20 5-Paragraph Essay Topics Issue Relevant to Povert that You Must Discuss in an Essay

20 5-Paragraph Essay Topics Issue Relevant to Povert that You Must Discuss in an Essay If you are searching for topics on the culture of poverty for a 5 paragraph essay, look over the 20 topics supplied in the list below. These topics cover a diversified selection of ideas. They all tackle multiple aspects of the theory of the culture of poverty including influences that pour into it, and theories which have since stemmed from it. This list of varied topics is meant to support your endeavor, offering some guidance on subject matter appropriate for your next assignment. It is incumbent upon you to review the assignment details given to you by your teacher and from there, review the list of potential ideas below to find something which best suits your task. The Traits that Characterize the Culture of Poverty Marriage as a Route to Poverty Creation of Benefits among Impoverished Subcultures Legitimacy of Blaming Poor People for Poverty Factors Contributing to the Creation of Welfare Nation Impact of Poverty on Nations Worldwide Poverty in Rich Countries: The Case of America Social Learning Theories: The Use of Culture of Poverty Global Problems and Culture of Poverty Impact of Long Term Poverty: Understanding Culture of Poverty Concentrated Poverty: Cultural Influences Does Job Creation Reduce Poverty? Validity of the Culture of Poverty Theory Re-Evaluating Culture of Poverty for Modern Society The Evolution of the Debate on Poverty Influence of Kaaryn Gustafson on Culture of Poverty Influence of Mario Luis Small on Culture of Poverty Culture of Poverty Influence on Politics Culture of Poverty Influence on Welfare Reform Consequences of Culture of Poverty Sample 5-Paragraph Essay â€Å"The Traits That Characterize the Culture of Poverty† The theory of a culture of poverty is something which was created in 1959 when a book was published by an anthropologist named Oscar Lewis. This book was titled Five Families: Mexican Case Studies in the Culture of Poverty. The culture of poverty theory is one which states that living in conditions where poverty high rates of poverty are observed in high amounts will lead to creation of a culture or even a subculture which has adapted to the conditions of poverty.   This culture has been characterized by the ever present feelings of being marginalized, feeling dependent, being helpless, and feeling powerless. Individuals who live inside of a culture of poverty have no real sense of history and therefore they lack knowledge needed to alleviate the conditions in which they live through collective action. Instead they focus only on their individual problems. When poverty is imposed on a population that structure can actually lead to the development of a culture of poverty. This result s in individuals becoming autonomous, and developing attitudes and behaviors which are passed down from one generation to the next through socialization. The ethnography in which this theory made its first appearance renders poor people as a legitimate subject transformed by poverty. The original ethnography argued that the burdens of poverty are systematic and when the burdens are imposed upon members of society they form a subculture. This culture is formed by children who are socialized into attitudes and behaviors which perpetuate poverty and create their own inability to escape the impoverished environment in which they live. This theory further acknowledges that all past factors which have created this condition of society including substandard education and housing as well as a lack of job opportunities, sufficient social services with persistent discrimination and racial segregation together no longer matter. This theory perpetuates the notion that the cause of poverty and present behavior and the attitude of the poor people themselves. This would imply that public assistance to those who are poor, in the form of direct assistance or welfare will not eliminate poverty because the poverty is inherent within the culture of the poor. By following the reasoning laid out by this anthropologist the blame for poverty is shifted from the economic and social conditions and placed upon the poor people themselves. A great deal of the evidence presented in the original publication in support of this theory suffers from fallacies in the methodology. Because of this, when publicly criticized during the 1970s the theory became less influential but did make a comeback in the early 2000. During this time it impacted welfare reform once again with particular influence on Assistance for Needy Families in 1997 and again in 2005. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan used this theory in 1965 to support a publication about poor African Americans. This report stated that poor black people in America were stuck in a tangle of pathology and it was this pathology which caused the breakdown of the modern black family. It was argued that the traditional family among the African Americans during times of slavery was broken by slavery itself. It further stated that black males felt a sense of powerlessness during slavery which since that time had created a culture of dependency. This culture of dependency was argued to be the reason that traditional male headed households were declining among black families and the reason that black males were not succeeding as well in the social ladder. Overall the characteristics of the culture of poverty emphasize traits of maladaptive behaviors and attitudes from those who live in poverty. It is argued that people who live in poverty develop a subculture which adapts to the conditions, characterized by regular feelings of being marginalized, dependent, helpless and powerless. Furthermore those who live within a culture of poverty have no real sense of collective history and therefore cannot alleviate the condition based on collective action. Instead, these individuals focus on their own troubles and their own troubles alone. References: Owens, Patricia. The Family, the Culture of Poverty and Welfare Provision.  