Analyze Vygotsky with my activity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Analyze Vygotsky with my activity - Essay Example It allowed opportunities to interact with others and share their own observations, insights and conclusions regarding the activity. Observations in the implementation of the lesson plan included children talking to each other and commenting on their task. Vygotsky recognizes the â€Å"dialogic nature of all learning†. An individual engages in dialogues whether with others or just within his thoughts and this gives rise to care, concern, compassion for both oneself and others (Crawford, 2001). Interactions are likely to go through a process called intersubjectivity. This is when two people are engaged in a task and begin from different understandings but with interaction, comes to an agreed, shared understanding. This is usually manifested when children initially debate opposite arguments but upon more understanding of the concept because of listening to each other’s opinions, will both end up seeing the concept in one direction. Such intersubjectivity is apparent when the children choose from several nonstandard objects to measure with and may initially think differently from each other as to how many of those objects will be needed to measure a body part. The children may come up with different guesses, but upon validating their guesses with measurement, they come up with one answer. The lesson plan on measurements using non-standard objects is developmentally-appropriate for Kindergarten level. At this age, children need concrete materials familiar to them to make sense of some concepts. In this case, measuring with familiar objects becomes something the children can relate to. For them, knowing that one child is one popsicle stick taller than another is more meaningful to them than knowing that the child is three inches taller than another. It is because they actually know what a popsicle stick is and how it looks and estimate

Rational Choice Theory Essay Example for Free

Rational Choice Theory Essay â€Å"Man is a rational animal who always loses his temper when he is called upon to act in accordance with the dictates of reason. † As seen from Oscar Wilde’s famous quote, rationality is one of the most crucial and controversial subjects in studying human behavior. To study and examine this rationality, numerous scholars have tried to establish their own theories and generalize their explanation with empirical evidences from real world, which ultimately produces so called, the theory of rational choice. Rational Choice Theory is an approach to understand human behavior. The approach has long been the dominant paradigm in economics, but in recent several decades it has become more widely used in other fileds such as Sociology, Political Science, and Anthropology. The main purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of rational choice theory and briefly discuss its basic assumptions, critiques, political implication, and alternative explanations of individual choice mechanism. First of all, historical backgrounds of rational choice theory and its transition from the field of Economics to that of Political Science will be elaborated. Next, various definitions and meanings of the rational choice will be discussed. The basic assumptions of the rational choice approach with political implication will be followed. Several issues raised by rational choice theory will be followed after this discussion. This paper will suggest some of the main criticisms that have been levied against the rational choice approach. Limited empirical validity of rational choice theory and methodological individualism, which reveals innate problematic nature of the theory, will be discussed. Finally, alternative explanations of individual choice mechanism will sum up this discussion. Before elaborating its theoretical discussion, it is necessary to discuss historical backgrounds of rational choice theory. In the article, â€Å"A Genealogy of Rational Choice: Rationalism, Elitism, and Democracy†, Maloy introduces Skinner’s analysis of behaviorism as fundamental background for the discussion of rational choice theory. He argues that, â€Å"Skinner’s analysis deserves the attention of the recent debates around rational choice ecause it calls attention to the ineluctable ideological features of methodological debate† (Maloy 751). According to Maloy, Skinner could â€Å"clarify the sorts of normative force which attach to empirical theories in social sciences by a close textual analysis of some leading contributions to the behaviorist debate†, which ultimately enables the discussion of rational choice to be furthered applied into different fields of study (Maloy 751). Milton Freidman is another crucial figure that provides profound theoretical base for discussing rational choice theory. In â€Å"The Methodology of Positive Economics†, Friedman argues that people and firms make decisions that can maximize their profit under perfect information. He defended rational choice model by arguing that, â€Å"a theory should be judged by its predictive accuracy, not the realism of its assumptions† (Friedman 