Economic and Financial Committee Essay Example for Free

Economic and Financial Committee Essay This letter is to address the widening gap between the rich and poor in developing nations, and how globalization policies create a situation that lessens that gap. In many developing countries there is simply a poor class and a rich class. Developed nations are characterized by the presence of a middle class. The middle class bridges the gap between rich and poor, and when developing nations can create a fully functioning middle class within their societies, the contrasts between rich and poor seem to deplete. In a viewpoint essay edited by Debra Miller (2008) entitled â€Å"Globalization Promotes Democracy Both Directly and Indirectly† this concept is demonstrated. The premise of the article is that globalization efforts create an economic and entrepreneurial middle class who then demand and facilitate democratization in developing countries. As a matter of policy, economic reform, through globalization, should precede democratization. For example glasnost in Russia, or democracy and freedom before economic reform, proved to be unsuccessful. While in China economic reform before political change has proven to be an effective policy. The conclusions of Jagdish Bhagwati, Columbia University economics professor and U. N. advisor, demonstrate the process of bridging the economic and class gap. A small farmer in India used the internet to take his crops to both local and international markets. This tool of globalization gave him the freedom to control prices, as well as supply and demand. This increased economic independence and experience of personal control often translates into political aspirations that eventually lead to policies that bridge the economic gap in such countries. The internet is just one tool of globalization. As your committee examines the conditions and policies of other developing nations, it is imperative that you consider the process of globalization that leads to economic reform that leads to democracy. Policies and initiatives must focus on supplying developing nations with the tools of globalization, particularly access to international trade opportunities, that have a direct impact on the individual’s economic and financial situations. As these individuals transform into an economic middle class, they will take action in the social and political affairs in their nations that will, in turn, create a more democratic society that will provide better economic opportunities for all citizens. Reference Globalization Promotes Democracy Both Directly and Indirectly. (2007). In Debra Miller Current Controversies: Globalization(). Detroit: Greenhaven Press. 5 May 2008, Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center via Gale: http://find. galegroup. com/ips/start. do? prodId=IPS Respectfully Submitted,

Walton S Mississippi: An American Journey | Analysis

Walton S Mississippi: An American Journey | Analysis Before his travelling to Mississippi, he never really felt the severity of the issue of racism, for he was born into a neighborhood where people kept what prejudices they had to themselves (4). For Anthony and most of the blacks today, Mississippi is something from which the blacks had freed [themselves], washed into the past. The blacks like Anthony today enjoy the fruits of success, freedom and equal rights from the sacrifices of their ancestors. Their biggest concern surrounds trivial questions like whether to have espresso or cappuccino after dinner (9). Most of his knowledge surrounding issues of racial discrimination towards African American are limited to textbooks and conversations with family. During the night of the assassination of Martin Lurther King, Anthony, who was only seven by that time, refused to take out the garbage'(5) for he was terrified of the dark. He knew that Mississippi had something to do with [his] fear (5). His real image of Mississippi came only when his school, Notra Dame lost to Ole Miss (University of Mississippi) during a football game. He was petrified by the scene where the Ole Miss supporters raise the controversial Confederate flags to support their team. He was befuddled by their acts but he realized that something was not right. His experience towards racism was strengthen during his stay in New York to report the protest march in Brooklyn neighborhood in the wake of Yusuf Hawkins murder where he realizes the existence and the severity of racial discrimination. The roads were filled with whites who were throwing watermelonsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦and shouting NIGGERS! (7) He was terrified. He thought that such kind of open racism would only happen in the past, during the pre-Emancipation period. But he was wrong. It happened right in front of him, in this contemporary metropolitan New York. He knew something was wrong but he could not figure out what. That was when he decided to embark on the journey to Mississippi; to discover the root of the problem and find explanation for his many observations, he need to go back to a place where everything begins and that is, Mississippi. During his travelling in Mississippi, he has learnt and observed things that could never be learnt from textbook. During his visit to the Ole Miss football game, among the sharply and richly dress (161) spectators raised Confederate battle banner that were in everywhere, particularly among the alumni (161). Anthony was again befuddled by his sight. Shouldnt the Confederate flag, which is the ultimate symbolization of racism and oppression towards blacks, be removed in this day and ages? What was the intention of white Mississippians raising the Confederate flag? Dont they know that the flag was the key symbol of the period of greatest pain and suffering of the blacks ever in the American history? As he searched for the answer, he soon learnt that the Mississippians have not truly recovered from the pre-Emancipation period. Beneath the seemingly peaceful racial relationship are the prejudices which are deeply rooted in every Mississippians, that even the passage of time could not erase them completely. In places like football stadium in Mississippi, blacks would not be present, as Anthony suggest, for the blacks did not [feel] belong and certainly were not missed (162). There is still a great rift between the black and whites, that Mississippi contains two cultures of blacks and whites that are mutually hostile at each other. Just like the confederate flags that were waving high in the stadium, the whites see it as a representation of history and heritage while blacks think that the flag is a totem of subjugation. Two contrasting and opposing idea, again, reflected the very core problem of the contemporary Mississippi society the lack of understanding and tolerance between ra ces. After having been meeting with a few people like Mrs. Luckett and visiting places like the big mansions that whites reside, he realized that he was missing one major linkage in his search for the true and ugly American history his father. Being a direct victim of racial prejudices and oppression in the 50s, Anthonys father Claude did not talk to his child very much about his past. Anthony realized that by involving his father in his search for the roots of the problem, he would be able to find the linkage between his family past history with the disgusting, violent and often brutal Mississippi history. Through his father, Anthony knew that he was able to learn and feel the suffering of a black directly. Claude was born in Holly Spring. Just like many black children, he too faced with a lot of discriminations from the whites. For instance, he has to receive old books which always have pages missing (215) in school. Unlike the white kids, he didnt get to ride the bus. When there was n o school, Claude had to work in cotton field from early morning till at night. Through the vivid description of his father, Anthony finally understands how the aspect of Mississippi was like, that he often find hard to imagine. It was not until the brutal and merciless murder of his friend James, coupled with the hatred towards whites that he had long carried with him that James decided to leave Mississippi for Chicago, for he was tired of the racism and meanness'(213) here. He wanted to be treated like a boy, like a man (213). Through