Saturday, August 31, 2019
Professionalism in the Workplace Essay
            This article deals with concepts such as incivility in the workplace and â€Å"incivility spiral.†The authors describe how the incivility spiral could occur and offer research propositions for further study. Moreover, they explain the implications that workplace incivility pose for practitioners and researchers alike (Andersson & Pearson, 1999).           The authors trace the literature on the importance of civility in society. Such literature is rich with conclusions that state that civility offers functions and moral implications. Literature on the matter likewise describes the workplace as the last bastion of civility. However, they perceive a change in this opinion, brought about by many factors, such as employee diversity, autocratic environments, and hiring of part-time workers, which affect the trend of incivility and aggressiveness in the business world (Andersson & Pearson, 1999).        The authors described workplace incivility as actions that are characterized by rudeness or discourtesy. They represent violations of the norms of an organization. One form taken by workplace incivility is aggression, which is manifested in acts like physical abuse, harassment, and sabotage. These acts are bound by the characteristic of intent to injure another (Andersson & Pearson, 1999).           Incivility in the organization has a spiraling effect, where secondary spirals result from primary ones. This tendency requires managers to correct their actions that may contribute to the growth of incivility as an organizational norm. Moreover, there should be efforts at curtailing incivility within the organization (Andersson & Pearson, 1999). Church, A. H. & Waclawski, J. (1999). The Impact of Leadership Style on Global      Management Practices. Journal of Applied Social Psychology 29(7), 1416-1443.     This article is concerned with the trend in businesses today to go global. Church and Waclawski describe how the trend has influenced schools into studying and implementing strategies relative to the new global economy. More importantly, they describe how the trend pushes corporations to adopt a global approach in their businesses (Church & Waclawski, 1999).          In this light, the authors noted the work of other researches, which suggest that great competitive advantage in the new global market could be achieved if a corporation has a good value system and corporate culture. This could only be achieved if a corporation’s leaders and managers acquire a broader perspective that involves progressive ideas such as change management and cultural flexibility. Thus, the new trend of globalization led to another trend, consisting of the focus of organizations to hire people with international experience or background (Church & Waclawski, 1999).          The authors then focused on leadership style, which they believed was a good predictor of managerial behavior. They categorized the types of leaders according to their key characteristics. Thus there is a group of transformational leaders who concentrate on new directions and new goals, and transactional leaders who focus on getting the job done by maintaining the status quo. For these authors, transformational leaders are more likely to manifest globalization behaviors, given their tendency to focus on change (Church & Waclawski, 1999).          After collecting data from 391 senior managers and reports within a global organization, Church and Waclawski found that there were better reports and ratings for transformational leaders. These leaders are those who â€Å"engage in behaviors relating to systems thinking, change management, relationships, and learning.†Thus, they concluded that there is a significant relationship between leadership style and actual practice of global leadership (Church & Waclawski, 1999). Fairholm, M. R. (2004). Different Perspectives on the Practice of Leadership. Public            Administration Review 64(5), 577-590.            This article presents the position that public managers need to learn about leadership in order to be effective. They need to have a clear understanding of the concept of leadership, and not merely â€Å"practical and intellectual permission†to exercise it. The authors believe that since public managers are involved in leadership activities, it is useful to accept the nature of public administration as involving the practice of leadership (Fairholm, 2004).            Fairholm explains that issues on leadership often get ignored by public administration academics. However, there are now certain people who appreciate the need to focus as a practitioner would. Since there is a link between leadership training and public sector management, then it is important that public managers receive training on leadership (Fairholm, 2004).            Fairholm also explains leadership through the leadership perspectives model, which utilizes four encompassing leadership perspectives. This model views leadership as (1) (scientific) management; (2)excellence management; (3) values-displacement activity; (4) whole-soul (spiritual) leadership. The theory holds that while these different perspectives are distinct from each other, they are related hierarchically. In addition, they all help achieve a complete notion of leadership. (Fairholm, 2004). Johnsrud, L. K., Heck, R. H., & Rosser, V. J. (2000). Morale Matters: Midlevel Administrators and Their Intent to Leave. The Journal of Higher Education 71(1),         34-59.            This paper focuses on the concept of morale, which refers to the â€Å"level of well-being that an individual or group is experiencing in reference to their worklife.†The authors feel that while there are intuitive guides that tell people that morale affects the performance of an organization, there are no clear measures to support such intuition. Thus, this article deals with the problem of accurately defining and measuring morale within an organization. In particular, it focuses on the relationship between morale and its effect on midlevel administrators (Johnsrud, Heck & Rosser, 2000).            There are many factors affecting the morale of midlevel administrators. These include the feeling that they have no power to make decisions for the organization, and yet they are held responsible for the outcomes of such decisions. Moreover, they do not have tenure and they have limited opportunity for professional development. All of these factors affect the morale of midlevel managers (Johnsrud, Heck & Rosser, 2000).            Finally, the authors established the construct validity of morale, using three dimensions, namely, quality of work, mutual loyalty, and institutional regard. All of these were selected because they represent attributes associated with morale (Johnsrud, Heck & Rosser, 2000). Knights, D. & McCabe, D. (2003). Governing through Teamwork: Reconstituting           Subjectivity in a Call Centre. Journal of Management Studies 40(7), 1587-1619.            This article is a study of the various factors at play in a call center, which is a workplace that is governed by distance. Thus, it focuses on the concept of teamwork, and the technique of appealing to employees’ personal motivations to reach organizational goals. Among those personal motivations include sociability, unity, autonomy, and the desire for an enriching work experience (Knights & McCabe, 2003).            The authors note a crucial element of team playing, which is individual responsibility. This implies that employees should have a certain degree of autonomy or self-determination, rather than simply follow directions of superiors. They agree with the literature on the matter that a certain degree of staff autonomy could be good for the organization. However, they feel that the effect could be that the work becomes â€Å"simultaneously more rewarding and more demanding.†Thus they believe it was necessary to further study the factors that influence the various effects of autonomy to staff members (Knights & McCabe, 2003). Makkai, T. & Braithwaite, V. (1993). Professionalism, Organizations, and Compliance. Law & Social Inquiry 18(1), 33-59.            This article is concerned with factors that affect organizational compliance. This concern stems from the observation that organizational compliance with the law is very important, considering the potential of an organization to affect large number of people. However, an organization is not made up of a single person, but many individuals with different mindsets. Hence, it is important for an organization’s chief executive officer to learn how to control the attitudes and performance of the organization in order to ensure compliance with state regulations (Makkai & Braithwaite, 1993).            Makkai and Braithwaite reviewed literature on the professionalism and organizational compliance, and opined that professionalism is a complex concept that requires further investigation. More particularly, they aim to concentrate on three aspects of professionalism and their effects on organizational compliance. These aspects are values, professional autonomy, and role orientations (Makkai & Braithwaite, 1993).            After deriving relevant data from the Australian nursing home industry, the authors found no significant direct relationship between organizational compliance and professional orientations. Since there was little support for the hypothesis that role orientations and values affect organizational compliance, the authors suggested further studies on the matter (Makkai & Braithwaite, 1993). Sabet, M. G. & Klingner, D. (1993). Exploring The Impact of Professionalism on            Administrative Innovation. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory:         J-PART 3(2), 252-266.            This paper reports a study of three major conceptual areas vis-à -vis organizational theory. These three areas are professionalism, innovation, and drug-testing policies. For professionalism, the authors seek to determine the relationship between professionalism and innovation from the organizational perspective (Sabet & Klingner, 1993).            The authors review the literature on the three conceptual areas. For professionalism, they discuss how professionalism â€Å"has been viewed as a structural and attitudinal variable.†They note that the literature define professionalism through five attitudinal variables, such as autonomy, belief in self-regulation, belief in service to the public, â€Å"use of professional organization as a major referent, and a â€Å"sense of calling to the field (Sabet & Klingner, 1993).†           After sending questionnaires to personnel directors with a study population of 209, the authors found that managers with higher professionalism are more likely to implement policies, such as drug-testing, that affect the tendency of the organization to innovate. Furthermore, they found a significant relationship between the degree of professionalism of a personnel director and the character of the policies he implements. (Sabet & Klingner, 1993). Sarros, J. C., Tanewski, G. A., Winter, R. P., Santora, J. C. & Densten, I. L. (2002).     Work Alienation and Organizational Leadership. British Journal of Management           13, 285-304.            This article describes a study conducted to determine the relationship between a leader’s behavior and organizational structure and work alienation. The authors studied factors that alter workplace structure and culture. Moreover, they are concerned about understanding how to reduce alienation or the feeling of powerlessness at work (Sarros, Tanewski, Winter, Santora & Densten, 2002).            