10). His argument provides theoretical foundations of rational choice theory in Economics, even though it is often criticized by later scholars because of its weak empirical validity and ceteris paribus nature. While rational choice theory has been dominant paradigm in Economics, it has become â€Å"adapted and adjusted in a number of ways to fit† different fields of study such as Political Science; Maloy explains that â€Å"the distinctiveness of the rational choice approach among political scientists consists, in general terms, in the use of economic models to explain and predict political behavior (Maloy 753). Maloy points out three prominent figures, Arrow, Downs, and Olson as rational choice founders especially in the field of political science. According to Maloy, Arrow’s work focuses on so called, â€Å"collective rationality whose underlying purpose is to measure collective choices using standards normally applied to individual choices (Maloy 753). Down uses Arrow’s collective rationality as the starting point of his study and â€Å"aims to articulate a behavior rule for democratic governments so that they could be included in economic theories of general equilibrium, alongside non-state agents like private firms and consumers (Maloy 754). Finally, Olson’s analysis has taken â€Å"the key elements of Arrow’s and Down’s constructs and applied them to a narrower field†; He argues that â€Å"as long as the service provided by a voluntary association is a public good on which an individual can ride-free, there is no incentive actually to take on the costs associated with joining, membership and participation, unless the marginal contribution of that individual appreciably advances the organizational cause† (Maloy 754). All three choice founders’ works have enabled rational choice theory to be in the central place of political discussion in â€Å"the creative and cross-disciplinary ways† (Maloy 755). By arguing that voting results have no specific social meaning, voting has no individual efficacy, and participation in interest group activity has no special individual efficacy, these rational choice founders could criticize unrealistic and irrational assumptions and norms of traditional democratic system and bring rational choice model to the place of political discussion from the field of Economics (Maloy 755). Rational Choice Theory generally starts with consideration of the choice behavior of individual decision-making units, which in economics are often consumers and firms. The theory suggests that the individual decision-making unit is certain larger group such as buyers or sellers in a particular market. Once individual behavior is set up, the analysis generally moves on to examine how individual choices interact to produce outcomes. Then, what does it mean by arguing that a choice is rational? In rational choice theory it means that an agent’s choices reflect the most preferred possible alternative among given opportunities. In other words, choices must reflect utility maximization. Elinor Ostrom defines rational choice theory as a guide to â€Å"understand humans as self-interested, short-term maximizers† in his work, â€Å"A Behavioral Approach to the Rational Choice Theory of Collective Action† (Ostrom 2). In the article, â€Å"The Political Psychology of Rational Choice Theory†, William H.  Riker also suggests that â€Å"the rational choice model begins with the assumption that actors know what they want and can order their wants transitively† (Riker 25). â€Å"Transitively† here means that an agent of rational choice model can do so called, â€Å"a transitive ordering†; â€Å"To know what one wants requires one to choose the best from among several goals and, failing to attain it, to choose the second best, etc† (Riker 24). This formulation of ordering enables an agent to pursue the best option with given constraints that limit choices he or she can have. In their work, â€Å"Rational Choice Theory†, Coleman and Fararo define rational choice sociologically as they use the term, â€Å"models of purposive action†, rather than rational choice; â€Å"These models rest on the assumption that actors are purposive which means they act in ways that tend to produce beneficial results† (Coleman and Fararo 21). These several definitions point out that choices pursuing utility maximization and outcomes made by these choices are key elements in rational choice theory. Then how is different when rational choice theory is applied into the field of Political Science instead of other fields of study such as Economics and Sociology? According to Riker, Economists’ main concern for rational choice is â€Å"the process and outcomes produced by voluntary exchange, where of course, all participants benefit. On the other hand, â€Å"Politics mainly concerns processes and outcomes produced by group decisions which are practically binding on those who cannot resign from the group. Thus, there can be losers and winners in politics according to Riker’s argument (Riker 24). Although Rational choice theory has long been the dominant paradigm in Economics and other fields of study, it has been subject to vigorous criticism. In â€Å"Pathologies