Design Argument for the existence of God Essay

The Design Argument can be split into two sides: design qua purpose and design qua regularity. The key idea of design qua purpose comes from William Paley. He used analogy as the basis for his argument, noting how the complex design of a watch allows all the parts to work together perfectly to achieve its purpose. He then noted the complexity, order and purpose of the universe, stating that â€Å"every manifestation on design, which existed in the watch, exists in the works of nature.† Therefore if a watch’s intricacy stands as evidence that it has been designed, by analogy the universe must also have a designer and, as the designer is required to be supremely powerful, the designer must be God. Aquinas also presented an argument to support design qua purpose. Similarly to Paley, he argued that all natural occurrences show evidence of design. He claimed that this suggested there is a being which directs all things, and as humans have knowledge this being must also be knowledgeable. Therefore there is an intelligent being that directs everything towards its purpose, and Aquinas stated that this being must be God. Unlike Paley, Aquinas explained that God is a designer at work who continues to direct us towards our purpose as well as regulating the universe (e.g. the planets and the seasons). He also attempted to explain how free-will plays a part in design, claiming that we are programmed to reproduce but free-will allows us to choose who we reproduce with. Through these points he also demonstrated a key aspect of the design qua regularity side of the Teleological Argument. Another aspect of the argument is the anthropic principle, which was first introduced by F.R. Tennant. The significant difference of this principle to Paley and Aquinas’ ideas is that it doesn’t reject the scientific principles for existence, as Tennant said that the conditions for the development of human life were intrinsic to the Big Bang. The strong principle says that the reason and purpose of the universe is to support human life, supported by the way the conditions on earth are perfect in order for us to survive.  For example, the atmosphere is 21% Oxygen which is near enough the exact amount that humans need. Consequently a greater being created the universe to support us, and the only being powerful enough to do so is God. On the other hand, the weak anthropic principle doesn’t accept that life was inevitable from the beginning and instead suggests that it just happened to have occurred. Richard Swinburne developed this by suggesting that the creation of the universe came down to probabilities rather than chance. He recognised that the universe could have easily been chaotic, but the fact that it isn’t suggests some element of design. Tennant described this as the world being â€Å"compatible with a single throw of a dice†, and said that â€Å"common sense is not foolish in suspecting the dice is loaded.† This explains how Swinburne and Tennant believed that it took an incredibly small singularity to create the cosmic explosion which created the universe, but the order and purpose is so beyond chance that there must have been a greater being behind it. This therefore shows how the anthropic principle is used to prove the existence of God. This principle has been supported by many other philosophers, including Fred Hoyle and Anthony Flew. Comment on the claim that this argument totally fails to prove the existence of God Charles Darwin used the idea of ‘Natural Selection’ to challenge the Design Argument. This is a theory that claims that the strongest and most adapted species survive and therefore species develop and evolve naturally through time. Darwin argued that the illusion of design is actually a result of natural and random process caused by Natural Selection, and not by God as the designer. Steve Jones described this process as â€Å"a series of successful mistakes†, which again doubts the involvement of God in the design of species. Nevertheless, Christians could object to this disproving that the Design Argument proves the existence of God as the anthropic principle suggests that Natural Selection and Evolution are caused by God, as they are too unlikely to have occurred by chance. As a result, one would argue that Darwin’s theory doesn’t hold up under its counter argument because Natural Selection can still occur with God being the designer of the universe. Freud also questions the Design Argument’s success at proving the existence of God in his book ‘The Future of an Illusion’. In it, he describes religious faith as an illusion based on wishful thinking, arguing that religion exists because people fear living in a chaotic and unordered world. Therefore we project order on to the universe out of fear and so our minds are predisposed to see order. Freud uses this idea to dispute that the order and regularity of the universe is a result of design, thus questioning the existence of God overall. One would say that Freud’s argument supports the claim that the Design Argument fails to prove God’s existence as it suggests that the universe is in fact not ordered perfectly as we perceive, and so God’s work as a designer is an illusion arisen from fear of chaos. Additionally, the Epicurean Hypothesis disputes that the designer of the universe could be the God of classic theism by exploring the idea of evil and suffering. Epicuris says that if God is willing to prevent evil but isn’t able to then he can’t be omnipotent, and if he’s able but not willing then he can’t be benevolent. From this argument, he concluded that either God isn’t the God of classic theism or God isn’t the designer of the universe at all. On the other hand, Christians could counter this by arguing that evil and suffering is a test from God as an opportunity to prove our faith to him. Therefore based on this, evil and suffering doesn’t disprove that God is the ultimate designer. However, the argument still stands as if God was omniscient he wouldn’t need to test people as he would know whether or not they were faithful. Also permitting evil and suffering would still make him malevolent. Consequently  one would say that the Epicurean Hypothesis still supports that the Design Argument fails to prove the existence of God. Overall, despite the Design Argument’s in depth ideas such as the anthropic principle and design qua purpose and regularity, there are stronger scholarly arguments to support the claim that the Design Argument fails to prove the existence of God. Although the use of Darwin’s theory of Natural Selection can be cancelled out by its counter, Freud’s idea of illusion both successfully argues that the apparent design is created out of fear of chaos and not the result of a supremely powerful source, and the Epicurean Hypothesis argues that the God of classic theism can’t exist under the premise of evil and suffering. Therefore these ideas effectively support that the Design Argument doesn’t prove that God exists.

Pepsi Challenge

In the short story, Story by Lydia Davis there are many conflicts, complications, crisis, falling action and resolution of the plot. The conflict the woman in the story faces the most is that she is trying to get a hold of a man. He seems to be not truthful with her and does not use proper communication. This bothers her and she visits his apartment on two occasions. He seems to be with his ex girlfriend and she becomes skeptical of the two. She wants to know why he is not calling her back. So she finds herself in a crisis. She finally goes to his apartment again to find another car there. It is probably his ex girlfriend. When he comes outside, he confirms that it is his ex-girlfriend's car. In the falling action he gives her a replay of his nightly events. In the resolution, she loves him and ignores the possibility of him deceiving her (Burroway, 2007). She gets home from work. She checks her machine to find a message from him. She goes to his apartment. He is not home so she goes back to her home. She plays the piano to occupy her time. She calls him and he tells her that he will call her later. She decides to write in her notebook on what she'd say to him. He finally calls her and they argue. After they hang up, she calls him twice, but he does not answer his phone. She decides to go to his apartment and there is another car there. She looks through the windows, but doesn’t see anything. She knocks on the door and there is no answer. As she walks away, he walks through door. He puts his arms around her and they talk. She contemplates on whether he is being truthful or not (Burroway, 2007). The woman in the story sets a scene at both her home and a man's home. The summary behind the story is a series of events. The woman is trying to reach him, she visits his apartment, she finally speaks to him on the phone, they argue, she visits his apartment to finally speak to him face to face, there is an ex-girlfriend inside his apartment and he may be deceiving (Burroway, 2007). On several occasions the woman uses flashback to describe her past. She tends to go back in time to talk about her husband and the way he acted towards her. She also describes the man in her story as not being truthful in the past (Burroway, 2007). References Burroway, J. (2007). Imaginative writing: elements of craft. New York: Pearson Longman.