The authors noted that throughout the literature of work alienation, the concept, meaning and measurement of the term had been vague or ambiguous, which led to the variance in interpretations of the concept. Thus, they quote both the earliest and latest interpretations of alienation. They quote Marx and Weber, who believe that â€Å"alienation is a state (or feeling) in which the job is external to the individual,†and such feeling is caused by lack of autonomy in the workplace. They also cite Seaman who described alienation by enumerating its five components, namely, powerlessness, meaninglessness, normlessness and isolation, and self-estrangement (Sarros, Tanewski, Winter, Santora & Densten, 2002).            After taking a survey using questionnaires distributed to more than 600 officers of fire departments, the authors concluded that employee behavior and attitudes, such as work alienation, could be affected and mitigated by actions taken by organizational leaders. For example, such could be accomplished by mitigating the rigidity extant in hierarchical structures within the organization and thereby reduce the tendency for work alienation (Sarros, Tanewski, Winter, Santora & Densten, 2002). Thamhain, H. J. (2003). Managing innovative R&D teams. R&D Management 33(3),    297-311.         This paper involves a study of the subject of innovation vis-à -vis project performance in a technological environment. The author observed that innovation is an effective tool in business, particularly in ensuring superior performance, good products and services, and lower cost. The author likewise notes that interdisciplinary teamwork could make the difference between the success and failure of a business. Such teamwork is perceived to be more crucial than mere generation of innovative ideas at the R&D stage. Thus, it is posited that a team has more chances at success if it is able to â€Å"facilitate a team environment conducive to market-orientation innovation†(Thamhain, 2003).          In order to determine the factors relevant to innovative R&D performance, the author sought to understand the barriers and drivers to good performance. The study led to the understanding of the type of managerial leadership and organizational environment that is conducive to innovative performance. The author chose the research format of an exploratory field research, due to constraints caused by complexities or the absence of theories on the subject. Thus, he utilized questionnaires and qualitative methods, such as participant observation and in-depth retrospective interviewing in order to understand the challenges involved in the R&D process within a company. The interviews and questionnaires he used were previously used in other field studies related in the subject of R&D management (Thamhain, 2003).          Data gathered from 74 project teams and 935 professionals were analyzed using standard statistical methods. The author found that team members’ perception of reality affect their behavior. Actions of a manager could affect and stimulate team behavior. This finding relative to perceptional measures is important because it guides managers into acting towards the encouragement of a project environment that is conducive to the needs of the team (Thamhain, 2003).          The author then discusses the various influences to innovative team performance, and classified them into three, namely, â€Å"(a) people, (b) organizational process, tools and techniques, and (c) R&D work/task.†As to the first group of factors, he found personal interest, professional challenges and recognition, and pride as significant drivers. As to the second group, he found effective communications, stable priorities and goals, effective support systems, and cooperation as important elements of effective performance. Finally, he found certain personal aspects of work, such as job skills, experience, and interest, to be relevant drivers for effective performance. Proper understanding of these factors lead to better innovative performance (Thamhain, 2003). Vance, C. & Larson, E. (2002). Leadership Research in Business and Health Care.      Journal of Nursing Scholarship 34(2), 165-171.          This article is a summary and analysis of the literature on the subject of leadership, particularly in the fields of health care and business. Vance and Larson noted that the concept of leadership had evolved over the years that it had been the constant subject of research. Thus, it has been subject of various conceptualizations and has been viewed as both a behavioral and perceptual phenomenon. Vance and Larson likewise believe that it would be pointless to endeavor to reach a single definition of leadership, because it could take various definitions, depending on the various aspects of leadership concerned (Vance & Larson, 2002).          In order to arrive at the outcomes of leadership on organizations, groups, and individuals, the authors conducted a study by reviewing studies spanning thirty years, from January 1970 through December 1999. After screening articles and categorized, the authors analyzed the data using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). They found that most studies focused on the topic of leadership characteristics, training and measures. They also found that leadership in the business setting had been treated with more frequency than in health care literature (Vance & Larson, 2002).          Given their findings, the authors concluded that there is a need to change the focus of research on the subject of leadership. They noted that there are now many indicators of this need, such as the increasing demand for leaders in health-related fields and the globalization of organizations. The authors likewise focused on certain aspects of leadership with little literature, such as the relationship between leadership and organizational outcomes, causal relationships, intervening factors, and leadership intervention styles (Vance & Larson, 2002).          Finally, the authors criticize how the literature on leadership in the business and health care literature is limited to descriptive treatment of the subject. The fields of health care and business provide fertile ground for research on causal relationships and leadership styles, which could yield vital findings for the subject’s literature (Vance & Larson, 2002). References Andersson, L. M. & Pearson, C. M. (1999). Tit for Tat? The Spiraling Effect of Incivility in        the Workplace. The Academy of Management Review 24(3), 452-471.  Church, A. H. & Waclawski, J. (1999). The Impact of Leadership Style on Global           Management Practices. Journal of Applied Social Psychology 29(7), 1416-1443. Fairholm, M. R. (2004). Different Perspectives on the Practice of Leadership. Public            Administration Review 64(5), 577-590. Johnsrud, L. K., Heck, R. H., & Rosser, V. J. (2000). Morale Matters: Midlevel   Administrators and Their Intent to Leave. The Journal of Higher Education 71(1),         34-59. Knights, D. & McCabe, D. (2003). Governing through Teamwork: Reconstituting           Subjectivity in a Call Centre. Journal of Management Studies 40(7), 1587-1619. Makkai, T. & Braithwaite, V. (1993). Professionalism, Organizations, and Compliance. Law & Social Inquiry 18(1), 33-59. Sabet, M. G. & Klingner, D. (1993). Exploring The Impact of Professionalism on            Administrative Innovation. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory:         J-PART 3(2), 252-266. Sarros, J. C., Tanewski, G. A., Winter, R. P., Santora, J. C. & Densten, I. L. (2002).     Work Alienation and Organizational Leadership. British Journal of Management           13, 285-304. Thamhain, H. J. (2003). Managing innovative R&D teams. R&D Management 33(3),    297-311. Vance, C. & Larson, E. (2002). Leadership Research in Business and Health Care.      Journal of Nursing Scholarship 34(2), 165-171. Â
Electric Vehicles Technology Analysis Essay
Hybrid electric vehicles are one of the applications of hybrid technology in real modern life; in which it’s currently a high demand technology and is growing rapidly. Although hybrid vehicles weren’t the latest type of transportation technology to be discovered, since they appeared earlier than gasoline vehicles, because of the cost of research and technology they disappeared a prosperous century of gasoline vehicles began. Nowadays, when the world needs green transportation because of high fossil costs and political reasons, hybrid vehicles returned and development into that type of technology is kicking back to full speed. Hybrid vehicles are the combination between electric engines and gasoline engines. Therefore, they inherit all the characteristics of traditional vehicle and add new functions of electric motor to help the vehicles save energy as well as reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Many vehicle manufacturers such as BMW, GMC, and Toyota are applying hybrid technology in producing their cars. One of the main reasons that hybrid vehicle are not as popular as regular gas powered vehicles is their prices. Most consumers don’t want to pay the extra $5,000- to $8,000 price tag to buy a vehicle that they don’t see the instant benefits of. Nevertheless hybrid vehicles will bring the benefits to their users and the environment, but not immediately when they buy the Hybrid vehicle. While in use, Hybrid vehicles will reduce the fuel consumption by an average of 42% which in return would be also good for the environment as it reduces greenhouse gas emissions by about 42% than the usual amount. However, in addition to what Hybrid vehicle offers the public in money savings by consuming less fuel and supporting a greener environment, it also made it possible for the public to accept alternative power sources for their vehicles. Also, hybrid technology has helped expand the research into battery power, battery life and battery size which helped in emerging of newer technology of fully electrical cars that doesn’t use any gas, for example: The Nissan Leaf. In the meanwhile, currently the available fully electrical vehicles (Nissan Leaf) on the market have advantages of totally being gas independent, and faster acceleration than some of the hybrid cars (I personally test drove the Nissan Leaf both on city streets and on the highway and I think it accelerated a lot better than my 2010 Toyota Prius hybrid. ). In my opinion the technology still not fully developed to be the most reliable form of transportation for an individual or a house hold use, since you can’t drive more than 100 miles per full charge as advertised; which I am sure it’s a little bit less based on consumers review (around 75-85 miles per full charge. ) In the near future I can imagine that fully electrical cars be more reliable and go in between 700 to1000 miles per full charge, of course it will take its course of development just like any other new technology that starts small and gets bigger by time. I imagine in the next couple years electrical cars will be able to go anywhere in between 100 to 200 miles per charge, then in the following few years from 200 to 300 miles per full charge, etc†¦ Furthermore, in my opinion I think that gas engines are a thing of the past and I can see in the future Hybrid engines and electrical engines replacing everything that we are using today, from gas powered vehicles to airplanes, from motorcycles to scooters and lawnmower to children toys. In conclusion, the human race is using new technologies to try to fix the harm they caused the environment by creating products that don’t contribute to the pollution of our environment and many consumers hope that hybrid and electrical motors technology would help reduce the pollution and contribute to help save our environment.