his journey to Mississippi, Anthony is able to gain more appreciation towards the Blues music, that blues has increasingly shadow everything, including his own worldview and those of [his] parents (227), as the detune notes (227) of the blues truly reflect and echoes the delivers of the spirit, the growl and the shriek (227) of the oppressed blacks towards the society. As Anthony continues to reveal one of the bloodiest chapters in the American history and associated them with his observations, he was petrified and abhorred by the ugliness of history the oppression of whites towards blacks and the inhuman and disgusting acts that have ever committed. He appreciates what his journey had taught him, though they might not necessarily be pretty. He tried to find the answers for what had happened around him. However, for each question he tried to answer, it will branch into three more, into infinitudes that he could no longer grasp (211). He started to view the problems, which he put the blame on the blacks, that trouble that blacks in South Chicago as an continuation of prejudices that rooted in the long history of Mississippi and American in general. He had finally learned to stop to evade and forget (275) the history but to embrace and call them [his] own. (275) In Mississippi: An American Journey, Anthony Walton travels back and forth in the river of Black history and his real-life journey to Mississippi. Waltons journey covers not only places that cast 200 years of history but also a long list of people: sharecroppers, planters, his parents and relatives, famous writers, bluesmen, aristocrats-white and black, those who create the history and those who inhabit it now. To Walton, once one of those who suffered from historical amnesia (274), this journey is a process of answering the contradictions and illusions around him, a process of gaining knowledge instead of being an American innocent, (274) and a process of deciphering his heritage, Mississippi, a place bearing the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. (274) However, it is not the knowledge increment of truth and stories that disappoint him but the acknowledgement of that the past has not yet passed do. Waltons innocence refers to his limited understanding of racism, Mississippi, even America. His knowledge of these is confined to awareness of them but not the insight into them. Walton once believed that the journey would bring him clarity and master of historical tradition of his race to compliment his inexperience. Certainly, the journey does give him enough fruit to appease his hunger. But what he discovers in Mississippi exceeds what he wanted to know. The knowledge he gains from the journey is that he progressively understands that the innocence comes from his happily suffering the historical amnesia that leads Americans to think they are innocent of history because they won-their values prevailed, their goals were achievedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Moreover, the realization of the pervasion of the darkness of Americas history wakes him up from the dream of the pursuit of truth and enlightment. In the prologue of Mississippi, Walton depicts a powerful scene in which his father, Claude, recounts an event happened on a Christmas Eve forty years ago. Claude points a shuttered building and says James Crump, his childhood friend, was shot right here where used to be a bus station because somebody called the sheriff and complained about James singing and clapping his hands on Christmas Eve. In Waltons mind, his father is a quiet man, well behaved, middle class as him, and never associated with violence because of his religion. But, what he sees in Claudes eyes when he recounts the story is indignation and grief that astonishes him. This old man turns to be a character lived under racism that he had never known. The increasing understanding of his fathers lives inspires him to reexamine racism and Mississippi. In a later chapter, Claude tells Walton the stories of his work during his escape from Mississippi to the North. Walton asks Did you ever want to hurt white people? (216) Claude responds with an ironic smile Most definitely. I hate white people, with a passionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ I hated them as much as they hated me. I often had visions of wiping out the entire white community. (217)Upon this time, Walton is amazed that his father and thousands of other people who experienced and suffered from racism did not push their suffering down into another generation. (274) But, compared to what confused him before the journey, the toll of daily discrimination and hostilities he paid at New York, Walton realizes that he is still living in the same life as his father did except for the physical labor. Though Walton and other younger blacks can be well-educated, though their parents tried hard not to pass down their suffering and grief to them, the truth that young blacks are unconsciously suffering from the racism cannot be omitted, as long as they are blacks. The augmented knowledge of his father pushes him to realize the vagueness of what he deeply believed before-history is [as being] progressive, as having a purpose. In college, Waltons connection to Mississippi is only when his school, Notre Dame, loses a bitterly fought football game to Ole Miss, which is also the University of Mississippi. What he only knows about University of Mississippi at that time is that there is lots of Confederate hoopla surrounding the Rebels (6) and he does not glad about that. During his journey, he visits University of Mississippi several times, with his mother, Dorothy, and his friend, Mona. Walton and Mona go to the homecoming football game. In the stadium, he once again catches the sight of the Confederate flag among the alumni occupying a half of the stadium. The whites claim the rebel flag represents history and heritage whereas blacks see it as a totem of their subjugation; and it was astonishing to see fifty thousand whites waving Confederate flags to urge on their black gladiators. (162) This striking scene shows that racism is still here, at Mississippi. The society is still separate; the cost of their parents generation has not yet been paid off. However, as Walton and his mother wander around the campus, they find that some of the college students of Ole Miss and other younger blacks generation seem to comfortably live in the freedom in the cost of the 250-year battle of black Mississippians for recognition and civil rights, especially the battle for Ole Miss. (91) No one black student seems to be aware of what had happened here and what is going on here. In Dorothys eyes, A lot of them dont really identify with the cause of Mississippi or with blackness, or with what it took to get here. They dont care what it took as long as they can get in on some of the benefitsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ They probably dont even know who James Meredith is. (91) Statistics even shows that nine out of ten of the black college students in Ole Miss dont know who Medgar Evers was. The reality and statistics both convince Walton of the persisting racism in Mississippi and the ignorance of the generation of young blacks. He defines this symptom as amnesia, an epidemic disease among young blacks. Fortunately, Walton recovers from the journey to Mississippi. In contrast to his previous innocence, Waltons new knowledge about Mississippi and the persisting segregation helps him see the hooplas as something more concrete than mere dislike. The emotion is more complex. It is filled with centuries of hatred and violence, the same as what he sees from his fathers eyes. Dorothy once asked him about William Faulkner when he was in graduate school at Brown University, because she wanted to write about a Nobel laureate from her hometown, New Albany. Walton laughed out loud and informed her that this Faulkner was white. So? she replied. Walton tries hard to not think of Faulkner during his trip to Mississippi because in his mind, Faulkner was a white, a celebrator of the Confederacy and the owner of a big house out on Old Taylor Road whereas himself is a descendent of those who had been the slaves of his Sartorises, Compsons and Sutpens, who had suffered enormously under the Snopeses. But, he realizes he was wrong. Faulkner is everywhere in