of Rational Choice Theory†, Don Green and Ian Shapiro raises several empirical problems that rational choice theory possess; they â€Å"conclude that a number of methodological deficiencies plague empirical applications of rational choice models. They argue that, â€Å"fundamental and recurrent methodological failings rooted in the universalist aspirations that motivate so much rational choice theorizing† (Freidman 59). According to Green and Shapiro, â€Å"these mistakes stem from a method-driven rather than a problem-driven approach to research, in which practitioners are more eager to vindicate one or another universalist model than to understand and explain actual political outcomes† (Friedman 59). Green and Shapiro’s argument can be summarized into three propositions; â€Å"there is a list of methodological characteristics that are undesirable in an empirical science and are thus to be avoided. † â€Å"Empirical applications of rational choice theory are more likely to commit these mistakes than other types of empirical analysis in political science. â€Å"These pathologies are not due to and historical coincidence, but are rooted in fundamental characteristics of rational choice theory, especially its universalist aspirations and the lack of specificity in the rational actor assumption† (Freidman 60). These propositions suggest that rational choice theory has its empirical limit for testing and predicting actual political outcomes. In detail, Green and Shapiro point out several problems of rational choice theory that possibly undermines the empirical validity of the theory itself. Post hoc theory development† known to statisticians as â€Å"curve fitting† is one of these problems that rational choice theory contains. Green and Shapiro â€Å"contend that rather than formulating bold predictions that are falsifiable by empirical evidence, rational choice theorist tend first to look at the empirical evidence, then design a rational choice model that fits it† (Friedman 5). Another problem raised by Green and Shapiro is rational choice theorists’ engagement in â€Å"arbitrary domain restriction† (Friedman 5). As discussed earlier, certain restrictions or constraints enable â€Å"a transitive ordering† in rational choice theory. Green and Shapiro argue that these constraints and restrictions are defined in ambiguous ways in rational choice model, which ultimately makes the empirical validity of the theory weakened. Green and Shapiro’s examination of the phenomenon of voting behavior is another major example that shows these problems rational choice theory innately possesses. â€Å"In a real-world election with a large electorate, it is instrumentally irrational for anyone to case a ballot, since no single vote has more than an infinitesimal chance of deciding the outcome. Whether one favors selfish or selfless ends, virtually any activity in pursuit of those ends would be more effective than the time spent on voting and on educating oneself about candidates and issues. Yet hundreds of millions of people do vote. For rational choice theory, this would appear to be a gigantic anomaly† (Friedman 6); As noted earlier, rational choice theory presumes that an agent of the model seeks best possible outcomes to maximize his or her utility in given constraints. However, according to Green and Shapiro, in a real-world voting behavior does not confirm this assumption of rational choice theory where voters cast a ballot without having enough time to assess or predict its possible outcome and realizing whether his or her action of voting maximize benefit or not. Another issue raised by Green and Shapiro is free riding problem; While voters can easily pursue a free riding action on the efforts of others to help the cause succeed, there is no need for people to devote resources of time and money to cause desired results. In other words, â€Å"rational choice theory would seem to be refuted not only by people who vote, but by those who contribute small amounts of money to political campaigns, attend rallies, and engage in other forms of collective action designed to secure goals whose achievement is independent of the efforts of any single participant† (Friedman 7). As seen from Green and Shapiro’s founding, most criticisms of rational choice theory seem to be that the assumptions of the theory are not literally and completely true. No model can pass such a test, as all theories abstract from reality in certain way. Determining the empirical validity of a model would therefore seem to involve an examination of both feasibility of assumptions and conformity with real-world data. The most basic assumption of rational choice theory is that the primary unit of analysis is the individual decision-maker. Those who believe that groups are fundamental have criticized this assumption. This issue of so called, â€Å"methodological individualism† are dealt in many contexts in the social sciences. In the book, â€Å"Rational Choice Theory: Advocacy and Critique†, Coleman and Fararo argues that models of purposive action or rational choice model can be useful in explaining and predicting human behavior. They further their argument by saying that