Friday, August 30, 2019
Culmination is the Zenith Essay
Considering the blooming of the bud to be the zenith in being the flower, in lieu with the activity conducted, Culminating Activity is bringing out the best of what the child has learnt as a unit. BHIS emphasises on Trans disciplinary curriculum which correlates every aspect of learning done in the school. It is of immense importance that education is not just textbook and classroom learning but a practical and application oriented format of learning. Culmination activities do just that. These activities correlate the various developing skills relating to intelligence, linguistic, social, physical et al. This activity is conducted twice a year . The first being during the 1st term and the 2nd in the month of March. In the month of __________________ Grd. 1 had the first culminating Activity which had Water as its theme. All the students of Grd. 1 participated in it, making sure the learning on the theme water was complete in it’s own way. Working with the children of my class I understood that through this activity the children, who might have not actively participated in the classroom sessions of Water, were seen to be doing it here and very enthusiastically. The Culminating Activity consisted of a skit, Tiddalik the Frog, followed by a song. The children also gave a brief presentation on ‘Water’. Weeks of practice made this activity a huge success in the presence of the parents. It is also apt to note that this activity though small had a great role in building confidence in the children.
Thursday, August 29, 2019
Literacy Narrative Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1
Literacy Narrative - Essay Example Furthermore, learning a language amounts to the spread of literacy and fluency in yet another aspect and, thus, is helpful mainly to communicate with people. As a student from China, learning the English language did pose a few problems to me, however, gradually, I was able to catch on very well though not without a few eventful incidents and memories to remember the process by. â€Å"Many who today hear me somewhere in person, or on television, or those who read something I’ve said, will think I went to school far beyond the eighth grade. This impression is due entirely to my prison studies.†(Malcolm X) Malcolm X, the renowned leader of Black America, has been an inspiration along my journey of learning English. His quote suggests that everything is possible, even teaching oneself an alien language. As I signed myself for some English speaking lessons, I felt excited knowing that I would be providing myself the opportunity to delve into another road in life and learn a number of new things which could help me somewhere in the future. Also, I retain a keen interest in reading and, thus, learning a new language means having twice the literature material, if not more, to read and gain knowledge and information. Initially, my enthusiasm knew no bounds as my instructor began teaching me the fundamentals of the English grammar; however, soon I became weary and began to lose interest. With time, it was becoming frustrating to learn the language because I would often trip on my grammar and make silly mistakes; I would forget what certain words meant and where and how to use them in sentences; and I even got annoyed at myself for not being able to understand accents of the English speaking people living abroad. However, my dream of studying abroad in an English speaking environment kept me going and soon I realized just how funny the language was. I began to understand laughter-causing things like homonyms and puns, not to forget mentioning beautiful pro verbs and idioms that I began to make use of in my daily speech. My teacher was impressed with me as I took to reading books for children in English to begin with. My class was full of fresh zeal, both children and adults alike, trying to master the English language through skits, plays, dialogues, songs and poems. But for my teacher, I would not have been so fluent in the language today; he made sure that we signed up for participating in English plays, watching English movies and listening to English music while singing along in order to strengthen whatever knowledge we had, and to also make sure that we would not make silly mistakes while learning. I recall watching the film ‘My Fair Lady’, which is about a young girl trying to learn the sophisticated form of speaking in English in order to impress people from high society and make them believe that she fitted in there. That film gave me the motivation to open my books and practise my speech more and more because it helped me believe that I, too, one day, could be as polished in the language as she was. With time, I realized that watching English movies with their subtitles was one of the best ways to learn new sentences and how to use them in speech. Also, my teacher urged us to watch the news in English so that it would also help us keep in touch with current affairs from around the world and we would be able to
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
No topic Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words
No topic - Personal Statement Example In fact, since California is well known for its good historical sites such as The California Historical Center and Foundation, I look forward to a resourceful study program in UC because I am assured of highly qualified professors also (Kinginger 121). This will offer a good platform in my career because I am certain of developing the relevant knowledge and experience in archeological studies. There are various courses that are offered in California and this offers a good opportunity to students to explore various areas of study to achieve their career objectives. There are a significant number of students who enroll in the University and end up as proficient employees in various areas of study. However, there some courses that are not available in UC but they are available in other abroad countries. For instance, I have come to learn that at my home country there are courses like cultural studies, agricultural programs and some linguistic studies that are not available in the University of California. These courses are offered in relation to their application within the economy of the country and the linguistic studies are based on languages that are compatible to the local communities (Kinginger 59). My level of proficiency in English is above average. Though I am not a native English speaker, I have gained a lot of proficiency in English since I started learning English in my junior classes up to the university level. I have been doing studies through English and hence I have gained considerable proficiency in written English and spoken English. I am also good in reading and listening to comprehension and the only challenge to me would the understanding English that uses a lot of jargon or difficult words since I am not a native speaker. The U.S based English wouldn’t also be a challenge to me since it doesn’t have huge distinction
Tuesday, August 27, 2019
Argument essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 5
Argument - Essay Example nting of nuclear bombs, religious discrimination, and gender discrimination is unscrupulous, its consequences and what is to be done to correct the same? The discrimination against African Americans in America is a burning issue. One cannot neglect the seriousness of discrimination based on racism against blacks in a multiracial, multilingual and multicultural society. The Civil War was an innovative movement which aimed to eradicate racism or discrimination in America. But still discrimination against blacks based on racial feeling prevails. The Colfax massacre in 1873 and Coushatta massacre in 1874, in which thousands of African Americans were brutally murdered prove that the American society still show discrimination against blacks. Assimilating a race into the society and showing discrimination is not fair for a developed society like America. When America is discriminating the blacks, their contribution/service provided at the time of World War I and World War II is ignored. The discrimination against backs is unethical and immoral. Discrimination based on caste, color or creed is a serious violation of human rights because it is against human dignity. But it can be corrected by reconsidering the age old prejudice against blacks. Besides, it will badly affect the reputation of the American society as a multiracial society which is capable to assimilate different types of races into the mainstream. The nuclear weapon policy of the United States attracts much criticism from other nations because it seems to hinder global peace and security. From one side, the United States is trying to sustain its nuclear bombs/weapons. On the other side, it is trying to blame other nations for keeping nuclear weapons. A nation, protecting a number of nuclear weapons and blaming other nations on keeping the same makes the whole world to reconsider their nuclear policies. Schwartz (1998), in the work -‘Atomic audit: the costs and consequences of U.S. nuclear weapons since
Monday, August 26, 2019
Case study 3 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words
3 - Case Study Example However, the private firm failed to deliver what the state expected in a number of ways. For example, the handling of client’s applications was inefficient both in answering the client’s calls and maintaining of clients documents. The contracted firms hired incompetent workers who failed to perform according to state’s expectations. ACS focused on making money hence their service was poor and uncoordinated. American civil Liberties Union (ACLU) challenged the performance of FSSA for misplacing the documents of the patients hence leading to denial of essential services to the applicants. Critics blamed the inefficiency of the private firms as caused by waiver of caseworkers that was present in the state (Alb?k, Eliason & Herman 17). Before privatization, each household had a caseworker who confirmed the qualification of individuals before making an application and also ensured that the applications were submitted in the right procedure. Question 1 Privatization wa s implemented as a cost saving strategy. For example, Governor Mitch Daniels stated that by privatizing the welfare and food programs would enable the state to save up to one billion dollars in a decade (Ricky 619). The state signed a 1.3 billion dollar contract with the private firm. However, one and a half years later the both IBM and Affiliated Computer Services (subcontracted) by to deal with calls of the clients failed to achieve the mission. To improve performance of welfare and food programs delivery. The intention of the state was to delegate functions of welfare and food delivery to private firms because this would reduce the processes of handling applications and attending to the needs of the people (Chu et al.19) This would ensure smooth operations because private firms have appropriate facilities and specialized staff to handle the needs of the people effectively. Question 2 The new system was intended to improve communication between the clients and the service provider s. ACS was hired to manage telephone calls from the clients (Bursi & David 164). This was meant to increase speed of gathering, processing, and storing clients’ data with greater efficiency. Therefore, the new system was meant to
Sunday, August 25, 2019
Pollution in the UK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words