RAIN  63 (1984): 6. Web. Ravenhill, Megan.  The Culture of Homelessness. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2008. Print. Redeaux, Monique. The Culture of Poverty Reloaded.  Monthly Review  63.3 (2011): 96. Web. Rodman, Hyman.  Lower-Class Families. New York: Oxford University Press, 1971. Print. Tuason, Ma. Teresa. Culture Of Poverty: Lessons From Two Case Studies of Poverty in the Philippines; One Became Rich, the Other One Stayed Poor.  Online Readings in Psychology and Culture  8.1 (2002): n. pag. Web. Van Til, Sally Bould.  Work and the Culture of Poverty. San Francisco: R and E Research Associates, 1976. Print. Wasserman, Jason Adam, and Jeffrey M Clair.  At Home on the Street. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2010. Print.

Two characters analysis in Packer's Geese Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Two characters analysis in Packer's Geese - Essay Example She finds it difficult to trust anyone unconditionally and she is suspicious about everything. The scene for Dina shifts to Tokyo in this story. She lives with a group of young people who are jobless in Tokyo. They face slow starvation, and reach a situation where they share in one grapefruit and banana between five people. â€Å"The all-knowing arrogance of youth† is subdued by hunger. How small issues can take the grim turn—Dina alienates her roommates by eating the last slice of grapefruit. The thematic ploy in this story is â€Å"Asian prejudice against blacks.† The compulsions of living life in odd circumstances, when empty stomach leaves very harsh choices for survival—and Dina prostitutes herself to a Japanese sarariman, the men who liked to proposition black girls, because â€Å"Verry chah-ming daaark-ku skin. â€Å"What the story tells us through Dina is, the important aspect of life is the process through which one lives it. Success and failure s are but incidental factors, the reality of life is one’s approach to the struggles. In this story one finds the older, experienced Dina, from what she was in the story ‘Drinking Coffee Elsewhere.† She is in Tokyo with young company with persons like Ari, Petra, Zoltan etc. Being unable to find work through the normal channels, she invents a trick to eat and pay the rent. â€Å"She left with a wad of yen. While riding the tokkyuu she watched life pass, alert employees returning to work, uniformed children on a field trip. It all passed by — buildings, signs, throngs of people everywhere." — Ayesha Court. ‘Geese’ continues the somber mood, but with an almost surreal edge to it and a host of memorable if not necessarily fully-realized characters. â€Å"The store manager, a nervous Japanese man in his forties, brought her to Zoltan, telling him, in smiling, broken English, to keep her at home"(p.203) is the second important character in the story,

Financial Accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Financial Accounting - Essay Example Further an analysis is made to understand which of the two objectives is apt for the GPFR. Also an analysis is made to understand if the proposal of the IASB has helped improve the GPFR. A conclusion is then drawn out based on the discussion. However to discuss this further it is essential that we first understand what general purpose financial reports deal with. The next section focuses on understanding general purpose financial reports in detail. The Statement of Accounting Concept (SAC 1) explains general purpose financial reports as reports that are intended to meet the needs of common users who are unable to command the preparation of reports tailored to their specific needs. Also GPFRs can be produced by entities that have users who cannot command the preparation of specific information. The entities are required to be reporting entities and if they are not deemed to be report entity then it would not require producing a GPFR and would not require complying with all the accounting standards (IASB, 2008). GPFRs are not produced for a single group of users. It has grown from the basic need of all groups of users who need financial information. However there are conflicts between the groups since almost every group require different information for example suppliers and lenders vs. the shareholders, or the senior management vs. the employees. Shareholders require a more detailed report which helps them analyses the profitab ility, whereas lenders and suppliers require the report to be made for them to be more conservative. Similarly senior management would have concerns about the profits that are reported as if the profits are reported to be high the chances of increase in wage demanded will also be high. The main objectives of general purpose financial reports of the Australian accounting standards board is to provide reliable and