â€Å"because the values and beliefs of individuals are shaped primarily by the socializing influences of society, especially as mediated through social relationships with significant other, an understanding of the culture and structure of societies and of the positions of individuals within them is necessary† (Coleman and Fararo 22). According to Coleman and Fararo, major problem for applying rational choice model particularly into Economics and Political Science, in which the primary interest has been in aggregate level outcomes, â€Å"is that the postulate of purposive action has been linked to arbitrary and narrow assumptions about what individuals value and believe† (Coleman Fararo 33). Also the assumption that human behavior is narrowly self-interested and the use of the term rationality to refer to the efficient pursuit of economic benefits has often produced incorrect assumption that rational choice model are innately egoistic; â€Å"that they regard individuals as calculating the expected benefit to themselves of alternative lines of action and acting accordingly (Coleman and Fararo 34). Recent empirical evidences suggest that human beings are capable of acting in ways for the interests of others or the social group above their self-interest, which implies that the assumption of individual’s pursuit of self-interest does not match with reality. Coleman and Fararo further their discussion of this â€Å"methodological individualism† by arguing that a social norm can be one primary example, which refutes the basic assumption of rational choice model. According to Coleman and Fararo, â€Å"When a social norm is know to have been violated, some type of formal or informal sanction will result† (Coleman Fararo 35). Formal sanction like a legal code or a set of rules and informal sanction like a disapproval or social ostracism would affect individual’s choice making process. Therefore, unlike the basic assumption of rational choice model suggests that human behavior is oriented from self-interest, by the effect of social norms and values, individuals can consequently act in altruistic or selfless way for pursuing the interests of groups they are involved in. Because of its limit and problematic nature of rational choice theory, the need for alternative explanation has become necessary for many scholars who criticize the theory. Dennis Chong provides some insights for the possible alternative of rational choice theory in his article, â€Å"Rational Choice Theory’s Mysterious Rivals†. According to Chong, even though Green and Shapiro’s critique against rational choice theory has failed to provide complete form of alternative explanation, there are some theoretical debates and discussions that suggest possible theoretical replacement or revision. Chong argues that, â€Å"Green and Shapiro occasionally allude to the influence of social-psychological and moral factors† such as group loyalties, emotions, political identities, ideology, obligation, and altruism (Friedman 47). As found in Coleman and Fararo’s arguments that institutional or social factors can affect individual’s choice making process, many scholars further their discussion of this social motivation as the alternative of rational choice theory. In his article, â€Å"When Rationality Fails†, Michael Taylor argues that social identification and intrinsic motivation can explain some of significant social phenomenon and collective action that has been ignored by rational choice theory; â€Å"If a person defines herself as a member of a group, or if her membership in a group is made cognitively salient, then she is more likely to observe the group’s norms and cooperate with group members in social dilemmas† (Friedman 230). For intrinsic motivation, Taylor explains that there are some activities that are intrinsically motivating people to be participated such as interesting work, volunteering, and political activities. In this case the activity itself or enjoyment of that activity is the reward for people. When extrinsic rewards like money are introduced, intrinsic motivation would diminish (Friedman 231). By suggesting the concept of social identification and intrinsic motivation, problems of rational choice model for explaining some collective action can be resolved. In this paper, a sense of how rational choice theory works and of its methodological foundations has been introduced. It has also been noticed that rational choice theory is not an ultimate answer. The theory is subject to a number of criticisms, but there is no doubt that its influence in various fields of study have brought tremendous amounts of theoretical debates, and increased the depth of economic, sociological, and political discussions. It is impossible to attain complete knowledge about anything, especially social phenomena. However, it is certain that rational choice approach is one of most crucial theoretical resources for human beings to explore and examine to gain this ultimate answer. It can be useful or misleading, depending on how it is treated. It is responsibility of remaining and future scholars and people to correctly apply and use this theory with open-minded attitude.