Pollution in the UK - Essay Example This paper efficaciously delineates the issues concerned with the pollution in the United Kingdom, along with the problems encountered by the councils to combat them. Moreover, this paper talks about pertinent measures to be undertaken by the authorities of UK in order to transform the society in to a healthy and sustainable place to reside. The Department of Environment, Transport and other Regions states that clean air is a fundamental component of a good eminence of life and people have the authority to expect that the air they take in will not be harmful to them (Report, 2000). Post the haze issue of the mid-twentieth century, the British government has put in tremendous effort in to the management of air quality, which has resulted in substantial reduction of pollution in the UK, in comparison to other countries of the world. Nevertheless, there is still a lot of work to be done so as to uphold and improvise the quality of air. According to the ENDS Report, one of the key steps forward in the enhancement of the quality of air, thereby, reducing pollution was the Environment Act which introduced an incorporated structure with regards to the handling of national as well as local air pollution having its basal on the health-based norms (ENDS Report, 1997). Moreover, it also marked the budge of a source-centralized app roach to the one which concentrated on the reduction of exposure. As a point in fact, the central role was handed over to the local authorities and they were expected to forecast whether pollution would possibly tend to transcend the air quality norms by the year 2005, thereby, outlining the strategies to lessen the concentrations in chief places. According to Xing, it is a hard fact to study that time is running out for the local authorities to keep up with the objectives of pollution under the regime of Local Air Quality Management or LAQM (Xing, 2004). There are only a handful of councils with top pollution grades which have generated action strategies to address the problems of reduction of pollution. Other than the councils which face the difficulties of attaining the objectives on time, there are various councils of smaller conurbations which also require an appreciable exercise of the air quality management in order to preserve the health of environment and people. As a resul t, the upshot of this research would provide us with a good example to manage the intricacies and facilitate the smaller cities to learn from various experiences as well. Problems faced by Councils in managing Pollution The influence of urban areas on the environment is quite substantial for the reason that
Saturday, August 24, 2019
Significant Events in the Middle East After 1850 Term Paper
Significant Events in the Middle East After 1850 - Term Paper Example Saddam hated living with the step father which prompted him to move to his uncles, subsequent to his release from prison. At this point Saddam was a 10-year-old boy. Saddam then went to Baghdad to continue with his schooling where he joined high school. But, he enjoyed politics than school. To his rescue, his uncle helped him make a debut in politics. In 1957, he joined his uncles party Baath. His membership started with a low tone, until 1959 when he was appointed a member of the squad Assassination. He, however, fled Iraq after a failed assassination attempt in the same year, of the then prime minister. Then he went to Syria for one month and then to Egypt, where he stayed for three years in exile. Saddam was a brutal and ruthless president as depicted by most of his actions during his time as the president of Iraq. For instance, he executed three hundred military officers in the year 1982, after their rebellion on his approach of fighting with Iraq. He ousted out of power in 2003 by US forces and after he was found guilty of various human atrocities he was hung in 2006. (thefamouspeople.com, 2010) Yasser Arafat was born in 1929 in the city of Cairo by a Palestinian father with an ancestry of Egypt and his mother was a Palestinian. His mother died while he was just 5 years of age. Subsequently, he moved to live with a material uncle in the city of Jerusalem. After living in Jerusalem for four years, his father took him back to the city of Cairo to be taken care of by an elder sister alongside other siblings. he never attended his fathers funeral in the year 1952. While in Cairo, before age 17, Arafat used to smuggle fire arms to Palestine with the aim of their being used against the Jews and the British. During the period of the war between the Arab states and the Jews, he abandoned his studies at Cairo University so as to go and battle against the Jews around the area of Gaza. He later
Friday, August 23, 2019
Strategic Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1
Strategic Management - Essay Example Basing the argument of first mover and late mover’s theories, this paper issues the careful presentation on the move to be implemented by the company to achieve progress, according to the designated task. Introduction The prevalence of the ideology of product management and company establishment is influenced by the decision of management to implement a marketing strategy. The strategy implemented should be developed after careful study of the economy and market structure to discern positive ventures. The task has been assigned as a member of the company that seeks to expand ideologies and strategies within the market, to base decisions on effective study of the market economy. The option issued has been in the entrance to the market as a new product or advancing on the available strategies in the product behaviour within the market. The two theories in first movers and late movers are the determining factors of the market behaviour as each hold varied arguments on the need to implement a desirable strategy (Frawley & Fahy, 2006). However, with the lack of intense knowledge on company business and reaction of management to the alternatives presented, both theories should be expounded on and critical analysis discussed. Both the first mover and late mover theory hold adverse benefits and setbacks, and with the careful analysis of both presentations, better choice is accorded to the company to advance in its marketing strategies. Comparison of the two theories Timing has been considered a vital entity in the quest to establish policies and products within a market. Companies need to acknowledge the need to enter at an early stage within the market or late periods to maximize on the aspect of profit articulation. Market entry has been proved as a measure that determines the rate of prevalence of the policies implemented by a selected company. The behavioural pattern of market entry has been presented to advance in the two formulated theories that are constr ucted from the action taken by a firm to establish structures within a region. Bresser (1998) suggest that the first movers and late movers’ theories have been developed to indicate the behavioural pattern of companies within a market (Frawley & Fahy, 2006). First movers gain the upper hand within the market with the early timing of entrance within the market when the product has not been launched before in the region. The period offers minimal competition, and maximization of profit realized with positive reaction from consumers. Late movers, on the other hand, may gain advantage through implementing strategies that the first mover had applied to advance on the presentations and gain the lead within the market. These aspects have been the variations of the two theories and a careful analysis of both theories may witness the paramount effects. First movers Advantages Firstly, the measure offers leadership and progress through advanced technology in the market, preemption of t he available products, dictatorship of prices with an uninformed buyers trend. After inventing a technological progress, the advantage presented is included in attaining patents and legal ownership of products and services to retain confidentiality of their operational activities. The theory also offers access to product and services before any other company. The location of establishment may offer opportunities in
On what grounds has the Washington Consensus been criticized Is the Essay
On what grounds has the Washington Consensus been criticized Is the Post Washington Consensus a viable alternative Critically discuss - Essay Example licy of the developing nations only that includes reduction of government deficits, liberalization and deregulation of international trade as well as cross border investment. This term was first used by John Williamson in 1989. It was used to describe a set of ten specific economic policy prescriptions that was considered by his as the standard reform package promoted for the crisis wracked developing countries. This consensus was influential during the 1990’s. During the first decade of the 21st century, this concept became increasingly controversial. After the outbreak of the economic chaos during 2008 and 2009, it was thought that Washington consensus has found its end (Poverty and development policy). John Williamson who used this term first used this to support the commonly shared themes among the policy advices by Washington based financial institutions. These institutions were the IMF, World Bank and the US treasury department. These policies were believed to be used for the recovery of Latin America from the financial crisis of the 1980’s. But Williamson’s concept of the theme was neoliberal in its approach. Even though the policy was put forward by Americans, the policy makers in Latin America used their own perspectives to develop these and introduce them in their own countries. These were developed keeping in mind what happened inside and outside the country. It was also said that these policies were largely a creation of Latin American politicians and technocrats and Williamson being a person to gather these policies first at one place. Neo liberalists argue that Washington consensus is a set of policies that are imposed on hapless countries by the Washington based international financial establishments. They also argue that these policies have increased the misery of such countries than before. This concept that was initiated by John Williamson inspired a wave of reforms in Latin America and sub Saharan Africa. This policy fundamentally
Thursday, August 22, 2019
Multiculturalism in Counseling Essay Example for Free
Multiculturalism in Counseling Essay ABSTRACT Stemming from the uprising in the 1960s, multiculturalism has presented serious challenges to the society, especially to the academic sector. Criticized by social groups, schools were inclined to adopt programs in recognition of the multicultural population, and later structured their systems to cater to the needs of the growing population. Today, multiculturalism has become an important consideration in designing school programs, facilities, and hiring policies. Particularly, school counseling was one area that went through a notable change. The introduction of this paper gives a brief historical background of multiculturalism in school counseling. It discusses how multiculturalism was incorporated into the school curriculum, and was adopted in school counseling. The main part of this paper discusses the competencies every school counselor must possess to address the needs of multicultural students. Anchoring on the three core competencies set by the AMCD, this paper presents ways on how one can be knowledgeable of clients’ worldviews in order to serve them best. In addition, it suggests other devices or strategies counselors may consider when dealing with multicultural students.            The conclusion of the paper summarizes the ideal characteristics of a counselor, and presents further considerations school administrators and counselors can make to ensure effective counseling strategies which adhere to the demands of multiculturalism. Introduction Multiculturalism as Rosado (1997) defines, is a system of values and behaviors which recognizes and respects the presence of all diverse groups in societyâ€â€their identities, values and socio-cultural differences. In addition, multiculturalism supports continued contribution of the culture in the society. Based on this definition, we can view multiculturalism as the harmonious coexistence of different cultures in the society. In the author’s view, culture is not limited to bases of origin. Culture may arise from similar beliefs, attitudes, or feelings of a certain group of people. Thus, it also encompasses those who have the same subcultures based on values, economic status, socio-political status, or gender. Particularly, those who have the same subculture based on gender include women, gays, lesbians and transgender individuals. In the same manner, people belonging to the same economic status or religion share a similar subculture that establishes their diversity from others. In this study, we refer to multicultural people as those who embody a different set of cultures and subcultures, other than the native culture or the majority. As such, we may define multiculturalism as an approach that recognizes diversity in culture among different ethnic, gender, economic, socio-political, and religious backgrounds. Multiculturalism has also become a prevalent topic in school counseling. It has prompted psychologists and educators around the world to review school practices that hamper culturally diverse students from performing well in school. Now that the growing population of multiculturally diverse students seems to be taking over the White population, the challenges that go with implementing multiculturalism in counseling would probably be more relevant in the next decades.                                                