Gender stereotypes are still pervasive in our culture Essay Example for Free

Gender stereotypes are still pervasive in our culture Essay TOPIC AND RATIONALE Gender stereotyping is a topic we find all around us and without exception in early years settings. There is a set of notions about how girls/women and boys/men are expected to behave in society, therefore is very difficult not to transmit those ideas in Early Education. Often we find children which already have implemented a gender role and behave based on our assigned sex. I have chosen this subject because I am aware, as I have to deal with that every single day, of how gender stereotype affects people. I believe the best way to fight this issue is through education and promoting gender equality in early childhood settings. At my placement I have already seen several situations where girls dress in pink as they consider is their favorite color, draw and wish to be princesses and would like to be ballerinas when they grow up. Boys spend all the playground time playing football or using their imaginary gangs, dressing in dark colors or not allowing girls playing in the building construction area claiming that is not a game for them. Being personally affected and observing this conduct in young children at the childhood practice setting and in the nursery where I work, was my motivation to write about this interesting topic, which in some situations touch children subtlety, and in others can trigger a negative impact affecting in many ways their being. AIM AND OBJECTIVES My target is to find out if gender equality is promoted in early years settings. RELEVANT THEORIES AND APPROACHES to children’s learning and development and links with knowledge acquired through the HNC HOW TOPIC LINKS TO CHILDREN’S INDIVIDUAL NEEDS, RIGHTS, AND INTERESTS Gender Equality is at the core of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) which outlines in a few articles the relevance of the equality rights for all children independently of their gender. The Article 2 is directly related to the topic chosen and promotes non-discrimination. The Article 12 and 13 determinates the respect for the views of the child and their freedom of expression. Both of them encourage children to express their thoughts and feelings freely. Those right are important in the subject because their voices can be taken seriously if they feel affected by gender discrimination. The Articles 28 and 29 talk about rights and goals of education. Those articles promote education with the respect of the human rights including themselves, addressing gender discrimination and supporting equality among girls and boys. Finally, we have to have into consideration Article 4 which states that governments have to create systems and laws to promote and protect children rights, enabling all the above rights possible. Here a summary of the articles mentioned are shown: †¢ Article 2 – â€Å"The Convention applies to every child without discrimination, whatever their ethnicity, gender, religion, language, abilities or any other status, whatever they think or say, whatever their family background.† †¢ Article 12 – â€Å"Every child has the right to express their views, feelings, and wishes in all matters affecting them, and to have their views considered and taken seriously. This right applies at all times, for example during immigration proceedings, housing decisions or the child’s day-to-day home life.† †¢ Article 13 – â€Å"Every child must be free to express their thoughts and opinions and to access all kinds of information, as long as it is within the law.† †¢ Article 28 –â€Å"Every child has the right to an education. Primary education must be free and different forms of secondary education must be available to every child. Discipline in schools must respect children’s dignity and their rights. Richer countries must help poorer countries achieve this.† †¢ Article 29 – â€Å"Education must develop every child’s personality, talents, and abilities to the full. It must encourage the child’s respect for human rights, as well as respect for their parents, their own and other cultures, and the environment.† †¢ Article 4 – â€Å"Governments must do all they can to make sure every child can enjoy their rights by creating systems and passing laws that promote and protect children’s rights.†

Lilypads Hotels Essay Example for Free

Lilypads Hotels Essay According to the Court, the Fourth Amendment is mute about undercover searches (inside the home or out), inspections of welfare mothers and probationers homes, flyovers of curtilage and trespasses on property beyond it, surveillance of public movements, most compelled testing for drugs and alcohol, dog sniffs of cars and luggage, and rummaging through garbage. n1 Why don’t you contact me directly at natashagils at yahoo dot com and we can make this work one on one instead of going through middlemen to get assignments done. And the Amendment is close to irrelevant in a host [*604] of other situations, including third-party subpoenas for documents, checkpoints for drunk driving and illegal immigration, residential and business health and safety inspections, and searches of junkyards for stolen parts. n2 Under current constitutional doctrine, the government needs no justification to engage in the first set