Social Work Practice with Hispanic Elders

Social Work Practice with Hispanic Elders Dana Adams Gerardo Cantu is a masters level social worker at The Family Center. Gerardos current position with The Family Center, he is Class Facilitator and Case Manager. The Family Center offers individual and family care to elderly clients and their families in a warm and supportive atmosphere. The Family Centers professional team completes a thorough comprehensive assessments to help determine problem areas along with care plans to serve as an ongoing monitoring tool. The Family Center involves and engages the client in the care plan process as it serves as the basis of ongoing communication between the family, client, and Case Manager. Mr. Cantu works with families who are caring for older relatives and has a vital role in a part of a multidisciplinary team that manages the total scope of the needs of elder clients. Mr. Cantu has worked with The Family Center for eleven years, but is new in his role of Case Manager for elderly clients. This population is newly served at The Center and has only been in operation for six months. Mr. Cantu currently manages Twelve cases and completes bi-monthly, in-home visits with clients and their families. During home visits, Mr. Cantu provides informal counseling and social support by listening, understanding, networking, empowering, and encouraging. During his internship for his Master of Social Work degree, Mr. Cantu worked at a local health department where he learned the logistics of working with elderly Hispanic clients and this role in his internship created a road map for his current position with The Family Center. Mr. Cantu is bilingual in English and Spanish, and assisted employed case managers with providing ancillary interpretation services to Hispanic clients. Through community outreach, he learned to enroll clients for medical insurance through the health insurance marketplace, assisted with providing patient assistance for filling out applications for Medicaid, food stamps, WIC, and free medications for low income patients. As a Class Facilitator and Case Manager with The Family Center, Mr. Cantu conducts home visits, assessments, patient intakes, creates patient care plans based on the clients medical, psychological, and social needs. He also leads a monthly support group for caregivers, educating them on physical, emotional and financial strain of caring for their loved ones and teaching them how to balance their responsibilities at home and work. In the present moment, Mr. Cantu states he is pleased with the program and feels The Family Center is serving the needs of families in the local area who need assistance and support with caring for their loved ones. Writer asked Mr. Cantu about the importance of networking within the agency and if he faced any challenges obtaining needed services for his clients. Mr. Cantu explained how networking involves a vast number of agencies working together to enhance well-being and how it takes a variety of agencies to network together to help individuals achieve their goals. Some agencies The Family Center network with for food, medical, financial, day care, and Hispanic services assistance is The United Methodist Church, Area Agency on Aging, Mobile County Health Department, Catholic Social Services, and The Guadalupe Center. The main challenge Mr. Cantu faces is providing adequate transportation services to the clients due to there being a high demand for services in the area. Mr. Cantu assists with transporting clients to scheduled appointments. Applying critical thinking, motivational, and listening skills and empowerment within the context of his professional social work practice and The Family Center, Mr. Cantu understands the value base of the profession and its ethical standards and principles. He states that he always utilizes practice without discrimination and with respect, knowledge, and skills related to clients age, class, color, culture, disability, ethnicity, family structure, gender, marital status, national origin, race religion, sex, and sexual orientation. As stated by Mr. Cantu, he has dedicated his life to helping others and his two prayers are: Use me and Thank you. Mr. Cantu uses communications skills differentially across diverse populations and communities and seeks necessary organizational change if needed. Developing a trusting relationship with my clients enables me to serve as a liaison between them, the community and social service agencies to facilitate access to services and help improve cultural competence and the quality of service delivery (G. Cantu, personal communication, February 1, 2017).   Reflective use of theoretical approaches and knowledge bases underlies his practice with attention to the life course perspective. Evaluating his social work practice and practicing in ways that are culturally and gender appropriate with low income persons and with those who have experienced social and economic injustice is essential in his role at the agency. When asked about his most memorable case, his response was of a client who thought he was her grandson and how she would cook for him during the visit and would not allow him to leave until he finished his plate. He said that he would have to beg her to leave the home sometimes because she would try to make him go to bed and rest. When asked if there were any instances of him having difficulty leaving the home, he explained how one day he had wait until the clients grandson come to the home so that she could see both together to realize that he was not who she thought he was. Mr. Cantu mentioned that it took 2 hours for the grandson to come to the home. Mr. Cantu expressed that he would not have done anything different because his last intention is to upset his clients, but to reassure them. This writer asked Mr. Cantu about culturally sensitive assessments used by the agency used on the elderly Hispanic clients is the Bruininks Motor Ability Test for adults (B-MAT) because the test helps develop an assessment to support service users, families, and clinicians in determining the level of independence with their activities of daily living, support the intervention process and monitor the clients progress (Kesler, Lynn, Sullivan, Thompson, 2011). Family plays an important role when caring for the aging and much attention needs to be given to micro, mezzo and macro systems impacting the client system. Intervention are used within the individual, family, group, organization and community levels. With generalist social work practice, client system assessment is an ongoing social