Multiculturalism in Counseling In the field of education, authors claim that multiculturalism rooted out from the social action of African Americans and other â€Å"people of color†back in the 1960s (Banks, Davidson Davidson, as cited in Gorski, 1999). The common feeling that schools had the most hostile and oppressive treatment of other cultures aroused them to protest and fight for reforms. In those days, African Americans and other cultures suffered from racism and discrimination from the White population who occupied professorship or management statuses. Colored people were treated as second class citizens, if not as outcasts. However, through the efforts of African American activists, schools were compelled to review their policies and hiring process in consideration of the non-Whites. In the 1970s, other groups such as the elderly, gays, lesbians, and people with disabilities also contested that institutions should pay equal respect to all peoples on matters of employment, educational opportunities, and work pay. Following this, a number of programs and policies emerged, including additional courses on prominent women or famous people of color. Despite this effort, social activists were not satisfied, for schools only celebrated women of greatness, and not women in general. For instance, James Banks (1981;1989), one of the pioneers of multicultural education argued that to adhere to the idea of â€Å"multicultural environment,†all aspects of the school had to be reviewed. According to him, policies, teacher’s attitude, assessment programs, and counseling should be transformed accordingly. This concept of multicultural education coincided with the idea of social equality among diverse cultures. By 1980s, following the path of Banks, K-12 teachers, namely, Carl Grant, Christine Sleeter, Geneva Gay, and Sonia Nieto exposed and criticized oppressive teaching approaches, standardized tests, classroom climate, and discriminatory hiring practices. Relevantly, this created in every academic professional the challenge to recognize diversity or as later coined, multiculturalism, and make it their mission to â€Å"manage†and â€Å"live diversity†(Rosado, 1997 ). Being multicultural does not only mean having a student population composed of various cultures, though this is often the contention of many schools. Rosado points out that for a school to claim they are multicultural, they must at least adhere to four standards. These include reflecting heterogeneity, demonstrating sensitivity, realigning the school’s mission, and creating an ambiance that empowers all groups in the school. With clear and careful intention, Rosado argues that schools should adopt change geared towards multiculturalism on individual as well as institutional levels. On the one hand, by saying individual level, we mean that schools should aim at urging administration, teachers and students to transcend beyond their own racial, gender, cultural and socio-political identity to recognize other identities. On the other hand, as Rosado contends, institutional level means focusing on empowering diversity. This goes beyond merely admitting people of color, but also taking into consideration in the school’s mission, vision, values, and structure how it can empower each individual. Although motivated by good intention, empowering people of diversity, as pointed out by Rosado may sometimes lead to a utilitarian view of giving a person his needs in exchange of what he can offer his society. We say that this is very utilitarian in that it sees the individual as a utility, more than an entity with values, attitudes, and affection. In contrast, we should be inclined to think that it is the school’s responsibility to provide the different needs of individuals in recognition of their diversity and nothing else. No conditions should apply as to whether the society can profit from his acts or not. Relevantly, whether the person is worthy of rewards of multiculturalism should not be an issue. Four intentions have motivated the adoption of multiculturalism in education. These include the â€Å"need to remedy ethnocentrism, rebuild understanding and appreciation of different cultures, defuse tension and conflicts among ethnic groups, and make the school curricula relevant to experiences and traditions†(Webb, 1990). In the next part, we will discuss how well these motivations relate to school counseling.            Many research works confirm the positive effects of multicultural education on students. For example, Hale (1986) shows that children in a preschool program achieved higher cognitive levels upon integrating African American culture in the curriculum.            In the same way, Zaslavsky (1988) demonstrates how elements of other cultures can help in teaching complex math concepts to students of an inner-city school. Fulton-Scott (1983) confirms benefits of integrating multicultural education in elementary programs for Hispanic students. The study reveals that students’ scores in Math, Reading, and Language were significantly superior over those of students enrolled in programs without multicultural integration.            Benefits of multiculturalism are likewise recognized in the field of Psychology, particularly in school counseling. However, research in this area has focused more on counselors’ multicultural competence rather than on the effect of counseling founded on multiculturalism.            In 1991, the Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development (AMCD) identified the need and rationale for multicultural counseling. This led to the approval of 31 multicultural counseling competencies as proposed by Sue et al. (1992) in 1991. Following this, in 2002, the APA Council of Representatives approved the Guidelines on Multicultural Education, Training, Research, Practice and Organization Change, which was, in fact, based on the work of Sue et al.            The need to adopt multiculturalism in counseling, especially in schools, is truly urgent and necessary for ethical reasons. In relation to this, AMCD identifies three characteristics counselors must possess. First is counselor awareness of own assumptions, values, and biases. Second is understanding the worldview of the culturally different client; and third, developing appropriate intervention strategies and techniques            Primarily, culturally skilled counselors can be identified as those who have awareness of other people’s culture other than their own. They are aware of how their cultural background, experience, attitude, biases, and values influence the counseling process of a client. Moreover, these counselors recognize their limits when it comes to tolerating other values, behaviors, or norms. To add, culturally skilled counselors are also comfortable with differences between them and the clients in terms of race, gender identity, ethnicity, culture, and beliefs. To illustrate, the first measure of competency requires a counselor to mirror whether his own values and beliefs would personally or professionally affect the process of counseling. For example, a Christian counselor may have biases towards a Muslim student, for they have truly different belief systems. In this situation, if the counselor has no knowledge of ethical limitations, he might insist that his beliefs are better or are morally upright, and those of the student’s are the opposite. However, such case may be prevented if the counselor is fully aware of conflicting values he has with the student. In our own view, a school counselor should be open to all values of every student. This is different from the counselor in the private sector. In school counseling, the counselor who cannot accept views of some students is not fit for school counseling. A school counselor should have readiness to counsel every student, and there should be no instance when he would not accept a student for counseling.            To ensure that the counselor meets the first requirement mentioned above, he should reflect on his values and find out if he has beliefs against any culture, including students with different gender identities, cultural or religious practices, and other moral practices that their culture has taught them. For instance, taking into consideration the case of students with gender identity problem, the counselor must be careful not to insist that the student sticks to his biological gender. Rather, he should exercise care in handling this case. After all, the whole life of the student may depend on the decision he makes at the time of counseling. Culturally skilled counselors possess knowledge and understanding about how gender stereotyping affects them personally and professionally. Considering the sensitivity of the issue of gender identity disorder, the school counselor must be careful not to affect the decision and values of the individual, for he is going to suffer later on should he take the wrong decision.            Moreover, as Sue et al. contend, culturally skilled counselors possess knowledge about their social impact on others. These include one’s awareness of own communication style, and how this style may hinder or facilitate the counseling process. Recognizing limits of their competencies, school counselors may confer with their colleagues how to overcome these weaknesses. Aside from this, they should seek further training or education on other cultures as a way to do away with biases. The process of balancing one’s view of other cultures may take a lifetime as new concepts may arise everyday. For example, the term transgender individuality appeared only in our modern times, but the concept of transforming from one gender to another has been known as early as the time of Sophocles or even earlier. In this regard, counselors should not grow tired of finding ways for self-actualization. Also, on the second characteristic, it is the responsibility of the culturally skilled counselor to gather resources to learn about the identity of other cultures. In the case of homosexuality among students, the counselor should know the different sides of the coin in being a homosexual. In particular, counselors who deal with this issue should have a good understanding of the process of being a homosexual (Adams, Boatwright, Gilbert, Forrest Ketzenberger, Cass, Chung Katayama, Croghan, Driscoll, Kelley Fassinger, Dunkle, and Pope, as cited in Sanabria, 2004). With this knowledge, he must let the student decide on his own whether to retain his gender identity or move to the phase of ‘coming out†. Coming out or in other words, admitting to the society that one belongs to a specific gender type is in itself a dilemma among teenagers with identity confusion. The specific role of the counselor in this situation is to help the youth consider advantages and disadvantages of coming out (Adams, Belz, Brown, Croteau Hedstrom, Elliott, Hetherington, Morgan Brown, Morrow, Pope, Rodriguez Chang, Pope Schecter, Savin-Williams, as cited in Sanabria, 2004). Additionally, the counselor should guide the student in the stage of coming-out by training him/her how to deal with people’s inquiry about his identity. For example, the counselor could give real-life scenarios, and ask the student to react on them in order to ensure that he would be prepared for particular instances when he would experience doubt. If the counselor feels affirmative or senses tolerance toward gays and lesbians but lacks the knowledge to handle cases of these individuals, he could improve his familiarity with them through a lot of ways. One source of invaluable information is reading