of actions, and so little to carry out the second that it is virtually unregulated. †¦ A crucial initial assumption in this essay is that, at bottom, neither the language nor the legislative history of the Fourth Amendment drives the analysis on this issue. †¦ I am looking for socio-political explanations for our current Fourth Amendment doctrine, not formalistic ones. The most obvious such explanation for the decisions referenced above is that the Supreme Court does not want to shackle government law enforcement efforts. Undoubtedly, that is a large part of the answer. But it is not the entire story. As I have suggested elsewhere n5 (and briefly explain again here), effective crime control and a more activist interpretation of the Fourth Amendment are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Other explanations for the Courts less-than-robust reading of the Fourth Amendment focus on the ironic consequences of decisions, mostly generated by [*605] the relatively liberal Warren Court, that were meant to expand its scope. For instance, it is fashionable to place much of the blame for todays law on the Warren Courts adoption of privacy as the core value protected by the Fourth Amendment. This move, in Katz v. United States, n6 was hailed at the time as a major enhancement of constitutional protection against government intrusion. As many have pointed out, however, because privacy is a manipulable concept, the Court has since found it easy to declare that a large array of police actions-ranging from use of informants to public surveillance and school and workplace drug testing-either do not implicate or are only limply protected by the Fourth Amendment. n7 This diagnosis has some attraction as well, but fails to explain why even the more liberal justices have often gone along with many of the privacy-diminishing holdings of the Court. In this essay, I too suggest that the modern Courts early expansive stances on the Fourth Amendment have ultimately led to its diminishment. But Katzs expectation-of-privacy formulation is not the culprit. Rather, three other liberal dogmas-what I call the probable-cause-forever position, the individualized suspicion mantra, and the obsession with exclusion as a remedy-are the primary reasons we have a Fourth Amendment Lite. The end-logic of these three dogmas produce such unappealing results that even moderate and liberal justices have balked at them, leaving us with a search and seizure jurisprudence that is much less than it could be. When a search requires probable cause to be constitutional, courts are naturally more reluctant to denominate every police attempt to find evidence a search. When suspicion must be individualized, they are more likely to gloss over the harms caused by investigations of groups. And when the sole serious sanction for an illegal search or seizure is suppression at trial, many judges have less sympathy for viable claims, because they cannot stomach dismissal of criminal charges against guilty people. I. Probable Cause Forever Of course, probable cause is not required for every police action that is called a search or seizure. Terry v. Ohio, n8 a Warren Court decision, stands for the proposition that both detentions short of arrest and patdowns of outer clothing are permissible on reasonable suspicion, which represents a certainty level somewhere below the even-chance threshold often associated with probable cause. The Terry Court was willing to relax Fourth Amendment strictures with respect to stops and frisks because the governments interest in effective crime prevention and [*606] detection on the streets justified the brief, though far from inconsiderable, intrusion upon the sanctity of the person that these actions occasion. n9 In the seizure context, the post-Warren Court has routinely relied on this balancing approach-or what I have called the proportionality principle-in holding that several different types of detentions short of an arrest may take place on less than probable cause. n10 In the search context, however, it has been much less willing to follow this route. Instead, the Court has insisted, in the words of Justice Stewart in Katz, that searches conducted . . . without prior approval by judge or magistrate [and therefore without probable cause], are per se unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment, subject only to a few specifically established and well- delineated exceptions. n11 †¦ [In] T. L. O. .. [the Court] then went on to hold that probable cause was not required to search a school childs purse for evidence of disciplinary infractions, thereby creating the one major exception (other than Terrys frisk rule) to the probable-cause-forever dogma. Labeled the special needs doctrine, a phrase taken from Justice Blackmuns concurrence in T. L. O. , the exception, when it applies, requires only that government action be reasonable, n14 which in practice has meant that neither a warrant nor probable cause is required. But the special needs exception is usually only applicable when, as in T. L. O. , those conducting the government action are not police and are pursuing some end other than ordinary criminal law enforcement (e. g. , school disciplinary searches, drug testing for administrative purposes, checkpoints for immigrants, or inspections of businesses for regulatory, health and safety violations). n15 Indeed, the classic statement of the special needs paradigm is that it kicks in only when special needs, beyond the normal need for law enforcement, make the warrant and probable-cause requirement impracticable. n16 The Court has on several occasions called these special needs [*607] situations exceptional and limited. n17 In other words, outside of frisks, the usual law enforcement search for evidence of criminal activity requires probable cause. n18