Business Partner Model Essay

The business partnering model and its impact on both the HR function and HR practice Since the concept of the business partnering model was introduced by Ulrich in 1997, the composition of the HR function has dramatically changed. As Goodge (2005) identified, â€Å"partnering is fundamentally changing almost every HR function, every HR job, and every HR career† (Pg. 32). Ulrich argued that HR needed to deliver on both a strategic and administrative level and identified four key roles through which organisations could achieve this (Torrington et al. 2007). The model has become a fixation for much of the HR community and its introduction has initiated a fundamental change to the HR function’s anatomy over the last decade (Francis & Keegan, 2008). The key themes which will be discussed within this literature review are the impact of the model on the competencies required of successful business partners, the debate of HR’s strategic focus as a result of the model and the loss of the employee champion role. However, attention must first be brought to the partnering model itself. The Model Ulrich’s business partnering model focuses on four key roles that HR need to address in order to deliver organisational excellence (Ulrich 1998). Becoming a ‘strategic partner’ in the execution of organisational strategy, increasing functional efficiency by being an ‘administrative expert’, fully engaging employees by becoming an ‘employee champion’ and finally, through facilitating and encouraging a culture of flexibility and acceptance to the evolving business environment as a ‘change agent’ (Ulrich 1998). Precursors to Ulrich’s partnering model are Tyson and Fell’s 1985 model, based upon three fundamental positions using a construction site metaphor (architect, clerk of works and contract negotiator) and Storey’s 1992 model based on the four roles required in the shift from personnel management to Human Resource Management (regulator, handmaiden, adviser and changemaker) (Torrington et al. , 2007). In 2005, Ulrich and Brockbank mused over the partnering model once more and proposed a refreshed framework. This was not a revolutionary diversion from the original model, however a reflection of the changing roles that they had been observing in organisations since the introduction of the original model (Ulrich & Brockbank, 2005a). The model was upgraded with the omission of the roles ‘employee champion’, ‘change agent’ and ‘administrative expert’, with these being replaced by ‘employee advocate’ (focusing on current employee needs), ‘human capital developer’ (preparing employees to be successful for the future) and ‘functional expert’ (administrative efficiency and the development of policies) (Ulrich & Brockbank, 2005a). The ‘strategic partner’ role remained within the refreshed model and they also added a fifth dimension which was that of the ‘HR Leader’, the genuine leadership role which ties all four key roles together (Ulrich & Brockbank, 2005a). What is interesting from the literature, is that although this more modern model has been considered, it is the original model to which most commentators refer. Before considering the impact of this model on HR functions and practice, it is important to first consider why such a large number of organisations have found it appropriate to restructure their HR departments in this way. In 1998, Ulrich himself questioned the effectiveness of the role that HR played in organisations and recognised that his model needed to move away from HR’s traditional activities, which focused on processes, to a focus on deliverables (Ulrich, 1998). The new model was a way of ensuring that HR as a function was adding value and increasing organisational competitiveness (Ulrich, 1997) and his approach of using HR professionals as strategic business partners was being seen as a mechanism for allowing changes to be made in order for HR to make these significant competitive and strategic contributions (Goodge, 2005). Lawler & Mohrman (2003) argued that in organisations where competitive advantage was created through human and intellectual capital, the demand for HR to be a strategic partner was greater. What makes a competent business partner? Defining what the single role of a business partner involves is rather ambiguous and much of the recent literature identifies that there is no single model for HR business partnering, therefore leaving each organisation to have their own interpretation of what a business partner is (Caldwell, 2008 & 2010; Torrington et al. , 2007; Beckett, 2005). In some organisations the impact of the model has only gone as far as an upgraded ob title (Beckett, 2005; Pitcher, 2008) and it is this weak implementation in some companies that has led to various criticisms of the model (Peacock, 2008; Pitcher, 2008). This leads to the first key discussion identified within the literature, which questions the use of competency models in the selection, development and success of business partners in achieving the outcome of ‘organisational excellence’. With the business partner role seeking a more strategic mind-set, it has been seen as increasingly more difficult to find people who fit the role (Beckett, 2005). Caldwell (2010) has most recently discussed the use of competency models for the better selection and development of HR business partners, as a new way of aligning HR strategy with organisational performance. The competencies that have been argued as most essential for a successful business partner are being a strong operational executor, a cultural steward, a strategic architect, a business ally and credible activist, an experienced talent manager and organisational designer (Ulrich, 2008 cited in Caldwell, 2010). The competencies, in theory, would lead the business partner to performing a balance of the four key roles originally proposed by Ulrich, however what is clearly apparent from the literature, is that the business partner role is wide open for interpretation (Torrington et al. , 2007; Beckett, 2005). Therefore what can be argued as a benefit of using a competency framework, is that it can potentially offer a more consistent approach to selection, development and success of partnering (Caldwell, 2010). Caldwell’s (2010) study considered the HR and business strategy linkage, with selection and development of business partners through the use of competency models as antecedents to this link. What was indicated in his study was that using these competency frameworks was largely effective in the selection of HR business partners, however much less effective in the development and linking between HR strategy and organisational performance (Caldwell, 2010). The relationship between HR roles and competency models is an area of significant controversy and it was not long before questions were raised as to how each key role played out within the business partner position; whether there were a holistic set of competencies for the business partner role or separate competencies for the four key roles (Caldwell, 2010). Other queries were raised in the literature regarding the weighting of importance of each of the competencies and also whether or not these competencies were generally applicable to all HR practitioners or just to those playing a business partner role (Caldwell, 2010). Ulrich and Brockbank (2005a) appreciated that not all of the key roles could be played to the same degree and depending on which HR category you specialised in, different roles may take a priority. This therefore brings the reader back to Torrington et al. (2007) and Becketts’ (2005) notion that there is no single model and that although the discussions are advancing within the literature about the role of business partners, it appears there has been no agreement of the best method of implementation. This was reflected in Caldwell’s study, where he appreciated that the creation of the competency models was beneficial, but that the problem highlighted in HR practice was the difficulty of managing the transition from possessing the competencies, to delivering the capability (Caldwell, 2010). One of the most talked about competencies within the literature is that of possessing business understanding. Lawler and Mohrman (2003) discussed in their research that for someone fulfilling the role of business partner, strong understanding of the business was essential. Beckett (2005) also advocates the need for a commercially aware candidate, however in practice, this is very difficult to recruit for within the pool of HR professionals. As a result of this limited pool of resources, there has been a rise in members within the HR function who have been parachuted in from other areas of the business, such as marketing or sales (Francis & Keegan, 2006). Lawler and Mohrman’s (2003) study noted that one quarter or senior HR professionals had side stepped into the HR function from these other business areas, with the objective of greater strategic alignment with the business. Therefore potentially increasing the impact the HR function has on organisational performance (Francis & Keegan, 2006). There are, however, various implications to HR practice by focusing business partner competencies in such a way. Although HR professionals may see this odern commercial and strategic focus as enhancing the value of their role, it is being observed that line managers and employees can often become sceptical and mistrustful that HR are focused too much on business objectives rather than on those of the people (Caldwell, 2010). Beckett (2005) also outlines concerns of appointing a HR business partner who only has commercial experience by arguing that you are open to the risk of unsafe management of the business, however on the flipside, by getting the balance wrong and isolating your business partners from the rest of the HR function, it can result in losing the HR focus. Therefore a ‘perfect’ business partner would have a balanced background of commercial and business acumen, coupled with the experience of the multiple facets of HR in order to really add strategic value and deliver ‘organisational excellence’ (Lawler & Mohrman, 2003). The shift towards a strategic focus One of the fundamental factors of the business partnering model is ensuring that the HR and business strategies are aligned, therefore enabling the HR function to deliver organisational excellence. This leads to the next key theme identified within the literature regarding the shift to a strategic HR focus which has resulted in a repositioning of the identity of the HR profession (Wright, 2008). Wright (2008) observes that moving towards strategic HRM has contributed to the occupation losing its wider social objectives and transforming into a simple agent of capital (p. 1068). These discussions are contradictory to the balanced purpose of Ulrich’s four key roles, however the literature has suggested that out of the four roles, the strategic partner has been represented with unbalanced proportion. Lawler and Mohrman (2003) argue that if HR does not play a strategic partnering role, how can the function be fully aligned with what the business needs are and then deliver the most effective activities? It is clear from the discussions within the literature that as organisations become more cost effective and streamlined, they will increasingly require fewer HR practitioners to undertake the transactional workloads as this will be transferred to shared service models or outsourcing. Therefore the argument for a partnership to be truly effective, requires the HR function to put more emphasis on the strategic activities such as organisational design and planning (Lawler & Mohrman, 2003). In practice this seems to have been the case and the impact on organisations who have adopted the partnering model have witnessed a transformation in their HR activities, shifting away from the traditional administrative functions to devoting more attention to organisational level activities such as those strategic activities discussed above (Lawler & Mohrman, 2003). Focusing competencies on this link between HR and business strategy however, could lead to the business partner role becoming unsustainable (Caldwell, 2010) and Hope Hailey et al. (2005) question the strategic-heavy focus. Their study demonstrated that while the HR function is becoming more notable strategically, the human side of the functionality is deteriorating (Hope Hailey et al. 2005), thus suggesting that the strategic role on its own does not necessarily enhance the organisational performance of the human capital. Ulrich’s (1997) proposal required HR professionals to be both operational and strategic in their focus through all of the four key roles, however Caldwell (2003) noted the inherent ‘role conflict’ which would naturally emerge from this performance of more than one role, due to the competing demands made upon them by employees and senior management (Hope Hailey et al. 2005). As discussed earlier, the partnering model is most effective and successful in organisations which rely on human and intellectual capital as a source of competitive advantage (Lawler & Mohrman, 2003), therefore if business partners don’t balance the needs of the people focusing roles, they will not achieve the organisational excellence Ulrich’s (1997) model was designed for. Hope Hailey et al. 2005) agree with Caldwell (2003) that ‘role conflict’ is inevitable with the performance of multiple roles and therefore question whether it will ever be possible in practice for the HR function to balance both employee and management needs through fulfilling Ulrich’s four key roles. The ‘perfect’ partner can balance these conflicting roles by having a strategic influence at a corporate level and strong expertise in operational delivery, however as noted in the literature around competencies, these qualities are not easy to find, nor to develop. What has happened to the role of ‘employee champion’? The final key discussion which has been noted from the recent literature, progresses from the fixation of the strategic focus of the partnering model and questions the shift of attention away from the employee. Wright (2008) observed that for nearly all respondents of his study, the strategic adviser role was seen as a much more attractive identity than that of the traditional image of the bureaucratic HR manager. Therefore, one can see how the profession is seen to be losing its focus on the people facing ‘employee champion’ role. Lawler and Mohrman (2003) argue that for partnership to work HR must increase their faith in line managers and transfer various transactional HR responsibilities to them (Lawler & Mohrman, 2003), therefore the answer to this lost role therefore seems to be addressed by this devolvement. The benefits which have been argued for doing this are that it creates more time for HR to become more strategically proactive (Lawler & Mohrman, 2003) and line managers can become responsible and answerable to their employees which strengthens their relationships by almost becoming an HR champion (Ulrich, 1998). In practice however, Hope Hailey et al. (2005) believe that the failure to recognise the importance of the employee champion role is a big mistake and that the devolvement of such a responsibility to line management may be flawed. They noted that empirical research had suggested that devolving various HR responsibilities to the line was being met with certain inefficiencies to deliver such responsibilities, such as lack of training and lack of time, few incentives to fulfil the additional work and the need to focus on delivering their own short term business results (McGovern, 1999 cited in Hope Hailey et al. , 2005). The devolvement is also problematic in the sense that line managers are not always capable or motivated to take on the role of employee champion (Hope Hailey et al. , 2005). Francis and Keegan (2005) were also sceptical over the benefits of devolving HR responsibilities to line management and identified three major problems associated with the delegation of such duties. Firstly, they observed a loss of employee confidence as HR focus shifted to strategic business issues; a cost to employee well-being as a result of potential inconsistent application of policies and processes; and finally a disenchantment amongst HR practitioners who were unable to perform the role that was at the fundamental heart of HR – the employee champion, advocate and counsellor. Francis and Keegan (2005) concluded that not only did this affect the relationship between HR and the workforce, but between the HR professionals themselves. They also noted the strangeness of this shift away from the employee champion role amid the HR community’s grand plans to increase employee engagement (Francis & Keegan, 2005). In essence, it therefore appears that considerable caution must be used in initiating such transfers of accountability. Conclusion It can plainly be observed that over a decade after the introduction of Ulrich’s business partnering model, the HR community are still avidly debating its practical usefulness. What can be gathered from the key discussions is that the theoretical model makes a stellar case for increasing organisational performance and raising the profile of the HR function, however it seems that the impact of the model in practice is that it is the implementation of the model that is failing its success in most organisations. The academic writers are keen to dissect the benefits and limitations of the model, however what really needs to be reported is exactly how to implement the model in practice and to identify this across a range of different organisations. Further research also needs to be undertaken in the area of business partner development, as it appears the essential competencies have been numerously defined, but the focus on training HR practitioners to think and behave in Ulrich’s business partner mind-set requires further investigation. As businesses change, HR functions are being increasingly required to demonstrate their strategic value and this model seems to have provided a platform for really adding value, however as discussed in the final section, it is imperative that the HR function retain a balanced approach to their roles and not to lose sight of the fundamental people side of the people versus processes equation.