Problem Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Problem Questions - Essay Example This is whereby more than one person have right of ownership of the same property regardless of the share of each person(s) in the property. However, each person has distinct rights of possession in the property from the other co-owners though they all have absolute right to the entire property. Under common tenancy, each of the co-owners has right to do what they wishes with their right of ownership to the property. Therefore, co-owners can pass their right to the possession of the property to their heirs if they so wish or can even sell their property any time they fill like. Under such situation, the third party who has inherited or has purchased the property from another person will acquire absolute right of co-ownership with the other existing co-owners. Under common tenancy, each co-owner has personal liability for payment of the property rates, maintenance fees and refurbishment cost. However, if one of the co-owners bears the entire refurbishment and maintenance charges, they have a right to claim for reimbursement from the other co-owners. ... He also paid for the repair of the house and for installation of a new kitchen as well as for electricity and gas bills from his own earnings. However, there was no agreement to show the form of relationship that existed in the ownership of the estate either at present or in the future. According to their agreement, the estate was written in the name of Amaryllis.3 They have continued to live in the same house since then. In my view, by the virtue of their conduct and mutual agreement to live together the two co-owners had entered in a common tenancy. Under this form of ownership, there was no distinction as to what proportion of the property each of the two owns. Both Amaryllis and Basil have equal access to the property and can do anything they wish with the property. However, the parties should be careful with their deeds in order to avoid infringing the rights of each party.4 Therefore, each of the party may use the property according to their wishes, but should not interfere wit h the right of the other party. Under common tenancy, each of the co-owner of the property has a right to sell or to transfer the right to another person.5 Under such a situation, the third party to whom the property has been transferred to acquire absolute light similar to that which was held by the previous owner. In the light of this information, it can be argued that in the situation where Amaryllis invited her cousin Cecily to live in the estate with her, Amaryllis agreed to share her right in the property with Basil, but Cecily had no so such right as long as Amaryllis was in the estate.6 Therefore, Cecily could only enjoy limited rights as a share of what Amaryllis enjoyed and should in no way appear to enjoy

Belonging Essay Example for Free

Belonging Essay Belonging is the finest thing in the world that knows how to belong to oneself. You have to belong to yourself before you belong to society. Belonging is a quite a hard concept, as you can argue that people who don’t want to belong actually belong to a group of people who don’t want to belong. But what is belonging? One idea is that you belong when you feel comfortable with people who have similar objectives, goals, and aims as you. But, as i realised while analysing a film in fact it’s for this unit, if you don’t feel comfortable with the group you believe you belong to, then even if you have the same goals for example cricket. Even though everyone’s goal is to win, should the team not befriend you, make you feel like you are excluded from the team, then you don’t really feel that you belong to the team so it’s basically what belonging is about. My first text is about a song by my island home by Christina Anu and how the singer portrays aspects of belonging through her song lyrics. Firstly she explores the idea that belonging to people or places shapes our identity and then she explores how the barriers which prevent belonging can create a need to belong. The song Island Home shares her perception that belonging to certain people or place creates our ideology of life and where we rightfully belong. We live by the sea and My home is Australia this use of language shows pride and belonging to Australia. This creates and brings belong into place where our perspective of belonging to be one of happiness. Belonging is evident in the song in the boat on the sea again, and I holding that long turtle spear, and I feel close to where it must be. The composer emphasises the point that her home must be by the sea because that’s where she is from and where she feels that she belongs, the pride of her belonging. We create our own identity from the feelings and affections we have with belonging to certain societies and their way of life. Inclusion and isolation demonstrates our personal identity which portrays who we are. Our perspectives and views are changed depending upon what we belong to. My home is Australia; we are a land bound by sea to show that Australia is a part of her which will never be lost is also shown as her the composer is from a native background (aboriginal). She emphasises on how her and land are one, and it is this affection that had shaped her identity. Belonging in the song My Island Home? which I find is people who had experienced belonging to a place or community. But the song conveys the composer as; these glimpses are obviously not enough to make you feel the same way real belonging makes others feel. The composer shows the barriers she has to overcome like modernisation, family and living far away from the place she belongs to and this belonging is felt by her. The composer shows the importance of belonging by using a reflection question to compare her life in the present time and when she belonged. Will this place ever satisfy me this shows how much she wants to belong again, which portrays her strong love for her place of belonging. The composer only reveals through her dreams how she feels towards belonging. Six years I have lived in the desert, every night i dreamt of the sea shows the identity of the composer since Australia is covered in desert lands ad this shows the connection she has with Australia through her. Ahhh already it has taken so long to type this up for you to read , hope you are bored because you have a lot