opportunities for working for Burger King, they may be more willing to stay on and try for promotion.

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Fiber Optic Connector Assembly Essay

The three fiber geometry parameters that have the greatest impact on splicing performance include the following: Cladding diameter—the outside diameter of the cladding glass region. core/clad concentricity (or core-to-cladding offset)—how well the core is centered in the cladding glass region fiber curl—the amount of curvature over a fixed length of fiber These parameters are determined and controlled during the fiber-manufacturing process. As fiber is cut and spliced according to system needs, it is important to be able to count on consistent geometry along the entire length of the fiber and between fibers and not to rely solely on measurements made. The cladding diameter tolerance controls the outer diameter of the fiber, with tighter tolerances ensuring that fibers are almost exactly the same size. During splicing, inconsistent cladding diameters can cause cores to misalign where the fibers join, leading to higher splice losses. The drawing process controls cladding diameter tolerance, and depending on the manufacturer’s skill level, can be very tightly controlled. Tighter core/clad concentricity tolerances help ensure that the fiber core is centered in relation to the cladding. This reduces the chance of ending up with cores that do not match up precisely when two fibers are spliced together. A core that is precisely centered in the fiber yields lower-loss splices more often. Core/clad concentricity is determined during the first stages of the manufacturing process, when the fiber design and resulting characteristics are created. During these lay down and consolidation processes, the dopant chemicals that make up the fiber must be deposited with precise control and symmetry to maintain consistent core/clad concentricity performance throughout the entire length of fiber. Fiber curl is the inherent curvature along a specific length of optical fiber that is exhibited to some degree by all fibers. It is a result of thermal stresses that occur during the manufacturing process. Therefore, these factors must be rigorously monitored and controlled during fiber manufacture. Tighter fiber-curl tolerances reduce the possibility that fiber cores will be misaligned during splicing, thereby impacting splice loss. Some mass fusion splicers use fixed v-grooves for fiber alignment, where the effect of fiber curl is most noticeable. When fibers are manufactured within specified tolerances, there are still slight variations from one optical fiber to another. These variations can affect the performance of the splice even though the optical fibers are perfectly aligned when mated. The variations between two optical fibers that affect splice performance are referred to as intrinsic factors. One factor is the Numerical aperture mismatch this occurs when the NA of one optical fiber is different from the NA of the other optical fiber. If the NA of the transmitting fiber is larger than the NA of the receiving optical fiber a loss may occur. The exact loss from an NA mismatch is difficult to calculate. Factors such as light source type, light source launch condition and optical fiber length, and bends in the optical fiber all affect the potential loss. Another factor could be a core diameter mismatch this occurs when there is a difference in the core diameters of the two opticasl fibers. A core diameter mismatch loss results when the core diameter of the transmitting optical fiber is greater than the core diameter of the receiving optical fiber. You can calculate the worst case loss percentage for a splice that joins different diameter fiber with a formula. You then can also use another formula to calculate the decibel loss. There is also noncercularity that is a intrinsic factor that causes loss. The noncircularity of the core will cause a loss when light from the core of the transmitting optical fiber enters the cladding of the receiving optical fiber. A way to make sure that connections are not lost when splicing is make sure the alignment of the ellipticities of the two cores. Some of the extrinsic factors that affect optical fiber splice performance are factors related to the condition of the splice itself. One of the factors is lateral misalignment this occurs when the two optical fibers are offset. Lateral misalignment loss occurs when light from the core of the transmitting optical fiber enters the cladding of the receiving optical fiber. This can be avoided by paying close attention when connecting the two sections together. If the optical fibers in a splice meet each other at an angle a loss from angular misalignment may occur. The amount of loss depends the severity of the angular misalignment and the acceptance cones of the transmitting and receiving optical fibers. The best way to avoid this is to  make sure each end is touching completely before spliced together.

Monday, July 29, 2019

Ellingtonia Music Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Ellingtonia Music - Essay Example The two principles that he applied to his life and which could guide others to achieve success were (a) willingness to learn, and (b) capacity to move with the demand of times. One, who rose from the grassroots level in life, knew the value of success and how to maintain that level, once he reached the top. His upbringing had much to do with the leadership qualities in his professional life that led him to success. John Edward Hasse writes, â€Å" Even before he acquired the nickname â€Å"Duke,† young Ellington was a natural aristocrat—in bearing, manners, taste, dress, and self-confidence. Cultivating airs and graces, and foreshadowing his future relationships with women, he even had his female cousin bow down to him as a sign of respect.† To him music was the passion and mission of life and not commission. (Meaning earning money for self-aggrandizement, forsaking the business ethics) It was a rare combination of qualities for an artist to be guided by business acumen. He began taking lessons in piano at the age of seven, and by then his family friends had recognized his latent genius in music. Hasse writes, â€Å"When he was seven or eight, attending Garnet Elementary School, his mother signed him for his first formal training in music.†At the age of 18, he entered the music world with a bang, and this was his first master-stroke to make entry in the business world in relation to music. He issued the biggest advertisement in the telephone yellow pages regarding his aspirations to become a bandleader.... One, who rose from the grassroots level in life, knew the value of success and how to maintain that level, once he reached the top. His upbringing had much to do with the leadership qualities in his professional life that led him to success. John Edward Hasse writes, â€Å" Even before he acquired the nickname â€Å"Duke,† young Ellington was a natural aristocrat—in bearing, manners, taste, dress, and self-confidence. Cultivating airs and graces, and foreshadowing his future relationships with women, he even had his female cousin bow down to him as a sign of respect.†(24)To him music was the passion and mission of life and not commission. (Meaning earning money for self-aggrandizement, forsaking the business ethics) It was a rare combination of qualities for an artist to be guided by business acumen. He began taking lessons in piano at the age of seven, and by then his family friends had recognized his latent genius in music. Hasse writes, â€Å"When he was seve n or eight, attending Garnet Elementary School, his mother signed him for his first formal training in music.†(26)At the age of 18, he entered the music world with a bang, and this was his first master-stroke to make entry in the business world in relation to music. He issued the biggest advertisement in the telephone yellow pages regarding his aspirations to become a bandleader. His reach in the world of music was limited then, and yet he had self-confidence and faith in his own abilities to make a mark in his chosen field. The advertisement worked and soon he was directing many area bands in Washington D.C. At the same time, he revised his techniques of playing piano, in the light of the practical experience gained. His next

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Analyzing ad Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Analyzing ad - Essay Example An advertisement is effective if it has passed on the linguistic message, denoted image and connotation image to the viewer. (Thesis) Here an advertisement printed in 2010 by Monsanto is analyzed for its linguistic message, denoted image and connoted image. The advertisement is of a middle aged African American who is standing with a field and harvester in his background. The advertisement has some texts too. The linguistic message , connoted image and denoted image can be thus further analyzed as follows; The text on the advertisement has some deep messages. The text projected on image directly gives a connotation to the image. There are two texts written on the image. One placed on the farmer’s shoulder and says, â€Å"America’s farmers grow America.† This gives out a connoted message that has been developed non-verbally. The phrase accentuates the farmer for his work and uses agricultural terms. The placement of the text also depicts conciseness. This connotation signifies the consciousness of the farmer. The other â€Å"Thanks a Million. Make that 11 million. Thanks to advanced farming practices, America’s farmers reduced their CO2 emissions 11 million tons in one year. That’s the same amount produced by 1 million SUVs. Few industries have shown such respect for the environment.†Now a new connotation is implied where the farmer is symbol of environmentally sound practices. He is also a symbol of industry. However the ad also gives out a co nnoted image. The connoted message in the advertisement is explicit in nature. According to (Chan) â€Å"Conversely, the connoted message is the culturally-laden text with its appeal to the writing and rhetoric of the photograph†. This ad shows a middle aged African American man standing in forefront with a field as the background. The man is looking to the distance with his head up and has an expression of thoughtfulness on his face. Over his shoulder a piece of machinery which is a harvester is

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Appeasement and wars Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Appeasement and wars - Essay Example It is through this party that Hitler controlled Germany with no mercy (Evans 2006, p. 14). This paper will discuss the universally popular consent of Hitler’s rule. In other words, this is the main view of Hitler’s dictatorship rule. Hitler attained full control of Germany the after the First World War crisis (Evans 2006, p. 23). He used charismatic oratory, as well as propaganda, appealing to financial needs, anti-Semitism and nationalism to set up an authoritarian regime in the country. With a rearmed military, as well as a restructured economy, he pursued an aggressive international policy with the aim of expanding or increasing Germans boarders (Bracher 1972, p. 15). This eventually led to the explosion of the Second World War. The fighting broke out after Germany invaded the territories of Poland and Poland chose to resist German’s attempt. Hitler’s name is never forgotten in Germany. During the First World War, Hitler joined the German armed forces. He even got rewards for his stern bravery. However, when he got news of German’s defeat in the First World War, Hitler was extremely depressed. He felt that it was extremely dishonorable for the whole Germany to lose in such a war (Bracher 1972, p. 15). Hitler used documentaries and movies as propaganda devices. He was concerned and appeared in a series of films via Universum Film AG (UFA) by the revolutionary filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl. Such films were Victory of Faith (1933), Triumph of the Will (1934) and Day of Freedom: Our Armed Forces (1935) (Bracher 1972, p. 23). Victory of Faith (1933) or Der Sieg des Glaubens was the first documentary to be directed by Leni Riefenstahl. She was hired regardless of the being opposed by Nazi officials, who disliked employing a female or a non-member of the Nazi Regime. Riefenstahl’s film talks about the Fifth Party Rally of the Nazi Regime, which took place in Nuremberg from August 30th to September 3rd, 1933. Triumph of the Wil l (1934) was made also by Leni Riefenstahl. It recounts the 1934 Nazi Party Congress that took place in Nuremberg. The event was attended by over 700,000 Nazi followers. The film contains excerpts from talks given by different Nazi leaders at the Congress, incorporating portions of speeches by Adolf Hitler, combined with recordings of massed party members (Joll 1990, p. 4). This film portrayed to the Germans of how Hitler was an able leader that could bring success to their nation. It is through this film that a majority of Germans started to admire Hitler. Hitler also used his right hand man, Fritz Darges, to spread propaganda and rule the Germans effectively. Fritz Darges headed the SS movement after being appointed by Hitler. Germans liked how the SS carried out its duties, and how it made their country safe (Bracher 1972, p. 34). The SS, the selected guard of the Nazi regime, wielded increasing control through its power over the police force. Political antagonists, mainly those in the Social Democratic Party of Germany and the Communist Movement of Germany, along with Jews, were subject to persecution, intimidation, as well as discriminatory legislation. In the opening two years of Hitler’s chancellorship, he, through the help of the SS, followed a rigorous strategy of Gleichschaltung (coordination), by which state governments, political parties along with professional and cultural organizations were brought in proportion to Nazi goals. The economy, culture, law and education all

Friday, July 26, 2019

A vertical integration strategy and a corporate diversification Essay

A vertical integration strategy and a corporate diversification strategy - Essay Example First, it can reduce opportunistic threats from the firm's buyers and suppliers by making transaction-specific value-adding investments, e.g., by capitalizing on economies of scale (opportunism-based). Second, the firm can exploit any of its valuable, rare, and costly-to-imitate resources and capabilities, e.g., as part of the processes used to make its end-products (capabilities-based). Third, the firm can take advantage of stable or volatile business conditions to squeeze profits by reducing its costs as much as possible (flexibility-based). The value of adopting any of these three strategies would depend on how rare and costly to imitate these strategies are, whether the firm does something its competitors do not, the degree to which it exercises control, and the variety of uncertainties that it faces. Implementing vertical integration requires a high degree of control, so a functional or U-form organization structure is the most commonly used (aside from a good CEO), a necessity when adopting cost leadership and product differentiation strategies. The expected conflicts that arise from this structure can be resolved with the use of closely-managed budgets and management oversight committees.