Term paper for the class the economics of race and gender

For the class the economics of race and gender - Term Paper Example The changing roles have been discussed based on the views from the various articles. This is an important topic as it brings out the current events in the society and also highlights the changes that have been noted in the markets. The style of living and even basic spending patterns have seen a major chance with the changing roles in the household. This topic plays a very important role in the current times and has not only brought out the revolution of women but also brings out the changing efforts of men and their contributions to the home front as well. With the recession and the declining markets, the number of men who have lost their jobs has increased to a great extent. The research by Brown clearly indicates that almost 9.4% of the men are recorded to be unemployed, while only around 7% of women have been impacted by this recession (Brown). It has been noted with the changing times and the openness of society, there has been a higher acceptance of the men staying at home and taking care of the home chores while the wives go out and earn the money for the sustenance of the families. As very well explained by Lauren Young, â€Å"The definition of fatherhood has expanded to encompass a capacity for caregiving, just as motherhood has expanded to include breadwinning† (Young). It is also crucial to identify that the changes in roles in a number of cases is voluntary while in some cases is pushed upon. However as per the data from 2007, it has been noted that almost 33.5% of the women tend to earn much more than their husbands and there has been a higher number of men who are slowly losing out on their jobs due to the recession and the worsened economic conditions across the world. There have been varied views on the changing roles. As has been explained by Allison Linn, â€Å"While many female breadwinners say they enjoy their jobs and are proud of being able to support the

Bluebeard Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Bluebeard - Essay Example The plot of the story in the three versions has not changed significantly, although a few differences can be seen in the three stories. For instance, in the story of Mr. Fox, the bride is in love with the man and chooses to go and live with him, although she had many other suitors. In the other two versions, the brides did not voluntarily choose to get married to the man. In Fitcher’s Bird, for example, the ladies would be magically thrown into the poor beggar’s basket when they shook hands, while the young girl in The Robber Bridegroom was married off to the man by her father. Another difference was noted in the characteristics of the bridegroom. Both Mr. Fox and the wizard disguised as a poor beggar were rich and lived in fine houses. The wizard provided the bride with everything that she wished for in terms of material wealth. However, it was on condition that she was not to enter into a special room where he had killed and butchered his previous wives. Unlike the other bridegrooms, the wizard appears to be genuinely looking for a wife because he tells the youngest sister that she has passed the test and would now become his bride. The robber, on the other hand, lived in an eerie house deep in the forest, where he and his friends would take young girls and eat them. Just like Mr. Fox, it is clear he was not interested in having a wife at all. Some aspects of the original story have also changed significantly. The demise of the evil bridegroom is different in most stories although some of them are almost similar such as the story of Mr. Fox and The Robber Bridegroom. The brides discover their inhumane deeds and tactfully report them in front of the guests by pretending that they saw them in their dreams. The use of riddles and figurative language is a common feature in most stories as it makes the story more interesting. It was also commonly used in normal speech among the people during the time when the stories were written. Fairy tales

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - Essay Example The essay "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" examines isolation theme in Joyce’s Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Stephen appears as a character, which we can see from inside as we are able to note his inner transactions and developments with the passage of time. Before A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, no other writer wrote like Joyce. It was for the first time that a character was seen in terms of his psychological development. Stephen is introduced first in the novel as three years old boy that proceeds towards his vocation of an artist by a continuous psychological development. Stephen starts his education at Clongowes Wood College, which is a Jesuit boarding school for boys but later on, he has to get admission in another educational institution, which is less prestigious as compared to Clongowes Wood College on the basis of financial problems faced by his father. At Clongowes Wood College, he is to suffer embarrassment on the basis of his distant thin king. He is unable to connect to his peers because of his isolated nature and search for his self-identity. His new boarding school is Belvedere College. Stephen is portrayed as a good student, an excellent essay writer, who wins awards and a good actor while being at Belvedere College. Stephen is a promising student but he is unable to feel attachment to his surroundings. He considers himself somewhat separated. Unlike other students of his class, Stephen is somewhat sceptic about the religion.

Reading response papers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

Reading response papers - Essay Example e only wish to ascertain whether and to what extent religious forces have taken part in qualitative formation and the quantitative expansion of that spirit over the world. Furthermore, what concrete aspects of our capitalistic culture can be traced to them, In view of the tremendous confusion of interdependent influences between the material basis, the forms of social and political organization, and the ideas current in the time of the Reformation, we can only proceed by investigating whether and at what points certain correlations between forms of religious belief and practical ethics can be worked out. At the same time we shall as far as possible clarify the manner and the general direction in which, by virtue of those relationships, the religious movements have influenced the development of material culture. Only when this has been determined with reasonable accuracy can the attempt be made to estimate to what extent the historical development of modern culture can be attributed t o those religious forces and to what extent to others. In â€Å"The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism,† Max Weber examines the part played by Protestantism in the evolution of Capitalism. After reading his arguments, it is evident that there are definitely â€Å"certain correlations between forms of religious belief and practical ethics.† It is Protestantism, as opposed to Catholicism, which gives religious sanction to one’s calling, or occupation in life, and asserts that worldly activity is worthy in the eyes of God. Weber makes this point particularly clear in his discussion of the Calvinist Baxter’s works in Chapter V. Baxter holds that the activity of daily work is the best way to glorify the Lord. Idleness is condemned, while physical and mental activity is associated with divine grace. Baxter’s stand on specialization in a particular occupation, or division of labor, as a means of improving the quality and quantity of products, is definitely a precursor of

The Speed of Trust part 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Speed of Trust part 3 - Essay Example She tells the truth no matter what the situation is. Her ability to talk straight confers basic elements to her that influences the successe of the unit. This element has led to improved manager’s relationships with the staff (Covey, & Merrill, 2009). The current manager ensures that the unit operates within the allocated budget while delivering results. The manager ensures successful completion of projects within the scope and expected results. She ensures this through controlling risks and timely performance (Covey, & Merrill, 2009). The manager takes enormous responsibility of showing loyalty by giving credit to all the contributors who ensure success in the unit. She identifies individual contribution and does not hesitate to show loyalty to the staff. She supports the workforce in their endeavors, and she takes the side of the workforce in case of disputes with the management (Covey, & Merrill, 2009). I think the manager should improve on her listening ability. For instance, an individual or staff could approach her in the halls with an issue or problem. During the conversation, she walks as the staff expresses her problems; she gives short answers, an indication that she is not attentive. On other occasions, I have tried to explain a situation after which the manager seems to have formed her own conclusion (Covey, & Merrill, 2009). The manager has an attribute of having limited trust with the workers. 90% of the workforce speaks her language, however, at some instances, she speaks a different language when with her deputy, or she sits to eat with a group of nurses. She should learn to extend her trust to the staff members (Covey, & Merrill, 2009). Another attribute that I think the manager should change is her ability to demonstrate respect. For instance, workers may smile or say polite things, but she ignores them. Such an attribute demonstrates her lack of respect. A staff member

Towards of Theory of Balanced Purges in Post-Conflict Reconstruction Essay

Towards of Theory of Balanced Purges in Post-Conflict Reconstruction Efforts - Essay Example In Iraq, by contrast, Paul Bremer engaged in a much more systemic and pervasive program of purges. In addition, purges were in many ways based on ethnic and political affiliations. The consequences of these two purges, at least in the short run, could not be more different. Japan stabilized quickly, pursued post-conflict reconstruction in an orderly manner, and exists today as an economic powerhouse. The outlook for Iraq is far less hopeful. Stabilization has not only not occurred, but would seem to be impossible under current conditions. The nature of the purges in each case, and the conditions related to the purges, go a long way towards explaining success in Japan and failure in Iraq. This essay will assert that deep purges of government, administrative, and military structures, if executed in accord with local conditions, can lead to stabilization in the short-run and prepare the country for an effective and an enduring reconstruction effort. To this end, this essay will discuss the risks and the rewards of the deep purge philosophy. Then more specifically, this essay will present a comparative analysis of deep purge strategies in Japan, Iraq, and Italy. As a preliminary matter, there are a number of perceived rewards associated with the purging of officials and institutions in enemy combatant states. The first reward, and one which is perhaps more psychological than practical in the short term, is a sense of retribution and punishment. There is a need for ultimate accountability and the purging of top leaders symbolizes victory. Both Saddam Hussein and Mussolini were paraded before the world as obstacles to peaceful reconstruction in their respective countries. The Emperor of Japan, for reasons to be discussed below, escaped the retribution and punishment reward. In his place, MacArthur chose General Tojo. An additional reward is the opportunity to pursue a reconstruction model which is closely aligned with the governing philosophies of the victorious country or countries. From an administrative and a political point of view, in each of the three cases involved here, this involved the transformation of authoritarian regimes into de mocratically-oriented regimes. Human rights were emphasized, constitutions drafted and implemented, and administrative mechanisms established to grant access and influence to the victors. Finally, and significantly, there were economic rewards associated with deep purges. The old economic elite were pushed aside, stripped of their wealth, and reconstruction contracts allocated to business organizations of the victorious countries. In short, the perceived benefits of a deep purge were associated with the sweeping away of both real and perceived opposition to the pervasive post-conflict reconstruction of the defeated country in the image of the victorious countries. There are, however, grave risks associated with the deep purging of a country's governing elite. Retribution for example, must be seen as balanced and just. MacArthur allowed Emperor Hirohito to preserve his dignity and thereby avoided potential uprisings against his administration of Japan. Paul Bremer's treatment of Saddam Hussein, on the other hand, was much less delicate. The deposed Iraqi leader was reported to have been hiding in a dirty hole in his underwear when captured. This public humiliation might certainly be

It Is Good to Be Different Essay Example for Free

It Is Good to Be Different Essay Everyone is different, and each of us has its own personality Owned. But it is nice to be different? Be distinguished from the others. What is to be different? Do you feel alone, living in their different world It is hard to be different. Everyone sees you as an outsider and will not accept in their world. Among them is the fear that something more of them, others see it as something more unworthy and unnecessary. It is hard to be different because its not easily find their soul mates. Difficult to discover someone to like you, someone who will understand. It is sad to be different among the same, because they close with anyone and any attempt to approximate and can leave severe damage in your soul. Because it is difficult to accept that others do not they understand they are not valued, you do not want to even be friends, and constantly must prove to them. To prove that youre just as human as they are! But it is unique to be different. When all have the same opinion you have their own unique views. When all looking in one direction, you turn in a completely different and surprise everyone with current and interesting ways in your different way of thinking. Yeah, youre different, you is difficult, but it makes the center of attention of those looking for someone with different interests, someone who does not need another to do something. Youre individualist who succeeds in life alone, not like someone else. Need to be different. What would happen to the world if there were no diversity? What would happen to mankind if all the same, if everyone liked the same things? I think different people are those who run the big machine of existence. Others are crowds, the masses people who individually do not have anything important is it just because it has others. Such people namitrat his idols, some of which are similar to podarzhavat, no matter whether this would be an actor, singer, politician .. They can not I find myself in this endeavor to impersonate someone, someone who will like the rest. But does it make sense in this, trying to impersonate another may not post when you find yourself in nature and vocation? Is not more sense then your whole existence? Is then you can prove yourself when you actually already exist? Well, is it nice to be different? You are unique, you need the world, then what the hell that must be fought with generally accepted standards? Difficult things make life meaningful. Because when everything is easy, you lose the stimulus-ambition dies. Did not the person seeking to grow inaccessible. Yes, its nice to be different, because everything different is good, it will not duplicate it unique!