more to read so stay awake and read it ahah. My second text is on Edward scissor hand by Tim Burton, I was actually going to Life of Pie by Ang Lee but it was quite tough to relate to belong so I went with Edward scissor hands plus I got a bit help my English teacher for this movie so it make my life a bit easier. At the beginning of the film we see that Edward lives alone in a gothic castle. He has been isolated in the castle for an indeterminate time. Below the castle is a small town a close knit community and barely visits the castle, not knowing that Edward lives there. Peg feels sorry for him and decides to take him back to live with her in the town. At first Edward is being treated well because he is a great novelty. No one has ever seen someone like him before and he quickly becomes a celebrity. He is embraced by the townspeople; they think he is very useful with his scissors (haircutting, gardening etc. ) one of the town women thinks he is sexy and tries to seduce him. He refuses and runs away. This incident becomes the catalyst for Edwards’s rejection and alienation from the community. Edwards’s personality consists of innocent, naive, limited social skills, very gentle and very experienced at relationships with people, no idea of sex, manners etc. Other than what his creator taught him from books. He is very trusting until he finds himself he victim of a setup. After things become worse, Edward finds he is a victim and cannot remain in the community. Techniques used to convey the context relevant to belonging is that Edwards’s clothes and appearance is a complete contrast to town’s people. When he first arrives Peg him clothes to wear which he puts on over his own costume. This helps him develop a sense of belonging to the family and the community and reduces his difference to the townspeople. However the fact that he doesn’t remove his clothes indicates that he wants to maintain his identity. Later in the film he becomes angry and feelings of rejection and alienation by the town cause him to rip off. Music is used in a number of ways to show Edwards innocence and purity. His character is linked to Kims in the way music and lighting are used, the haunting they’re music, together with soft/bright lighting plus show plus the slow motion of the camera reinforces the innocence and the nature of their love for each other. At the end of the film, when it becomes impossible for Kim and Edward to belong to each other in a proper relationship. He goes back into the castle and she to the town. All though they cannot belong together physically they will always belong together emotionally. This is shown at the end of the film as Edward continues to make snow from the ice and flashback to the narrator at the child’s bedside. Alright you only got a bit more reading for go so sit back and read the rest and tell me how I went. For my third text I have chosen the picture the island by Armin greder. The picture book, The Island portrays belonging as impossible if there is an ignorant and fearful dominant culture. The book portrays to the responder into almost alienation and new comer into a strongly built and well organized society. The alien is portrayed as thin and white-white and unclothed showing that the new comer is an empty canvas to be painted opinions onto. The new comer is also thin and innocent looking showing how the character is reliant on acceptance to survive. Whilst the dominant society is given the appearance of large, over bearing, they are always portrayed as a collective group portraying their dominance. They are in black clothing, they all appear to look the same- again representing there collectiveness, and they are holding pitch forks portraying their feelings towards the new comer unwelcomed. The dominant society belong together they appear to look the same, and have much of the same views, they have collectively created a community that are dependent on each other and there likeness. The society is well established and fearful of anything that will imbalance its structure and that is different from their social, cultural and historical similarities. The new being does not offer any change, it does not do anything to radicalize the community but just its presence of being different offers physiological fear to the dominant society. The book demonstrates the effect of fear, what it does to a community and the object being feared. Through fear of this unknown the community alienated the unknown, trying to forget its existence when this did not work the community they contemplated integrating the being. But the overbearing fear of the effect the being would have on their system led them to cast out the different being. The being that was submitted to the dominant cultures fear was treated as inferior, become the dominant society did not want the unknown to belong they create a barrier around themselves in fear of the unknown and it defining themselves as exclusive. Because the dominant society was afraid of the unknown they showed ignorance and a lack of open thinking which creates difficulties to them from acceptance and understanding of anything other than their own people. Therefore Belonging is a way of life which characterises us humans and creates our individuality. Due to the complex and abstract nature of the concept of belonging, a true sense of belonging can be found in different circumstances for different people. As each individual has their own desires, needs and values, they find their place in the world and a genuine sense of belonging in various avenues. Many individuals find the strongest sense of belonging through relationships, due to the fact that by nature these connections fulfil the human need for social interaction and enrich the lives of the persons involved.