Structure of the Federal Reserve System and Banks

Structure of the Federal Reserve System and Banks The structure and mission of the European Central Bank, The Bank of Japan and The People’s Bank of China. Do any of these central banks resemble the structure of the Federal Reserve System? If so in what ways? Abstract The central bank is the national currency issuers, is countrys bank, is banks bank. Different countries have different central bank structure and mission. Different structure and mission will influent the independence of the central bank.[documents] Therefore, this topic mainly around the ECB, FDS, PBOC and BOJ to compare their structure and mission. Specific analysis following aspects: capital structure, power structure, organization form, operation and supervision department, objective and monetary policy tools. Using these contains to analysis the influence of these aspects for central bank independence. It will mainly compare to the similar and difference between these four central bank. Our results indicate that power structure is the main factors influencing the independence of central bank. The capital structure has no great effect to its independence. Due to the nature of central bank, different central banks have similar missions. Their monetary tools are also very similar, mainly through open market operations and reserve requirements. Finally, we find that European central bank have highest independence in comprehensive view.The second highest independence is FRS. PBOC has lowest independence between these four central banks. The main reason is that PBOC is the only one directly belong to thethe State Council. It means PBOC is a government apartment. But there also have other influent factor about independence which analysis in the article. Introduction As the main implement institutions of monetary policy in a country, central bankshas a very important position for the countrys economic development. Meanwhile, it has a vital influence for the social employment security stability and price stability.Due to the different economic backgroundand organization structure in the different country, its structure and the mission of the central bank is not entirely same. Therefore, this report mainly compared the similarities and differences between four central banksthrough detailed analysis their structure and functions.At the same time, this article aims to discuss whether these differences will bring different level of central bank independence. Central bank independence is a significant problem. Lots of previous academic studies have shown that independence is an important factor to influence the national inflation rate. Additionally, the structure of this paper is as follows. Section 2 provides a literature review on the different aspect and effect of central bank structure and mission. Section 3 explains the specific aspect of structure and mission in our case study. It has 3 parts, capital structure, power structure, missions and independence of central bank. Section 4 is a summary of the papers findings.Previewing our results, we find that missions of central bank are similar because of the central bank nature.Asà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬the same time, difference power structure will lead different independence, then affect monetary policy and the rate of inflation. 2. Background Literature According to the existing literature in central bank structure, as Schoenmaker (2013) points out, it can divided into several aspects: Banks capital structure and quantity, level of economic development, level of central bank independence. ButD. Schoenmaker (2013) mainly through the analysis of inflation index to evaluate independence, because the central bank’s common methods is through monetary policy to control inflation then keep the economic stability. First, about central bank capital aspect, animportant research results isCBFS modelwhich created byPosso and Tawadros (2013).It shows that central Banks capital strength and the rate of inflation is inversely related. But, in oppose, another view fromStella (1997)thinks that the central bank does not need a lot of capital because it is hard become bankrupt.However, in our opinions, enough capital can give central Banks greater ability to face risk. Therefore, based on this view, we will compare the capital structure between ECB, FED, PBOC and BOJ. After that, we reviewed power structure of central bank aspect. It is mainly around the external organizational form and branch institutions. Meanwhile, we consider different central bankstructureand task determines its independence. At present, we find that a lot of economics research thinks that independence and inflation rate is negative correlation. One of results fromArnone and