Behaviour Management for Motivation

Behaviour Management for Motivation In this assignment, I will be examining the ways that teachers manage the behaviour of their classes in a manner that encourages motivation. I will look at how difficulties in class are dealt with by observing lessons in low attaining sets. By observing lessons in low attaining sets I hope to see a range of different difficulties being dealt with such as the levels of confidence, resilience of the students and what techniques teachers use to engage their pupils which I may not find as easy to observe in the higher attaining sets. As well as this, by limiting myself to observing similarly attaining sets I hope to be able to compare the lesson observations more easily. I will be reviewing existing literature around this topic before observing several lessons to find out whether my findings are congruent with the existing literature or not and attempt to draw conclusions from what I find that might benefit my own practice. In my literature review I will look at the areas of motivation and behaviour management separately before drawing the ideas together with the use of pertinent sources to apply to low attaining sets and the ways in which a teacher might best motivate and encourage their class to learn. Then, using an existing observation form focusing on classroom management I will make notes on both teacher and student actions, dispositions and other classroom events. Behaviour management   Ã‚   Teacher Strategies Methods of managing classroom behaviour has been moving away from punitive in recent years and more towards positive behavioural strategies (Mitchell Bradshaw, 2013). Mitchell and Bradshaw (2013) found that the positive reinforcement from the teacher fostered a constructive and supportive classroom environment for the students which Oxley (2015) adds to when she talks about building relationships between students and staff which she posits is highly important to have in regards to behaviour management with more challenging students. Whilst Department for Education. (2016) advises that it is within the rights of a teacher to impose sanctions on students for misbehaving in school, Oxley (2015) suggests that the most effective strategies are those that include the student in decisions made about behaviour management as opposed to a decision imposed purely by the teacher on the student. Oxley (2015) believes that subsequent punishments may in fact cause more problems than they solve leading to a never-ending cycle of misbehaving and punishment. Oxley (2015) argues that sanctions are a form of extrinsic motivation to change student behaviour yet it is intrinsic motivation which is far more likely to lead to long term benefit which is a point that Murayama, Pekrun Lichtenfield (2013) also agree with, going on to saying that while extrinsic motivation, which could be sanctions or rewards for the students, may have an initial impact but it is intrinsic motivation that leads to long term benefit. Along a similar vein, R eeve et al. (2004) found that extrinsic incentives may essentially circumvent students inner motives, potentially acting detrimentally to existing intrinsic motivation, when coupled with pressuring language. Setting Hallum and Ireson (2007) found in their study of teachers opinions that there was strong agreement with the idea that setting groups made behaviour management easier. Furthermore, when compared with another strong agreement with the opinion that a different approach is necessary when teaching the less able pupils compared to the more able. Some potential reasons for this could be that the level that these lessons are being pitched at is suitable to more students in turn keeping them engaged. According to Reeve et al. (2004) engagement is a predictor of achievement which also matches with the results of a study run on 15-year-old students using eye tracking software (Sajka Rosiek, 2015). An argument that they put forward was that part of the reason that the lower attaining students scored lower was due to them not being engaged with the work, based on their eye positions and movements throughout. All together this implies that there could be difficulty with engaging the whole class of students in a mixed ability group which, as stated by Hallum and Ireson (2007), heavily relies on teacher skill in order to be a successful lesson. It is also worth being aware that in the study run by Hallum and Ireson (2007) it was teacher responses that were tallied and as such is entirely self-reported opinion based which means that it may not be the most reliable source or appropriate to use beyond inferring teacher opinions. Lower attaining groups Some teachers report that behaviour for engagement can be more of an issue in low attaining groups (Hallam Ireson, 2005). By looking at the findings of Reeve et al. (2004) which states that student engagement is directly relatable to consequent achievement. Seifert (2004) discusses the self-worth theory of achievement which states that some students may be attempting to protect their own self-worth and suggests that some students may be failure avoidant which can inhibit the willingness to attempt work and can result in negative statements about themselves as well as less sophisticated strategy usage (Dweck, 1986). The statistical analysis performed by Sund (2009) on a group of more than 80000 Swedish high school students found that lower attaining students performed better when placed with higher achieving students whereas the higher achieving students were observed to have had no significant difference. Motivation in the classroom Murayama et al. (2013) defines motivation as a process which instigates and sustains a goal directed activity. Murayama et al. (2013) goes on to conclude that motivation is key when looking at pupils academic growth. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation Reeve et al. (2004) performed a study where teachers were encouraged to try to support student independence in learning as a method to building motivation. Extrinsic motivation was to be minimised and instead the students were encouraged to seek out the answer more independently relying on more intrinsic motivation which led to more engagement by the students. Seifert (2004) believes that students who are efficacious such as they were being encouraged to be in the study by Reeve et al. (2004) are more likely to have positive attributes such as being strategic, self-regulating as well as being more metacognitive which he argues may increase confidence in their own work. Additionally, Seifert (2004) when referencing Dweck (1986) mentions that some students who are not displaying self-efficacy may display failure avoidance which can act to sap motivation to try and is indicative of low levels of resilience. The effect of confidence on motivation Dweck (1986) found that the level of student expectation of good future results and attainment were not always correlated. This means that just because a student is confident it does not mean that they will necessarily achieve higher results in fact when directly comparing high and low confidence students Dweck found that the lower confidence students performed better than the high confidence ones. In opposition to this, Sheldrake, Mujtaba and Reiss (2015) posit that overconfidence may still be a positive trait as this may indicate a greater level of resilience in students. Sheldrake et al. (2015) go on to explain that in their findings the level of student confidence was significantly associated with student GCSE maths grades as well as how likely they were to take Mathematics at A level. In a test on motivation using eye tracking equipment, Sajka and Rosiek (2015) found that those who underperformed versus those classed as gifted (Sajka Rosiek, 2015) spent significantly less time looking at the questions which they took as meaning that the underperforming students were less motivated which could mean that some may have been less confident and were acting in a failure avoidance fashion. Observed motivation across subsections Several obvious factors exist that can affect levels of motivation from one group to another. Oyserman (2013) informs us that in their studies they found that for some students from lower income backgrounds education can be affected by identity based motivation. Oyserman (2013) goes on to explain this as students from low income backgrounds can stereotype their own academic ability based on the achievements of others in their peer groups which may lead to a situation where succeeding at school is not congruent with the self-identities that they are forming as they go through adolescence, looking at their future adult selves (Oyserman, 2013). Elmore and Oyserman (2012) discusses when activities feel identity congruent. They argue that when an activity feels identity congruent to a student then any difficulties engaging in the task lead to said task appearing more important making any effort invested valuable, the task is not pointless or impossible. This was demonstrated in studies ru n by Destin and Oyserman (2010) on secondary students, of whom all participants were aged between 11 and 13, when they found that students with aspirations for future careers that were education dependent as opposed to education independent put more effort into their schoolwork which overall resulted in better results for them. In a different study that aimed to affect the identity based motivation of a group of 12-13-year-old girls and boys Elmore and Oyserman (2012) showed boys and girls graphs showing graduation success for either their own gender or no gender identified at all. This study resulted in the students expressing more academic goals which Elmore and Oyserman (2012) postulate is down to a more school focused self-identity which, if correct and representative, shows the malleability of pupils self-identity at this age. This showed the students displaying some identity congruence (Elmore Oyserman, 2012). Despite this the study conducted by Sheldrake et al. (2015) showed that in general girls had less confidence than their male counterparts which was not displayed in results at GCSE or A Level. Conclusions I believe that the main point to take from this literature review is that the link between behaviour management and motivation is all about engagement. That through positive reinforcement for decent behaviour, developing positive relationships with the students in the class and encouraging student autonomy in lessons to encourage intrinsic motivation as methods of behaviour management the teacher is well on their way to establishing engagement and motivation from their class. Moreover, having a motivated and engaged class leads to better results in the long run. As well as this, low levels of motivation and engagement can lead to behaviour issues. Identity based motivation can be very detrimental to students in lower attaining sets and perhaps is the reason why, when placed with higher attaining students, the lower attaining performs better. The presence of higher attaining students in that set and thus presence in that peer group may alter the lower attaining students self-view. Alternatively, it could also be very beneficial when looking to progress students and help them to become more aspirational. When students do not see a good reason to do the work then it can seem pointless which can demotivate them which is why it is so important to frame work in a way that lets them see that time spent attempting the work is time is productive and beneficial to them and will be so for them again later in life. While extrinsic motivation does have a place in the classroom it is most effective when used positively, for instance in praise and to boost student confidence. When it comes to confidence it seems that higher confidence is a positive trait as it can imply greater resilience in students but at the same time does not always indicate that a student is attaining higher. Introduction The observations that I will be assessing and comparing to the literature review took place in a Hampshire 11-16 mixed comprehensive school. It has a lower than National average number of pupil premium students but a higher than average number of students from service families, owing to the adjacency of an RAF airbase. The number of maths grades A*-C was 86% (The Robert Mays School, 2015) which is significantly higher than the National average of 63% (The Guardian, 2015). All mathematics classes in this school are setted from the time they arrive. In this section I will attempt to synthesise and assess these observations along with the findings of the literature review with the aim of improving my practice. Observation One was taken by Teacher A for Class A; Observation Two was taken by Teacher B for Class B and Observation 3 was taken by Teacher C for Class C. Assessment The presence of a behaviour policy such that is recommended by the government (Department for Education, 2016) was evident across these observations in details such as classroom organisation in the availability of equipment should students be unprepared as well as the use of both praise and sanctions in all lessons observed. Since all of the classes that I observed were setted the benefit found by Sund (2009) of having a mix of higher attaining students in the class along with lower attaining students to increase performance of the lower attaining was not possible to observe. However, the teachers may have profited from finding these classes easier to teach as opposed to mixed ability groups (Hallum Ireson, 2005) potentially allowing them to put more time during lessons into teaching and engaging more students on an individual basis. Hallum and Ireson (2005) also found that in mixed classes a lot of time had to be spent in advance in preparing more differentiated resources meaning that time was potentially being saved both in and out of the classroom. Alternatively, as Hallum and Ireson (2005) took in teacher opinions this may be subject to some level of inaccuracy. Additionally, while identity based motivation (Destin Oyserman, 2010) could be beneficial in assessing these classes and would certainly have an impact on motivation in these lessons, without having taken this information before the lessons I observed and using it to inform my observation, it has limited value. It could be argued