Vygotskys Zone of Proximal Development

Vygotskys Zone of Proximal Development Lev Vygotsky views collaboration with peers as an effective way of development. He suggests that more cooperative learning activities should be used in the classroom in which less capable students develop with assistance and support from more knowledgeable peers, within their zone of proximal development. In other words, according to Vygotsky, the task becomes â€Å"internalised through actual relations between† the students (Vygotsky, 1978:57) and successfully performed. In one of my English Literature lessons, I taught a group of Y11 second language learners how to answer and analyse a question using PEER (Point – Evidence –Explain – Reflect) technique. The students were revising exam-type questions and had to be ready for analysis. I started with a demonstration activity from the novel I am the King of the Castle. With some leading questions, I started analysing the point, involving the students in finding evidence, linkers, explanation, etc. As soon as the students were assigned with an individual task, the majority of them (7 out of 10) were able to perform with no challenges due to their prior knowledge and vocabulary. On the other hand, the ‘ripe’ students were not able to follow the critical task unaided. Therefore, they were paired with more able students to practise analysis, finding evidence, explaining and evaluating. The less able students were doing it correctly till the point when more criticality needed. With a little aid from a more competent peer, they developed conceptual learning. In future lessons, given a similar task, students will be able to perform with more confidence; and once it is internalised, scaffolding might be removed. I think as a conceptual tool for teachers the ZPD is very helpful in developing a curriculum which will challenge students’ learning and enable them to enquire; it also helps teachers in effective grouping of students where less able students can achieve with some guidance and support from more competent students. Finally, the ZPD might be helpful in assessing students’ abilities in order to decide their year group distribution. ===================================================================================== In this specific lesson, I managed scaffolding the group of Y11 second language students to write effectively. My main objective was how to write interesting, imaginative and thoughtful texts, using appropriate and effective vocabulary. (The lesson objectives were taken from the Writing Assessment Foci (AF1/AF7) of the National Curriculum.) Due to the different ability level of students, I demonstrated all the instructional options summarised by Wood, (1988). In the video clip, David Wood explained evidently the difference between contingent teaching and scaffolding, highlighting that scaffolding is â€Å"a functional analysis of the kinds of activities that a teacher might undertake to simplify the students’ learning; whereas contingency is about interaction, process, it’s how teachers go about of supporting a particular individual when they are setting out to learn.† Therefore, I involved all the five instructional options as aspects of scaffolding. I introduced the lesson objectives and outcomes of writing effectively, and assigned the students to write a one line description of a man who is smiling coldly. My verbal instruction was to look at their partner’s work and compare their responses, ensuring that the sentences matched the assessment foci. The more competent students performed very well because of their pre-existing knowledge of literary devices, sentence structure, effective vocabulary, and the ability to look at the context, whilst the less capable students used very simple and uncomplicated sentences. At this point, I provided some prompt by asking them to write a one line description of a man who is smiling coldly, using the word ARCTIC. This time, the students also worked individually and upon their task completion, I asked them to compare their responses with the model sentence on the board: â€Å"Mr. Fisher had a smile of arctic brightness.† While working as a class and comparing their sentences, t he students then had to consider how the description worked there, what literary devices were used to make the sentence more effective. Obviously, a few of the students with less competence could construct a sentence with the word ‘arctic’ because they did not know what it meant. I then provided a thesaurus support, asking them to first look up the word and then, using some other techniques of personification or imagery and careful sentence structure to construct a sentence, which meets the objectives of the lesson. The students still struggled with the use of a simile, metaphor, etc.; therefore, a group of more knowledgeable students was swapped to provide support to those less competent peers by sharing their examples, reinforcing the use of literary devices, using effective vocabulary and correct structure. With the additional support, the students came up with a variety of sentences. They were also provided with a checklist of expected skills they needed to accomplish the task. This was done as a class work, thoroughly read and explained. In Wood’s terminology, this was a stage where I demonst rated contingent teaching with the features of