Advanced financial reporting and regulation Essay

Advanced financial reporting and regulation - Essay Example The important characteristic of intangibles is that they lack physical substance. It is very difficult to estimate the value of intangibles and there is a high degree of uncertainty regarding the length of time over which they will provide future benefits. IAS 38 clarifies that intangibles should not be recorded as other assets. Also this standard does not apply to intangible held for sale in the normal course of business of the entity. Similarly differed tax assets, leases, assets arising from employee benefits, financial assets, mineral rights, and other exploration and evaluation assets, and most importantly goodwill arising from business combinations do not fall the preview of IAS 38. The identifiable assets should be separable. The entity is in a position to sell, transfer, and license, rent or exchanges the intangibles. It is important to note that intangibles should be clearly distinguishable and controlled separately from the goodwill. Such identifiable intangibles may have arisen from contractual or other legal rights, whether those are transferable or not, or separable from the entity or other rights and obligations. The initial accounting for intangible is largely dependent on whether they are purchased or developed internally. When intangibles are purchased from others, they are initially recorded at their cost. The amount capitalized will include the purchase price and, like other assets, costs of preparing them for their intended uses. As a result, costs of registration or legal fees related to acquisition are also capitalized. When intangibles are purchased in a business combination, the cost to be recognized is the fair value at acquisition. When intangibles are acquired free of cost or received as a grant, the fair value or nominal value and directly attributable costs of such intangibles is recognized. All other costs of intangibles are charged to revenue. Internally generated intangibles are not recognized as

Thursday, July 25, 2019

The UK No-Frills Airline Market Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

The UK No-Frills Airline Market - Case Study Example The entry of new companies in the market is one of the factors that greatly affect the competitiveness of companies in the sector since the new companies come with strategies to win customers into their company. Some other factors that affect the competition in the market are the bargaining power of the suppliers, the bargaining power of the consumers, the bargaining power of the competitors and the presence of substitutes in the market. This paper seeks to analyze competition in the no-frills airline market and also compare it with the condition that was there about forty or fifty years ago. The issue of price discrimination and outsourcing is also discussed in the paper. One of the factors that have brought great competition in the no-frills airline market is the entry of new competitors in the market (Krishna & Eric 2003: p.49). The moment new companies join a market; they have the intention of winning some customers so that they can have a share in the market. They also come with new capacities in the market thus challenging the companies which are already in the market. They also come with a desire to gain some substantial resources in the market. The companies are willing to do anything to meet their goals. However, these companies are likely to be affected by the barriers that are present where these barriers are usually high meaning that entry into the market would mean that the company has to sell at a higher price so as to recover its expenses. This gives the existing companies a competitive advantage over these new companies making it quite hard for these companies to survive in the environment. The reaction of the airline companies that are already in the market also matters a lot. If the present companies collude so as to eliminate a new company, it is very easy because these companies have been in the market for quite some time. Most of the companies will always be willing to eliminate these new companies and will do this by colluding with the other companies in the no-frills airline market.     

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Overview of the campaign at the battle of King's Mountain 1780 Essay

Overview of the campaign at the battle of King's Mountain 1780 - Essay Example Ferguson sent a warning to the frontiersmen: if they did not â€Å"desist from their opposition to the British army, and take protection under his standard, he would  march his army over the mountains, hang their leaders, and lay their country waste with fire and sword†1. The patriots responded by gathering a force of about 1,400 militiamen, with no formal military training, belonging to ten counties. Under the command of Col. William Campbell,  of Washington County, Virginia, the Overmountain Men pursued Ferguson’s forces to King’s Mountain on the afternoon of 7 October. The patriots divided forces into four columns, encircled the mountain and attacked the defensive position of the Loyalist forces on the exposed, rocky ridge. Using their skill in sharpshooting and moving under cover, learned in the frontiers wars, the patriots overwhelmed Fergusons’s forces and decisively won the battle in a little over one hour of combat. Accepted figures give the casualties as 225 Loyalists killed, 163 wounded and 716 captured, while only 28 Patriots were killed, including Colonel James Williams, and 68 wounded.  The Battle of King’s Mountain was a turning point in the Revolutionary War. Cornwallis retreated from Charlotte, North Carolina and was forced on the defensive. The patriots gained time to recoup and went on to win the

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Advanced management accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Advanced management accounting - Essay Example They cannot control costs well without preparations the statements that reconcile expected revenue and expenditure with budgeted figures. In this regard, the paper aims at preparing a statement giving the budgeted, actual, and variances. The information above reveals that L10 has a favorable variance because the actual expenditure is less than the budgeted amount whereas L17 has an adverse variance sine the actual number exceeded the budgeted expenditure. The quantity put into books may not be the same as the one sold. It is due to favorable or unfavorable operating conditions. In obtaining the variance, the actual amount sold is subtracted from the standard number. The result is multiplied with the standard selling price. The information of Geeta plc allowed the calculation below in determining the sales volume variance. Labour cost variance has been given a definition by Drury (2008) as the difference between the actual labour cost incurred and the budgeted cost. It is made up of labour rate variance and labour efficiency variance. The employees in an organization may take more hours in completing tasks than what the budget allowed. Conversely, the conditions may allow the workers to spend less time in completing the activities assigned to them. Either way, the variance arises. It is calculated by finding the difference between the time allocated in the budget and the real time taken at standard wage rate (Lucey, 2002). In every organization, decision making process requires certain information. The crucial information involves cost analysis. The costs have different behavior, and it becomes necessary for management accountants to prepare cost reports allowing efficient management of costs. The statements categorize costs. In doing so, the managers are able to identify relevant and irrelevant costs. Lucey (2002) defines relevant cost as the one that can

Monday, July 22, 2019

Peer Violence Essay Example for Free

Peer Violence Essay Peer violence/abuse is something that takes place in the everyday life of some people and their families. Peer violence/abuse is when a person undergoes improper or unfair physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, sexual assault, violation, unjust practices, wrongful practice or custom, offense, and crime. There are many different types of peer violence such as verbal, physical, cyber bullying, and social alienation. As you continue to read you will better understand the effect, consequences (in school and out of school), and examples of peer violence. Youth violence has played a big part of everyday life for some; youth violence includes bullying, punching, slapping, verbal abuse and using weapons, towards another. These violent acts are a disruption to people’s lively-hoods and to the learning process. The most serious effect that youth violence has on people is death and injury; most students are victims of homicides in the schools and suicides at home. Most of these deaths occur before, after, or during lunchtime. Other victims can be examples of nonfatal injuries like cuts, broken bones, bruises and even gunshot wounds. Some can even have a long-term effect on a person emotionally/mentally, a person can suffer depression, fear other people, anxiety and even post-traumatic stress which does not just effect the person but it also effects the persons immediate family and close friends. Peer violence can affect the way a child lives and their lives, they will feel shame for being a victim and won’t tell anybody what’s going on and could be afraid that the problem might escalate if they do tell a trusted adult. In recent news, in Southern Las Vegas two brothers were sentenced to jail and correctional facilities for the bullying of a disabled boy who attended their school. The boys had one of their friends record the attacking of the boy and posted it on YouTube. One of the boys was sentenced to 12 months of probation and 40 hours of community service while the other was sentenced to serve time at Spring Mountain Youth Camp with supervision until released. Consequences are one of the things many people do not think about before they began bullying each other or began attacking one another. In most schools a punishment is 3 to 6 days of suspension and even a court date with the victim. In Las Vegas depending on your age you can get anything from probation to 30 days in a juvenile correction center or a correctional center such as boy’s town or Spring Mountain Youth Camp. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbine_High_School_massacre#Medication\ http://www.modernmom.com/article/the-effects-of-school-violence-on-victims http://www.modernmom.com/article/the-effects-of-school-violence-on-victims