literatures regarding gay/lesbian culture. At present, explorations on gender-specific cases are improving in terms of number and depth. These readings can guide a counselor to discover gay/lesbian cultural identity. Likewise, attending conferences or symposia, gathering insights from past clients and friends who belong to the same gender type will also contribute a lot (Sanabria, 2004). Also, as Sanabria expresses, if the counselor feels that he is not qualified to handle the case, it is only ethical to refer the student to someone who could offer him the right counseling. Furthermore, counselors who cannot be affirmative of gay and lesbian culture are probably misinformed and should look into themselves again if they are fit for being a school counselor. The issue regarding sexual minorities is only one of the issues a school counselor must be able to handle. If the counselor cannot help sexual minorities, he should reconsider if he should continue practicing in the academic setting. Suffice to mention, the National Career Development Association, American Counseling Association, and American Psychological Association have well-defined ethical codes that offer guidance for individuals who work with sexual orientation issues. Included in these ethical codes is the knowledge about students’ behavioral identity. Importantly, culturally skilled counselors should be aware of life experiences, cultural heritage, and historical background of their multicultural students. For instance, an Asian American student has different historical and cultural background from a Latino counterpart, or an African American. When counseling an Asian American, for example, a Chinese girl who cannot relate well with her classmates, a counselor must be informed of the conservative values Chinese families have. Actually, the attitude of keeping one’s silence may be in conformity with Confucian values. In this regard, the counselor cannot expect the girl to be as outgoing as he r classmates are, for the behavior she presents embodies a cultural heritage among the Chinese. Furthermore, culturally skilled counselors understand the consequences arising from one’s exercise of cultural traditions and rites. In some parts of Asia, for instance, there is still the custom of prearranged marriage. Thus, a counselor who encounters a high school student in this situation should suspend judgment of the custom, but rather honor it, and perhaps counsel the child to make her own choice, after laying down the consequences of abiding by the culture. In considering choices, the counselor may enumerate possible circumstances the child would face if she relents to her parents’ decision, or vice versa. Under no circumstances should the counselor dictate to the child what she should do as this may result in confusion or family conflict. Likewise, the counselor may also opt to explain the issue to the parents, but before doing so, the counselor must take precautions so as not to offend them. At all times, respect should form part of every counseling situation. Aside from obtaining a rich background of their students, a competent counselor, according to Sue et al. should also be kept updated with the latest trends and occurrences that concern his clients. In the case of a school counselor, it would be of great help if he engages in research and other activities to keep him updated with the students’ lingo, hobbies, behavioral patterns, etc. They should actively seek out opportunitiesâ€â€personal and professional experiences that enrich their knowledge, understanding, and cross-cultural skills. Moreover, as some schools implement nowadays, counselors can engage in outside school activities such as outreach programs, educational trips, camps, and other activities which would help gain a more vivid profile of the counselees. They should also be actively involved with minority individuals outside the school setting. Community events, celebrations, and other gatherings may help provide a wider perspective of minorities which relate with the academic scenario. Considering the dynamic role that the school counselor plays in society, the responsibility of ensuring that they possess the relevant qualities expected of a counselor should be borne by colleges offering the course or training. Based on the literature gathered, schools have positively become fully concerned about the issue of multiculturalism. Many schools and universities nowadays adhere to the demands of the culturally diverse society. However, the way to attaining competency of some school counselors may still be too far. In one study Holcom-McCo y (2000) conducted, the author identified five underlying factors influencing school counselors’ perception of themselves as competent professionals. These factors included understanding of racial identity development, ability to comprehend multicultural terminology, multicultural awareness, knowledge, and skills. Among which, counselors perceived lack of knowledge of racial identity development as the problem that hindered them from being fully competent in multiculturalism. To address this problem, Schwallie-Giddis et al. (as cited in Sanabria, 2004) suggest that future school counselors should undergo multicultural training on racial identity development, and multicultural knowledge development. In a study conducted, school counselors assessed the effectiveness of a nine-month multicultural professional development program. The study involved 13 school counselors in a multicultural professional development program held from school year 2001-2002. Applying three dimensions of multicultural competencies, the participants assessed their own competencies. Resources included a videotape of a case study to which participants reacted, in order to discover assumptions, values and biases. To assess understanding of the clients’ worldviews, the study made use of case studies of linguistically and culturally diverse (LCD) students. The participants were asked to apply a framework to the cases to examine aspects school counselors should consider when handling diverse students. The participants had a lengthy discussion on the provided cases, and at the end of the session, they expressed the advantage of having discussions with peers. Another session comprised of a panel interview with three mothers of different cultures. Each of the women talked about her child’s experiences in school, all of which related to the inefficiency of the school officials to handle multicultural students. In all the issues raised, lack of communication surfaced as the most recurrent problem. In relation to this, participants commented that had there been proper communication between parents and school officials, issues would have been resolved more easily. Moreover, the study also included a session that dealt with developing appropriate interventions to cases of LCD students. Through this, participants were able to exchange views and experiences which could help build up a resource for interventions to cases of LCD students. Based on this session, counselors noted that most of them found it difficult to deal with LCD student mainly because of the language barrier. Furthermore, insecurities due to lack of knowledge of other cultures affected the competencies of the participants. In sum, the school counselors agreed that having enough facility to understand the student and overcoming language barriers is one major key to providing adequate help to students. Similarly, Chandras et al. (2006) suggest counseling strategies and techniques in handling multicultural students. One skill they emphasized to be critical in every counseling situation is effective listening. Effective listening, as Neuknug (2002) defines, includes allowing students to talk, concentrating on what is being said, giving minimal advice, empathizing, asking for clarifications, and limiting questions. When handling multicultural students, it is important for the counselor to be fully sensitive to verbal cues that relate to culture. For instance, a student who is often bullied in class may not admit why he is being bullied due to his insecurity. There are some students who would rather keep the truth to themselves or resolve their own conflicts instead of asking help from school officials. Despite this attitude, a good school counselor could still unlock verbal cues that could make the student open up. For example, a child who claims he is not interested in making friends with his classmates could likewise mean that his classmates are cruel to him and not totally uninteresting. As such, clarifying responses and not directly giving advice may help the child reflect on his own situation. To maintain effective counseling strategy, a constructive and emphatic relationship is very important (Chandras et al., 2006). In this respect, the counselor’s role is first to build up trust and optimism. On the one hand, gaining trust of a student is paramount to establishing a good relationship. Without trust, there can be no revelations, no life experiences told. On the other hand, developing optimism facilitates finding a solution to the problem. Also, when a student perceives that there is a solution to the dilemma, he becomes more willing to cooperate in the counseling process. Secondary to the abovementioned is discussing stages of the counseling process. It is important to inform the counselee how the counseling would go, what can be achieved during counseling stages, and how long they will take. Together with this, the counselor should set guidelines both he and the student will follow, such as time schedule, behavior rules, and limitations. Chakras et al. determine other responsibilities of a counselor. These include preparing the student for counseling session. As a counselor, one has to establish the reason why the student should undergo counseling. Asking the student what he feels is wrong, or eliciting experiences that seem difficult for him are ways to prepare the student. In addition, the counselor must assert that the problem can be worked out if the counselee cooperates in resolving it. Also, some situations that lead to the attention are considered for school counseling. These include breaking school rules, misbehaving, or underachievement. As such, the class adviser and the school counselor should work hand in hand regarding record of students’ behavior and progress. One of the misconceptions about counseling is that students are referred to it only for disciplinary purposes. Students tend to think that if they are called for counseling, they have been noted to misbehave in school. Thus, some students create a wrong view that counselors are disciplinarians. Importantly, this issue should be addressed during school orientation, letting the students know and feel that counseling is a helping process, and not a disciplinary one. Furthermore, what the counselor can do to avoid this misconception is to call each student one by one, get to know them, and allow a time for them to be acquainted with her and her work, so that fears regarding counseling could be avoided. Importantly, not only those who have reports of misbehavior should be called for counseling, but every student handled by each counselor. During counseling session, one good characteristic the counselor should exhibit is to remain focused on the specific problem. If the student’s problem concerns only his classmates, the counselor should identify ways to resolve it at the said level, and not delve on the students’ family background, as such may give the student an impression that his problem is huge. For example, if the student identifies that he is having problems with classmates bullying him, the counselor must call the attention of the said classmates and allow the said parties to explain the issue (i.e., tell them of the situation to find out if they are aware of the problem they cause their classmate). Furthermore, it is the counselor’s role to sustain interest of the counselee during the counseling process. To attain this, the counselor should ask questions relevant to the situation, and involve the counselee in arriving at the best workable solution. Asking irrelevant questions and monopolizing the discussion may distract the concentration of the counselee. In addition, the counselor may give assignments or home work so that the student would feel responsible and be prepared for the next counseling session. As regards developing appropriate intervention strategies and techniques to help multicultural students, counselors should also be effectively involved in non-academic and out-of-school activities. As the core of the student’s personality, the counselor should focus first on building family relationships. Activities involving the students’ family would be an effective strategy to (1) know students well, (2) gain knowledge of family structure of students, whether parents are separated, and where students stay, (3) provide a venue for family bonding, and (4) inform parents of their children’s progress/problems. Parent involvement in counseling is inevitable. Some studies confirm student improvement in â€Å"academic performance, attitudes and behavior, attendance, school adjustment and engagement, and graduation rates†(Barnard, Epstein, Simons-Morton Crump, as cited in Sanabria). In Jevnes (as cited in Sanabria), a recent meta-analysis of 41 studies shows a significant relationship between parent’s involvement in school and academic achievement of urban students.            