Romelli (2012)has great guiding significance .Arnone and Romelli(2012) not only test the developed countries central banks, like FED,BOJ. Their panel data also included lots of central banks from developing countries. But, however, they do not compare the difference between developing country and developed country. So, our research will pay more attention to this problem. Thirdly, review the literature for central bank mission research, Schoenmaker (2013) was made research and analysis for this. He considers central Banks have two major objectives: monetary stability and financial stability in the traditional views.But we find that many countries have modified its development goalsmany timesin recent decades, especially the reform of PBOC in 2003.Because the development of economic. So, our research will use our four countries latest laws and regulations as a basis to comparison their mission. 3. Analysis 3.1 Capital Structure Capital funds of central bank offered from the state or private or both. The source of capital funds will affect central bank system. It can be separate to state-owned, half state-owned and private-owned.. The capital structure of PBOC is quite single. It is fully owned by the state.In Article 8 of the peoples bank of China act (2003) point out that all the capital of PBOC are invested by the state, it shall be owned by the state. Nowadays, PBOC’s reserves areUS$3.201trillion. Meanwhile, BOJ capital structure is half state-owned. Bank of Japan is capitalized at 100 million yen in accordance with the Act. About 55 percent of the capital is subscribed by the government. Banking Act from Japanregulated that the BOJ do not set shareholders meeting. Shareholders can not join BOJs operation.Shareholders rights is only to get dividends per year and highest do not exceed 5%. The FRS is private equity capital form. All capital provided by private shareholders investment, after authorized by the government, then to perform the function of central Banks.FRScapital funded by12member Banks of federal reserve bank. Thesemember bank subscribe shares, get dividend per year in accordance with the stake, the highest dividend do not exceed 6%. ECB isSimilar to FRS. Itis also has share subscription, but all of share hold by member states in European Union. The amount of capital contribution is decided according to each member’s GDP proportionand populationproportion in EU.The ECB’s capital amounts toâ‚ ¬5billion.Reserves are 526 euro in total now. It can be find that only PBOC capital provided by government. Other three central banks have stock subscription. ECB is most similar than FED, all of capitalare funded by member banks or national member banks. However, this part only compared capital structure and reserves between these four banks. It is unable to see that the capital structure influence on independence, so later will compare the power structure 3.2 Power Structure 3.21 External Organizational form and branch institutions These four central bank external organizational form can be spate to 3 kinds: unit central bank systemà ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã…’Dual central bank systemà ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã…’Multinational central bank system. PBOC and the BOJ are unit central bank system. It means that a country only to set up a unified central bank to exercise power and dutyof the central bank. Central bank itself is unified, its branch institutions generally direct managed by central bank. Most countries adopt the wayat present. Because this mode is conducive to national manage and macroeconomic control. As the same time, it is obviously to limit level of branch institutions independence at central bank. FRS power structure is different from Japan and China.It use dual central bank system, means that the central bank system is composed of two parts: central (the board of governors) and local (member of Federal Reserve Bank). These two parts are relatively independent. The board of governorsis the highest financial decision-making body. Local accept the supervision from central. But local has rights in the concrete implementation and daily operation. So, local have their own independence. The Federal Reserve System divid es 12 areas, each area to set up a federal reserve bank. These 12 banks have independence in their own area. Additionally, ECB is Multinational central bank system. ECB and 27 national central banks compose to ESCB. National bank has own independence. So, we can find that ECB has highest level of independence because it not control by any government or state. The local also have own independence to operate. Similarly, FRS also has high independence level. 