that a broad overview of the class demographics could be made based on the pupil premium information for the school (The Robert Mays School, 2015) but this may not have been representative of the individual classes that I observed. In Observation 3 there was a student who volunteered an answer in front of the class. Whereupon he got the answer wrong he began behaving in a negative manner eventually receiving sanctions for his now disruptive behaviour. I think that it is possible that in getting the answer wrong the students confidence dropped, demotivating the student leading him to become disengaged with the lesson. When compared with what Sheldrake et al. (2015) says about how a high level of confidence can be indicative of greater resilience, I posit that in this case the opposite was in effect here and it was this students low level of resilience that led to his disengagement and ultimately his behaviour. A point might be made here that the students intrinsic motivation to find the answer had diminished leading to disengagement. The student became continuously more and more disruptive to the lesson whereupon the teacher began to apply extrinsic motivation in the form of sanctions. This concurs with what was posited by Oxley (2015) in that students can end up in negative cycles of punishments and further behaviour issues as well as what Murayama et al. (2013) says about how extrinsic motivation can be short lived which again was what was observed in the lesson. The use of sanctions in this case did not result in the student re-engaging for any length of time before becoming disruptive again. Although, it could have been that the student was being influenced by other stimuli that I was not aware of. What Reeve et al. (2004) states about how engagement leads to more positive behaviour can be seen by comparing Observations 1 and 2 to Observation 3 where the two former lessons had greater engagement throughout resulting in the better behaviour of these classes. One way in which they were different to the third observed lesson was in the questioning. Both teachers A and B would engage with students through questioning more, expecting longer answers and staying with the students when they were incorrect whereas Teacher C would move on to another student when an incorrect answer was given which I have previously postulated was linked to the disengagement of that student. In viewing each class only once, judging the level of intrinsic motivation in the students was difficult to quantify. But, from the questioning displayed by teachers A and B in their lessons it seems that the phrasing they used was encouraging students to think about the problems and the solutions as opposed to being told how to find it. The engagement of classes A and B was certainly higher than in Class C which I believe is partly down to the transitions. Class C had a more continuous task through the whole lesson allowing a more leisurely pace whereas in Class B the teacher had very quick transitions keeping momentum and maintaining engagement. This higher pace of work could have been keeping students engaged by giving them a feeling of progression through the lesson which Sheldrake et al. (2015) says can be the case but adds that it requires teachers to know the current attainment of their classes well. That being said Sheldrake et al. (2015) also sees benefit in a slower pace of lesson like the lesson taken by Teacher C stating that it is more of a mastery approach. Oxley (2015) relates that choice and autonomy are key in building motivation which I believe I observed in Observation 3 when the teacher made the class aware that there was another sheet available. This availability of new work sparked the class into either going up to get more work or going back to the sheet they were already working on. I suggest that a potential explanation for this is that the students were given autonomy over whether to continue on what they were doing or collect the new sheet resulting in them feeling more motivated to continue with the task. The research suggests that knowing the reason why they are learning something, understanding how it might be a useful skill to have in their future lives is of benefit to many students (Elmore Oyserman, 2012). This is seen in interactions between Teacher C when a disengaged student who was challenged on not working asked the teacher when they would ever use this in the future to which the teacher responded with a real-world example. This appeared to resonate with the student re-engaging them. I believe that after this was said the topic gained value in the students eyes and as such would be intrinsic motivation guiding this student rather than extrinsic. Yet, it is possible that the student simply saw that the teacher was not backing down to the challenging and so simply opted to continue working to remove himself from the conversation. If this were the case then it would have been extrinsic motivation which Murayama et al. (2013) describes as being the more fickle of the two. I observed very little self-efficacy being displayed by the students in these observed lessons which may or may not be indicative of the types of lessons that lower attaining sets generally receive. However, further study would be required to find out whether this was representative in any way. While intrinsic motivation did seem to be more influential over student motivation it was, at times, difficult to differentiate between whether it was intrinsic or extrinsic motivation that was motivating a students actions. A different form of study would likely be necessary in order to observe this. From this assignment, there are several implications that I will take into my own practice. When planning lessons in the future I will strive to allow students more freedom in lessons encouraging their autonomy. By doing this, I hope to increase their engagement in lessons and the learning process as I am now far more aware of the effect low engagement can have on the outcome of a lesson. As well as this I now have a greater appreciation for how my students need to understand why they are learning something and not see the learning process as pointless. I had previously been unaware of how influential identity based motivation could be on students and can see previous lessons I have taken where some students had stopped seeing learning in that lesson as congruent with what they will need to know. When it comes to behaviour management I have come to reconsider some of my views. I can see that when a student misbehaves they need to be corrected on that behaviour to progress from it. That it is very easy for the student to enter into a cycle of punishment and reaction that simply will not benefit them and instead need help to correct the behaviour. References   Department for Education. (2016). Behaviour and discipline in schools: Advice for headteachers and school staff. Retrieved 25 November, 2016, from https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/488034/Behaviour_and_Discipline_in_Schools_-_A_guide_for_headteachers_and_School_Staff.pdf Destin, M., Oyserman, D. (2010). Incentivizing education: Seeing schoolwork as an[JH1] investment, not a chore. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46(5), 846-849. Dweck, C S. (1986). Motivational processes affecting learning. American Psychologist, 41(10), 1040- 1048. Elmore, K C., Oyserman, D. (2012). If we can succeed, I can too: Identity-based motivation and gender in the classroom. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 37(3), 176-185. Hallam, S., Ireson, J. (2005). Secondary school teachers pedagogic practices when teaching mixed and structured ability classes. Research Papers in Education, 20(1), 3-24. Mitchell, M., Bradshaw, C. (2009). Examining classroom influences on student perceptions of school climate: The role of classroom management and exclusionary discipline strategies. Journal of School Psychology, 51(5), 599-610. Murayama, K., Pekrun, R., Lichtenfield, S. (2013). Predicting long-term growth in students mathematics achievement: The unique contributions of motivation and cognitive strategies. Child Development, 84(4), 1475-1490. Niemi, R., Kumpulainen, K., Lipponen, L., Hilppà ¶, J. (2015). Pupils perspectives on the lived pedagogy of the classroom. Education 313, 43(6), 681-697. Oxley, L. (2015). Do schools need lessons in motivation?. The Psychologist, 28(19), 722-723. Oyserman, D. (2013). Not just any path: Implications of identity-based motivation for disparities in school outcomes. Economics of Education Review, 33(4), 179-190. Reeve, J., Jang, H., Carrell, D., Jeon, S., Barch, J. (2004). Enhancing students engagement by increasing teachers autonomy support. Motivation and Emotion, 28(2), 147-170. Sajka, M., Rosiek, R. (2015, March). Proceedings of the Ninth Congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education. Solving a problem by different students with different mathematical abilities: A comparative study using eye-tracking, Prague, Czech Republic. Retrieved from https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01288030/document Seifert, T. (2004). Understanding student motivation. Educational Research, 46(2), 137-149. Sheldrake, R., Mujtaba, T., Reiss, M. (2015). Students intentions to study non-compulsory mathematics: the importance of how good you think you are. British Educational Research Journal, 41(3), 462-488. Sund, K. (2009). Estimating peer effects in Swedish high school using school, teacher, and student fixed effects. Economics of Education Review, 28(3), 329-336. The Guardian. (2015). The Guardian. Retrieved 12 December, 2016, from https://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/aug/20/gcses-results-2015-english-pass-rate-rises-jump-a-c-grades The Robert Mays School. (2015). Pupil premium report September 2015. Retrieved December 12, 2016, from The Robert Mays School, http://www.rmays.org/wp- content/uploads/2015/10/PupilPremiumReport2015.pdf Observation 1 Y8Set 4Period 6/616/11/16Class ATeacher A What happens when Your comment(s) Pupils enter the classroom? What are the established procedures? Teacher greeting by the door. Students sit and take their book out and attempt starter on the board. A lesson begins? How does the teacher establish attention? Calling to attention not raising voice. Several keep talking but are individually called to attention by teacher still not raising voice. The teacher leads a discussion from the front? How does he/she ensure attention and participation? Leading discussion from the front. Asking students to explain why on their answers. Some struggling to put thoughts into full sentences. The teacher gives out instructions? Asks I need you to.. when giving instructions. Pupils carry out a task how does the teacher ensure that they remain on task? By asking questions to students every few minutes ensuring they stay on task. The teacher provides an important explanation how do they ensure that pupils have listened and understood? A lot of AfL with whiteboards. The teacher manage the transitions between different parts of the lessons? Quickly throwing a new question to the class before asking someone to answer it. Pupils are asked to work in small groups/pairs? How does the teacher ensure they talk about the work? Working in silence as were disruptive earlier. When a pupil doesnt stay on task? Asks student please first time. Speaks to student and explains what they should be doing in work and behaviour. Pupils are asked to write things down when some do not have a pen/book/paper? Get equipment from neighbour. A pupil behaves inappropriately? Class warning. Individual students names on board. There is an interruption from someone at the door? Student being moved into this class (x2). Teacher waits for quiet after some laughter. A pupil doesnt understand? Scaffolding, leading questions. A pupil makes a mistake/answers a question incorrectly? Talks through it with student until they get it and asked why to ensure understanding. The lesson ends? How does the teacher ensure an orderly dismissal? Tidying away before the bell with students collecting MWB and pens.Not leaving until silence (adapted from Richard Johnstone: Communicative Interaction : A Guide for Teachers, CILT, 1989) Note down examples of: Teacher using verbal praise and encouragement (note down the actual words) Good Teacher using positive body language (smiling, leaning forward etc) Smiling at correct answers when shown on MWB during AfL. Teacher using tone/volume of voice Level tone throughout. Quiet voice when talking one on one. Teacher moving round the classroom or standing still. When do they do this, what are they doing whilst doing this, is there any purpose to the movement? Students started arguing loudly across centre table when teacher left room to deal with student from another class. When they came back in they walked into the middle of the argument and went from one to the other calmly asking each to be quiet which was successful. One claimed not to have done anything, teacher said I havent accused you of anything, Im asking you to be quiet now. Teacher giving out tangible rewards e.g. merit points or equivalent Names in board (positive as well as negative). Far more positive. Teacher writing positive and encouraging comments in pupils exercise books Observation 2 Y10Set 3Period 5/617/11/16 Class BTeacher B What happens when à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Your comment(s) Pupils enter the classroom? What are the established procedures? Greet at door. Individually told to copy down the starter. A lesson begins? How does the teacher establish attention? Stood and waited. Class was expecting it so a class routine. The teacher leads a discussion from the front? How does he/she ensure attention and participation? Asking questions expecting an answer and engagement in the lesson. Sometimes students wrong, given choice to move on or try again. The teacher gives out instructions? Starter and examples. All tasks on board as well as said out loud. Pupils carry out a task how does the teacher ensure that they remain on task? Circulating. The teacher provides an important explanation how do they ensure that pupil shave listened and understood? Asks if students need the help then goes through on whiteboard. Leaves worked answer there. The teacher manage the transitions between different parts of the lessons?