Mississippi. What Faulkner says about the past is undoubtedly right-the past isnt dead. It isnt even past yet. Faulkners novel Absalom, Absalom! reflects the history of South and foreshadows its future. In the novel, Supten disavows his black son by a black woman while embraces the white son by a white woman. The refusal of admitting the black son sets off a chain of incidents that lead to the destruction of the entire Sutpen family and plantation. After two years of his trip, Walton comes to decipher the metaphor in the novel as the reality what he is examining in Mississippi. The states tragic history is testimony to what this refusal has wrought. And it is now likely that the members of the two racial groups are permanent strangers, doomed to gape and stare but not see, blind to each other as siblings, humans, Americans. (163) Walton also refers Faulkners family story as the history of Mississippi. Faulkner understands the conflict in the hearts of Mississippian because he has deeply fallen in love with a black woman, Caroline Barr. However, when looking around at Faulkners marvelous mansi on, Walton can hardly find anything implies the existence of Caroline and manifests the love of them. Waltons new knowledge or acceptance of Faulkner is the product of his journey, clearing his innocence, recognizing the truth and exposing the scar of history. The book Mississippi: An American Journey emphasizes the shift of Waltons innocence to knowledge of history of blacks, of Mississippi, and of America. In the journey to Mississippi, the cotton plantation, the Rosaline mansion, the resting place of Medgar Ever, Holly Spring, New Albany, and Ole Miss are not simple places or scenic spots to Walton. The long roster containing Richard Wright, President Roosevelt, Ross Barnett, Meredith, sharecroppers, and bluesmen is not merely a review of history neither. They are testimony of racism, hatred and the logjam of history. In the end of the epilogue, Walton points out that Most of all, we want to be innocent of how much the ghosts and bones of our beautiful landscape have shaped and twisted virtually everything that has happened here; and we want to remain ignorant of how costly our innocence is to our government, our communities and our hears. But now, after the journey, Walton is glad that he could recover from the amnesia, never embrace t he ghosts and cradle the bones and call them his [my] own. (275) again. Work Cited Anthony, Walton. Mississippi: An American Journey. New York, Vintage, 1996. Innocence to knowledge Anthony Walton, a black upper middle class man with an Ivy League education, decides to journey back to Mississippi in hopes of discovering more about the, the troubled soul of the south(Caryl Phillips). He describes his experience in his book entitled, Mississippi: An American Journey. Mississippi is a landmark place for him because both his parents were raised there and as a child he spent countless summers with family members there. In the end of his long journey Walton reviews over all that he has learned and witnessed while in Mississippi and he concludes that his findings have taken him from a state of innocence into painful knowledge he did not have before (272). Walton explains this knowledge to be much like the knowledge Adam and Eve received once they, [ate] the fruit of the tree of knowledge, because, [he] became aware of things [he] could never not know again (272). Now Walton is no ignorant person, he studied at both Brown and Norte Dame University, so when he talks of acquiring knowledge he is simply saying he was given in depth information on topics he did not know there level of severity. It is not just Walton who did not know the extent of Mississippi history, but he said Americans in general had this amnesia about the past (272). Some of the realities Walton received were the stories told by older family members. His father told the first story of the book, and that was of his friend being shot to death on Christmas Eve. This story was told as they were walking in Mississippis humid summer weather in the exact location that the killing took place. At the time of the story Walton could only focus on how terribly uncomfortable he was in the weather, while it seemed like his father had stepped in a time machine that put him back at the scene. The deceased boy was innocent, young, and had not hurt a soul that night, but without the slightest bit of questioning was shot and killed instantly by a white man for expressing his happiness. Seeing the emotional and long term effect this had on his father, Walton began to get a glimpse into the sufferings his father experienced as a child in Mississippi compared to the privileged life style his father had given to him. A life style in Illinois where people, kept what prejudices they had to themselves (4). That single story was the beginning of a long str ing of knowledge Walton would collect. In the journey Walton and his mother visited Ole Miss. Ole Miss is the University of Mississippi, the fighting ground for people like his mother and fathers generation. As the two of them sat on campus, Dorothy Walton, his mother reminisced on her dreams about Ole Miss. She said although her generation was not able to attend it she would think, if i could get a chance to go here, that would everything alright, (95). Dorothy also noticed black students on campus who did not acknowledge her and she felt as if they had disconnected and forgotten about all the hard work before them that allowed them to be where they are (91). For instance the first black man to attend Ole Miss, James Meredith, having to be escorted by, five hundred U.S. marshals, border patrolmen, and deputized prison guards (94).Walton listens to her and thinks back to the time when they were touring colleges for him and that bit of information about Ole Miss and his mothers discontent with blacks interaction on campus let him understand the true cost of education. Walton would attend an Ole Miss football game while in Mississippi and witness a sign of racism he had never seen before. He was obviously aware that black people were not always admitted into the university and therefore the past alumni would be white; what he did not know was that the alumni carried, Confederate battle banner[s] everywhere (161). That flag was not a flag that displayed unity amongst all but one that was symbolic of a time where blacks where suppressed and unequal. Whether the flag represented history or not it was offensive to groups and Walton had to be in disbelief when he saw it. These signs were the pieces of the knowledge puzzle he was putting together in his head. Throughout Waltons journey he continues to ask the question of worthiness. His aunt and his mother were approached with the question. He wanted to know from his aunt was it worth moving up north and then moving back to Mississippi where racism is different from up north. She said the ghettos up north were the cause of death for many black men and if she wanted her sons to succeed then they would need to be in another area. This was an eye opener for Walton because he grew up in the north an assumed its was better then the rural south. Walton also asks his mom was it worth having black students who went far but did not even recognize each other? The response that his mother, Dorothy, gives is yes it being worth all the struggles her generations and the ones before endured. He then understands everyone wants better for each other whether it be now or in the future. This was where Waltons innocence was diminished because he now understood that his success was because of the sacrifices o thers before him made, and uncovering these sacrifices was like the key to knowledge. Mississippi: An American Journey is truly a journey that people take as they read the story Walton writes. He brings to the light all of the dark in Mississippis history that he learns. Through Waltons lens Americans and himself know little truth about Mississippi other than its racist and segregated past. What Walton ends with is not petty events and insignificant details found on the street or in a history book, but critical details and events he never knew existed. His newly found knowledge gave him a sense of the strength within the black people of Mississippi and the courage to embrace the past ghost and call them his own(275).