3.22 Inside Financial manage and supervision Although central bank not operate for profit, but itstill hasoperating income. Among these four central banks, BOJ and FRS revenue will belong to their countrys ministry of finance after dividends payment. Dividends payment proportion has been given in Section 3.1. In addition, at internalsupervision aspect, they have own supervision department respectively. At external supervision, it mainlysupervised fromgovernment with legal methods. Seminally, PBOCs all profits also belong to the ministry of finance in China, same as Japan and US. But supervision aspect, China was explicitly stipulated in the law amendment in 2003(PBOCs Act): the PBOC as a department under the state council of China, belong to the government departments. So, PBOC isdirectly regulated and supervise fromgovernment. ECB is different than other three banks, it has own financial independence. Operate revenue control by itself. ECB can make own budget. In supervision aspect, it accepts European Union rules. ECB should take responsible to offer report to European Parliament, the European Commission, and the Council of the European Union. But ECB do not control byany country or government. So, obviously, ECB have more independence in financial aspect than others. 3.3. Missions As a non-profit financial institutions,the mission ofthese central banktrends to be consistent: play its functions effectively andachieve their core goal. The main way is through monetary policy, to keep price stability, to promote economic development. According to the ECB official website state, the European Central Bank and the national central banks together constitute the Euro system. The main objective of the Euro system is to maintain price stability: safeguarding the value of the euro. In Japan, the Act sets the BOJs objectives is ‘to issue banknotes and to carry out currency and monetary control’ and ‘BOJ shall be aimed at achieving price stability’ Similarly in China, the Act of PBOC (2003) points out that PBOC’s missions are: to formulate and implement monetary policy, to maintain price stability, to provide financial services. In the US, the Board of Governors of the FRS and the Federal Open Market Committee shall ‘maintain long run growth of the monetary and credit aggregates commensurate to promote effectively the goals of maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates. (1977 Federal Reserve Reform Act specified) Monetary policy tools To sum up, we could find that these central bank’s missions all around to keep price stability. It is determined by the central bank’s nature. But their also has some different. For instance, the US also clearly point out FRS should maximum employment and moderate long-term interest rates. Similarly, their monetary policy tools also trends to be consistent, all mainly to use two methods: open market operations and reserve requirements. 3.4 Independence As background literature described, independence is an important aspect to the central bank. This part is extended based on above analysis, to compare these several central bank independence. In the angle of structure, despite these four central banks has different capital structure, but it didnt have obvious effect to independence. Because shareholders do not to participate operations, only charge a small amount of dividends. In organizational form aspect, BOJ and PBOC independence is lowest. Americansdual central bank systemgives more independence between the central and local. In this aspect, ECB system is similarly with FRS. In financial aspect, the biggest independent central bank still is ECB. Becauseother three central bank’s revenues are belong to their national Treasury. About supervision, except PBOC is directly control by government, other three central banks have great independence. They have their own internal supervision mechanism and external legislative intervention by the government. 4. Conclusions On the whole, we find that ECB, BOJ, FRD and PBOC missions are consistent. It is mainly around to keep price stability. Through the contrast of central banks objective and monetary tools also reflects their similarity. With the research of central bank structure and independence, ECB has highest independence,resemble to FRS.It should be mention that the ECB does not public members vote process, so the independence has been questioned in recent years. However, it is no doubt that the worst independence of central bank is PBOC. It is mainly caused by nationalization of the structure. In addition, our study is based on theoretical angle, around power structure and missions’ analysis, to evaluate its independence. It has not using quantitive data.But reference toMasciandaro,ect.(2008)released specific quantitative rating of the independence of the central bank, (A total of 19 criteria are identified to assess the degree of supervisory independence, and 21 for accountability.) the data are consistent with our analysis. They measured thatPBOC independence index is 0.47 and BOJ is 0.34. ECB and FRS independence is significantly higher. Thus, it could prove our results correctness. References Arnone, M., Romelli, D. (2012). Dynamic central bank independence indices and inflation rate: a new empirical exploration.Paolo Baffi Centre Research Paper, (2012-118). Masciandaro, D., Quintyn, M., Taylor, M. W. (2008). Inside and outside the central bank: Independence and Accountability in Financial Supervision: Trends and Determinants.European Journal of Political Economy,24(4), 833-848. Posso, A., Tawadros, G. B. (2013). Does greater central bank independence really lead to lower inflation? Evidence from panel data. Economic Modelling,33, 244-247. Schoenmaker D. (2013),Chapter 28 -Central Banks RoleinFinancial Stability HandbookofSafeguarding Global Financial Stability,271-284 Stella, P. (1997).Do central banks need capital?. International Monetary Fund.