What Is A Crime Scene Investigation

What Is A Crime Scene Investigation The roles and duties of police officers as first responders crime scene investigators as truth seekers are very important. Actions taken at the beginning of an investigation at a crime scene play a vital role in solving a case. Careful and thorough investigation is the key to ensure that potential physical evidence is not tainted or destroyed or potential witnesses are not overlooked (Reno, 2000). An important factor influencing the ultimate legal significance of evidence is that investigators follow an objective, thorough, and thoughtful approach. The goal of this process is to recognize and preserve physical evidence that will yield reliable information to aid in the investigation. Three main components of an investigation are: physical evidence, interviewing and interrogation (Summerfield, 2005). Key words: Police officers, investigations, potential evidence, physical evidence, crime scene, truth seekers, roles, duties, Fourth Amendment Rights What Is A Crime Scene Investigation? A crime scene investigation is an examination of the scene of a crime for any clues or evidence that may lead police to a suspect. One can think of a crime scene as a piece of history. The crime scene has a story to tell. The evidence can retell the story with the right approach to investigating the crime scene. Crime scene investigation is a slow and hardworking process, but the methodology that requires perfect care also tends to reveal important clues to the method, motive and suspect of the crime. CSI investigators combine law enforcement tactics with scientific knowledge in their work, and the way investigators do their jobs plays a big part in whether or not the police capture a suspect (Vaux, 2011). A crime scene is the beginning point of a successful or unsuccessful investigation. The main objectives of a crime scene are to preserve and collect relevant information and any physical evidence that will make a connection between all parties involved. The first responders dispatc hed to the scene of a crime are usually the only people who get to view the crime scene immediately after the crime took place, at its original state. The end result of the investigation is to ensure that justice is served (Thomas, 2011). Crime scene investigation consists of analyzing the scene of a specific crime in order to determine what happened and provide clues as to the identity of the suspect. Several basic considerations come into play when managing a crime scene effectively. They carefully and systematically examined a crime scene to learn how and when the crime was committed, who committed it and why, and perhaps what items may have been removed from the scene. Each investigation of a crime scene is different. The differences depend on where the crime is committed, how big the crime is, and the area of the crime. A number of procedures take place at a crime scene. While others depend upon the nature of the scene and the circumstances surrounding the crime, there are spec ific procedures that are always done. Crimes could be discovered by a witness who sees a crime in progress and reports it to the police, a victim of the crime reports it to the police or the police discover the crime in progress. Police discovering the crime in progress is also known as a sting operation. These are situations where law enforcement agents set up a scenario and criminals are encouraged to commit crimes (Vaux, 2011). Once the investigation Officers has gathered all the information possible from a crime scene, they may release it. After release, people can go back to using the site as they normally would. The site may require specialized cleanup to remove dangerous substances, along with the unsavory reminders of a crime, such as the smell of a decomposing body or damage caused by a fire (Smith, 2003). Roles and Duties of Police Officers as First Responders The certified first responder (CFR) profession was developed to address the lag between the time an accident happens and the arrival of an emergency medical technician, such as a paramedic. Many certified first responders are trained firefighters, lifeguards, athletic trainers, police officers or park rangers (Thomas, 2011). Police Officers as first responders crime scene investigators and as truth seekers are the starting point of a crime scene investigation. Important information is discovered and collected to help solve the crime and seek the truth that surrounds the crime. The crime scene investigator at the scene first, gets an understanding of what the investigation will entail, and construct a plan of action for locating and gathering evidence. Every crime scene is different; however, the crime scene investigator has to make sure that all physical evidence is located and collected in a proper manner, record all pertinent information, secures the scene from contamination, and g oes over what he or she thinks took place, and how and why it happened (Siegel, 2009). At a crime scene, the first responders other than onlookers are usually police officers, emergency medical technicians and depending on the situation, the fire department. The first responders dispatched to the scene of the crime are usually the ones who get to view the crime scene immediately after the crime first happened and at its original state. To get an accurate account and successful resolution in a criminal investigation, first responders at a crime scene must maintain the links that connect the suspect to the victim and the crime scene (Thomas, 2011). Ensure Safety The first duty of the police officer as first responders is to ensure safety. As the first to arrive on the scene, they must make make sure that the victim or victims are safe, out of danger, and provided with the proper medical care. They also have to make sure the paramedics responding to the crime scene will treat the victim and take them to a nearby hospital for treatment if necessary. Another important duty is to separate the witness so that they can tell their stories without influencing each other (Cox, 2011). It is a very important duty for the police officer to secure the crime scene area so that no unauthorized persons can come in and interfere with the investigation. Crime scene security perimeter measures has to be established by securing the crime scene area as soon as possible with barrier tape, police vehicles or other means to preserve the evidence and make sure that crime scene does not get contaminated (Thomas, 2011). Interview Victims and Witnesses Interviewing is one of the duties that give the investigating Officer the opportunity to get evidence and testimony that will help establish facts, identify potential suspects and potentially provide corroboration. Conduct a preliminary interview with onlookers and the victim, if possible, to determine if anyone can identify the person who committed the crime. At this time the attending officer will obtain a physical description of the suspect and ask the victim to explain what happened to the best of their ability. Interviewing is divided into two viewpoints, witness and victim. Both interviews have some common elements, but with differences based on on the individual circumstances. The interview should be conducted as near to the time of the crime as possible. The witness should be able to tell what happened without being interrupted. The victim should be interviewed with sensitivity and on a professional level (Summerfield, 2005). Manage the Area An officer is assigned as the crime scene security officer. He will keep a log of names of personnel entering and leaving the crime scene. Anyone entering the crime scene can contaminate the evidence that could possibly link the suspect to the crime scene, so accurate documentation and evidence preservation is essential (Thomas, 2011). Apprehend the Suspect While on duty, Police Officers will look for the person who committed the crime at the scene and make an arrest if the suspect is still in the vicinity of the crime. They want to ensure that all responsible parties are held responsible for their actions. Suspects who are arrested for the crimes are usually booked into jail or cited and release (Hickey, 2003). Detain All Witnesses and Onlookers Collecting valuable information in the investigation, by interviewing people at the crime scene, is a duty that could help in apprehending the suspect. Witnesses usually have important information about the suspect and about what actually happened. Sometime the credibility may be an issue in some cases with the information given; but victims and suspects physical evidence in such a case will be very useful in connecting any missing link in the investigation (Thomas, 2011). Document the Scene The responding Officer should used methods which consist of written notes which will be used in constructing a final report, crime scene photographs, and a diagram or sketch. The goal of the documentation is to create a visual record that will allow forensics lab and the prosecuting attorneys to recreate an accurate view of the scene. There should be a great consistency between each of these functions. Each method is important in the process of properly documenting the crime scene. The notes and reports should be done in a chronological order and should not include opinions, analysis, or conclusions. Just the facts! The crime scene investigator should document only what they see, not what they think. The final report should tell a descriptive story. A general description of the crime scene should be given just as the investigator sees it when they do the initial walk through of the scene (Byrd, 2000). Collect and Preserve Evidence Once the crime scene has been thoroughly documented by the investigating Officer and the locations of the evidence noted, and then the collection process can begin. The collection process usually starts with the collection of the most fragile or most easily lost evidence. Special consideration can also be given to any evidence or objects which need to be moved. Collection can continue along the crime scene trail or in some other logical manner. Photographs should also continue to be taken if the investigator is revealing layers of evidence which were not previously documented because they were hidden from sight (Schiro, 2011). Each type of evidence has a specific value in the investigation. The value of evidence should be kept in consideration when doing a crime scene investigation. It is also wise to collect more evidence at a crime scene than not to collect enough evidence. The most should be made at the crime scene, since an investigator has only one shot (Schiro, 2011). The reaso ns for the evidence collection is to organize the evidence that the investigator recovered from the scene, where the items where recovered from, and what part of the lab that the items were directed to (Byrd, 2011). Report to the Leading Crime Scene Investigator This particular duty call for all events that took place, any adjustments or alterations made to the crime scene and all movements in and out the crime scene perimeter will be documented. Lack of accurate information, omissions, negligence, under or overemphasis in information can severely damage the investigation and the outcome for a successful conclusion. An accurate account of what happened, without any addition or deletion is very important when communicating with the leading investigator (Thomas, 2011). The Fourth Amendment Rights The Fourth Amendment plays a very important role when it comes to individual rights. The most important word in the evaluation of The Fourth Amendment is the word warrant. The Amendment states: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seizedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ , (Scalia, 2007). According to the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution, the elements are the 1.Oath or Affirmation made 2. Probable cause determined 3. Specific warrant issued and 4.The actual Search, arrest, seizure, and detainment. The order of these elements is important! 1 and 2 should happen before 3, and 3 before 4. Properly conducted, a crime scene search can reveal evidence that allows investigators to reconstruct t he crime and identify the perpetrator. Lawfully conducted, a crime scene search can aid in the successful prosecution of those responsible. To lawfully conduct a crime scene search, however, investigators must be extremely careful to follow the dictates of The Fourth Amendment (Crawford, 1999). Because officers under the intense stress and pressure of a crime scene may overlook the contents of The Fourth Amendment, law enforcement agencies should reinforce the need for warrants through policy. The fact that a crime was committed on the scene generally provides the requisite probable cause for obtaining a search warrant. Moreover, forensic technicians and crime scene analysts can assist in meeting the particularity requirement of The Fourth Amendment by supplying a list of likely items of evidence to include on the warrant application. By developing policies that emphasize the need for warrants, law enforcement agencies can substantially increase the likelihood of successful prosecut ions (Crawford, 1999). Officers can also search and seize objects on a person if the officer has placed the person under arrest. This exception extends to situations in which the police in good-faith mistakenly arrest the wrong suspect and seize contraband during the search. If a suspect, either during traffic stop or otherwise, makes a furtive gesture, the gesture justifies a limited warrantless police intrusion (Wheatly, 2007). When Police Officer obtain a warrant before conducting a search, the warrant must comply with the Fourth Amendment before evidence from the search will be admissible in court. A warrant may be defective if it is not supported by probable cause that is established by a detailed, sworn statement made by a law enforcement officer appearing before a magistrate (Fairlex, 2011). Conclusion Police officers as first responders require considerable knowledge. They have a great responsibility when being the first person on a crime scene. They have to make sure that the victims are safe and the suspect is apprehended, and that each of their Constitutional Rights are in place. Processing a crime scene is a very lengthy and thorough process. Investigators will spend hours, and sometimes days, documenting the crime scene and its condition and collecting all the physical evidence that is present in an attempt to discover what crime was committed and who committed it. All crime scenes, bodies of evidence and investigative techniques are unique in their own right. The Criminal Justice System wants to convict the guilty, while protecting the innocent. As with any element of our society it is essential that we have in place some system for validating conclusions and assumptions to ensure fairness and justice are preserved. Even our system of government has seen the wisdom in a syst em of checks and balances to ensure no single force can dominate without a consensus. Our law enforcement investigative process should do no less. By ensuring all elements of an investigation are fully explored and considered, this can be achieved (McFadden, D.).