The Impact Of How Organisational Structure

The Impact Of How Organisational Structure The organisational structure has a great influence on the people working for the organisation. The way the employees are organized and dealt with, has a noticeable influence on each employee of the organisation. If the organisation has a strong leadership, it helps other people working for it to get motivated and to be influenced by the works of leader and they eventually get boosted. This leads to the betterment of organisation and promotes more people to work for the organisation. Leadership has a direct influence on the organization, with the leadership style the organization can be moulded in the direction which is best suited for it. The surveys and researches done so far have proved that the attitude of an employee to the organization is dependent on the structure of organization. If the individual is happy with his job and show positive attitude towards the job the organization is more likely to be get benefited from it, if the employee has a negative impact then preferably th e organization gets suffer (CITEHR 2005). The organization consists of people with different nature and aptitude. Each person has its own skills and knowledge, so he is capable of handling stuff in his own way. The organization impacts the person in a way that he has to manage himself according to the needs of the organization. The person has to mould his skills to suit the requirements. Many factors are included which strengthens or weakens the ability of people working in an organization. The main factors included are adaptability; this is that how much a person can get adapted to the working environment he is going through. Then comes the social values; this explains the values which are to be maintained in order to continue the friendly employee to employer and employee to employee relation respectively (SACHING 2009). Through this the risk of conflicts can be minimised. Analyse how Organisational culture plays a vital role in employees efficiency and effectiveness. Efficiency is the time taken to do some particular task. The efficiency is when you complete your task in the minimum time. Whereas effectiveness is the height of results achieved from tasks. This is actually the actions of employees which brings about the results and helps the organization getting effective results (CHRON 2012). The organization has a great influence on both the efficiency and effectiveness of the employee. The culture of an organization particularly helps in constructing an efficient employee and it can harm the efficiency of an employee as well. So basically it has a great influence. The organizations with proper planned structures and stabled culture are more likely to bring about a positive change in their employees. If the organization has a setup which includes proper trainings, sit-ups with the manager and discussions about the relevant matter, then no doubt the organization is going to bring about efficient workers. For example the company has got and Entrepreneur resource planning ERP system installed in place, this helps employees getting in touch with each other and they can access each other directly wherever they are eventually saving time and making their work efficient. Similarly if the organization wants the best result it needs to have an effective planning of actions need to be performed in order to achieve those results. The factors that can improve the effectiveness of the employee are through having a proper individuals performance review over a specific period of time. This will help the organization figuring out the strengths and weaknesses of the employees, which should be recorded and monitored on preceding tasks. The other way to improve effectiveness is through organizing tests and tasks for employees, the results will clearly show the level of effectiveness the organization can gain from that employee that can be changed later with training in the field where employees lack, if things like these are in place then organizational culture is really improving the employee skills and will eventually get benefited. So this shows that the organization culture has indeed a great influence on the efficiency and the effectiveness of the employees working for it (CHRON 2012). Understand approaches to managing the differences between individuals that impact on their performance at work Employees behaviour at work is highly influenced by personal differences. Explain. Employees in an organization work as a team and bring about changes to the organizations. Every employee has its special character and the behaviour it possesses. Some lacks in some capabilities and others have access of some capabilities, so they make up a good team with difference in their aptitude with which they approach the tasks. The personal differences help each other in getting motivated and bring in employees the power to compete and excel in their fields. It does have a negative influence as well sometimes that employees can take one with abilities as their rival rather than following him they can just get to the worse of developing personal grudges against him. Organizations have people from different sectors and these bring about the people with different life styles and different working styles as well. To counter these differences employees work in a way so that they can manage with each and every person in the working area. The ones that are unable to manage starts getting irritated each other and may develop hatred as well. But mostly organization trained the people with fewer abilities to follow the ones with abilities to get the most out of them. This is because companies want to have a growing structure rather than destructive approach. Employees may sometimes come from different ethical backgrounds that practices things which are of bad influence to the other employees. This brings about personal rivalry in the work place. Then sometime people with different ideas trigger each other against them if the seniors listen more to one employees ideas rather than listening to all equally. So this difference in treatment can also influence the employees. Some people are in habitual to change while some are not, if the organization brings about some changes to the way it is working this is seen to be an act of decreasing the employees ability to coup up with the change as he may not like changes to the way he works. What methods management would require tackling the issues related to personal behaviour of employees at work? Support your answer with relevant organisational citation. The personal behaviour of the employees can be tackled with the following ways. The organizations should carry out the audits and equality test and check for the results through surveys that how the employees respond to each the question they have asked. Also try giving flexible hours of work so they can relax and can get fresh start when they want. Implement a strategy which stops the people from getting to personal or give them only right to talk about work issues and not of the personal stuff when they are in the work place. Companies such as McDonalds and also others such as HSBC bank and all have their own specific terms and conditions. In fact every organization has these terms which they ask from their employees to agree to it before signing for the job. This ensures that the personal rivalries and behaviour that is ignorant should not be used in the premises. To tackle such conditions the organizations should train managers and staff so they can handle the situation without creating any more stress. People sometimes makes mistake and manager should be there to tackle that as well as it is the responsibility of the manager to see to it that all the processes are in place and are running fine. The organizations should try things like friendly gathering or socializing team members so that they get to familiarize each other in a better way and can understand personal differences of each other. This method can bring the work force together and can make them realize the importance of working in a team with enthusiasm and respect. The respect factor is most important as it allows the understanding of both the position of one another in the organization as well as it is better to know on the human front as well. So these are the methods to tackle the people behaviour in work place. Understand the organisational factors that impact on people performance What is leadership? How many types of leaderships are there; and how these styles effect on individuals and teams work performance? Leadership is basically managing a group of individuals to accomplish a particular task. Leadership can be of basic school level for making simple science projects and it can be of government level for running a developed state. So all group tasks involves leadership but of different types. The recent leadership studies and theories give description of the leaders through their traits. This also includes use of power to achieve an objective. In this description the leaders are figured out as autocratic, bureaucratic, democratic and charismatic (ALA 2010). Autocratic: Autocratic is the kind of leadership which involves one man taking decision for the entire group. These decisions are kept to the leader only and the other team members only get orders by the leader to do what they are assigned to do. The main decisions are all centralized and only leader has the authority to govern the team as he wants. This is taken as one of the good leadership style because one person has to make every decision which is efficient and it provides motivation to the person as well (WIKIPEDIA 2012). Bureaucratic: Bureaucratic is almost of the same kind like autocratic but it relies mostly on making policies and bringing out objectives and strategies as described in the policy that has been made. These leaders work as dictated in the policy, which has all points mentioned and written properly. So its a direct message to the other members that they need to follow what has been told them and they cannot make any changes to it. This type of leadership sometimes demotivates the people in the group as if some point is harsh or strong which members resist following blindly (ALA 2010). Democratic: Democratic is in which all members get chance to put forward their decisions. It is not only dependent on the leaders decision but the leader asks the members about the issue and they suggest solutions which are then dealt with to get the best possible results. This democratic leadership is also referred as shared leadership which is because of the distributed decision making power rather than centralized decision making power. So this type of leadership motivates team workers as their suggestions are considered as well (WIKIPEDIA 2012). Charismatic: This is considered to be the best and the successful leadership. This brings on the creativity and allows bringing new and innovative ideas in practice. These types of leaders have long sightedness and a vision which let them govern the group with enthusiasm and motivation. This leadership is based on the personality of the leader and one compete another to come in front, so this brings on the chances for the most efficient person to come as a leader of the other hence bringing strength in the organization. The members get influenced and bring about positive results in the organization (ALA 2010). These are the given ways of leadership and everyone has its own influence on the members and the performance of the team is affected differently in all of these types as mentioned above in the respective leadership style. Explain the benefits of flexible working practices to individuals and organisations. Flexible working practices have so many benefits to both the individuals and the organizations. Through flexible working the individuals get convenience, as they can work at the time which is most suitable to them. The flexible working allows people to work in different places together, as you can give time to other activities as well. Organizations on the other hand also get benefits from these flexible working practices as they can ask for the staff at the time when they require the most work. Also this allows reducing costs in form of wages of individuals and also reduces the wastage of time people will have in organization when they have no work. Most organizations prefer people who work part times as this helps them getting fresh labour after few working hours and more individuals can get employment through this. The budget also goes down from this technique. Flexible working also brings about convenience in a way that people can work from their homes and can still be the part of the organization. The terms which come under flexible working practices mainly are job-sharing, flexi-time, career breaks, term time working and compressed hours. These all terms are of benefits to organizations and individuals both, individuals can make use of their time properly and organizations can reduce their budget from these practices (FRESH 2009). Flex time is a term used to define the time which is fixed for people of a state to do their job. Like for many countries it is 9 am to 5 pm at which the most of the people go to work and rest of the time they can utilize in whatever activity they like, which can be getting entertained with family or working for some other organization as a part time to get more earning. These all are considered the practices which can be classified under the flexible working practices. Using motivational theories assess how the working environment impacts on people performance. There are so many motivational theories, which assess the working environment on people performance. These include: Instinct Theory of Motivation: This theory suggests that people in an organization is trained to behave in certain special ways which are required for the organization. This theory is based on the fact that people already possess some qualities which are evolutionary and those are needed to be polished and changed in a way to suit ones own requirements. Incentive Theory of Motivation: The theory suggests that people are given motivation by letting them know that they will be rewarded for doing the good work. The impact this have on people is in a way that the for the reward the people try working at their best and in this way organizations get best results out of their employees. Drive Theory of Motivation: This theory is about the motivation of people in a way that people are motivated to do some particular actions which helps reducing tensions that are the reason of some unfulfilled needs. This theory is basically relying on biological component, like hunger and thirst. So this motivation is all about peoples psychological needs. Arousal Theory of Motivation: This theory shows that the people motivates by certain actions which brings in them a certain level of arousal that they can manage by increasing or decreasing as well. The organization can bring in its employees an arousal that motivates them to work at their best. Humanistic Theory of Motivation: This theory suggests that the people already have in them strong cognitive abilities to do different actions. This describes about people getting motivated to perform actions which fulfil their needs first the basics ones and then the other important needs. Basic needs as hunger thirst and all and other needs of living well in the world so they gets motivated to do work. (PSYCHOLOGY 2012) (WIKIPEDIA 2012) Organisational ethical practices highly influence employees motivation level. Make