Evaluating Internet Resources :: Internet Research - Reliable Sources

The Internet has become a popular source for retrieving information on practically any subject. This information can generally be retrieved in a matter of seconds. With the popularity of the internet as a research tool it’s important that the information received is reliable and accurate. In general, when one uses a search engine to perform a search on the internet, the quantity of information returned is astronomical. â€Å"In a world of information overload, it is often extremely difficult to get a grip on the correctness, completeness and the legitimacy of the information and material available in the internet.† (Prins). If the user does not thoroughly research the information they receive from certain web sites they could receive misleading and invalid information. It is extremely important that the information received is reliable and accurate. For example, someone could be researching a medical condition on the internet and they believe that all the information they have received is true. The pickup on a site that recommends a treatment regiment that promises to eliminate the problem. They realize that their systems have worsened and the recommended treatment is not working. This incorrect information that the user received from the internet can be devastating for the user or even led to death. Anyone can post anything on the internet. â€Å"Unlike most traditional information media (books, magazines, organizational documents), no one has to approve the contents before is made public.† (Prins). Everyone who uses the internet need to be mindful, that because the information is on the web, doesn’t make it true. Many of us forget this fact because at one time most things that were in print were true. But today as it relates to the internet that is not a true statement. All the information that is retrieved should be verified for its accuracy. To verify the information retrieved is valid there are a few things the user can do. The user should verify the author. Here are a few ideas to verify the author and check objectivity; is the author knowledgeable; is the credentials and organizational affiliations listed; has the author written other material relating to the subject; is the author stating a fact or is it their opinion; is the information one sided or is more than one view point shared; is the information trying to sway the reader; is the information based on fact.

Robert Frost :: essays research papers

Robert Frost was born on March 26, 1874 in San Francisco. His father was William Frost, a Harvard graduate who was on his way westward when he stopped to teach at Bucknell Academy in Pennsylvania for extra money. His mother, Isabelle Moodie began teaching math at Bucknell while William was there, and they got married and moved to San Francisco. They were constantly changing houses, and William went from job to job as a journalist. About a year after moving to San Francisco, they had Robert. They named him Robert Lee Frost, after William's childhood hero, Robert E. Lee. Frost's father died from tuberculosis at age thirty-four, in 1885. Isabelle took Robert and his sister back east to Massachusetts. Soon they moved to Salem, New Hampshire, where there was a teaching opening. Robert began to go to school and sit in on his mother’s classes. He soon learned to love language, and eventually went to Lawrence High School, where he wrote the words to the school hymn, and graduated as c o-valedictorian. Frost read rabidly of Dickens, Tennyson, Longfellow, and many others. Frost was then sent to Dartmouth college by his controlling grandfather, who saw it as the proper place for him to train to become a businessman. Frost read even more in college, and learned that he loved poetry. His poetry had little success getting published, and he had to work various jobs to make a living, such as a shoemaker, a country schoolteacher, and a farmer. In 1912 Frost gave up his teaching job, sold his farm, and moved to England. He received aid from poets suck as Edward Thomas and Rupert Brooke, and published his first two volumes of poetry, A Boy's Will in 1913, and North of Boston in 1914. These works were well received not only in England, but also in America. Frost returned to America in 1915 and continued writing his poetry. He produced many volumes of poetry, among which are Mountain Interval (1916), West-Running Brook (1928), A Further Range (1936), A Masque of Reason (1945) , and In the Clearing (1962). Frost received the Pulitzer Prize for poetry four times (1924, 1931, 1937, 1943) and became the first poet to read a poem at the presidential inauguration of John F. Kennedy. His poetry was based mainly on life and scenery in rural New England, and reflected many values of American society.