Joy Luck Club :: essays papers

Joy Luck Club In The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan, one examines the story of four Chinese families throughout the generations. By examining specific examples of sacrifice within each of the four families, sacrifice will be proved to be one of the main themes of the story. Ying-Ying St. Clair made quite a precious sacrifice while she was in China. The sacrifice was 14 years of her life. That which adds to this sacrifice is that the years make up the time from which she was age 18-32, which most people consider to be their prime years. These lost years of loneliness were what she unknowingly sacrificed for having killed her first unborn child. She punished herself by moving into a small and shabby house that was occupied by three families and was infested by mice and flies. She chose to live here despite the fact that she came from a wealthy family and could have returned to them whenever she wanted to. Of the place she chose to live, she said " It was not a comfort to be there, and that is what I wanted." (P.249). Thus, one can see that as a result of a selfish act, Ying-Ying ends up sacrificing a large piece of her life. Suyan Woo also sacrifices a piece of herself, yet it was out of love. After she had been fleeing the Japanese for three days on foot, she was no longer able to carry her two babies. She left them by the roadside in hopes that someone would find them. That which shows that she was abandoning herself rather than her babies is the fact that she left all of her valuables and a note with them(P. 282). Suyan obviously wasn't leaving them in order to increase hopes of her own survival. Thus, one can see that in the Woo family, the theme of sacrifice is quite apparent, not to mention dramatic. The Jong family too, makes many sacrifices. Lindo's mother promised her into marriage at a young age in order to give her a better life. Ever since then, her mother had referred to her as "Huang TaiTai's daughter". It is evident that giving her daughter to Huang TaiTai's was not a selfish act, like unloading a burden, but it was a loving sacrifice.

Short-story Paper -- essays research papers

SHORT STORY PAPER 'Compare/contrast Faulkner's 'Dry September' with 'A rose for Emily' in terms of writing style and character presentation.'; What is going to be analyzed in this paper are the two short stories by W. Faulkner 'A Rose for Emily' and 'Dry September'. Basically, what is to be performed is a comparison/contrast analysis in terms of the writing style and character presentation. More specifically, I will provide first the information from the story 'A Rose for Emily', concerning writing style and character presentation, and following is going to be the same analysis for the other story 'Dry September'. After the necessary data are provided, there is going to be a comparison/contrast of these data, by also citing passages from the two stories, for making them more understandable. The similarities and differences that exist in the two stories are substantial. Before, the analysis on the stories takes place there are some general points that have to be mentioned that concern other elements of fiction that are as well important. To begin with, the town name that is used in both stories is the same and that is 'Jefferson'. Also both stories are taking place in the old South. And finally, in both of them the main character is a woman, Miss Emily Grierson and Miss Minnie Cooper respectively. The first story that is going to be analyzed is 'A Rose for Emily', and more specifically the analysis is divided in two parts, first I am concerned with the writing style and second with the character presentation. To begin with I have to say that this story is one that keeps the readers' interest undiminished. It has a complex plot and many questions arise when reading through it. Basically what is creating this is the lack of chronological order in the evolution of the facts that are presented. Things become more clear when one places them in the right order. Since the story is taking place in the old South, the choice and use of words indicts us to that region. Furthermore, what is also noticed here is that there are many descriptions(descriptive language) used in the story; 'It was a big, squarish frame house that … an eyesore among eyesores';(431-2). These help to understand more about the surrounding environment and about the appearance, 'They rose when she entered-a sma ll fat woman in black … while the visitors stated their errand';... ... story the descriptions about characters are referring to Emily a lot, and to other people that were close to her like the servant and H. Barron. In 'A Rose for Emily';, I saw that the reader is more like adduced to Emily's actions and emotions, while on the other story the reader has to deal with other people's actions and feelings. Added to this, I have also to say that two big differences concerning the main characters in that Emily's complex personality-in relation with her father and loved one is projected more, while on the other story we have more on Minnie's environment and relationships with other people. Summing up, throughout the analysis of the two stories by W. Faulkner, I spotted many similarities and differences, concerning the two elements of fiction, the writing style and the characters' presentation. Overall, the two stories are really interesting with a strange plot. Faulkner maintains in both stories, the strange feeling of an almost horror stories. He shows the profound wickedness that penetrates the various characters in both of the stories. Bizarre characters, outlandish settings, but more or less the same feelings to the reader, created by William Faulkner.

The Effects of Japanese Civil Society on Policy-Making :: Government Political Science Japan Papers

The Effects of Japanese Civil Society on Policy-Making I. Introduction My interest in this project began after studying Japan for four years as an undergraduate and realizing I knew relatively little of the country’s political atmosphere. I assumed after reading Western political scholars’ views on the subject, that it was a relatively homogonous nation and only after the Occupational Authority entered Japan had the country emerged with democratic ideals and a true notion of liberal rights. It is true that citizens’ movements are a comparatively recent modern phenomenon in a country filled with millennia of rich cultural and political history. Still today, however numbers of Westerners, including some scholars, see Japan through Orientalism’s foreign and exotic eyes and continue the assumption that hierarchy rules politics and the working class disengages themselves from day-to-day politics. This paper not only attempts to present a broad understanding of Japan’s political history, but also show how civil society has transformed from early Meiji society to post World War II restructuring. While outsiders believe democracy and liberal rights are an inherently novel part of Japanese culture, this paper illustrates the historical basis for a rich electorate, thriving with individual and interpersonal interest in freedom, rights, and the political environment around them. The cleavages that divide civil society and the government policy-making in Japan have been written about at length. The groups examined in this paper, including the Meiji Popular Rights Movement and the post World War II environmental movement, formed organizations to address the conflict that constantly attacked their personal values. In each case, the government refused to proactively respond, from the lack of representation during the late 19th century to the pollution that destroyed lands and lives in the 1960s and 1970s. Both of these groups asked for policy changes from local governments in order to promote their efforts through political participation, and some of these measures progressed to national levels. From the beginning of the Meiji Restoration to today, Japan exhibits dramatic progressive political awareness and engagement, therefore I deny any allegation that Japan was undemocratic until General MacArthur’s restructuring in 1945. Throughout the scholarly debate and the execution of factual evidence, three problems arise in the comparative analysis of the two examples. The first consists of the argument that Japan’s civil society, specific to the two time periods analyzed in this paper, was formulated directly within and of the state.