work skill used with all intervention levels and throughout the client intervention process (Hays, 2008). The micro approach focuses on major contributions from the biological, behavioral and social sciences that are essential for understanding the person-in-environment. The mezzo-level practice is concerned with interpersonal relations that are somewhat less intimate than those associated with family life, but more personally meaningful than those that occur among organizational and institutional representative and the macro approach concentrates on development of knowledge and skills for practice in communities, organizations and other social systems. Culturally sensitive social workers should have a standard practice of not making any assumptions when working with a diverse client system. This helps creates a lens that broadens the understanding of the client situation and value is placed on being culturally sensitive as one embraces diversity in the clients who are served by social workers (Hays, 2008).   Completing this course assignment has enlightened this writer about the impact of physical, mental and emotional aspects of aging, and the micro and macro issues of caregiving. Social work involves working with interrelated networks. The ecological theory is an approach to social work practice that addresses transactions between people and their environment (von Bonsdorff, Ilmarinen, 2013). The person and the environment can be understood within their affiliation as they always have great impact on one another. The ecological theory is used for its ability to view the clients whole situation. The ecological theory looks at acculturation, language, and socioeconomic status. The framework, consisting of eight dimensions of treatment interventions (language, persons, metaphors, content, concepts, goals, methods, and context) can serve as a guide for developing culturally sensitive treatments and adapting existing psychosocial treatments to specific ethnic minority groups (von Bonsdorff, Ilmarinen, 2013). The Family Systems Theory focuses on how each member relate to one another. The family is a structure of subsystems and every action/change within the subsystem affects each person. Changes are caused by both normative (predictable life cycle changes) and non-normative (crisis) stresses and the continuity theory states that the aging person try to preserve and maintain internal and external structures by using strategies to maintain continuity to deal with changes that occur during the normal aging process (von Bonsdorff, Ilmarinen, 2013). Aging can be a stressful and challenging situation for someone who is used to being active as they must learn to adjust to the mental, physical, emotional, and financial difficulty that is a part of aging. Social workers can help each individual manage, adjust, and cope with each of these issues. The main goal of a geriatric social worker is to make sure that the needs of the clients are being met.   According to the Administration on Aging, the number of elderly Americans over the age of 60 jumped from 378 million in 1980 to 759 million in 2010 (US Department of Health and Human Services, 2008). Administration on Aging. A Statistical Profile of Older Americans 65.   The National Institute of Aging estimates that 60,000-70,000 professionally trained social workers will be needed by 2020 to work with the older population (Cummings, Galambo, DeCoster, 2003).   The discrepancy between the importance of providing services to Latinos, given their growing numbers, and the preparedness of social workers for serving this population is alarming (Furman, Negi, Iwamoto, Rowan, Shuckraft, Gragg, 2009). Utilizing and implementing multicultural sensitivity is important within the social work profession because this encourages the clinician to focus on significant factors such as ethnicity, race, and spiritual components (Payne, 2014). it is also important to learn about the clients from their perspective, maintain a positive forward-looking outlook, and allow clients to come up with their own potential solutions by looking at the successes they have already experienced (Payne, 2007) rather than focus on what has not worked, or what a practitioner feels are most beneficial. Attaining cultural competence requires social workers to engage in honest and genuine personal self-assessment and introspection coupled with the willingness to challenge and overcome the ingrained stereotypes of Latinos and other minorities that have served to dehumanizing factors and implementing new perspectives that rehumanize minorities (Organista, 2007). Immigration can be a major life stressor and includes i ssues such as health disparities and acculturation (Garcà ­a, 2012). These issues can affect mental health in Hispanics who find that they have limited or no access to the resources of their host culture. Realizing how immigration impacts Hispanics will enhance my service provisions. This writer would be interested in volunteering as a mental health counselor at a free clinic or other organization in the Hispanic community. Since macro practice focuses on achieving long-term change in the economic, political and social environment (Payne, 2014). This writer feels this would be a great avenue for advocacy in the Hispanic community. References: Cummings, S. M., Galambos, C., DeCoster, V. A. (2003). Predictors of MSW employment in gerontological practice. Educational Gerontology, 29(4), 295-312. Furman, R., Negi, N. J., Iwamoto, D. K., Rowan, D., Shuckraft, A., Gragg, J. (2009, April). Retrieved February 10, 2017, from National Center for Biotechnology Information: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2861823/ Garcà ­a, J. (2012). Mental health care for Latino immigrants in the U.S.A. and the quest for global health equities. Psychosocial Intervention 21, (3), 305-318. Hays, P. A. (2008). Addressing cultural complexities in practice: Assessment, diagnosis, and therapy (Vol. 10, pp. 11650-000). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Kesler, K. E., Lynn, J. D., Sullivan, J. D., Thompson, J. M. (2011). Bruininks Motor Ability Test for Adults (B-MAT): Exploring Relationships Among Motor Assessments. Brenau University. Organista, K.C. (2007). Solving Latino psycho social and health problems: Theory, practice and populations. Hoboken, NJ. Payne, M. (2014). Modern Social Work Theory. (4th ed.). Chicago: Lyceum US Department of Health and Human Services. (2008). Administration on Aging. A Statistical Profile of Older Americans 65. von Bonsdorff, M. E., Ilmarinen, J. (2013). Continuity theory and retirement.