Parent involvement in school can include activities designed to inform them of their children’s progress, workshops or conferences to help them cope with the difficulties of parenting, marriage, etc. However, some parents lack the initiative to get involved in their child’s school affairs. As Lareau (as cited in Sanabria, 2004) posits, parents perceptions of racism and their own negative school experiences tend to create the distance between them and the schools. One study conducted by McKay, Atkins, Hawkins, Brown (as cited in Sanabria, 2004) found that the racism awareness of low-income African American parents was positively related to at-home parental involvement, and inversely related to at-school involvement. In this case, the counselor should coordinate closely with class advisers and other school officials to help convince these parents to give priority to their children. One source of motivation could be research dat a establishing correlation between children’s progress and parental involvement. One activity the counselor could organize is a â€Å"Day with Parents.†This could be a panel discussion involving model parents (probably of outstanding students) to act as the panel, and discuss relevant issues with students and co-parents. In this activity, the panel discusses ways on how they get involved with the affairs of their children, and how these measures create positive output to them. After the pane interview/discussion, the parents may exchange ideas in a forum to discuss proper ways to bring up children. Specifically, student problems, whether academic or personal, may also be brought up. Another activity the counselor could organize is a family day in which the whole family will come to the school to enjoy rides, games, or dining together. This event may be school-wide and would need the participation of every school personnel and students. Aside from organizing events for the family, the school counselor could also incorporate in the program field trips, camping, games, and other fun activities for the students. This will help students, especially with multicultural background, to get to know their classmates well. This way, they would also find time to have more friends. Aside from this, fun activities would also make them realize that school is not just for learning academics but also for having fun.            Moreover, other activities school counselors could provide include workshops or performing arts activities. These activities are very ideal to cultivate the talents of students. Examples of which include art, theater arts, dance, and singing workshops. After the workshops, counselors could also have a culminating activity in which students show what they have learned from the workshop. For arts, students will have an art exhibit, for dance, theater arts, and singing, the counselor could propose to school administration to allow a concert or show, in which students will be the performers. This particular activity could also serve as a fund raising campaign aside from showcasing the talent of students.            Other activities to make students realize their potentials include sports activities/intramurals. This would allow sports-minded students to show their capabilities in their field. Also, this could serve as the school’s campaign against drug use among students.            Further to the given interventions, counselors could also conduct career orientation, especially for graduating students. In this activity, the counselor would invite some professionals to talk about their career to inspire students to follow a similar path. At the end of the session, the counselor would elicit from students, which career aroused their interest, and what made them interested to it. Importantly, students should be given many options to choose from, and career professionals to be invited should likewise have multicultural identity, so that students can easily relate with them. Evaluation sessions should also follow to allow room for improvement.            Counselors also have a part in the school’s community outreach. By giving orientation to students regarding the activity and motivating them to help other people, students will realize that the helping profession is not limited within the four corners of the school. The participation of the counselor is very important as this will strengthen the role of the counseling profession and the school’s mission of helping other people.            Other interventions the counselor could incorporate in the counseling program include achievement tests, personality tests, and other assessments to gauge the students’ academic and personal progress. These could help identify the needs of the students or their inclinations to serve as guide in choosing their future career. There are a lot of ways a school counselor can adopt to help in the holistic development of students. In adopting each intervention, what is important is to bear in mind its applicability to the multicultural students. As each student comes from a different background, it is imperative to learn about them individually, and not just by names or culture affiliation. As long been practiced by other counseling professionals, one strategy the counselor could employ is to do home visits. By visiting students in their home, the counselor will gain a clear and accurate picture of the students’ background. Similarly, this would also create for him a first-hand experience of the students’ cultural background.  Conclusion As we continue to live in the Information Age, we are driven to realize the many impacts of multiculturalism on people, educational institutions, and society in general. In particular, we see how it changed history in the 1960s with the civil protest of Black Americans, and how it restructured school policies on employment of faculty, and treatment of students. Similarly, we see how it inspired minority groups to express their views and contribute to the rich and modern culture. Moreover, we see the important role of multiculturalism in the counseling programs of schools and the community, not to mention the challenges it continues to bring counselors in providing care and assistance. Although discrimination based on race, ethnic origin, gender, religion, disability, socio-political, and economic status are still evident in our society, the progress attained by forerunners and supporters of multiculturalism make us look forward to a better nation in the next decades. As time unfolds, we may take pride as we watch Americans embrace Africans, Asians, and other people of color. This view will continue to unveil as school administrators continue to uphold and cultivate the gifts of diversity in their orientation of students and communities. Much to the efforts made by school activists, we may look forward to more reforms in the counseling scene, either in schools or communities. The standards set by the AMCD or APA would continue to lead counselors to realize the importance of their roles in the society. The role played by counselors is not an easy task. However, by being conscious of their own tendency toward biases, counselors would avoid disserving their clients, and in the long run, the attitude of people especially schoolchildren toward counseling would further be affirmative. Moreover, adhering to the second characteristic, counselors would maintain a sensitive attitude toward cultures of other people. As such, they will feel the importance of bridging gaps among multicultural individuals, thus becoming proponents of unity and peace in the long run. Also part of the competency requirements of counselors is to devise or organize strategies to provide relevant counseling and helping services to the people. In this respect, their role is not limited to the school setting they serve, but it is likewise relevant to the community they work with. By fulfilling their part as community helpers, counselors would have a richer cultural experience which could help in their field. Recognizing the difficult task expected of counselors, we may develop the doubt regarding the capability of school counselors of today in taking on the said challenges. In this regard, counselors would need all the assistance it could get from school officials such as teachers, principal, and other staff. Through the collaboration between counselors and school officials, multicultural students will realize the important contribution they can make in the society, not only in their group but also in the lives of other people, in the fields of technology, manpower, innovation, and care for the environment. The nature of helping students does not end in counseling them or providing moral support. Rather, it extends to making them feel their importance as people, providing them choices in life, and cultivating their talents. The counseling program of every school should be the most active program among all, as it involves not only the students and counselors, but also other school officials, including the teachers, librarian, and support staff. If every one in the school system shares in the goal of achieving multicultural counseling, we can hope for the success of multicultural students. As such, everyone should his/her own part and responsibilities in promoting the welfare of the studentsâ€â€that is, giving respect to people of other cultures, helping them realize their life goals, and making them co-creators of society. Despite all the efforts exerted by counselors and other individuals to make up a better society, we can still note some people, even students who would resist multiculturalism. The harsh picture of some students exhibiting exclusivist attitude toward their peers should not be overlooked. Rather, it should be the concern of everyone in the school, especially its officials. In line with this, more studies should be conducted on how to incorporate multicultural views into the counseling program of every school, beginning from pre-schools to post-graduate schools. It would also help if psychological groups or associations would set standards particularly for multicultural school counseling. These rules would serve as guide for school administrators in choosing the right school counselor. While it is the role of school counselors to provide counseling to multicultural students, it would also help if schools would implement a procedure to evaluate if other aspects of the school adhere to promoting cultural diversity. Particularly, school administrators should realize that the issue of multiculturalism should not be addressed by the counseling program alone, but also by all aspects of the school, including the physical structure of the school. In this regard, future research in psychology could include ways on how the school’s physical structure could support counseling programs for multicultural students. References Chandras, Kan, David DeLambo, Sunil Chandras. (2006). Counseling strategies and techniques to sensitize school counselors to the life experiences of culturally different students. Retrieved January 28, 2008, from http://www.counselingoutfitters.com/Chandras.htm Constantine, Madonna. (2001). Universal-diverse orientation