interactive instruction. I indicated the material and prepared them for the assembly. The rest of the lesson was spent in focus on exploring the necessary skills in writing; and the students were assigned with a final task of writing a character description using one of their carefully crafted sentences as a starting point. To sum up, I should put together Wood’s theory of scaffolding: General Verbal Prompt (GVP) was given throughout the lesson to give instruction and introduce the topic, etc. Special Verbal Instruction (SVI) was given as well when the students had to construct their own sentences and compare them either with their partners or with the model. Even though this work was done individually, the students still could do this unaided, due to their pre-existing knowledge. Indicating Material (IM) was the next step when I suggested the use of a dictionary, constantly reminded the students of the AFs, objectives of the lesson, and provided the assistance of more competent students to help to successfully accomplish the task. To prepare for the assembly of the final writing piece using literary devices, appropriate and effective vocabulary, and an effectively written text, the students were distributed a checklist and framework of expected skills explored during the lesson. A demonstration (DEM) of how to write imaginary and thoughtful sentences using an effective word choice was also used throughout the lesson by sharing model sentences with all the students to facilitate their work and understanding. Throughout the lesson, there was a varied level of teacher interaction supporting the students to ‘internalise’ the knowledge and complete the task successfully, at which point, the teacher should have not intervene. The following lesson aimed at peer marking and spotting mistakes and the discussion of the skills acquired during the previous lesson. ===================================================================================== Child-centred learning has been advocated by several educationalists and psychologists for many years. Its basic emphasis is children’s individual interests and needs in education, which may vary in terms of development rates and the nature of the teacher’s control. The term ‘child-centeredness’ is related to children’s individual needs and decisions about the curriculum and the teacher’s role in the classroom. However, since child development theories vary, child-centred learning also varies in a classroom. Pioneers in child development theory, Jean Piaget and Lev Vygostsky, observe considerable differences between cognitive and social constructivist theories assigned to each individual child and the social context of play in their development. They both support the idea of knowledge construction by individuals. However, Piaget believes that knowledge is a product of the individual and the environment. Vygostky, on the other hand, advocates the idea that knowledge is constructed due to social interaction and then internalised by guidance. Piaget and Vygostky differently promote the relationship between learning and development: Piaget believes that development follows learning, whilst Vygotsky shows that learning leads to development and plays a vital role in it. He states that â€Å"†¦the only ‘good learning’ is that which is in advance of development† (Vygotsky, Mind in Society and the ZPD, 2002:113). Both theorists emphasise, though, that peer interaction and cooperation promote children’s learning. Since Piaget’s and Vygostky’s child-centred approaches vary greatly, their implication in a classroom varies as well. Piaget’s approach relies on the liberty of children and appropriate environment for learning, where children learn by exploring things by themselves. Those with Vygotsky’s approach, provide a balance between teacher-directed and child-initiated classroom, where teachers provide assistance to ensure that the children are able to attain a higher l evel within their ZPD. Other theorists, John Dewey and Maria Montessori, have also played a significant role in child-centred learning theory development. Despite the similarities in their belief that some guidance is important for children to help them develop their intelligence, they both have different perspectives about the role of children’s freedom in education and the teacher’s role in the classroom. Dewey believes that democratic schooling is based on child-centeredness where learning means experiencing. Being a progressivist, he believes in the development of the ability in children to function well in the larger democratic society and attain personal fulfilment. Dewey emphasises that the construction of children’s freedom of intelligence via observation is more important than their freedom of will. Therefore, he summons up the teachers to act as a representative of the children’s interests as a whole. They should create self-control in children, which will assist the t eacher to understand the aim of education. Montessori, by contrast, sees teachers’ authority in the support they give to the children rather than in their â€Å"dignity†. She believes that orderly environment and appropriate materials will promote children’s development. Teachers, therefore, should prepare motives and inspire children to develop without any direct instruction. I think the combination of all four theories is