Managing Classroom Behavior and Learning in the Primary Classroom Essa

‘The poor behaviour of some children affects not only their learning but also the learning of others.’ (Adams 2009, page 4) This suggests that poorly managed behaviour in the classroom can have a detrimental effect on learning overall, as well as individually. This assignment will analyse how behaviour and learning are inextricably linked. This assignment will also emphasise how primary classroom teachers develop behaviour management strategies in order to promote an effective and positive learning environment. Ofsted (2005, page 15) discusses how if children can enjoy learning it is more likely that their behaviour will be positive; likewise if their behaviour is good then the children are most likely to learn. The Every Child Matters: change for children (ECM) policy (DfES, 2004, page 10) underpins this link between behaviour and education. Every child has the right to learn and therefore the key outcomes, ‘stay safe’, ‘enjoy and achieve’, and ‘make a positive contribution’, in the ECM agenda are incorporated in all behaviour and learning strategies. During school experience, these key outcomes are clearly outlined in the whole school behaviour policy, one of the rules being, ‘Let everyone learn.’ Reiterating the link between behaviour and learning, the basis of high-quality classroom management is to have high expectations for pupil behaviour. (TDA, 2009) Not only does having high expectations of the children promote learning, if the expectations for behaviour are clear and the rules made explicit then the pupils know exactly what is required of them. Essentially, teachers get what they expect from their pupils - this includes behaviour and learning. (Kuklinski and Weinstein, 2003; Arthur and Cremin 2010) The standards for... ...ons.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmselect/cmeduc/516/51606.htm#note54 Accessed 10/04/2012 Paragraph 4.16. Steer, A (chair) (2006) Learning behaviours, principles and practice - what works in schools. Nottingham: DfES. Available from: https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/standard/publicationDetail/Page1/DFES-0281-2006 Accessed 11/04/2012 Training and Development Agency for Schools. (TDA) (2009) Professional Standards for Qualified Teacher Status and Requirements for Initial Teacher Training, London: TDA. Available from: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20111218081624/http://tda.gov.uk/default.aspx Accessed 10/04/2012 Training and Development Agency for Schools. (TDA) (2011) Standards for Qualified Teachers. London: Crown Copyright in Hayes, D. (2012) Foundations of Primary Teaching. Abingdon: David Fulton Publishers. Pp 8-10.