A Marxist Philosophy of Life - Reading Mao’s Three Essays

From Mao’s three essays, namely In Memory of Norman Bethune, Serve the People, and The Foolish Old Man Who Removed the Mountains, we can see that the two defining themes of Mao’s rendition of Marxist philosophy towards life are altruism and pragmatism, both of which are in line with Marxist theories. However, considering the historical context of the three essays, Mao’s philosophy of life as shown in the aforementioned essays can be seen as propagandistic and does not necessarily reflect Mao’s true opinions on life. In Mao’s essays, the idea of pragmatism is shown mainly by Mao’s emphasis on the importance of practice. The word pragmatism comes from the Greek word pragma, which means "deed, act"; the latter, in turn, derives from the Greek word prassÃ… , which means "to practise, to achieve". Advocates for pragmatism argue that the value of an ideology or proposition lies in the fact whether it works satisfactorily in practice (McDermid). Such principle is evident in most of Mao’s works. For instance, In In Memory Of Norman Bethune, Mao commended the Canadian doctor for â€Å"putting this Leninist line into practice† (Mao, In Memory Of Norman Bethune). In Serve the People, Mao stressed again on the significance of practice. He argued that â€Å"Anyone †¦ if what he proposes will benefit the people, we will act upon it† (Mao, Serve the People). Here Mao suggests that an idea, as long as it is in line with the Communist Party’s goal of serving the p eople, should be put into practice, no matter of its origins. This has once again shown the stress Mao had laid on the importance of practice, which is in line with pragmatism principles. Altruism is another element in Mao’s philosophy of life shown in the three essays. Altruism is the tendency t... ... the two themes of Mao’s philosophy of life as is featured in the three essays, namely pragmatism and altruism, reflect Mao’s true opinions on life, they are in line with orthodox Marxist teachings and can be seen as a Marxist philosophy towards life. Works Cited Mao, Zedong. "In Memory Of Norman Bethune." 21 12 1939. Marxists Internet Archive. 2 12 2013 . —. "Serve the People." 8 9 1944. Marxists Internet Archive. 2 12 2013 . —. "The Foolish Old Man Who Removed the Mountains." 11 6 1945. Marxists Internet Archive. 2 12 2013 . McDermid, Douglas. Pragmatism. 15 12 2006. 5 12 2013 .

Lack of Connection between Educational Research and Practice Essay

Educational research is conducted on the premise that an expansion of knowledge in the area of classroom teaching should automatically lead to improvements in the classroom, not only with respect to teaching styles but also the academic progress of students. All the same, this enhancement of knowledge is not always welcomed by teachers (Kennedy, The Connection). According to Mary M.  Kennedy, the author of â€Å"The Connection between Research and Practice,† teachers may fail to apply new knowledge based on research for the following reasons: (1) The research is not authoritative or convincing enough to move teachers to alter their practices; (2) The teachers find it difficult to directly apply the new knowledge because they consider it irrelevant to their particular concerns or questions on the subject of teaching; (3) The research findings may not have been communicated in an understandable way; and (4) It is impossible for the educational system to accept the changes entailed by new research-based knowledge (Kennedy, The Connection). G.  Reid Lyon, the Chief of the Child Development and Behavior Branch of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, expresses dismay at the lack of connection between educational research and practice: Scientific research can inform beginning reading instruction. We know from research that reading is a language-based activity. Reading does not develop naturally, and for many children, specific decoding, word recognition, and reading comprehension skills must be taught directly and systematically. We have also learned that preschool children benefit significantly from being read to. The evidence suggests strongly that educators can foster reading development by providing kindergarten children with instruction that develops print concepts, familiarity with the purposes of reading and writing, age-appropriate vocabulary and language comprehension skills, and familiarity with the language structure. †¦One hopes that scientific research informs beginning reading instruction, but it is not always so. Unfortunately, many teachers and administrators who could benefit from research to guide reading instructional practices do not yet trust the idea that research can inform their teaching (Lyon). The lack of connection between educational research and practice astounds many researchers. Even so, this lack of connection is sometimes approved by researchers. In the case of reading, for example, there are researchers who perceive that theories