beneficial for my understanding of child-centeredness in education and in conceptualised classroom situations. Piaget’s cognitive constructivist theory helps me understand when children have freedom to explore and construct knowledge, they make choice and experience. Vygotsky’s social constructivist theory can help me understand children’s ability to develop with adult guidance to attain their ZPD. Dewey’s understanding of children’s freedom of intelligence to promote learning will assist me how to nurture this with guidance for each individual’s constant growth. Finally, Montessori’s support of each child’s potential to have inner drive to learn, will help me remove all the obstacles that impede learning. ===================================================================================== Nowadays, Early Years Education (EYE) has a mixture of their foundation in the work of Montessori and her critics W. Kilpatrick and J. Dewey. A confident Early Year practitioner should be aware of the ways how children learn and develop; support them in solving problems and making decisions; and provide them with practice and roles to enhance learning. The Montessori method has been partially embraced by the International Community School in Amman, Jordan, where I am currently working. Some of the pedagogic principles, however, have not been accepted by the school administration due to their understanding of the method as â€Å"purely academic, mechanistic and rigid†. Below, I will demonstrate the aspects which are currently practised in the school, and which I, a Secondary Teacher, have observed as part of my EC in Lower Primary. One aspect of â€Å"good practice† in Foundation Stage of the school is that the teachers utilise activities in â€Å"sensory rich† environment. The students are guided and supported to learn to interact and thus develop independent learning. In this environment, the children choose their activities and learn by doing. Montessori believes that training senses is fundamental and that it will promote the basis for the development of imagination. According to her, intellect should be developed early, through stimulation of senses, as a basis for the development of imagination and social relationships (Montessori, 1964). The FS teachers do apply this aspect of learning because they find it fruitful: students become prepared for KS1 as â€Å"self-directed†, independent students, who are able to perform and master inter-connected and challenging tasks. On the other hand, W. Kilpatrick argues in his book The Montessori Method Examined (1914), that imagination and social relations should be developed before the intellect because the premature development of the intellect can stifle creativity. Kilpatrick believes in the opposite that providing children with â€Å"socially conditioned environment† will create a spontaneous unity of groups to work out their tasks. This suggests that children will develop their imagination and social relationship by â€Å"cooperating† with each other. The FS teachers apply this aspect of learning in their classroom as well, believing that only through their [teachers’] â€Å"consideration† and â€Å"suggestion† (p.20) can the students cooperate socially and learn effectively. Another aspect of â€Å"good practice† utilised by the FS teachers is the child’s liberty. Montessori believes that students’ free choice and freedom on the â€Å"educational playground† can be advantageous and can promote their free self-expression. This is practised in my school with caution, however. The teachers as well as Kilpatrick believe that too much liberty will not lead to â€Å"right conduct† (p.23). He emphasises that â€Å"†¦in the effort to suppress†¦ impulses, a certain amount of positive pain association (â€Å"punishment†) will prove necessary†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (p.24). Thus, having acquired a positive self-expression with the guidance and support of the teacher, the child develops self-discipline and â€Å"proper conduct† (p.24). Finally, one more aspect of â€Å"good practice† applied in FS of my school is that the students exercise â€Å"practical life† in their classroom. Activities like cooking, cleaning, serving, setting tables, washing hands, constructing, etc. become so intrinsically meaningful that the students develop their potential to perform these tasks with interest and concentration. Utilising this approach, teachers create the Montessori model which is â€Å"the school should fit the needs of the students.† This means that the Montessori curriculum is based on the students spending a lot of time taking part in different sessions of uninterrupted activities, which last several hours. These activities contain a variety of independent and group-solving tasks related to different subjects: maths, science, music, geography, etc. Here, Kilpatrick agrees with Montessori that â€Å"schools should function more definitely as a social institution, adapting itself to its own environm ent, utilising more fully actual-life situation† (p.41). In contrast to a Montessori classroom, the FS classrooms are NOT mixed age, but are counterparts. This is why the teachers mix the children according their abilities when less-able students are supported by more capable students. To conclude, our students are a combination of the Montessori Method and a modern democratic