an assessment with relevant application on McDonalds. Organizational ethical practices do influence the employees motivational level. McDonalds have some basic code of conducts which the employees need to follow in order to maintain a good and healthy environment in the work place. The employees responsibilities involve treating everyone equally at the work place. Managers and supervisors have their own place so treat them with respect and provide them with whatever service they ask for. This ethical practice promotes respect as well as the ability to produce efficient results. Also in McDonalds the employee is not allowed to harass the other employee, it is the responsibility of everyone to make sure that the environment remains calm and friendly. No one should abuse one another and no one is eligible to say about other persons appearance or abuse other in anyway. The employees are considered to be the ambassadors of the company and they are expected to work and behave as such to make sure the organization is getting benefitted from this. These practices and responsibilities allow the employees to get motivated and work in a friendly and well managed way. So that no one feels offensive and degraded from each other. Everyone is placed at the same level and receives equal importance this ensures that the people working in the organization gets what their right is and no one will be treated badly. During training every employee has given special instructions, so they are told not to use any of companys assets for personal use. Also the computers should not be used for personal reasons. The employee has got the responsibility not to harm the company reputation in any case so he is eligible to consider the organization as its own. This ethics of McDonalds help the business grow and produce quality service with the motivation of employees that they give (EHOW 2012). Evaluate how organisations use their corporate social responsibility agenda to motivate employees. Corporate social responsibilities, CSR is a policy with which organization looks towards its bindings with the law, ethical standards and different international norms. It is a process to bring about encouragement in a positive way to the company through the practices that defines the basics of the company. This policy helps the employees get motivated and work accordingly to bring about the positive change. CSR helps identifying the company aim and mission and helps also in providing their customers with good experience. This policy contains all the possible and feasible structured points to enhance business out of scope and can bring about the best results. This agenda signifies the treatment of the company with employees, consumers and stakeholders so in a way it helps in the dealing with the different links attached to a company. The benefit it has on the company is very much impressive and attracts the employees with providing them motivation of working hard and up to some noticeable standards. CSR has different approaches and they are all for the organization to provide good services. One approach is incorporating CSR directly in the business strategy. This is all about fair trading and this gives company an edge. Another approach is the increase in corporate responsibilities. This brings about CSV, which is creating shared value, this model illustrated that the corporate wellbeing and social welfare depends on each other. Companies make sure to make a policy which motivates employees and enhance business structure as well. This is how they can organize a strategy that helps them working on the defined pattern. Employees motivation are most important as this is the only possible way of getting profitable business if the employee will not be satisfied then he will not be able to work up to the mark to produce sufficient results (WIKIPEDIA 2012). Understand methods for developing human resources Apply Maslows theory of motivation to develop people in any organisation (or organisation of your choice). Maslows theory of motivation suggests that people gets motivated according to their needs. Maslow divided the needs of people in pyramidal structure starting from the basic needs which makes the base of the pyramid. He suggested that basic need of a person such as food, water, sleep, and homeostasis are the ones which should be satisfied to make him motivate to work for his satisfaction and so on to fulfil other needs. HSBC is a bank which has a strategy of motivating its employee with the rewards. The first thing that comes up is the basic needs of the employee which is fulfils through the wages they get and can live, eat and sleep well. Others can be achieved as the employees shows interest in the organization and motivated him to get the best possible work which brings about the promotions and all. The Maslows theory divides the structure on 5 parts, which are physiological, safety, love/belongings, Esteem, and self-actualization. These are the stages through which a person develops motivation and work hard. Human resources are the main thing which companies need to fulfil; this is so with the HSBC they look towards their employees as well as their clients. If they satisfies the employees this in turn results in the satisfaction of the employees. Give people their basic needs, safety of life and way to live a friendly life in a healthy environment and this will help them get motivated to do their work with interest and satisfaction. If these d-needs as Maslow called it the deficiency needs will not be fulfilled the person cannot be able to work for the organization and will change it by getting negative influence from it. Human brain works in a way that it can relatively generates the all or multiple level of pyramid hierarchy at the same time. So this can motivate to the highest level when the needs be fulfilled at the same time (WIKIPEDIA 2012). Explain the different uses of coaching and mentoring in organisations. Coaching and mentoring is a technique used to make both the clients and the people involved make use of their full potential. Coaching is where a person trains the other to make them work best to its potential. The coaching can bring about the abilities which a person lacks. Whereas mentoring is also considered to be of the same kind that is guiding a junior to work in your position or to get him the skills that can make him work ahead. In an organization these techniques are used in many ways such as by questioning the client you can bring about the desired structure of the product he is looking for and you can then identify solutions from approaching the query. Also organizations apply techniques which included one to one training. This helps getting face to face understanding of each other. This also encourages people to practice in the field of competence where they feel reluctant and then come up with better performance, this can be achieved by the practice and only practice makes a man perfect. Coaching and mentoring provides employees skills where they lack and help them make their deficiencies into their strengths. With coaching one can achieve the goal which he is capable of achieving but is lacking behind due to some minor irresponsibility. These techniques help covering up those gaps and organization gets benefits with the employees they train for specific purposes. One thing which needs to be kept in mind is that the individual should achieve it in a positive way and develop skills rather than getting dependent on the coach or the mentor. If this will happen the individual will get a negative influence and that will be a disadvantage to the organization. These are the uses which an organization can have from techniques like this (WALES 2012). By investing large amount of money in employees training and development programmes, organisations strategically meet corporate objectives. Analyse comparative benefits (individual and organisational) of TD programmes within organisations. These training and development programmes are very much important to the organization betterment and success. The organization needs to spend money in these programmes in order to achieve corporative benefits. The outcome indeed will be greater than the spending. As if they will spend on training staff the trained staff will yield out better performance which is the basic requirement of the organization. If an organization does not spend on the training and development of the company they definitely cannot make progress and this will stop them from going forward in the competitive world. The large organizations such as banks have their staffed trained on regular basis so that to avoid any of the lacking which the employees may possess. In this way spending funds on training can make them get high benefits over the end, which can be clearly visible in the revenue that generates. The benefits which the organization gets are in many different forms. These can be either in the form of good client to employee relationship which helps encouraging more clients to get involved in the service that are offered by the company. Also they can get benefits from the other competitors in having trained staff which knows everything and is up to date with the latest development and technology. The TD programme makes the basis of the organization growth. Funding this is the major spending of many companies. As to gain something you need to spend something and this is from where they can gain the ultimate high performance. Without training the organization cannot make better decisions. The benefits also includes advanced used of ERP systems, trained personnel to operate it, high productivity, time can be saved as results and procedures will be more efficient. Advanced gadgets can be used rather than old traditional ways. For example in banks instead of queuing up and wait for your turn you can go and deposit amount directly in the pay-in machine, which saves time. The employee gets confidence through these trainings and feels more confidence when they talk to the customers and the other fellow members of the organization. People might take it as a difficult task and a responsibility other than their job to get this training and hesitates to attend and get the training, but they can be made reluctant by offering extra incentives so that they can come and get the training without any reluctance and hesitance. Managers should get the special training which is different than of the other employees. All staff members need to be trained at specific levels and then they should be given a task to see whether they can fulfil it. These benefits are long termed benefits as the company not only makes profit at the front face to face communication but the technology they are learning can bring them so much to know for the future use as well. Companies can enhance and expand their businesses out of the countries and can multiply with the advanced and developed procedure they have to follow. These are the benefits which they can avail from TD, so it is good to spend on such process. Be able to review how people are managed within organisations People management strategies. The strategy which involves management of people in an organization is known as people management strategy. this strategy enables an organization to work for better results by managing people according to their skills and requirements. The company has to look to this that the individual which is chosen for a job is best suitable for that place if not he should be given other responsibilities. In this way the company allows to get the room for making progress. These strategies need to be in placed as to avoid any circumstances of situation which will arise due to mismanagement of people or human resources. So people management strategies must be in place within developed organizations. Impact on people of management strategies used. The individuals do take impact from these strategies. These impacts can be identified such as if the individual is placed in the position which is best suited for him he definitely would work best to his aptitude as that position is best suited for him. His skills will replenish more in that place and he will eventually get the best outcome for the organization, which at the end going to make profit out of it. Also management strategies help people remain under influence of a leadership as the employee knows that he has to follow these specific procedures which is defined by the higher management so all the points and duties are made clear to the employees. In this way all the work gets handled perfectly without any hap hazards. Sometimes people get a negative impact as well and think that they have the potential of working in a higher place and they have been given a wrong position to work at in such a situation they get demotivated towards their work and sometime can produce losses to the organizations as well. In these kinds of scenarios management needs to handle them with the tests on the basis where everyone is given equal rights and whoever succeeds will get the position and will be able to work at it. Through these strategies people feels a sense of responsibilities on their shoulders and they think of themselves as the stakeholders and work like as they are working for themselves and are making profit for their own good not for the company. This thinking should be in the employee mind so that the potential they have can be bring out and the organizations can make it work in the best possible way. These can be the impacts which people mostly gain from the management strategies when it gets implemented on them. Recommend strategies to support high levels of performance. Implementation of right strategy helps an organization from getting out of financial crises or any kind of crises they are facing. The strategies which support high performance includes two way communications, this is the communication between the employee and the manager or the CEO. If the communication gap will be low and the meetings or lectures will be done on regular basis this will help the employee get to know the strategy of the companys stakeholders and through this they can put their potential to work in a better way. The other strategy could be strengthening employs engagement to work; this can be achieved by giving training in a field where he lacks and by also making him understand the situation through which the company is going in order to make him work accordingly to achieve the targeted results. The employee can be motivated and engaged more towards work if he will receive incentives and rewards for doing the job he is responsible for. In such situations the companys sets up a strategy of getting this much targeted clients in return the employee get reward for doing his job well. The strategy which is most important is that the managers and leaders should have the skills and knowledge of dragging the situations out of the uncertainty. This is very important, for example if an organization is getting towards the verge of destruction the manager should have skills so to avoid the loss and can be able to manage to the extend where the company has to face the minimum loss. This strategy can help enable the performance level which can in any case save the organization from having a down fall. All the responsibilities finally come to the shoulders of the manager so this is the position which should be offered to the highly competent individual who has the courage to face all even and odds. These are the strategies which can bring about high level of performance from individuals and from the management as well (PACONSULTING 2012).