Legend that College Roommates Death Boosts GPA Essay -- Urban Legends

Dead Man's Curve--College Roommate's Death Boosts GPA Introduction and Background The legend I collected was one that I had heard before, although this version differed a little from the way I remember it. The storyteller was a 19 year-old male first year student at the University. He’s from Columbia, and his dad works in business while his mother is a homemaker. The telling of this story took place at the diner after we had finished eating: Well, my brother told me one his first summer back from attending University. He had heard the story one late night just before finals were supposed to begin. He was with a small group of friends and he had told him that he was worried about his grades. That was when a friend joked, â€Å"Well, if you’re desperate, you could kill your roommate.† The friend then elaborated that if his roommate died he magically would receive straight A’s for that semester. Context I had first heard of this legend when I saw movie on television called â€Å"Dead Man on Campus.† The film originally came out in the fall of 1998, but I had not seen it until 2003. I asked my subject if he had seen or heard of the movie. He told me that he had not. Although this legend may at first appear to be fairly straightforward, my research has shown that this legend exists in several forms. In the film version that I known, after hearing about a campus policy that gives a 4.0 to anyone if their roommate commits suicide, two freshman try to find a third roommate who is suicidal and push him over the edge. There are differences between the story I am familiar with and the story that was told to me by my subject. In my version, the death had to be a suicide while in my subject’s version any... .... The Vanishing Hitchhiker: American Urban Legends & Their Meanings. New York: W.W. Norton, 1981. Butcher, James N. "Assessment in Clinical Psychology: A Perspective on the Past, Present Challenges, and Future Prospects." Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice 13(3)(2006): 205-209. IMDb. 2007. The Internet Movie Database. 1 April 2007. http://www.imdb.com/. Mikkelson , Barbara. "Urban Legends Reference Pages: Grade Expectations." Urban Legends Reference Pages. 03 Mar 2007. Retrieved on 1 April 2007. http://www.snopes.com/college/admin/suicide.asp. Mortenson, Tom . "Suicide Among 15 to 24 Year Olds by Gender 1940 to 1998." Postsecondary Education OPPORTUNITY Number 132Jun 2003 01 April 2007. http://www.postsecondary.org/archives/previous/117302SUICIDE.pdf. Reisberg, Leo. "Hollywood Discovers an Apocryphal Legend." Chronicle of Higher Education (1998).

Say Yes by Tobias Wolff & Bread by Sandra Cisneros :: Race Relationships Love

Say Yes by Tobias Wolff If two people love each other regardless of any difference they may have, then why are there† lots of things to consider†( paragraph 36)? Answer the question within the context of the story. According to the context, the â€Å"lots of things to consider† is referring to the race, background by the husband. In his opinion, beside whether love this person or not, race, ethics background is also a very important factor to consider whether they should marry or not. He stated that if two people are not from the same race, they are not in the same culture, they have different language. People from different race never know each other. Compare the husband’s actions to his wife’s reactions. Are these people understanding each other? If he had said yes, would their relationship have changed? If so, how? From the husband’s action to his wife’s reaction, they didn’t understand each other much even though the husband was trying to show how considerate he is. But he failed to understand what his wife truly wants to hear and wants to see in the conversation on the matter of â€Å"whether white people should marry black people.† In the husband’s view he thinks that it was ridiculous to think this kind of question when his wife asked him whether he will marry her if she were black. He thinks that it will never happen. If it happened, his wife will be another person but not the same her anymore. In his views, as he never think that this two race should get marry, he will not allow himself to fall in love or even date a black girl. He is telling the truth and trying to explaining that to his wife. However he failed to realized that that was not what his wife wanted to hear. In fact from the context we can guessed for his wife, it’s not the greatest m atter on whether white people should marry black people, what she matters is whether they love each other of not. For her, she thinks that if two people love each other, everything can be solved and race is not a big deal. She wants her husband to agree with this and showed that he will love her and marry her no matter what race she is. Bread by Sandra Cisneros This story, in some ways, is about crossing borders.

Indian Stereotypes Essay

A stereotype is a conforming idea about a group or race of people. When discussing Native Americans, many stereotypes do not accurately describe the identity of us. Racial stereotypes have always been around for as long as I can remember. Being a Native American male myself I can honestly say that I and my family have been subjected to it. I have been called a drunken Indian and my three and six year old daughters have been called â€Å"untamed heathens and savages† in public at a store by white people. The hurt and confusion on their little faces made me angry and hurt that they were subjected to that type of ignorant behavior and language by an adult. While I’ve experienced first- hand stereotyping I’ve come up with these stereotypes us Native Americans are subjected to. Native American’s in the US and Canada have always been portrayed as alcoholics, lazy, the wise elder, the aggressive drunk, Pocahontas (Indian princess), the loyal sidekick, obese and impoverished. In Hollywood films we’re portrayed as trackers and nature lovers. In the west we have to be tamed by the Cowboy because apparently we are so â€Å"wild†. While, historically American Indians were thought of as animals and are treated as such. Many still think that ALL Native Americans live in tipis, wear feathered war bonnets, lived only in the past, and Indians are stoic while having no sense of humor. Also that Indians are a vanished race. Native American’s are also portrayed as Warriors and Braves that you can find on the shirt of a high school student in North Dakota or on the Jersey of a football player in Kansas City. There’s also a notion that all Indians receive casino revenue per capita and free government money. One stereotype that persists is the idea that Native Americans great one another by putting a palm up and saying, â€Å"How†. Native Americans are commonly associated with many negative stereotypes and most of them do not accurately describe our culture.

