Critically analyse the factors which influence the exercise of Essay

Critically analyse the factors which influence the exercise of management prerogative in employment relations - Essay Example Hence employer’s prerogative ensures the basic right of an employer to apply his/her creative concepts in the business. However, it does not entitle the employer to harass employees but only gives the right to satisfy his/her business interests. The following part will critically analyze the factors which normally influence the exercise of management prerogative in employment relations in the US, UK, and China. The US’s ‘right to manage’ is very different from that of the other developed countries. â€Å"Joint determination of relationship between employers and organized employees through collective bargaining is now a protected right in the United States† (James 1992). Obviously United States has adopted a more liberal policy towards employees’ rights. The US law insists that the managerial objectives should be achieved through good employer-employee relations in order to reduce the work difficulties and employees’ physical and mental stress. In the opinion of Summers (1976), the US considers employees’ termination as economical capital punishment (ibid). During the last decade, many states have limited employers’ traditional rights to terminate the workers any time as they liked. The adverse impacts of this law is that sometimes even the most unproductive workers get the opportunity to continue the job and thus the long term objectiv es of the enterprise get impeded. This law enforcement is against the employer’s right of ‘hire and fire the employees’. Numerous US regulations including EEO legislations and other non-discrimination acts tend to favor employees rather than employers rights. For instance, a company is liable to prove that the termination of any employee is not due to discrimination of any sort. As a positive outcome of such restrictions on employer’s prerogative employee-employer relationship has been enhanced in the US business environment. In contrast, the restrictions would pull back innovative

African-American Lynch Mob Essay Example for Free

African-American Lynch Mob Essay Author David Horowitz has written an article called African-American Lynch Mob. In the article Mr. Horowitz is expressing his frustration with the way African –American civil rights leaders, namely Reverend Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are inciting a lynch mob mentality in regards to the death of Trayvon Martin. Trayvon Martin, who was a 17 year old African-American male, was shot to death by George Zimmerman who happens to be Hispanic. Mr. Horowitz believes that the lynch mob racist, Reverend Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are leading the way for the African-American community to insinuate that George Zimmerman is a racist without any facts. First I take issue with Mr. Horowitz fallacy calling Reverend Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton racist. Is it racist for an individual or group to stand up and fight against inequality and injustices? For many decades Reverend Jackson and Reverend Sharpton have helped those African-Americans who could not help themselves when the odds were stacked against them; providing a strong voice for the law and lawmakers to listen to, when the voices of the African-American citizens were not heard. Doing this does not make one a racist. As mentioned previously, Mr. Horowitz states that Mr. Zimmerman is being labeled a racist without any facts; this is a fallacy and not exactly true. Recently audio has been discovered that has Mr. Zimmerman’s making racial slurs, along with eyewitnesses stating that they personally heard him making racial slurs. The impending investigation will prove whether Mr. Zimmerman is a racist or not; however even in this early stage, investigator will have enough reasons to not rule out the cause of death by race crime. Mr. Horowitz belief that the evidence is irrelevant to the so call lynch mob is unfounded. The African-American protesters are only protesting because they believe there is enough evidence to warrant an arrest of Mr. Zimmerman. However, instead of being arrest Mr. Zimmerman is walking free. Mr. Horowitz calls the display of racial outrage over this case a national disgrace, and I disagree with that statement. The display of racial outrage over this case is not a national disgrace; the fact that African-Americans still have to protest because of injustice is a national disgrace. As I concluded the article it was pretty evident that Mr. Horowitz view point was a bit slighted. It seems to me that the views he has taken are based on his dislike for Reverend Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, and their way of obtaining justice for those who they lead and represent. Mr. Horowitz dislike for both of the reverends probably goes a long way back, and because of this, any point that he makes in regards to these two reverends should be taken with a grain of salt.

Techno †Cihuatl: The Birth of a Modern Mexican Female. :: Culture Cultural Mexico Papers