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Disruptive Behavior in Classroom

Disruptive Behavior in Classroom According to Utley (2002), the statistics of violence and discipline problems in public school showed that aggressive and violent behaviors are increasing among children and youth in schools and that school discipline is critical to the prevention of student behavior problems. Leaders of educational organizations are attempting to solve the problems through research and then implementing various solutions. Disruptive behaviors are occurring more frequently in educational facilities. Disruptive behaviors interrupt classroom instruction which in turn has a significant negative impact on all students. Students with behavioral problems may strain even the most competent classroom teacher. More children from troubled homes are bringing well-developed patterns of antisocial behavior to school. Their disruptive, aggressive, and defiant behavior (a) wastes teaching time, (b) disrupts the learning process of other students, and (c) threatens the safety of others (Walker, Ramsey, Gresham, 20 03). Knowing that students perform better in classrooms that are safe, secure, and orderly is one of the most important concepts teachers learn and strive to maintain Need to add references (Christensen, Marchant, Young, 2004; Horner, Sugai, Lewis-Palmer, Todd, 2001; Utley,Kozleski, Smith, Draper, 2002). However, general education classroom teacher surveys routinely identify discipline as one of the topics considered most important or in need of improvement (Witt, VanDerHeyden Gilberston, 2004). A study indicated that general education teachers reported on average, one in five of their students exhibited disruptive behaviors and one in twenty exhibited aggressive behaviors to the point intervention was necessary (Myers Holland, 2000). Those that are significantly at-risk for school failure are children who exhibit behavior problems at an early age. Disruptive behavior is a student-initiated act that ranges from tardiness to violence. It may consist of behavior that is disrespectful, offensive, or threatening and may present itself physically, verbally, or psychologically. It has a negative impact in any learning environment and interferes with the learning activities of the perpetrator and other students. It must be kept in mind that all disruptions, regardless of perceived seriousness, detract from academic learning time. Even small, annoying problems such as tardiness can create a serious problem for educators and fellow students and must be dealt with promptly (DeFrance, 1997). Numerous labels exist when describing types of behavior children exhibit such as violent, aggressive, oppositional, challenging and disruptive. According to Kaiser and Rasminsky (2003), psychologists often define aggression as behavior that is aimed at harming or injuring others. Each of these behaviors, impact the student, teacher and classroom envi ronment. There are numerous reasons for the negative behaviors that more and more students are exhibiting (Greene, 2001). According to Adelman and Taylor (2002), between 12-22 percent of all children in schools suffer from mental, emotional, or behavioral disorders. Many of these students do not respond to behavior strategies and expectations that work with the other students. Hardman (2003) stated that for most secondary school teachers, maintaining classroom discipline is a daily concern that can be rewarding and also a source of frustration. On a regular basis, teachers and staff members are affected by the extreme challenges that these students create. These extreme challenges include continuously talking out of turn, inattentiveness, fidgety, acts of defiance, noncompliance, and belligerence (Boynton Boynton, 2005). The Association of School Counselors reports that 18% of students have special needs and require extraordinary interventions and treatments that go beyond the typical resou rces available to the classroom (Dunn Baker, 2002). Although classroom teachers may not be in a position to directly service students with these types of needs, teachers must be well-equipped to meet the needs of all students. A number of factors can influence students classroom behaviors, and teachers have to be prepared with methods and models to manage the classroom successfully to ensure an environment conducive to learning. Educators continue to rely on traditional discipline practices that generally involve punishment, especially for the most challenging behaviors. The assumption is that punishment-based discipline implemented in response to rule violations will deter future occurrences and somehow teach and promote more pro-social skills (Sugai Homer, 2002). The zero tolerance approach to discipline has proven ineffective in reducing problem behavior (Skiba, 2002). Zero tolerance policies began being adopted in reaction to an increase in violence in schools as well as society. Schools are in charge of educating students; however, they are constantly suspending students for minor infractions (Cox, 2009). It was reported in 2008 in USA Today, that tens of thousands of students are suspended each year from Maryland schools for minor infractions under the zero tolerance policy. Nine percent of students were suspended with the higher rate being African Americans, special education and boys. There is increased interest in programs designed to decrease problem behavior and behavioral referrals (Tidewell et al., 2003). The Classroom Management Checklists (appendices A, B, C) provides teachers with descriptions of effective models and methods in which teachers can utilize and monitor in their classroom daily. Although the importance of classroom management is widely recognized in research, its definition is elusive (Marzano, 2003). Marzano (2003) defined classroom management as the following: Classroom management is the confluence of teacher actions in four distinct areas: (1) establishing and enforcing rules and procedures, (2) carrying out disciplinary actions, (3) maintaining effective teacher and student relationships, and (4) maintaining an appropriate mental set for management. Only when effective practices in these four areas are employed and working in concert is a classroom effectively managed. (p.18) One analysis of five decades of research on classroom management reviewed some 228 variables influencing student achievement. Nothing, it found, affected student achievement more than skillful classroom management (NEA Today, 2004). In addition, research has shown us that teachers actions in their classrooms have twice the impact on student achievement as do school policies regarding curriculum, assessment, staff collegiality, and community involvement (Marzano, Marzano, Pickering, 2003). Unfortunately, the implementation of positive and proactive behavioral approaches in our public schools is rare (Snell, 2005). Instead schools often rely on less effective reactive and exclusionary approaches that hinder students educational progress (Christle, Jolivette, Nelson, 2007). END OF INTRODUCTION School discipline has always been perceived as essential for the proper functioning of a public school. Expectations are clear that discipline is necessary for students to learn and that educators are expected to establish and maintain well disciplined schools (Covin, 2007). All stakeholders historically have taken pride in maintaining well disciplined schools. The following highlighted are comes from resource saved as disst Resource 2.8.10 According to Sugai (2007), schools are complex environments where skills, knowledge, and practices of a culture are taught, shaped, encouraged, and transmitted. Educators are challenged to provide effective and explicit instruction that maximizes students knowledge of concepts and skills. In the educational environment, students are challenged to remain focused, responsive, and engaged to benefit from instruction. These goals are enriched and complicated by students with diverse learning styles, unique strengths and weaknesses, and defining cultural influences. Additionally, schools, students, and families must adapt to maximize benefits from the school experience. Nevertheless, there continues to be a growing concern about the number of disruptive behaviors and lack of discipline in the educational facility (Covin, 2007). These disruptive behaviors make it more challenging for educators to accomplish goals. Luiselli, Putnam, Handler, and Feinberg (2005) stated, Many students attending public schools exhibit discipline problems such as disruptive classroom behaviors, vandalism, bullying, and violence. . . Establishing effective discipline practices is critical to ensure academic success and to provide a safe learning environment (p. 183). According to McAdams and Lambie (2003), public schools are facing increasing challenges with regards to the rise in disruptive behaviors amongst children. Curwin and Mendler (1999), includes unclear limits, student boredom, sense of failure and attacks on student dignity, lack of acceptable outlets for feelings and a sense of powerlessness as basic causes of discipline issues. Students at the elementary level are becoming more violent. They are kicking, biting, scratching, and hitting both their classmates and teachers (Toppo, 2003). Many educators are extremely concerned about the danger and disorder in school environments. Unbelievable scenarios of violence in schools have made teachers, administrators, parents, and children aware that violence can happen anywhere in the United States. However, compared to other settings in terms of physically safety, most schools are safe environments (Dwyer, Osher, Hoffman, 2000). Approximately, 3% of teachers and students in urban schools and between 1% and 2% of teachers and students in rural schools are attacked physically or robbed each month (Cotton, 2007). These types of extreme disruptive behaviors in a school setting are an ever-increasing concern (Eber, Sugai, Smith, Scott, 2002). Elementary school principals say theyre seeing more violence and aggression amongst their youngest students, than ever. In Philadelphia, 22 kindergarteners were suspended in the first part of the year (Toppo, 2003). Violence in schools is an urgent problem. In school settings, it is an extension of the violence that occurs among children in communities throughout our Nation. The effects of school violence take a toll on the education of the poor and minorities. On reviewing research on youth violence, some of the risk factors within the school setting were; negative peer influences, low commitment to school, academic failure, and certain school environments/practices, such as undisciplined classes, and lax enforcement of school rules (Rosenberg, 1999). Prior to age 13, children who exhibit violent behaviors are confirmed to be on a path of criminal tendencies and escalating violence throughout childhood (U.S. Surgeon General, 2001, chap.1). It is easier to recognize behaviors, that suggest a child is troubled than to predict that the childs behavior will lead to violence. Theres no single sign or early warning signs that can accurately predict whether a child will be violent or not (Dwyer, Osher, Hoffman, 2000). There are identifiable risk factors in individuals that increase the likelihood for developing problem behavior. Risk factors include poor anger management skills and lack of academic interest (Hunt, Meyers, Davies, Meyers, Grogg, Neel, 2002). Other identifiable risk factors include disruptive classroom behavior, defiance of adults, and poor school readiness (Walker, H., Severson, H., Feil, E., Stiller, B. Golly, A., 1998). According to Porter (2009), some reasons for student discipline problems are boredom, powerlessne ss, unclear limits, lack of acceptable outlets for feelings and attacks on diginity. School violence affects all of society and interferes with the learning process (Taub, 2002). In a Greensboro elementary school, parents are concerned that well-behaved students are having difficult times learning because of the continuous outburst and violent acts in the classroom (Benscoter, 2007). Some students who exhibit aggressive reactions often overreact to even small incidences and have a limited threshold for frustration (McAdams Lambie, 2003). If any of these negative reactions or incidences is repeated over a period of time towards others, it is considered bullying. Bullying behaviors can include physical, verbal, sexual or social ostracism (Boynton Boynton, 2005). Students who exhibit these behaviors are often viewed by educators and parents as unpredictable (McAdams Lambie, 2003). Statistically, children who engage in bullying behavior are more likely to commit crimes as adults (Taub, 2002). There are studies that show that bullies are five times as likely to have serious criminal records by 30 years of age (Boynton Boynton, 2005). If youth violence is not averted, it will be costly to society (Connor, 2002). The longer a child continues to use aggressive behavior, the more difficult it becomes to change his direction (Kaiser Rasminsky, 2003). Although isolated instances of violence (e.g., school shootings) contribute to this perception, people are most concerned with the lack of discipline and control in schools (Rose Gallup, 2005). School administrators, parents, community members and policy makers all recognize that the safety of public schools is of the utmost importance (Barnoski, 2001; Snell, 2005). The Juvenile Offenders and Victims: National Report (Synder Sickmund, 2006) describes continuing concerns with violence in schools; even though, there has been some increase in public school safety. The survey reports that there are less severe forms of school violence that is problematic. In a survey conducted in Washington State, teachers indicated that decreasing disruptive behavior was one of the top three priorities at their schools (Barnoski, 2001). Disruptive behaviors were noted as having a significantly negative effect on students learning ability. Some of those behaviors are considered of low-severity. Those behaviors may include noncompliance, classroom disruptions, teasing, theft bullying. Of these behaviors, bullying is the most prevalent (Whitted Dupper, 2005). According to Bowman (2001), 30% o f students reported being bullied, bullying others, or both, in grades 6-10. According to Snell (2005), 29% of schools reported bullying to be a serious problem. Approximately one third of students reported being involved in fights, being victimized by theft, or vandalized while at school (Synder Sickmund, 2006). These disruptive behaviors negatively affect student learning (Barnoski, 2001). As a result, schools establish policies that try to increase discipline and control, often by adopting get tough practices. When the initial policies prove ineffective, schools often respond by getting tougher. That is, they invest in other security and punitive measures that actually have little impact on student behavior (Skiba Peterson, 2000). As administrators seek ways to address behavior problems in their schools, the norm is to be a reactionary approach rather than a proactive approach (Tidewell, Flannery Lewis-Palmer, 2003). The methods used are often a get tough approach to problem behaviors rather than efforts grounded in experimental research (Muscott, Mann, Benjamin, Gately, 2004; Sugai Homer, 2006). Researchers have found that general approaches to disruptive behaviors are often successful and may actually exacerbate these behaviors (Tidwell, et al.). Common solutions to