Discoveries of Maria Montessori

2. What are the discoveries of Dr. Maria Montessori ? Dr. Maria Montessori was a keen observer of children. She used her observational and experimental proclivities from her medical background to develop, what we might today call, a Constructivist understanding of the process of learning. She studied them scientifically. If she saw some unusual behavior in a child, she would say,†I won’t believe it now, I shall if it happens again†. She studied the conditions in which the children would perform those actions. She thought education always involved three elements: The learner, the Prepared Environment, and the Trained Adult. The basic areas in which she gave importance was freedom, independence, respect and responsibility. She believed that the child constructs knowledge from experiencing the world. Learning, she said, was not something that needed to be forced or motivated. Instead, learning is something that humans do naturally. The early years especially are ones of great mental growth. Throughout the early years of life, the child absorbs impressions from the world around him. Not with his mind, but with his life. She recognized that children go through certain phases during which they learn more easily than at any other time in their lives. This innate potential to learn is dependent upon a loving environment that encourages the active pursuit of knowledge. The child should be given the freedom to do his work and must be given the respect for the child as an individual. The behavioral change shown to respect and freedom is very eminent Dr. Montessori's developmentally-appropriate approach to learning is designed to fit each child instead of making each child fit into a preset program. She believed that learning should take place in multi-aged classrooms where children who are at various stages of development can learn from and with each other. This learning should take place in a non-competitive atmosphere in order for each child to develop at his/her own speed. Dr. Montessori observed that the best way for young children to learn is by active, hands-on experiences. She developed the idea of the prepared environment, where the classroom contains a wide variety of cognitive materials that foster learning in numerous areas. The purpose of the materials is not just to impart knowledge to children, but rather to provide them with stimuli that capture their attention and initiate a process of concentration. She was compelled to believe that the children love to do constructive work proved it suited their age and the stage of development. She observed that they worked with great interest and repeated the activities on their own volition to reach a stage of concentration. Montessori saw two streams of energy within the young child. The first is the physical energy of the body expended in voluntary movement. And the second is mental energy: the energy of intellect and will. She felt that these two streams of energy are often separated by the forces of modern life. And children who are not helped to unite them tend to move aimlessly and clumsily and have unfocused thought patterns. A unification of mental and physical energies comes about when a child becomes absorbed in work. Montessori called this â€Å"normalization. † And concentration, she said, was the key. The carefully prepared environment in the Montessori schools provide the opportunity for children to grow intellectually and emotionally. She decided to follow the child. Thanks to the revelations and the freedom she allowed to the children she was able to discover several aspects of the child and childhood. With her scientific approach of mind she tested whether every child in similar opportunities and similar conditions would manifest the same types of behavior. She tested these again and again and after twenty two years of such experimentation Dr. Montessori could say that she had found a method of helping children in their educational pursuits. Thus came the Montessori Method of education. Some of the discoveries Dr. Maria Montessori made during her work. 1. Children love to work purposefully. The inner drive to work is sufficient to reach their goal if it corresponded with the inner developmental need. With the provision of the necessary conditions and necessary environment the child without the instigation of an adult can reach his goal. 2. When an inner need to do something meets with the inner urge spontaneous Interest is generated. When the inner urge or the Interest finds a suitable working condition it leads to spontaneous Repetition. When this spontaneous Repetition of an activity is done with interest the natural result is Concentration. Concentration is not the end product of education, its just the beginning. Any true learning happens with concentration. The children revealed that given the right conditions they would work with concentration. 3. Very young children need order for their development. This order need not be only with things in the environment but also with values, functions and other human activities. The child needs to see human values like ‘Say the Truth’ being practiced. But the adults do not practice in the everyday life. The child gets confused and this can create a warp in his development. Similarly any object in the environment being used for a purpose other than it is meant for creates disturbance. (e. g. the other end of a teaspoon used as a screwdriver). Contrary instructions about behaviour muddle his decisions how some action is allowed at some other time (for example. when a visitor is there). The examples can go on multiplying but the important factor that we need to remember is that the young child is in the process of building his personality which lasts his lifetime. He needs consistency in everything in his environment. It takes a while for him to understand that things can also be different 4. Freedom is another basic requirement of a child’s development process. Dr. Maria found that to perform well in any activity they should be given the option to choose their own activity then only they excel it according to their own capabilities. 5. Normality depended on all the human powers working in unison, in collaboration. Very often children deviate from this normality because they do not find the conditions necessary for their development. D Montessori says that during the early childhood it is possible to rectify any developmental errors and bring the child back to normality The rectification can be made possible only by the child’s working individually at the developmental activities in freedom. ACTIVITY was essential. 6. These developmental activities belonged to areas that the child needed for building his personality generally activities involving sensorial concepts, language, arithmetic, art, culture were considered necessary for the child’s education. The introduction of the exercise of practical life as developmental activities was Dr Montessori’s contribution to education. She found out how the children needed to perform these activities of everyday life. These became developmental activities especially because they brought the intelligence, will and voluntary movements together this co-ordination brought about integration of the personality Dr Montessori realized that these activities were very well understood by the children and thus mobilized their intelligence to the fullest participation. 7. Several other topics that were considered too high and out of reach for the children of 3 to 5 years were brought into the House of Children. Dr Montessori found out that these areas of knowledge are necessary for the child’s total development rather than being subjects to be learnt and, perhaps, memorized. The children showed that they could assimilate the knowledge if they were given in a suitable form. 8. In the House of Children, discipline that is a bugbear in educational institutions came in a new form. The children managed their individual life,their manner of speaking, moving, handling material, interacting with other children. The children revealed quiet, orderliness, remarkable work attitude striving for perfection, sense of responsibility towards themselves and the environment and also others in the community Above all they showed independence in their control of errors, love for silence, indifference with regard to reward or punishments. Discipline did not have to be enforced. 9. At a social level they lived and let others live, helping others, co-operating with them, having quarrel, exhibiting no possessiveness and giving respect for elders who worked with them. At some point of time it was also seen that the children worked irrespective of whether the elders were there or not. The absence of adults did not influence their discipline, orderliness, quiet in their individual or social life. This suggested that discipline must come from within and not imposed from outside. Discipline is an inner development born in freedom. Freedom and discipline are two faces of the same coin. These are two forms of discipline. the outer and the inner the inner discipline is a natural and inner urge to follow the laws that govern development. This inner discipline is the basic on which the outer discipline can rest. So the outer discipline imposed by the adults on the child should be in a form that will be given to the inner innate discipline and it can reveal itself in all its glory 10. Real obedience is based on love, respect and faith. When obedience leads to inner satisfaction it becomes real obedience and hence it becomes real development. 11. Dr Montessori discovered that the children are often seen to behave in a certain manner- destructive, disorderly, stubborn, disobedient etc. But in specially prepared environments and with specially trained adult they show orderly, responsible, loving behaviour both are seemingly real. But why is the contradiction? Dr Montessori says that the second instance is the real one and the very common behaviour is the result of the child not finding the right conditions for development. Dr Montessori calls this the social question of the child. This discovery was possible because she could witness this grandeur of human normality 12. Many of the activities presented to children in Montessori Houses of Children are results of observing the child and, therefore, may be considered as discoveries- The Silence Activity, Exercises of Practical Life, Walking on the Line are some of the examples. 3. It is a well-known truth that human life is a series of steps in gaining independence and credit could go to Dr Montessori who pointed that this is true with child life also. All the help we offer should lead the child to Independence in his individual and social life. The Montessori Method bases itself on these and various other discoveries Dr Montessori made while she worked with chi ldren. We might conclude by saying that Dr Montessori calls upon every adult human being to develop the humility to [earn from the child in order to help the child create a healthy human being.