are â€Å"neither practical nor profitable† given that reading is â€Å"a complex phenomenon (Calfee and Drum 183). † These researchers even assume that â€Å"theoretical analysis is unnecessary, if not impossible† in this area (Calfee and Drum 183). Thus, there appears confusion with regards to applying educational research in the classroom. Seeing that the educational researchers do not always agree amongst themselves, it is unsurprising that teachers find it hard to understand new research-based knowledge before they can apply it. Teachers may not only disagree with educational researchers, but they also disagree with education reformers that base their ideals on current educational research after sifting through the disagreements among researchers (Kennedy, Reform Ideals). Research suggests that the teaching practice is strongly influenced by the values of the teachers themselves (Aguirre and Speer; Brickhouse). In other words, teachers may simply disagree with educational research that blatantly conflicts with their beliefs about their practice. According to Argyris and Schon, such is the difference between â€Å"espoused theories† and â€Å"theories in use. † Despite the advice of researchers as well as reformers, teachers may simply find it impossible to apply educational research in the classroom when their own beliefs conflict with the ideals of others. Kennedy has experienced the conflict between teacher practice and expectations while teaching in a different culture. Working in Thailand, without immediately appreciating the practice of teaching expected in the new culture, she was rather confused about the method of teaching that she was expected to adopt. She believed that she was right in her teaching style; however, the expectations of the Thai school administrators and students differed. â€Å"It took me a long time to adjust my practice to accommodate their expectations,† she wrote later (Kennedy, Learning to Teach). Of course, if she had failed to adjust, she would have found it difficult to succeed in the new culture as a teacher. Educational research is meant to influence teacher practice (Kennedy, Means and Ends). Nevertheless, resistance to change is a reality that must be confronted by all organizations, whether they are academic in nature or purely for profit. Teachers may believe that a certain educational finding is irrelevant to their concerns or questions about teaching. Still, the real reason why teachers do not always apply current educational research in the classroom is that they believe that their own practices are correct at any given time. In spite of Kennedy’s focus on the connection between educational research and practice, it took her a â€Å"long time to adjust† to a new culture of schooling. Given that educational research is growing by leaps and bounds nowadays, it is but natural for other teachers also to take a long time to adjust to new knowledge in the classroom. Change may sometimes be imposed upon the teachers, as in the case of new technologies that must be adopted in our times in a large number of schools around the globe (Bell, Codde and Bell). When change is not imposed upon the teachers, it is difficult for them to decide on the kinds of changes to adopt and disregard. According to a website on education: Educational research is potentially a great resource for supporting learner-centered practices, but there is a disjuncture between the worlds of the educational researcher and the practitioner (whether faculty member, instructional technologist, or learning designer). A few ears ago at the International Conference on Learning Sciences held in Ann Arbor, keynote speaker Linda Roberts commented on a 500+ page proceeding, saying â€Å"This is fabulous, relevant, and meaningful work†¦ the only problem is: no one who needs it is going to read it. † That is, there is not much of a bridge between research and practice (â€Å"Bridging Teaching and Learning Research and Practice†). Educational research has consistently focused on student-centered practices. Nonetheless, the constantly growing amount of research is expected to bewilder teachers about the appropriate teaching styles to adopt at any given time. The adoption of new technologies was considered necessary change. In cases where change is not considered urgent, however, there is bound to remain a wide gap between educational research and teacher practice. As mentioned previously, even educational researchers disagree about the kinds of changes that must be considered relevant or irrelevant. Hence, teachers are left with no choice but to take â€Å"a long time to adjust. † Teachers may additionally choose not to adjust to new knowledge. This is because the teacher’s values are imperative in the classroom. His or her belief system may not concede to a certain change in teaching style. Besides, change is often very difficult to adjust to. Hence, the lack of connection between educational research and practice is unavoidable in reality.