continuous discipline problems such as suspending and expelling students from school do not solve the problem (Muscott, et al.). As previously mentioned, schools are meant to be places that provide students with a safe, secure, and orderly environment. However, school professionals have recently seen as an increase in violent behaviors that have taken place in a setting that was once considered safe (Metzler, Biglan Rusby, 2001). Although behavior issues in the school setting are not a new problem, there has been a plea for more effective discipline procedures especially in the face of recent school violence (Muscott, et al, 2004.). The reform and accountability of schools has added new demands for restructuring systems of discipline as well as restructuring the school day (Frey, Lingo, Nelson, 2008). According to Metzler, et al (2001), the search for plans and procedures to impact increasing behavior problems is not just an issue of safety but is also associated with other issues including school failure and delinquent behavior. In the need to increase student achievement, many administrators, educators, and counselors are spending much of their time and effort addressing students negative or problem behaviors (George, Harrower, Knoster, 2003). A variety of models and approaches have been used in an attempt to decrease discipline referrals due to the complex problems created by students disruptive behavior. The decrease of problem behaviors allows the students quality of life in other areas to increase (Hendley Lock, 2007). Effective behavioral models have included a variety of strategies structured in multilevel process (Muscott, et al., 2004); however, in the last 25 years, many schools have adopted more punitive approaches to violence prevention in public schools. These include the use of metal detectors, video surveillance, searches and zero-tolerance policies (Van Acker, 2007). All 50 states have enacted zero-tolerance legislation that requires suspension or explosion and provides for no administrator discretion in determining appropriate punishment for certain types of infractions (Yell Rozanski, 2000). In some cases students are referred to law enforcement agencies for infractions. These methods are not effective at preventing or reducing disruptive behavior; however, they are associated with student dropouts (Wald Losen, 2003; Yell Rozanski, 2000). The Federal Government included in its Goals 2000: Educate America Act, that by the year 2000, every school will offer a disciplined environment conducive to learning (Marzano, 2003). Teachers have been receiving additional training on how to handle classroom misbehavior (Tuleya, 2002). Having a solid tool (behavior plan) and continuous staff training will be key in averting negative behaviors. Providing these students with the tools to monitor their own feelings may assist in halting some of the explosions before they occur (Smallwood, 2003). According to Gartrell (2004), in appropriate teaching practices, teachers facilitate the development of self-control, social skills, and self-regulation in children by using positive guidance techniques. These activities include modeling and encouraging expected behavior, redirecting children to more acceptable activities, setting clear limits, and intervening to enforce consequences for unacceptable, harmful behavior. In appropriate teaching practices, teachers expectations respect childrens developing capabilities and teachers are patient, realizing that not every minor infraction deserves a response. When dealing with students exhibiting reactive aggressive behavior, adults must be cognizant of the following: relationship building, stimulus control, cognitive restructures, self-control training, and social skill training (McAdams and Lambie, 2003, p. 129) Conroy and Davis (2000) discuss the importance of taking a proactive stance when dealing with inappropriate behaviors. Leadership plays an important role in dealing with students exhibiting explosive behaviors. To increase the likelihood of success, a learning environment has to be created that promotes positive interactions and focuses on teaching the skills necessary to prevent outburst. According to Smallwood (2003), one will significantly increase effectiveness if comprehensive prevention strategies are put in place. An intervention process that emphasizes problem solving, not punishment, and facilitates collaboration between all stakeholders will also increase the likelihood of success. Smallwood (2005) provides the following strategies for averting and/or solving issues. Have teachers introduce expectations at the beginning of the year and regularly incorporate opportunities for learning coping skills into the school day. Give students praise when you see them make a good choice. Model the skills you want the students to learn. Provide teachers and support staff, cafeteria monitors and bus drivers with training. Develop a problem solving team approach with the staff. Designate an office or special place as a time out room for students who need to regain self control. Students should know where the room is and what adult(s) will be there to help them. This is often the counselors office or the administrators office. Build trust with students by being accessible and encouraging. Many teachers turn to the Special Education department because chances are the student will be identified as a Special Needs student and will receive specific services. A specific plan and strategies are developed to help the staff work together for the students benefit (Boynton Boynton, 2005). Prevention and early intervention are key in the process of reducing and ultimately eliminating many of the issues that continually require the attention of the classroom teacher and those that prevent the occurrence of academic and social skills instruction. Early intervention for school violence is favorable because the behaviors are found to increase over time (Stormont, 2002). However, for early intervention to have an impact, we have to provide the at-risk children with environments that both directly teach and actively support adaptive behaviors. Its not the children that we should focus on modifying; it is the environment that needs modification. Effective intervention takes into account child characteristics as well as the characteristics and cultural expectations of the setting in which they live and learn (Hester, Baltodano, Hendrickson, Tonelson, Conroy, Gable, 2004). According to Elliott (2003), many of the school programs geared towards preventing these type behaviors have not been thoroughly evaluated or have been evaluated and found to be ineffective. Less attention has been devoted to assessing social validity of primary prevention efforts such as school-wide positive support plans (Lane, Kalberg, Edwards, 2008). As a result, a review of primary prevention program with a behavioral component was conducted on the elementary level. This review suggested that approximate one-third of the school-wide primary prevention efforts mentioned and reported social validity. Social validity had been assessed using surveys wit h unknown psychometric qualities which makes it unreliable (Lane, Kalberg, Bruhn, Driscoll, Wehby Elliott, 2009). END OF EXAMPLES OF NEGATIVE BEHAVIORS What does the literature indicate as the key elements to include in a successful discipline plan to affect student behavior and achievement? Discipline in the 21st century should be proactive. This type of discipline should not be focused on one punishing behavior. The focus should be prevention of conflicts and disruptions. Students have to be taught responsibility, self-management, problem solving, and decision-making. External control and compliance are not congruent with the 21st century values. Self-control should be the goal of discipline for todays student (McLeod, Fisher Hoover, 2003). According to Hester, et al (2004), to ensure system-wide intervention, changing the structure and culture of the school, the classroom and curriculum of daily instruction in ways that teach, reinforce, and otherwise strengthen appropriate student behavior is necessary. A system-wide change requires that teachers establish nurturing classroom environments that are conducive to learning. The following highlighted are comes from resource saved as disst Resource 2.8.10 In order for schools to achieve effective and explicit instruction that maximizes students knowledge of concepts, skills, and information and ensure students are challenged to remain focused, responsive, and engaged, the following must take place: increase instructional accountability and justification improve the alignment between assessment information and intervention development enhance use of limited resources and time make decisions with accurate and relevant information initiate important instructional decisions earlier and in a more timely manner engage in regular and comprehensive screening for successful and at-risk learners provide effective and relevant support for students who do not respond to core curricula enhance fidelity of instructional implementation (Sugai, 2007). Accomplishing that goal requires integrating social behavioral and academic aspects of group-individual instruction. A successful educational environment is punctuated by clear expectations, high rates of engagement and academic success, high rates of student and teacher praise statements, acknowledgements of appropriate behavior (e.g., verbal and nonverbal positive feedback) and direct systematic instruction that included modeling and role playing activities to replace behavior that disrupts classroom instruction (Hester, et al, 2004). It is evident even in schools, where the most serious offenses have occurred, that there is lack of a proactive plan. A review of information regarding school discipline procedures revealed that of 25 schools, only 2 had a comprehensive and proactive approach to managing student behavior after shooting incidents. The remaining 23 schools had adopted reactive and punitive approaches (Gagnon, Rockwell, Scott, 2008). Schools need something more than a r eactive approach to behavior management (Crone Horner, 2003). The capacity to identify, adopt, and sustain systems that are effective and efficient in meeting the needs of students is what many schools lack. The research showed that, without a successful plan to handle these disruptive behaviors of children, the learning of all children within the environment can be negatively affected. Others affected by these significant disruptive behaviors are school personnel, families and community (Sugai et al., 2000). Thats why its important to have a school-wide, positive, behavior support program. Six thousand schools in 37 states use Positive Behavior Support (PBS) (Danielson, Cobb, Sanchez, Horner, 2007). In Using Staff and Student Time Engaged in Disciplinary Procedures to Evaluate the Impact of School-Wide PBS, Scott Barrett (2004) describe positive behavior support as the application of positive behavioral interventions and systems to achieve social change. Walker, Cheney, Stage and Blum (2005) describe PBS as a 3-tiered model for early intervention with students to prevent school failure due to behavioral difficulties. According to George, et al. (2003), the focal point of PBS is problem behavior prevention using a 3-tiered approach that includes primary, secondary and tertiary prevention. Tier 1 aims at school-wide prevention by setting behavioral expectations, teaching students and reinforcing expectation. Tier 2 is for those students who did not respond favorably to Tier 1 and are at risk of social and behavioral problems. Tier 3 is for extreme nonresponders who continue to struggle. These students require individual interventions (Gagnon, Rockwell, Scott, 2008). The Office of Special Education Programs (2004) recommends that the PBS team include an administrator, teachers from each grade level, support staff and parents. They are responsible for developing school-wide behavioral expectations and plans for teaching and reinforcing appropriate behavior. The PBS team is also instrumental in problem solving and data-based decision making. The teams critical role is to ensure that the program is being implemented and any new information is being delivered to the staff (Netzel Eber, 2003). PBS professional development will help the staff understand the program; therefore, commitment and support will arise. This professional development should take place before staff begins planning (Luiselli et al., 2005; Metzler et al., 2001; Netzel Eber, 2003; Oswald et al., 2005; Scott, 2001). Brainstorming activities such as setting behavioral expectations and planning teaching and reinforcement activities is an approach that helps engage the staff (Oswald et al., 2005; Scott, 2001; Turnball et al., 2002). To increase the likelihood of the plan being followed, ensure that the PBS action plan is one thats agreeable to the staff. Program implementation can be promoted by reinforcement of staff for helping to implement the action plan (Netzel Eber, 2003). According to Scott (2001), in order to be effective, all school personnel must be committed to the program. The effectiveness of PBS has been the focus of research. Evidence shows that PBS is an effective approach to student behavior in regular public schools (Sugai Horner, 2005). Cohn (2001) believed that PBS is an empirically validated, function-based approach to eliminate challenging behaviors and replace them with prosocial skills. The use of PBS decreases the need for more intrusive or aversive intervention (i.e., punishment or suspension) and can lead to both systematic as well as individualized change. According to Hendley and Lock (2007), when schools properly and effectively implement PBS, students benefit by improved academic achievement and increased appropriate behaviors. Horner, Sugai, and Todd (2001) indicated that office referrals for discipline decrease on average 40-60% when schools implement PBS effectively. Students with behavioral concerns receive increased positive support through behavior interventions that focus on the teaching and reinforcement of appropriate behaviors and social skills development and result in the prevention of behaviors of concern. Numerous studies of office discipline referrals and suspension data indicate that PBS is effective in reducing behavior problems (Kartub et al., 2000; Metzler, Biglan, Rusby, Sprague, 2001; Oswald et al., 2005; Scott, 2001; Turnball et al., 2002). These studies also show that PBS reduces the number of students with repeated behavioral incidences not just those with behavioral problems. Scott and Barrett (2004) studied the impact of reduced disciplinary problems on instructional time and found that following PBS implementation, students experienced many hours of instruction. This is a result of less student time spent in exclusionary punishment and less instructional time was spent on behavioral concerns. Horner et al. (2001) stated that the framework of PBS The following is from resource marked red star dated 1/20/10 pg1 Progress has been made in understanding and developing solutions for disruptive behaviors (Burns, 2002). Teaching experience has been found to be helpful, but not always necessary, when relating to teachers and fostering positive school environments (Smith, Crutchfield, Culbreth, 2001). Recognizing the seriousness of behavior in a classroom is an essential part of teaching. Teacher preparation programs should understand the problems confronting teachers with regard