and general expectations about counseling: Their relation to college students multicultural counseling expectations. Journal of college student development. Retrieved January 28, 2008, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3752/is_200111/ai_n8993131 Freedman, Kenneth. (1999). Multicultural counseling. Retrieved January 23, 2008, from http://www.alaska.net/~fken/Multiculture.htm Gorski, Paul. (1999). A Brief History of Multicultural Education. Retrieved January 25, 2008, from http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/papers/edchange_history.html Hanna, Fred. (2000). Asian shades of spirituality: implications for multicultural school counseling. Professional school counseling. Retrieved January 29, 2008, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0KOC/is_5_7/ai_n6121238 Harris, Anthony. (2007). Philosophy and techniques of multicultural education. Journal of multidisciplinary research. Vol. 1 Issue 1. Retrieved January 22, 2008, from http://www.scientificjournals.org/journals2007/articles/1080.htm Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students. (n.d.). Retrieved January 29, 2008, from http://www.getthetoolkit.com/publications/transgender%20students.pdf Patterson, C.H. (1996). Multicultural counseling: from diversity to universality. Journal of counseling and development. Retrieved January 25, 2008, from http://www.sageofasheville.com/pub_downloads/MULTICULTURAL_COUNSELING_FROM_DIVERSITY_TO_UNIVERSALITY.pdf Rosado, Caleb. (1997). Toward a definition of multiculturalism. Retrieved January 30, 2008, from http://www.rosado.net/pdf/Def_of_Multiculturalism.pdf Rosado, Caleb. (n.d.). What makes a school multicultural? January 24, 2008, from http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/papers/caleb/multicultural.html Sanabria, Samuel. (2004). Culturally appropriate career counseling with gay and lesbian clients. Career development quarterly. Retrieved January 29, 2008, from http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Culturally+appropriate+career+counseling+with+gay+and+lesbian+clients.-a0127052322 Sue, Derald Wing, Patricia Arredondo, and Roderick McDavis. (1992). Multicultural counseling competencies and standards: A call to the profession. Retrieved January 25, 2008, from www.counseling.org/Files/FD.ashx?guid=e14f8c36-41e7-4af8-830d-69f6057986d7 – Van Velsor, Patricia Graciela Orozco. (2007). Involving low-income parents in the schools: Communitycentric strategies for school counselors. Professional school counseling. Retrieved January 29, 2008, from http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Involving+low-income+parents+in+the+schools%3a+communitycentric-a0171018638 Webb, Michael. (1990). Multicultural education in elementary and secondary schools. Eric digest number 67. Retrieved January 24, 2008, from http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-9218/secondary.htm
Wednesday, August 21, 2019
Thin Layer Chromatography for Composition of Analgesics
Thin Layer Chromatography for Composition of Analgesics THIN LAYER CHROMATOGRAPHY HALILI, Johanna Bernadette C. ABSTRACT In this experiment, a thin-layer chromatography (TLC) was used to determine the composition of different analgesic drugs which were Aspirin, Ibuprofen, Caffeine, Paracetamol, tea sample and an unknown substance. Chromatography takes advantage of the fact that different substances are partitioned between two phases. TLC is used to identify individual components in a mixture. These chromatography techniques focused on the fact that components of a mixture tend to move at different speeds along the flat surface from the paper used to separate from each other. The results obtained by comparing the spots and after performing the experiment, the unknown was identified to be Aspirin. INTRODUCTION Thin-layer chromatography (TLC) is one of the most important techniques in organic chemistry and is used for the rapid separation and qualitative analysis of different substances (Pavia, et. al., 2010). This separation technique is accomplished by the combination of the mixture between two phases: the stationary and the mobile phase. The stationary phase or the absorbent, which is usually silica or alumina, is coated on a supporting material which is either a glass or plastic. The sample is applied to the layer of the adsorbent coated sheet or TLC plate. The mobile phase, or the solvent called the eluant, travels up the absorbent by capillary action (Ault, 1998; Miller, 2005). As the solvent passes through the sample or spot, it shows the effects of separation of the material in the spot. This separation technique is also used to identify if substances are pure and to compare it with other samples. Unknown substances can be also determined by comparing an unknown compound’s be havior with the other known substances. In this experiment, thin-layer chromatography is used to determine the qualitative compositions of over-the-counter analgesic drugs. The objectives for the experiment are to observe the different analgesic drugs, to perform thin-layer chromatography and calculate Rf values and to use thin-layer chromatography to identify the analgesic compound present in an unknown sample. METHODOLOGY The group prepared a chamber for the experiment of thin layer chromatography for analgesic drugs. The chamber consists of a filter paper wrapped around the 50 ml beaker with a small opening left for viewing. A 3 ml solvent mixture (25 parts ethyl acetate, 1 part ethanol, and 1 part acetic acid) was added to the chamber and was later covered using a watch glass to provide an atmosphere saturated with solvent inside the container. The filter paper was moistened for the solvent to rise equally. While the chamber was set aside, a silica gel coated TLC plate was obtained and using a pencil, a very light line was drawn across the sheet, about 10 mm from one end Seven small light marks were made along the line and labelled A to G. Each letter correspond to seven analgesic drugs which are aspirin, ibuprofen, caffeine, paracetamol, sample tea extract collected from one previous experiment, an unknown substance and co-spot respectively. Using a capillary tube, small spots of each sample was placed exactly in the intersection of the horizontal line and the tick marks for each letter to make sure it will not mix with the other samples. The capillary tube was cleaned by using Dichloromethane and it was done three times. For the sample E or the tea extract from the experiment â€Å"Isolation of caffeine from tea leaves†, the filter paper that contained the caffeine extracts was rinsed with dichloromethane to be able to place a spot to the TLC. The spots on the TLC plate were al lowed to dry for 1-2 minutes. As soon as the spots were dry, the TLC plate was dropped vertically to an upright position making sure that the chamber is on a stationary place and was covered again using a watch glass. The liquid slowly moved up the TLC sheet. When 80-90% of the solvent had already gone up of the TLC plate, the TLC plate was immediately removed taking note of where the solvent was last seen. Immediately, the TLC plate was marked where the solvent was last seen. The plate was air-dried and it was observed under UV light to point out where the spots are. While observing under the UV lamp, a light pencil mark was marked around each spot in the TLC plate. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Results Figure 1. Silica Gel coated TLC plate results. Figure 2. Silica Gel coated TLC plate results under UV light. Table 1. Measurement of the distances of the spots in the TLC plate and computed Rf values. Distance travelled by the solvent: 30.0 mm Discussion The objective of this experiment was to perform thin layer chromatography to test a certain substance of its purity or impurity and also to know the analgesic present in an unknown substance. The results shows that 5 out of 7 analgesics had 2 or more spots which indicates that are impurities or there are different compounds in those analgesic drugs. The different analgesic drugs that were observed to have 2 or more spots were Aspirin, Ibuprofen, Paracetamol, the unknown substance and the co-spot. Rf values were also computed by the distance (in mm) travelled by the solvent was measured exactly from the horizontal line drawn up to where it was last seen when it moved up. The spots were also measured and for those samples that had 2 or more spots, each spots were measured individually. The equation used for solving the Rf value is: For accuracy, the distance travelled by the spot was measured from the horizontal line up to the center of the spot. Rf values were used to compare the substances and identify the analgesic compound present in an unknown sample. Similarities was observed between Aspirin and the unknown analgesic drug F since their spots are very similar and their Rf values are very close to each other with only a 0.004 mm difference. Also, the results show that the caffeine extracted from the experiment â€Å"Isolation of caffeine from tea leaves†is indeed caffeine since spot C or pure caffeine is very similar because the spot produced by the tea extract and this is evident since it is indicated in their Rf values that they are very similar to each other. In comparing compounds used in the experiment run, the group observed that compounds with the larger Rf are less polar because it interacts less strongly with the polar adsorbent on the TLC plate (Ault, 1998). The experiment went as expected with no unusual events that would have introduced error. The group was able to perform the thin-layer chromatography and to compute for the different Rf values. CONCLUSION Thin-layer chromatography (TLC) was the technique used to determine the composition of various over-the-counter analgesics and the purity of the different substances which were Aspirin, Ibuprofen, Caffeine, Paracetamol, tea sample from one of our previous experiment and an unknown sample. With thin-layer chromatography, it was identified that compounds with the larger Rf are less polar because it interacts less strongly with the polar adsorbent on the TLC plate, and compounds with a smaller Rf values are more polar. It was also observed that the tea sample gathered from one of our previous experiment was indeed pure caffeine because of the similarities of the spots and Rf values of the spot C and pure caffeine. The different analgesic drugs that were observed to have 2 or more spots were Aspirin, Ibuprofen, Paracetamol, the unknown substance and the co-spot. Two or more spots were observed because of impurities or it contains different substances. Lastly, the unknown sample in the TL C plate was observed to be Aspirin because of the similarities of the measurement of the spot and Rf values which only had a difference of 0.004 mm. RECOMMENDATIONS To obtain a better result of the experiment, the different techniques can be done. One technique that can be done is a volatile solvent like 25 parts ethyl acetate, 1 part ethanol, and 1 part acetic acid. The TLC plate is very sensitive to different materials or compounds and it is important not to touch the TLC plate to avoid contamination of oil from the hands. In collecting different sample, one should remember to wash capillary tube with dichloromethane not less than three times to avoid contamination. To place appropriate size of each spot so it won’t mix with the other spots. For light/dull colored samples, it is recommended to place spots up to three times for it to be visible. In preparing the chamber, one should moisten properly the filter paper to have equal rising of the solvent and cover all the times the chamber since the solvent is volatile. Lastly, drop properly making sure it falls in an upright postion or the TLC plate should lean to the filter paper and remem ber not move the chamber in any way to avoid unequal rising of the solvent to the TLC plate. REFERENCES Ault, A. Techniques and Experiments for Organic Chemistry, 6th ed.; University Science Books, California, 1998. Miller, J. Chromatography: Concepts and Contrasts, 2nd ed.; John Wiley Sons, Inc. Publication, 2005. Pavia, D., Lampman, G., Kriz, G., Engel, R. A Small Scale Approach to Organic Laboratory Techniques, 3rd ed.; Cengage Learning, United States of America, 2010.
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