Business Functions, Organisational Structures and Culture :: Papers

Business Functions, Organisational Structures and Culture All companies have split areas/departments where certain groups of people have a certain role in the business. These functions are important to a business as it helps with the every day-to-day running of it. These departments are: -  · Human Resources  · Finance  · Research and Development  · Marketing  · ICT  · Sales  · Customer Service  · Quality Control  · Purchasing I have a copy of the Global Scott Bader Group Structure (see diagram) It is split into certain areas and functions of the business; finance, service, human resources, IT, Marketing R+D and Sales of composites, and marketing R+D and sales of speciality polymers. All of these departments have very important roles within the business they help with the every day running of the business and help the business to keep to its objectives. These departments will probably have their own certain objectives that they have to keep track of, so the business works well. The 'Finance Department' has a huge responsibility in the business I think it is probably one of the most important departments for a business and all the documents need to be correct and up to date so that the company can be efficient and in control of its transactions. It has the responsibility tosee that the money coming into and out of the business ismanaged properly. If this is done efficiently then thereshould be enough sales revenue and profit to pay the bills that are owed. The revenue is the money made by the business byselling its products andservices; it is used to pay for the things they had to buy in order to run the business. It is also used to pay the workers People within the finance department who have big responsibility's are people like the finance director for Scott Bader this is Keith Grace is in charge of: financial accounting, costing & budgeting, managing finance and payroll in all the Scott Bader companies for UK finance,

Steam Turbines :: essays research papers

Steam Turbines   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The invention of the water turbine was so successful that eventually, the idea came about for extracting power from steam. Steam has one great advantage over water-it expands in volume with tremendous velocity. To be the most effective, a steam turbine must run at a very high speed. No wheel made can revolve at any speed approaching the velocity that a steam turbine can. By utilizing the kinetic energy of steam flow, the turbine could achieve a higher efficiency. As a result, the steam turbine has supplanted the reciprocating engine as a prime mover in large electricity-generating plants and is also used as a means of jet propulsion.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The action of the steam turbine is based on the thermodynamic principle that when a vapor is allowed to expand, its temperature drops. In turn, its internal energy is decreased. This reduction in internal energy is transformed into mechanical energy in the form of an acceleration of the particles of vapor. The transformation that occurs, provides a large amount of available work energy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The essential parts of all steam turbines consist of nozzles or jets through which the steam can flow and expand. Thus, the temperature drops, and kinetic energy is gained. In addition, there are blades, on which high pressure steam is exerted. Stationary blades shift the steam onto rotating blades, which provide power. Also, turbines are equipped with wheels or drums where the blades are mounted. A shaft for these wheels or drums is also a basic component, as well as an outer casing that confines the steam to the area of the turbine proper. In order to efficiently use this contraption, it is necessary to have a number of stages. In each of these stages, a small amount of thermal energy is converted to kinetic energy. If the entire conversion of energy took place at once, the rotative speed of the turbine wheel would be way too excessive.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Steam turbines are really quite simple machines, that have only one major moving part, the rotor. However, auxiliary equipment is necessary for their operation. Journal bearings support the shaft, and an oil system provides lubrication to these bearings. A special seal system prevents steam from

Cheating is beneficial for students Essay

Cheating is an easy shortcut in terms of getting homework, tests, assignments and such done in a quick way. Cheating is efficient in a lot of things in life. Cheating should not be a crime for students, especially in high school. This Argumentive Essay is basically going to be focusing on 3 topics on why Cheating is beneficial for students in high school: 1. Why students should be able to share answers and thoughts with other students for homework, tests, assignments, projects, etc. 2. Why teachers shouldn’t be allowed to accuse students of cheating based off of similar answers/thoughts 3. Much less stressful for students in high school that have other important things to do in their life First of all, students should have the right to share answers and thoughts with other classmates to understand why there answer was wrong or why it was right. If they don’t compare answers and understand why one answer is right and one is wrong, they will never learn. Teachers in this generation seem to expect students to do all of their work independently, but little do they know that more than 60% of students cheat while doing homework, tests, projects, etc. If teachers just mark students work wrong or right and don’t tell them why there answer is wrong, or why there answer is right, how you expect them to learn? Teachers assume if two or more students have similar answers/thoughts, they were most likely copying off of each other. It’s very unlikely, but possible to have similar answers/thoughts, so teachers shouldn’t assume and jump to the gun while giving them zero based off of their assumptions. They should find complete proof on how the students were definitely sharing answers with each other. Last but not least, cheating is highly beneficial for students that go through a lot during their teen years. Unfortunately, some teens are more focused on their love life, popularity level, and jobs more than they are on their education. None the less, if that’s there decision to do all of those things instead of getting a education, they should have the right to do so and should cheat to fly through their high school year.