Saturday, July 20, 2019

John Marshall Essay -- American History, Politics

The late 1700s and early 1800s was a critical time period in American history in which our newly independent nation was beginning to lay down the groundwork for how the country would run. During this time, America was in its infancy and its crucial first steps would dictate how the nation would either walk, run, or retreat. John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the Unites States, was a highly important and influential political figure whose decisions forever molded the future of the American judicial system. Like many other great political figures, much of John Marshall’s influence can be attributed to timing; he emerged just as the United States Constitution came into existence. John Marshall was born in Virginia in 1755 to a large family whose father was involved with local politics and whose mother was the cousin of Thomas Jefferson, who was later Marshall’s adversary. After serving as an officer in the American Revolution, Marshall returned home in 1779 to become one of the most prominent lawyers in Virginia. In 1782, he was elected as a delegate to the Virginia assembly and later, took part in the Virginia ratifying convention, in which he staunchly defended the new United States Constitution. Rising in popularity, John Marshall was elected to Congress in 1799, and continuing to remain loyal to the Federalist Party, put his full support behind President John Adams, who appointed him Secretary of State in 1801 (â€Å"John Marshall†). In the presidential election of 1800, which is also known as the â€Å"revolution of 1800†, Thomas Jefferson was elected, marking an end to John Adams’ term and the Federalist’s rule (â€Å"The Election of 1800†). After being defeated by Jefferson, Adams quickly nominated John Marshall as Chief Justice d... ... Court saw some of the most controversial and unprecedented decisions ever to be made in American History. Lord Bryce described his overall influence; â€Å"The Constitution seemed not so much to rise under his hands to full stature, as to be gradually unveiled by him till it stood revealed in the harmonious perfection of the form which its framers had designed† (Smith, â€Å"Maximum Justice†). The Supreme Court under Marshall took on the vital role of interpreting specific clauses of the U.S. Constitution and enumerating the powers it granted for both the state and federal governments. He elevated the status of the judicial branch until it was in an equal position of power as the other two. Above all, John Marshall did everything in his power to achieve his most important objective; to strengthen and protect the â€Å"more perfect union† the United States Constitution created.

Friday, July 19, 2019

Depictions of gender roles in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne is virtually banished from the Puritan society because of her crime. She was guilty for adultery with the town’s minister, Arthur Dimmesdale. However, the reader is kept in the dark that Dimmesdale is the child’s father until latter part of the novel. Although Hawthorne’s novel accurately depicts the consequences that Hester and Dimmesdale suffer from their sin, the novel does not accomplish the task of reflecting upon the 17th century Puritan gender roles in Hester and Dimmesdale. For one, the mental and physical states of Hester and Dimmesdale are switched. Hester takes on the more courageous role throughout the novel whereas Dimmesdale takes on the more sensitive role. In addition, Hester is examined in accordance to the gender roles set for today’s American women. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is written in a manner that accurately depicts 17th century Puritan so ciety, but does not accurately show gender roles. To begin, typical Puritan society during the 17th century was â€Å"painfully stern and somber; it was founded on the strictest, unmollified Calvinism,† (Puritan†¦). In other words, their society was very restricted and confined to religion. Civil law also played a role in the citizens’ business and social relations. Law impacted how they dressed, their religious affairs, and even their family relations. In terms of education, Puritans prospered. In fact, in Massachusetts, they required every township of fifty families to employ a teacher to educate the children. Their government was also structured upon religion because religion served as their only method of life. In terms of gender roles, the men were responsible for earning bread for... ... Letter." Ghent University Faculty of Arts and Philosophy. Ghent University, July 2008. Web. 12 Jan. 2012. . Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: Tom Doherty Associates, LLC, 1989. Print. Gannon, Andres. "The Puritan Influence in Contemporary American Society." The Puritan Influence in Contemporary American Society. Damien High School, 2008. Web. 12 Jan. 2012. . Tyson, Lois. "Feminist Criticism." Critical Theory Today: a User-friendly Guide. New York: Routledge, 2006. Print. "Puritan Laws and Character." History of the USA. Web. 17 Jan. 2011. .

Environmental Factors :: essays research papers

Environmental Factors When a person is trying to place his or her seating, you have to acknowledge the four task situations (conversation, cooperation, coaction, and competition). When conversing with another person, you are most likely to sit directly across from each other. An example of conversation is when my roommate and I go eat. We do not sit side by side, unless somebody else is coming to eat with us. The opposite sitting arrangement to conversation is cooperation. During cooperation you are most likely to sit side by side because you are helping and showing each other useful information. Here on campus in the library, student union, lobbies of different departments were you could see cooperation at its best. I will use myself as an example because when I was a freshman and sophomore here at Appalachian State I had to go to study hall and get a tutor because of football. When I was getting tutored my tutor would not sit across the table from me she would sit beside of me because it felt like I was getting more out of the conversation. However, the Intimacy Level between two people helps depend on were you sit. If a couple is very intimate then they are likely to sit side by side. But if a couple is not intimate but friends they will sit across from one another. When my girlfriend and I go out on a date we will sit across from each other. But, when I am at work I see older couples in there forties, sitting next to each other. But a place were Intimacy is not involved is the clubs, because alcohol is involved. Alcohol can increase the intimacy level between two not intimate people. Another reason that makes people decisions are their seating arrangement is Personal and Personality differences. One example that I have seen is leadership. Leadership is seen everyday in our society. The leadership shows who is in charge of the situation at hand. You will see leadership in conferences, groups, meetings, classrooms when decision is involved, and at home at the dinner table. Also another example that I have is people who are extroverts. Extroverts tend to be outgoing, loud, talkable people. I am one of those people. So I see Extroversion everyday, an example is, â€Å"I went to pick up my car from south parking lot. I saw this girl that was so â€Å"fine†.