school, where the child’s day is a mixture of activities, starting from unstructured approach – where the students play and learn independently and ending with highly structured approach – where the tasks are teacher-directed and there is little play. Other activities are focused learning, when students are guided by the teacher and play and learn via experiential activities; and finally, the activities are child-initiated, when students interact sensibly and sensitively in a supportive and enabling environment. All these approaches are used by Early Year Foundation Stages (EYFS) in international schools in Amman. ===================================================================================== Freire’s views explicitly recognise the relationship between education and knowledge. He emphasises that liberal education would build on the knowledge resources and agency of learners: â€Å"Liberation education consists in acts of cognition, not transferals of information† (Freire, 2002:366). In Jordanian education system, however, â€Å"the raison d’etre of liberation education† lies in its didactic approach of teaching – the ‘banking’ concept of education – where teachers are ‘depositors’ and students are ‘depositories’. The system heavily relies on memorisation techniques, which is done for the academic performance. Students are required to learn from seven to ten subjects within the period of two years. At the end of the two-year, they sit for the end-of-year external examinations. The students’ learning styles involve a lot of writing and memorising; the classes are teacher-centred and in â€Å"transferals of information†; the content is massive and should be covered in a two-year period; and time constraints are obstacles to interactive lessons. Within this short time framework, students and teachers work hard to cover the content of learning, which is overwhelming. They display their â€Å"absolute ignorance† towards the â€Å"oppressed† situation and fail to respond to the â€Å"essence of consciousness†. They also fail to recognise cognition and thus, do not â€Å"establish an authentic form of thought and action.† (p.366) Problem-posing education would liberate Jordanian state school students if they were taught facts of the reasons and means of humans’ existence; if teachers regarded dialogue as a precondition to cognition; if students were taught how to think critically; if they built their understanding on creativity, etc. I believe the Jordanian education system would be one of the best if they accepted individuals as â€Å"historical beings† to clearly acknowledge their present, past and their willingness to †wisely build the future† (p.367).

Embryonic Stem Cells: The Future of Medicine Essay example -- Embryon

Whereas there are many facets of medical research in the world at the present time, one of the more controversial continues to be stem cell research and more specifically, embryonic stem cell research. The percentage of groups and individuals who agree or disagree with this science are roughly equal on both sides of the argument. There are many quarrels within this one area including â€Å"should stem cell research be federally funded†, â€Å"is embryonic stem cell research ethical†, and â€Å"is the outcome of stem cell research worth it†? While there is no right or wrong answer to these questions, since the answer would vary depending on whom you ask, the argument regarding this topic remains quite passionate and heated. Embryonic stem cell research is the medical study of cells taken from embryos before they are able to implant into a uterus. This procedure – harvesting the cells – ultimately destroys the embryo rendering it non-viable and unable to sustain life. Adult stem cell research is simply the study of stem cells harvested from adults and used in many areas of medicine. Numerous groups are opposed this sort of research because they feel it infringes on the right to life, while others do not believe that an embryo that has spent five days in a petri dish should be considered a human. In the 1800’s the first discovery of stem cells occurred. This discovery proved that some cells could spawn other cells. However, it was not until the early 1900’s that research demonstrated stem cells could generate blood cells. This was very promising in the medical community at that time since so many diseases ran rampant and were incurable. During the infancy of stem cell research , both animal and human stem cells were used. Now, for medic... ...h Embryonic Stem Cell Research?. Pregnantpause.org. 26 Jul 2001. Web. 28 Nov 2011. Moisse, Katie. â€Å"Stem Cells: New Hope for Heart Failure Patients†. Abcnews.com. 14 Nov 2011. Web. 15 Nov 2011. Park, Alice. â€Å"Stem Cell Miracle? New Therapies May Cure Chronic Conditions like Alzheimer’s†. Time Magazine. 25 Jun 2011. Web. 10 Nov 2011. Snow, Nancy. â€Å"Stem Cell Research New Frontiers in Sciences and Ethics†. Houston Community College Library. 2004. Print. 10 Nov 2011. Stem Cell Basics: What are the potential uses of human stem cells and the obstacles that must be overcome before these potential uses will be realized?. In Stem Cell Information. Web. Bethesda, MD: National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2009. 22 Nov 2011. Tasker, Fred. â€Å"New Stem Cell Study Promises to Heal the Heart†. Dallas Morning News. 22 Mar 2011. Web. 10 Nov 11.