Curriculum Provides An Emerging Leader Education Essay

In this class, you will develop the cognition and accomplishments of an instructional leader who besides efficaciously manages course of study and direction. The class assignments will steer you as you increase your leading abilities in the countries of course of study direction, application of province jurisprudence and local policy as they relate to curriculum and direction, and campus betterment planning. In this hebdomad ‘s assignment, you will sum up needed course of study constituents and high school graduation demands, depict the constituents of the TEA acquisition system and do suggestions for betterment, and roll up informations to get down decision-making on a learner-centered staff development session. This hebdomad, you should: identify and sum up the constituents of a state-required course of study. analyze the constituents of the TEA acquisition system and do suggestions for betterments. analyze state-generated informations and a Campus Improvement Plan for the intent of decision-making.RubricUse the following rubric to steer your work.AccomplishedProficientUnacceptablePart 1: Summary of Curriculum RequirementsClearly summarizes the demands of the Texas-mandated course of study with seven paragraphs – one for each constituent.( 3 points )Summarizes the demands of the Texas-mandated course of study. Not all seven constituents addressed.( 2 points )Does non sum up the demands of the Texas-mandated course of study.( 0 points )Part 2: TEA Learning System ComponentsEfficaciously summarizes the province and local commissariats of the TEA acquisition system.( 3 points )Summarizes the province and local commissariats of the TEA acquisition system.( 2 points )Does non sum up the province and local commissariats of the TEA acquisition system.( 0 points )Part 3: Gathering Datas for Decision MakingBrands an in-depth analysis of AEIS informations and a CIP to choose a content country and aim for a learner-centered staff development session.( 3 points )A nalyzes AEIS informations and a CIP to choose a content area/ aim for a learner-centered staff development.( 2 points )Does non analyse AEIS informations and a CIP to choose a learner-centered staff development subject.( 0 points )MechanicssFew to no mistakes in grammar, spelling or punctuation.( 1 point )Responses lack lucidity and deepness and/or multiple mistakes in grammar, spelling or punctuation.( 0 points )Week 1 Assignment: Course of study and the TEA Learning SystemPart 1: Summary of Curriculum RequirementsKnowledge of the province ‘s needed course of study provides an emerging leader with a foundation for determination devising. In this portion of the assignment, you will analyze what Texas jurisprudence says about course of study. Directions: From your Web reference box, entree the TEA Web site hypertext transfer protocol: //www.tea.state.tx.us/rules/tac/chapter074/index.html. Read and analyze the undermentioned subdivisions of the Texas Administrative Code, Title 19, Part II: 74.1 Essential Knowledge and Skills 74.2 Description of a Required Elementary Curriculum 74.3 Description of a Required Secondary Curriculum 74.4 English Language Proficiency Standards 74.62 Minimum High School Program 74.63 Recommended High School Program 74.64 Distinguished Achievement High School Program-Advanced High School Program( Note: Requirements changed as of the 2007-2008 school twelvemonth, and A §74.63 and A §74.64 reflect the new 4 ten 4 demands. )Compose a two-page sum-up of the seven constituents. Include at least one paragraph on each subdivision. Type your paper in the expandible box below.Summary of Curriculum RequirementsStudents are required to have the basic or indispensable cognition and accomplishments course of study which consist chiefly of the nucleus course of study. The bulk of the nucleus course of study consists of the rudimentss in English, Math, Science and Social Studies. Students are besides entitled to an enrichment course of study that consists of wellness and physical instruction, foreign linguistic communications, all right humanistic disciplines and categories of that nature. Elementary course of study consists of taking the same nucleus categories as mentioned before in the old paragraph. The timeframe for this goes from kindergarten to the fifth class. Secondary course of study consists of a much wider range of categories get downing with grade 6 and reasoning with the pupils ‘s graduation at the decision of their 12th grade twelvemonth. Get downing their 9th class twelvemonth, pupils must be given the chance to take four old ages English, four old ages of math and scientific discipline every bit good as World Geography, World History and US History. Government and Economics must be offered as good. Along with these nucleus categories, pupils must be given the chance to gain recognition in categories runing from wellness and engineering to any given foreign linguistic communication category. English Language Proficiency Standards require ESL pupils to be mainstreamed into categories to supply them with the least restrictive acquisition environment. The course of study is chiefly concerned with supplying pupils with the societal consciousness every bit good as the academic consciousness to be successful as an ESL pupil. The end is to supply adequate academic support to enable pupils to be successful non merely in an academic environment but besides in societal scenes every bit good. Under the Minimum High School demands, pupils must go through four old ages of English with one of the four old ages being a Research based English category. You must hold two old ages of scientific discipline and 2 and a half credits of Social Studies. A pupil must hold 5 and a half credits of electives along with 3 credits in Math. The remainder of a pupil ‘s credits are chiefly made up of half credits in engineering, wellness and economic sciences categories that must number 22 credits in order to graduate. In the Recommended Plan, pupils are required to gain 24 credits in order to graduate. The nucleus classs consist of 4 English credits every bit good as 3 credits in Science and Math. The biggest difference between this program and the minimal program is the fact that in the recommended program, pupils are merely required to obtain 3 and a half credits in elected classs. A high school pupil must besides obtain 24 credits in order to graduate with the Distinguished Plan. The demands are really similar to the old demand programs mentioned antecedently in this transition. Three Math and Science credits, four English credits, three and a half Social Studies credits and 3 Foreign Language credits make up the bulk of the nucleus demands. As with the Recommended Plan, the needed figure of elected credits goes down to 2 and a half alternatively of than 3 and a half.Part 2: TEA Learning System ComponentsIn this subdivision of the assignment, you will depict the minimal province commissariats of the six constituents of the TEA acquisition system, desirable local commissariats for each constituent, and your preliminary thoughts for betterment. Directions: Review the constituents of the TEA acquisition system in the Week 1 talk and the information you gathered in Part 1 of the assignment. As you review, think about desirable local commissariats for each constituent. See strengths and failings in local commissariats. Access the