Thursday, July 18, 2019

Contemporary Indian English Women Writers Essay

The book under review by Dr. K. V. Dominic has 27 essays by 24 eminent critics of Indian English literature on about 12 Indian English writers: novelists, and poets. There are four essays on Anita Desai, two on Kamala Markandaya, two on Kamala Das, three on Shashi Deshpande, two on Arundhati Roy, two on Bharati Mukherjee, one each on Jaishree Mishra, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Kiran Desai, Smita Tiwari, Chandramoni Narayanswamy, and Charmayne D’Souza. There is also one article that makes a comparative study of world women poets. Linda Lowen and Jaydeep Sarangi interview respectively Sarojini Sahoo and Rizio Yohanan Raj. V. Ramesh has three and Sudhir Arora two articles in this anthology. Besides, there is also a ‘Preface’ by the editor, Prof. Dominic, doctorate on the fiction of RK Narayan, is, himself, a poet and critic of wide renown. The editor, in his ‘Preface’ to this book, is very clear about his perception about the Indian English women writers. He writes: â€Å"Indian writing in English is . . . both an Indian literature and a variety of English literature. It has an appeal both to Indians and English men† (v). He further adds: â€Å"Indian English women writers have made a phenomenal contribution to Indian literature as well as world literature. They are able to portray a world that has in it women rich in substance. The women in their works are real flesh-and-blood protagonists who make the readers look at them with awe with their relationships to their surroundings, their society, their men, their children, their families, their mental make-ups and themselves† (x-xi). Novelists & Story writers The book undertakes the study of 11 women novelists: Anita Desai, Kamala Markandaya, Shashi Deshpande, Arundhati Roy, Bharati Mukherjee, Jaishree Mishra, Jhumpa Lahiri, Githa Hariharan, Kiran Desai, Chandramony Narayanaswamy, and Charmayne D’ Souza. Among the four articles on Anita Desai’s fiction two are by V Ramesh and one each by Latha R. Nair and Sr. Sophy Pereppadan, V. Ramesh in one of his article traces the â€Å"Dravidian aesthetics† in her fiction from feministic stance. He concludes that women’s â€Å"faculty to endure the domestic injustice and the institutionalized tyranny unseat the myths of feminity, motherhood and marriage. This is . . . what the Dravidian culture is all about† (19). In the other, he studies Sita’s character as â€Å"The Paradoxical Psyche of an Archetypal Indian Woman† in Anita Desai’s novel Where Shall We Go This Summer? In this article, he infers that â€Å"Anita Desai undeniably divulges a co mmendable grasp of the quandary and dilemmas of woman and portrays her own vision of a variegated facet of woman in modern India and her fully stimulated feminine sensibility† (48). Latha R. Nair explores Desai’s novels in a quest to explicate â€Å"Locale as an Extension of the Self† and finds that â€Å"the locale or milieu becomes a commanding centre† in her novels. Her characters â€Å"are definitely apart (sic) [a part] of the locale, which reflects, expands and transforms their identity. It is not possible to free ourselves from this milieu which is an integral part of our psychological milieu† (9). Sr. Sophy Pereppadan digs deep into Desai’s novel Fire on the Mountain to trace her â€Å"alienation† and affirms that â€Å"Her desire ‘to be alone’ finds expression in her love for nothingness–an expression of nihilism. This is in some sense a ‘death-wish,’ which enjoys the devastation of the live world. She gratifies her craving for aloneness by annihilating everything existing . . .† (36). Shishu Paul tries, in his article, to show the impact of political upheavals on human relationships in Kamala Markandeya’s novel, The Golden Honeycomb. He affirms: â€Å"Markandaya has conveyed through this novel that freedom is universal basic [human] right which nobody should try to suppress. Humanity is all one: lack of love and understanding creates Chasm and conflict. The underlying theme is the doctrine that human nature, of whatever race or class is basically the same† (70). V. Ramesh, on the other hand, elucidates femin istic principles in Indian women in all novels of Markandaya in the present article. He posits: â€Å"Kamala Markandaya suggests that freedom is to be necessarily tempered with responsibility to achieve advancement and evolution. Her women are branded, though not for making comprehensive depiction but for offering an in-depth study of the human psyche enmeshed in the values of different hues–social, traditional and spiritual† (82). The book has three articles on the fiction of Shashi Deshpande: one each by Vincent Aerathu, Asha Susan Jacob, and G. Baskaran. Vincent Aerathu studies girl children in Deshpande’s novels, The Dark Holds No Terrors, A Matter of Time, Roots and Shadows, and The Long Silence. Aerathu writes that â€Å"Shashi Deshpande looks into the childhood of her female characters and shows how childhood experiences go a long way in determining or influencing their adult lives. She believes that childhood experiences are lasting and that they have a crucial role to play in the formation of a healthy personality† (140). But, â€Å"protagonists of Deshpande have deprived childhood, in one way or another. These deprivations in childhood, equip them with the power to fight and survive till the end† (149). Asha Susan Jacob divulges the â€Å"voice of the silenced† in her study of Despande’s novels. She concludes that â€Å"Each of the marriages is marked by silence† (151). In the evolution of their character, their â€Å"decision to break the silence is the first sign of liberation . . . . From a state of passive acceptance they move to active assertion. By refusing to succumb to societal pressures and by creating space within the matrix Deshpande women succeed in establishing their identity by expressing themselves† (164). G. Baskaran tries to explain incoherent and loosened relationships in her reading of Shashi Deshpande’s â€Å"Wingless Angels† and â€Å"Amputated Mothers† in her short stories from Collected Stories Vol. I. She reveals in her s tudy: â€Å"The aspirations of almost all the young girls of Deshpande’s short stories go unfulfilled because of the difference in the mental make-up between persons of different generations. This causes a heavy blow to the parent-daughter relationship precipitating alienation† (178). Premlatha Dinakarlal and K. Nirmala in their respective articles study â€Å"Subaltern Voices† and â€Å"A Layman’s Study in Psychology† in Arundhati’s novel The God of Small Things. While Premlatha Dinakarlal suggests: â€Å"Indian government must work to remove traditional practices that subordinate women . . . to establish gender justice and ensure dignity and self-respect to which women are entitled† (185). K. Nirmala holds: â€Å"Arundhati Roy’s exceptional ability to get into the disturbed psyche of the different personae is indeed commendable . . . . The psychology of the characters reveals an unusual mental make-up that motivates their behaviour in times of stress† (187). Eliza Joseph and Lata Mishra study Bharati Mukherjee’s novels Desirable Daughters and Jasmine respectively. Eliza Joseph, in her article ‘Perspecti ves on the â€Å"Mestiza† Consciousness: Bharati Mukherjee’s Desirable Daughters,’ infers that â€Å"Desirable Daughters proclaims that both expatriates and immigrants cannot sever themselves entirely from their cultural roots and their ethnic past† (209). Lata Mishra concludes: â€Å"Cultural fusion in the novel is thus a placing of the protagonist as a subject in control and as an agent of the re-building of the Self. The protagonist is not affixed to any fixed or single identity since she discovers no fixed roots to cling to. Instead of anchoring to a final selfhood she cannot help but shuttle among temporary identities in different spaces in different times, one after another† (219), in her article, â€Å"Representing Immigration through the Logic of Transformation: Bharati Mukherjee’s Jasmine.† Joji John Panicker examines cultural elements of the Marar community in Jaishree Misra’s Ancient Promises. Panicker observes: â€Å". . . the ways she (Jaishree Misra) presents the culture and customs of the Marars makes the book certainly remarkable and realistic. The people, their ways and the age-old adherence to tradition are all to be seen and felt in Ancient Promises. . . . Misra has successfully portrayed the tradition and customs of the Marar community† (232). S. Vasigaran writes that â€Å"Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is concerned with the dialectics of the women immigrants’ experiences in the American soil whose prospects are repressed by the Indian tradition† (236). The critic has chosen only two stories â€Å"Clothes† and â€Å"The Word Love† from her book. Arranged Marriage, for her study in the paper and concludes: â€Å"These women have finally chosen American individualism eschewing their deep-rooted loyalty to their cultural tradition because they feel that they have been encumbered by their tradition instead of being inspired and encouraged by it† (242). Sandip Guha Roy & Joydeep Banerjee have studied the conflicting positions in Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel The Namesake to conclude that â€Å"Immigration to an alien world today is not as equivalent, not as dreaded as being uprooted–as it had been so many decades ago . . . the psychological effects of the change in culture as a consequence of dislocation pervades strongly. †¦ As cultures superimpose upon each other, they smear the life-fabric of transnational migrants indelibly, perhaps, producing more denizens of a global community like the protagonists in The Namesake† (260-61). Lata Mishra in her article on Lahiri’s fiction deduces: â€Å"Lahiri’s women are not the silent sufferers. In fact in their silence and their power to continuously reassess the cross cultural mores improve their own as well as the lives of their close ones . . . . Outwardly these characters may seem to be powerless in Western society but actually these characters are gifted with remarkable inner adaptability and yet not over-assimilatory nature† (273). Avis Joseph thoroughly examines Githa Hariharan’s novel, The Thousand Faces of Night, to study the muddle of human relationships and believes Hariharan has â€Å"succeeded in tracing the battles of woman in her relationship with man and society, not to urban existential angst but to times immemorial† (280). Chithra PS studies Kiran Desai’s The Inheritance of Loss from post-colonial perspective. Chithra concludes: â€Å"in the postcolonial era, Indians have learnt how to curse in a foreign language. The foreigner has taught the language and now the Indians are using that language to disgrace the very same people who taught them that language† (291). PCK Prem, in his study of Chandramoni Narayanaswany’s novel, The Karans of Penang, in the background of freedom struggle, and she depicts the physical and psychological suffering of her characters. Ms Narayanswamy, retired as an IAS of Orissa cadre, now lives in Bhubaneswar. Prem scrutinizes: â€Å"Apparently The Karans of Penang appears a sensitive love story but deep down it is an engrossing tale of people who suffered during the freedom struggle and this lofty backdrop affords characteristic distinction to the entire pattern of story telling† (299). Poets There are four articles on women poets by Lakshmishree Banerjee, V. Alexander Raju, and two by Sudhir K. Arora. Banerjee’s article is a comparative study of world women poets, which a little bit goes beyond the scope of the book. The critic â€Å"seeks allowances to cross the borders of Time and Space and venture into the pulsating infinity of Women Poetry† (86). In her paper, she has encompassed the works of Emily Dickinson, Kamala Das, Nolene Foxworth, Julia Kristeva, Arlene Zide, Sarojini Naidu, EB Browning, Christina Rossetti, Amy Lowell, Edith Sodergran, Sylvia Plath, Mamta Kalia, Florence Howe, and many more. She comments: â€Å"Despite the disparities of culture, creed and colour, Women Poetry stands out as an intense, trailblazing experience of human living, as an endless river pouring into a limitless ocean of multi-hued vibrancies . . . . These poets are fast becoming the uncompromising voices of all-embracing truths, tender as well as acerbic in the impacting lyricism of their human language. Ambivalances, contradictions as well as poise, playfulness and affirmativeness characterize these creations as the New Poetry of a New Dawn of human civilization† (100-01). Sudhir K Arora’s analyses of Smita Tewari’s Hourglass and Charmayne D’Souza’s A Spelling Guide to Woman are quite penetrative in approach. In his article on Smita Tewari, Dr Arora observes: â€Å"Indeed, Smita Tewari’s ‘Poetic Self’ has made a spiritual journey successfully† to realize â€Å"some new aspects which she never experienced before . . . . Her verse is cathartic in nature† (298). In his article on D’Souza’s poetry, he finds it different. He comments: â€Å"Charmayne D’Souza has given voice to feminine sensibility making women realize their identity. She has endevoured (sic) her best to make the male world feel that a woman is not mere possession but is a person who has her own individuality. . . . She has written a new script through A Spelling Guide to Woman with the hope that women will realize their own role in shaping the life of men and there is nothing wrong if they ask for legal space encroached by men† (328). Interviews The book also has two interviews by Linda Lowen and Jaydeep Sarangi with Sarojini Sahoo and Rizio Yohannan Raj respectively. Sarojini Sahoo is a feminist writer. Her novels and short stories treat women as sexual beings and probe culturally sensitive topics . . . . Her writings deal with feminine sexuality, the emotional lives of women. Her blog, Sense & Sensuality, explores why sexuality plays a major role in our understanding of Eastern feminism–writes Linda Owen. Sahoo, herself, tells Linda: â€Å"In my various stories I have discussed lesbian sex, rape, abortion, infertility, failed marriage and menopause . . . . But still I believe someone has to bear this risk to accurately portray women’s feelings–the intricate mental agony and complexity which a man can never feel–and these must be discussed through our fiction† (122). The second review by Jaydeep Sarangi with Rizio Yohannan Raj, who has only one collection, Eunuch, of her poems published; t he other, Naked by the Sabarmati and Other Poems awaits publication from Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi. In this interview she tells of her Self, intrusion of Mumbai, her poetics, negotiation about the composite web of subjectivity, her bi-lingual ability, and the title of her first book Eunuch. She tells the interviewer bout her poetic vision: â€Å"Everything that I have experienced in this world has in some way contributed to what may be called my ‘cross-border’ vision† (252). I would also like to comment about the glaring proof-reading mistakes, leaving aside the text (as is evident in two of the quotes of this review and pointed there), in the very titles of the articles by Vincent Aerathu [â€Å"Girld† for Girl] (139)] and Sudhir K. Arora [â€Å"Woan† for Woman] (321)]. These offset the readers and also question the quality of the publication. In nut shell, the book presents established and the new authors side by side. This is a welcome step in Indian English literature; for, the critics and editors of older generation considered new writers as somewhat untouchable and nourished a bias in their minds against them. However, I believe while the earlier, pre-Independence writers struggled with their sensibility in a foreign tongue and tried to be English in their writings, the contemporary writers have taken it as a hobby to express their views in not the King’s English, but in the Indian English, a different label given and accepted in the world dictionaries. Indian English is certainly different from the other Englishes of the world. I hope it will be well received by the students and scholars of Indian English literature.