A Brief Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

A BRIEF SAPIR-WHORF HYPOTHESIS  SUMMARY†¦ October 16, 2010 A reasonable summary of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis in its tractable form is that different cultures interpret the same world differently and this has an impact on how they both think and construct meaning in language; in fact, language shapes or influences thought to some degree. The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis combines  linguistic relativity  and  linguistic determinism. Adherents of the hypothesis follow these two principles to varying degrees producing gradient interpretations from weak to strong versions of the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis.Cognitive linguists are among the only linguists to take this â€Å"mentalist† position seriously, and most linguists of any orientation reject a strong version of the hypothesis. The linguistic determinism portion of the original hypothesis stated that language  determined  thought, and this is the rejected strong version. The linguistic relativity portion asserts that bec ause language determines thought and there are different languages then the ways that those languages think will be different to some degree.Part of the controversy surrounding the hypothesis is the lack of empirical data, or at least appropriate empirical data. This has caused a number of researchers to begin considering how the ideas of linguistic determinism may affect judgment. For instance, in 2008 Daniel Casasanto performed a series of experiments with time, quantity and distance to determine whether or not speakers of Greek and speakers of English would have their judgments affected by the type of metaphors preferred by the language.The language did affect judgment to some degree, but it is not a causal claim about the Whorf-Sapir Hypothesis. Other empirical research has looked at linguistic relativity as a shaper of thought as opposed to a determiner of thought. This hypothesis is important to linguistics because it acknowledges the relationship between thought and language, which may partially give stability to the cognitive claim that language use reflects conceptualization and that different conceptualizations are reflected in different linguistic organizations.This reminds me of a situation I once participated in where a rhetorical question was being translated from one language to another but the source language structure of the rhetorical question would have implied the exact opposite meaning in the target language had it been translated literally rather than in a manner that acknowledged the target language’s normal pattern of organization for rhetorical questions. Although this may be a simplified understanding of the importance of Sapir-Whorf, it at least seems to have vital implications in translation theory. The Sapir-Whorf HypothesisDaniel Chandler Greek Translation now available Within linguistic theory, two extreme positions concerning the relationship between language and thought are commonly referred to as ‘mould theoriesâ €™ and ‘cloak theories'. Mould theories  represent language as ‘a mould in terms of which thought categories are cast' (Bruner et al. 1956, p. 11). Cloak theories  represent the view that ‘language is a cloak conforming to the customary categories of thought of its speakers' (ibid. ). The doctrine that language is the ‘dress of thought' was fundamental in Neo-Classical literary theory (Abrams 1953, p. 90), but was rejected by the Romantics (ibid. ; Stone 1967, Ch. 5). There is also a related view (held by behaviourists, for instance) that language and thought are  identical. According to this stance thinking is entirely linguistic: there is no ‘non-verbal thought', no ‘translation' at all from thought to language. In this sense, thought is seen as completely determined by language. The Sapir-Whorf theory, named after the American linguists Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf, is a  mould  theory of language.Writing in 1929, Sapir arg ued in a classic passage that: Human beings do not live in the objective world alone, nor alone in the world of social activity as ordinarily understood, but are very much at the mercy of the particular language which has become the medium of expression for their society. It is quite an illusion to imagine that one adjusts to reality essentially without the use of language and that language is merely an incidental means of solving specific problems of communication or reflection. The fact of the matter is that the ‘real world' is to a large extent unconsciously built upon the language habits of the group.No two languages are ever sufficiently similar to be considered as representing the same social reality. The worlds in which different societies live are distinct worlds, not merely the same world with different labels attached†¦ We see and hear and otherwise experience very largely as we do because the language habits of our community predispose certain choices of interp retation. (Sapir 1958 [1929], p. 69) This position was extended in the 1930s by his student Whorf, who, in another widely cited passage, declared that: We dissect nature along lines laid down by our native languages.The categories and types that we isolate from the world of phenomena we do not find there because they stare every observer in the face; on the contrary, the world is presented in a kaleidoscopic flux of impressions which has to be organized by our minds – and this means largely by the linguistic systems in our minds. We cut nature up, organize it into concepts, and ascribe significances as we do, largely because we are parties to an agreement to organize it in this way – an agreement that holds throughout our speech community and is codified in the patterns of our language.The agreement is, of course, an implicit and unstated one,  but its terms are absolutely obligatory; we cannot talk at all except by subscribing to the organization and classification of data which the agreement decrees. (Whorf 1940, pp. 213-14; his emphasis) I will not attempt to untangle the details of the personal standpoints of Sapir and Whorf on the degree of determinism which they felt was involved, although I think that the above extracts give a fair idea of what these were. I should note that Whorf distanced himself from the behaviourist stance that thinking is entirely linguistic (Whorf 1956, p. 6). In its most extreme version ‘the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis' can be described as consisting of two associated principles. According to the first,  linguistic determinism, our thinking is determined by language. According to the second,  linguistic relativity, people who speak different languages perceive and think about the world quite differently. On this basis, the Whorfian perspective is that translation between one language and another is at the very least, problematic, and sometimes impossible. Some commentators also apply this to the ‘transl ation' of unverbalized thought into language.Others suggest that even within a single language  any  reformulation of words has implications for meaning, however subtle. George Steiner (1975) has argued that  any  act of human communication can be seen as involving a kind of translation, so the potential scope of Whorfianism is very broad indeed. Indeed, seeing reading as a kind of translation is a useful reminder of the reductionism of representing textual reformulation simply as a determinate ‘change of meaning', since meaning does not reside  in  the text, but is generated by  interpretation.According to the Whorfian stance, ‘content' is bound up with linguistic ‘form', and the use of the medium contributes to shaping the meaning. In common usage, we often talk of different verbal formulations ‘meaning the same thing'. But for those of a Whorfian persuasion, such as the literary theorist Stanley Fish, ‘it is impossible to mean the same thing in two (or more) different ways' (Fish 1980, p. 32). Reformulating something transforms  the ways in which meanings may be made with it, and in this sense, form and content are inseparable. From this stance words are not merely the ‘dress' of thought.The importance of what is ‘lost in translation' varies, of course. The issue is usually considered most important in literary writing. It is illuminating to note how one poet felt about the translation of his poems from the original Spanish into other European languages (Whorf himself did not in fact regard European languages as significantly different from each other). Pablo Neruda noted that the best translations of his own poems were Italian (because of its similarities to Spanish), but that English and French ‘do not correspond to Spanish – neither in vocalization, or in the placement, or the colour, or the weight of words. He continued: ‘It is not a question of interpretative equivalence: no, the sense can be right, but this correctness of translation, of meaning, can be the destruction of a poem. In many of the translations into French – I don't say in all of them – my poetry escapes, nothing remains; one cannot protest because it says the same thing that one has written. But it is obvious that if I had been a French poet, I would not have said what I did in that poem, because the value of the words is so different. I would have written something else' (Plimpton 1981, p. 3). With more ‘pragmatic' or less ‘expressive' writing, meanings are typically regarded as less dependent on the particular form of words used. In most pragmatic contexts, paraphrases or translations tend to be treated as less fundamentally problematic. However, even in such contexts, particular words or phrases which have an important function in the original language may be acknowledged to present special problems in translation. Even outside the humanities, academic texts co ncerned with the social sciences are a case in point.The Whorfian perspective is in strong contrast to the extreme  universalism  of those who adopt the  cloak  theory. The Neo-Classical idea of language as simply the dress of thought is based on the assumption that the same thought can be expressed in a variety of ways. Universalists argue that we can say whatever we want to say in any language, and that whatever we say in one language can always be translated into another. This is the basis for the most common refutation of Whorfianism. The fact is,' insists the philosopher Karl Popper, ‘that even totally different languages are not untranslatable' (Popper 1970, p. 56). The evasive use here of ‘not untranslatable' is ironic. Most universalists do acknowledge that translation may on occasions involve a certain amount of circumlocution. Individuals who regard writing as fundamental to their sense of personal and professional identity may experience their written style as inseparable from this identity, and insofar as writers are ‘attached to their words', they may favour a Whorfian perspective.And it would be hardly surprising if individual stances towards Whorfianism were not influenced by allegiances to Romanticism or Classicism, or towards either the arts or the sciences. As I have pointed out, in the context of the written word, the ‘untranslatability' claim is generally regarded as strongest in the arts and weakest in the case of formal scientific papers (although rhetorical studies have increasingly blurred any clear distinctions).And within the literary domain, ‘untranslatability' was favoured by Romantic literary theorists, for whom the connotative, emotional or personal meanings of words were crucial (see Stone 1967, pp. 126-7, 132, 145). Whilst few linguists would accept the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis in its ‘strong', extreme or deterministic form, many now accept a ‘weak', more moderate, or limited Whorf ianism, namely that the ways in which we see the world may be  influenced  by the kind of language we use.Moderate Whorfianism  differs from extreme Whorfianism in these ways: * the emphasis is on the potential for thinking to be ‘influenced' rather than unavoidably ‘determined' by language; * it is a two-way process, so that ‘the kind of language we use' is also influenced by ‘the way we see the world'; * any influence is ascribed not to ‘Language' as such or to one language compared with another, but to the use  within a language  of one variety rather than another (typically a  sociolect  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ the language used primarily by members of a particular social group); * emphasis is given to the social context of language use rather than to purely linguistic considerations, such as the social pressure in particular contexts to use language in one way rather than another. Of course, some polemicists still avour the notion of language as a  strait-jacket  or  prison, but there is a broad academic consensus favouring moderate Whorfianism. Any linguistic influence is now generally considered to be related not primarily to the formal systemic structures of a language (langue  to use de Saussure's term) but to cultural conventions and individual styles of use (or  parole). Meaning does not reside  in  a text but arises in its interpretation, and interpretation is shaped by sociocultural contexts. Conventions regarding what are considered appropriate uses of language in particular social contexts exist both in ‘everyday' uses of language and in specialist usage. In academia, there are general conventions as well as particular ones in each disciplinary and methodological context.In every subculture, the dominant conventions regarding appropriate usage tend to exert a conservative influence on the framing of phenomena. From the media theory perspective, the  sociolects  of sub-cultures and the  idiol ects  of individuals represent a subtly selective view of the world: tending to  support  certain kinds of observations and interpretations and to  restrictothers. And this transformative power goes largely unnoticed, retreating to transparency. ————————————————- The Relationship between Language and Culture Jan 4th, 2010 | By  Emma  | Category:  Topic It is generally agreed that language and culture are closely related. Language can be viewed as a verbal expression of culture. It is used to maintain and convey culture and cultural ties.Language provides us with many of the categories we use for expression of our thoughts, so it is therefore natural to assume that our thinking is influenced by the language which we use. The values and customs in the country we grow up in shape the way in which we think to a certain extent. Cultures hiding in languages, examin es the link between Japanese language and culture. An Insight into Korean Culture through the Korean Language discusses how Korean culture influences the language. Languages spoken in Ireland, focuses on the status of the Irish language nowadays and how it has changed over time. In our big world every minute is a lesson looks at intercultural communication and examines how it can affect interactions between people from countries and backgrounds. ———————————————— Language, culture and thoughts: do languages shape the way we think? Apr 27th, 2011 | By  Teresa  | Category:  English Members of different cultures speak different languages. Does it mean that people who speak, let us say, English, see things differently than people who speak Chinese or Spanish? In other words, does language lead our way of thinking or is it the other way around? According to  Benjamin Lee Whorf  and his theory of linguistic relativity, language shapes the way we think, and determines what we think about. He believed that depending on the language we speak we see the world differently.His best example was the comparison between the idea of snow of an English person and an Eskimo person. The Eskimo has many words to describe snow, while the English only has one. An Eskimo has a specific word to describe the wet snow, the snow currently falling and so on. Therefore an Eskimo perceives the snow in a different way than an English person. Another example is the  Dani  people, a farming group from New Guinea. They only have two words to describe the two basic colors: dark and bright. Hence a Dani person cannot differentiate colors as well as an English person is able to. Although Benjamin's theory is not yet completely clarified, it is correct to say that a language could facilitate some ways of thinking.True or not, this topic is an interesting one to reflect upon. Linguists and people who speak many languages have come up with the same idea. Holy Roman EmperorCharles V  spoke 6 languages fluently and said the following: I speak Italian to ambassadors, French to women, German to soldiers, English to my horse and Spanish to God. What is the relationship between language and culture? Answer Language is the verbal expression of culture. Culture is the idea,custom and beliefs of a community with a distinct language containing semantics – everything a speakers can think about and every way they have of thinking about things as medium of communication.For example, the Latin language has no word for the female friend of a man (the feminine form ofamicus  is  amica, which means mistress, not friend) because the Roman culture could not imagine a male and a female being equals, which they considered necessary for friendship. Another example is that Eskimos have many different terms for snow†¦ there are nuances that make each one differ ent. Answer Language and culture are NOT fundamentally inseparable. At the most basic level, language is a method of expressing ideas. That is, language is communication; while usually verbal, language can also be visual (via signs and symbols), or semiotics (via hand or body gestures). Culture, on the other hand, is a specific set of ideas, practices, customs and beliefs which make up a functioning society as distinct.A culture must have at least one language, which it uses as a distinct medium of communication to conveys its defining ideas, customs, beliefs, et al. , from one member of the culture to another member. Cultures can develop multiple languages, or â€Å"borrow† languages from other cultures to use; not all such languages are co-equal in the culture. One of the major defining characteristics of a culture is which language(s) are the primary means of communication in that culture; sociologists and anthropologists draw lines between similar cultures heavily based o n the prevalent language usage. Languages, on the other hand, can be developed (or evolve) apart from its originating culture.Certain language have scope for cross-cultural adaptations and communication, and may not actually be part of any culture. Additionally, many languages are used by different cultures (that is, the same language can be used in several cultures). Language is heavily influenced by culture – as cultures come up with new ideas, they develop language components to express those ideas. The reverse is also true: the limits of a language can define what is expressible in a culture (that is, the limits of a language can prevent certain concepts from being part of a culture). Finally, languages are not solely defined by their developing culture(s) – most modern languages are amalgamations of other prior and current languages.That is, most languages borrow words and phrases (â€Å"loan words†) from other existing languages to describe new ideas and c oncept. In fact, in the modern very-connected world, once one language manufactures a new word to describe something, there is a very strong tendency for other languages to â€Å"steal† that word directly, rather than manufacture a unique one itself. The English language is a stellar example of a â€Å"thief† language – by some accounts, over 60% of the English language is of foreign origin (i. e. those words were originally imported from another language). Conversely, English is currently the world's largest â€Å"donor† language, with vast quantities of English words being imported directly into virtually all other languages.