Texas Education Code at hypertext transfer protocol: //tlo2.tlc.state.tx.us/statutes/ed.toc.htm and/or the Texas Administrative Code, Title 19, ( TAC ) : Part II Texas Education Agency at hypertext transfer protocol: //www.tea.state.tx.us/rules/tac/index.html. Peruse these sites for more information about the TEA acquisition system constituents. Collaborate online with two co-workers to finish the tabular array on the TEA acquisition system by depicting the minimal province commissariats, desirable local commissariats for each of the six constituents, and your preliminary suggestions for betterment. Your suggestions may alter after finishing the class.TEA Learning System ComponentsCollaborator # 1: Collaborator # 2: Component Minimal State Provision Desirable Local Provision Preliminary Suggestion for Improvement Learning Goals Students need to be able to read, compose, job solve, and use high order believing accomplishments in all needed topics The pedagogues within a territory have a manus in finding what will be taught if they are chosen to be on the province panel. Current pedagogues should hold more of a pick in determing what should be taught. There is experiencing that the people who make a bulk of the determinations are disconnected from the schoolroom. The major suggestion for betterment is to allow instructors and decision makers at the local degree have more input in the scholar ends. Course of study Documents The school territory is responsible for educating all of the pupils through the alliance of course of study. The course of study must consist of the ( 4 ) nucleus topics and enrichment course of study. The province of Texas has a system in topographic point where each territory can follow its instrucrional stuffs. Each school territory will hold the flexibleness to find the procedure for choosing new instructional stuffs. The stuffs that are chosen have to be approved by the province with the exclusion of the enrichment topics. The cost will be shared by the province and the territory Some of the enrichment classs should be added to the foundation classs. In attempt to be a leader in the planetary economic system, the pupils in America need to be good rounded ; some of the enrichment classs can supply that if they are made compulsory. Instructional Program The stuff that is taught must be portion of the needed course of study. The pupils will be presented the stuff in a assortment of different scenes. The province will let the instructor to learn the stuffs in a method that is suited. The province can put criterions when covering with lab clip. The territory will do certain what is being taught is aligned with the province required course of study. The stuffs adopted by the territory will run into curriculum demands. Teachers will follow range and sequence to do certain the aims are covered for each TEK. Teachers that teach a category that requires lab use will plan lessons that allow for clip to finish assignments. The province should plan a system that allows for instructors to learn capable affair and non concentrate on province mandated trial. Staff Development Program Staff Development should use the scholar centered rule. This system relates to scholars and the acquisition procedure. The factors within the system are cognitive, metacognitive, motivational and affectional, and developmental/social/ single differences. This will use to everyone who is invested in the educational community. Districts will carry on staff development seminars that are relevant to the demands of the territory. The territory can seek the services of regional support staff or pedagogues within the territory to carry on the seminars. When staff development is conducted, develop a system where more than one seminar is conducted at the same locale. Each seminar is scheduled during clip slots which will let pedagogues to go to more than one seminar during the twenty-four hours. The pedagogue can besides take which seminar they want to go to. This will keep high involvement degree and conformity by pedagogues in each seminar. Measurement System The measuring tool is called the Academic Excellence Indicator System. This system uses the consequences from the TAKS trial, other province mandated trial, the advancement of ELL, dropout rate, completion rate and college preparedness. This study is available in the autumn of each twelvemonth. The study is divided into different classs to supply indepth information on the school staff, fundss, plans and pupils. This study focuses on answerability. The territory can utilize the AEIS systems as a measuring tool to find how the territory is executing. The territory can utilize the informations to see which bomber groups need to be targeted for betterment. The territory can besides utilize it as a rewarding system for instructors who made drastic betterments with their pupils. The system needs to be adaptable to the territories. Some territories may non hold the available resources to fix pupils for the twenty-first century. The system needs to hold a graduated table that accounts for the lacks, at the same clip keeping teacher accountable for their pupils larning. Administrative Procedures The chief focal point of this strand is the Campus Improvement Plan, which is revised annually. The end of this program is student betterment for all subgroups. The program needs to be aligned with the territory and province guidelines. The principal must besides be involved by doing certain the right classs are being offered. Each school in a territory will hold a Campus Improvement Plan that addresses the demands of their school. The principal will work with the site based commission to discourse thoughts to better the school. More instruction for pupils and staff on the new demand for high school graduation. Students need to be cognizant of the recognition demands under the Recommended and Distinguished Achievement Programs. How can understanding the constituents of the TEA acquisition system aid you in your work as an instructional leader? By understanding the constituents of the TEA acquisition system an instructional leader will hold the ability to relay the scholar ends to any individual who has an investing in the educational system. An instructional leader will be able to help in doing certain that the campus, territory, and province ends are aligned. As an instructional leader I can help in the acceptance of school instructional stuffs. I can do certain that the stuffs that are chosen are supported by the instructors and the stuffs will outdo function the pupils. I can help forces at the territory degree to do certain the course of study meets province guidelines. I can function as a liason between instructors and disposal to take relevant staff development chances. I can educate other instructor on the AEIS system and how the information aids the campus in finding what resources will outdo function our pupils. Why is of import that an instructional leader better the constituents of the TEA acquisition system? It ‘s of import that the instructional leader efforts to better the TEA acquisition system because the educational landscape is continually altering. With the usage of engineering in instruction, the system will necessitate to hold a engineering constituent. The constituents need to reflect the demand for developing twenty-first century scholars. Besides as an instructional leader, you want to try to run into the demands of the pupils, irrespective of academic background.Part 3: Gathering Datas for Decision MakingA critical accomplishment for an instructional leader is the ability to do experimental determinations. You will pattern this accomplishment as you begin work on a learner-centered staff development session. You will choose a school-ideally 1 in which you work, reexamine its AEIS information and Campus Improvement Plan ( CIP ) , and choose a content area/objective for betterment. You are non required to show the staff development during this class, but you must hold a chief O.K. your docket and set up a clip with the principal for presentation of the session. Directions: Access the 2006-07 AEIS Campus Reports at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.tea.state.tx.us/perfreport/aeis/2007/campus.srch.html. Complete the signifier to choose a school and entree a campus study. Review the Academic Excellence Indicator System ( AEIS ) information, reply inquiries about the informations, and place four content countries that need betterment. Review the selected school ‘s Campus Improvement Plan ( CIP ) . Answer inquiries about the informations, and turn up two aims for each of the four content countries identified in the AEIS informations. Based on the information, take one content-area and an aim within that content country as the focal point of a learner-centered staff development session.Experimental Reflection and Decision MakingIs there anything in the AEIS or CIP informations that you do non understand? If so, what would you wish clarified? The one portion of the AEIS study that I did n't understand was the â€Å" Acct Status † label. Under that section of the study there was a class labeled â€Å" Acct System † , â€Å" Non-Acct. System † , â€Å" Mobile † , and â€Å" Non-Acct Trial † . I merely assumed that Katrina and Rita were hurricane evacuees. I would wish to derive more information on that section of the AEIS study. I besides need elucidation on how they calculated the per centum for all trial. The Numberss did n't fit the sums for the campus. What about the information surprises you? What about the informations concerns you? The Numberss that surprises and concerns me are the entire per centum for pupils who met criterions. I thought the pupils would ‘ve performed better because of the resources that the school offers. Even though pupil public presentation showed a little addition, it is still ( 20 ) per centum points below province norm. How does the information tantrum with your feelings about how the pupils at this school are making? The information is surprising because of all of the plans and chances this school territory offers. I thought the pupils would hold performed better. The school has many different resources that pupils can take advantage of to assist with TAKS aims. The school offers many after school plans, engineering related tools, and remedial resources. I think the school has so many good things that the pupils look to go involved in other activities and bury about the importance of acquiring aid with TAKS aims. Does it look to differ from what you have personally experienced? Did the pupils do every bit good as you and the school expected? The pupils typically performed good on trial that were given at the beginning of the testing agenda. As the yearss passed, pupils used more clip to take trial because they were fatigued and some pupils decided to hotfoot through the trial. Overall the pupils did make good. On the footing of the information you examined, in which countries of the course of study are pupils executing good? In the country of 9th Reading, pupils are executing at the mean province degree. Tenth grade Social Studies are executing ( 2 ) per centum points below province degree. Eleventh grade Language humanistic disciplines, pupils are executing above province degree. Eleventh grade Social Studies, pupils are executing ( 2 ) per centum points below province degree. On the footing of the information you examined, in which country ( s ) of the course of study are pupils executing ill? Why do you believe pupils are executing ill in those countries? In the country of 9th Math, pupils are executing ( 6 ) per centum points below province degree even though the pupil public presentation addition from the old twelvemonth. Tenth grade Language Arts, pupils are executing ( 6 ) per centum points below province degree. The pupils besides dropped in public presentation from the old twelvemonth. Tenth grade Math and Science showed the largest lessening in public presentation compared to province degrees. The pupil ‘s per centums were lower than the old twelvemonth. Eleventh grade Math, pupils per centums increased but tonss were still over ( 10 ) per centum points below province degree. Eleventh grade Science showed an addition in public presentation but pupils were still below province degree. Complete the following tabular array to clear up content countries and aims that need betterment. Campus: Bowie District: Arlington Principal: WilmothAEIS-Identified Content AreaClass:AEIS Data EvidenceCIP-Identified AimsContent Area # 1 English/ Language Humanistic disciplines 10th Dropped 3 % # 1 Cultivate a civilization to do profound larning through purposeful engagement cardinal. # 2 Evaluate and supply auxiliary stuffs for the direction of limited English speech production pupils in all content countries Content Area # 2 Science 10th Dropped 5 % # 1 Instructional staff is provided with ongoing staff development and collaborative preparation in Profound Learning Experiences Design and Problem Based Learning Experiences. # 2 Offer chances for redress in TAKS command Content Area # 3 Mathematicss 10th Dropped 1 % # 1 Instructional staff is provided with ongoing staff development and collaborative preparation in Profound Learning Experiences Design and Problem Based Learning Experiences. # 2 Evaluate and supply auxiliary stuffs for the direction of limited English speech production pupils in all content countries Content Area # 4 Mathematicss 11th 14 % below province norm # 1 Offer chances for redress in TAKS command # 2 Evaluate and supply auxiliary stuffs for the direction of limited English speech production pupils in all content countries Choose a content area/objective for your learner-centered staff development. To make this, reply the undermentioned inquiry: Based on the information, which content-area should be the principal ‘s highest precedence? Explain why you think so. I think Mathematicss should be the topic that deserves the most attending. It seems that as the pupils progress to the following class the per centum spread compared to the stae is going larger. The 9th class pupils showed a 5 % negative difference, 10th class pupils showed a 19 % negative difference, and 11th class showed a 14 % difference How can a leader use the AEIS to originate the development of an instructional focal point for a campus? An educational leader can utilize the AEIS informations to aim countries that need betterment. By analysing the information leaders can find which groups will necessitate particular attending. Leaderships can carry on staff development and attend workshops to turn to the shortages. The information can assist instructors concentrate on certain aims that were misunderstood. The information can besides assist different capable countries reference lacks in the stuff that is taught.