Techno – Cihuatl: The Birth of a Modern Mexican Female I learned about computers and technology a little at a time, from simple games, to web building and heavy use of applications. Some of the knowledge came form a school setting; most of it I acquired from trial and error and by a friend’s teachings I overcame the limitations of growing up in a Third-World country (Mexico) with little access to technology and tried to keep up with its changes as time went by. My country has had a love-hate relationship with the US for a long time. Within the huge Mexican middle class there are different opinions regarding the US way of life. While some people crave to have every single item of "gringo-wealth" such as electronics, clothing and even food, some others are deeply concerned about the "loss of identity" "deculturalization" and hegemony that US-like culture has brought to Mexico. This phenomenon is particularly clear among the generation born in the seventies, especially women. Young Mexicanas that are now in their middle twenties are torn apart between two worlds: First, the technology – driven college education and work that are the symbols of US - imported woman liberation. Second, the motherhood – housewife roles traditionally imposed on them by the Mexican culture along with their religious, mystical, and cultural implications. Instead of marrying both ideas into a nice middle term, Mexican society (which is still a male dominated environment) tends to relegate them apart: either you become a housewife, or a professional. I consider that these extremes are always detrimental. I was the first-born of a young couple fresh out of college. My parents belonged to the first generation of Mexicans that lost their political innocence (and correctness) with the student’s riots of ‘68; they were rebels by nature. My mother was a biochemical engineer in a society where women were supposed to be teachers or housewives. My father was the only one out of five sibling who finished college, and he worked in a transnational firm, which was very odd at the time. Unlike most of our relations, we were no strangers of technology, mainly because we "imported" many appliances from California, where my uncles lived. We had a black and white TV; my father listened music using certain tapes that looked like Nintendo cartridges and he also had acetate discs, we had no telephone, but we were the first family in our block to get a microwave.

The Killer Disease

The importance of database management is high since it decides the importance of different results obtained in the past for improving results in future and thus it can be seen that improvement of quality is dependant in part on the quality and application of databases within the organization. One of the leading reasons for death in United States is cardiovascular disease and according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention the leading reason for death in the country is acute myocardial infarction. According to available figures, this results in 40 percent of all deaths. In general about 900,000 patients are diagnosed with the disease and about 225,000 of them die. One of the saddest points about the whole issue is that of them 125,000 pass away before receiving any medical care. These unfortunate incidents led to the formation of a core team for acute myocardial infarction by the Joint Commission for the Accreditation of Health Care Practitioners the recommendations of this committee were adopted into practice by Meridian Health. This hospital established a cardiac care process for this in 2004 which developed a process for the improvement of care. The attempt was to look into two specific measures against AMI and this was to administer aspirin and a beta blocker to the patients at the time of their admission to the hospital when they were suspected to be having AMI. (Quinn; Mannion, 2005) The implementation of this process took a little time and in December 2004, the second group of congestive heart failure process improvement team started implementing the decision. This was with the assistance of the information technology department and the compliance was with the decision to use angiotensin converting enzyme, otherwise called ACE inhibitors, or angiotensin receptor blockers or ARB and thus evaluate or at least document the left ventricular function in the treatment of congestive heart failure. The first results of using AMI beta blockers at the hospital were positive and there was an increase of 10 percent within the first two months of use and to 14 percent by the third month. Except for the months of February and March, the compliance with the instructions has been 100 percent with the instructions. During those two months, the physician who had written the initial orders for treatment had not used the established method of using the system of referring to the information technology concerned. If the method had been used, it is estimated by the doctors, mortality would have gone down by around 50 percent which makes a total of 50 lives during an eighteen month period in a hospital with 500 beds. (Quinn; Mannion, 2005) This clearly states that proper maintenance of records and ensuring that patients are treated in the accepted method leads to reduction of deaths. The assurance of quality is a process and the process of quality control is checking that assurance of quality has been maintained. For all data entry, quality assurance has to depend on good standards and procedures backed up by properly configured data entry methods. The main reason for the assurance of good data is data management. Checks are generally carried out through audit of the data against the central data base that exists. Generally all data is now in a single storage with back up copies, and so it is not such a difficult task to check the data against each other. Yet, the question of audit is left to especially trained persons. (Santoro, 1999) The situation today is that databases have become much easier to manage with modern computers and the entire business and healthcare activities concentrate on proper data storage. The earlier systems of storage of data in files are gone and the modern systems are much easier. There are many systems attached to databases for healthcare enterprises including database management, data warehousing and object oriented concepts for databases. Along with this is the importance of quality management, for the data has to be of the highest quality. There is a tradition of having different systems and files for different units even within the same business, and this also leads to quality problems for the data of the total enterprise. (Johns, 2002) There are also systems that are written in common languages like Microsoft Access and that is a part of the common software Microsoft Office. The reason for this is that the basic system has been designed by a doctor though the final system was written by a consultant. This has helped in required changes to the system on many occasions over a relatively short period of two years. The database system, however, keeps a track of all requirements from patients like test results, physiological parameters etc. keeps noting changes in the patient which can be seen graphically and even alerts the attending staff about the screening tests, due preventive care and educational sessions. (McLaughlin; Kaluzny, 1999) It can be seen clearly that management of database is very important and in the case of medical organizations, this also leads to improvement in services, or quality in many cases. The question next comes to as to how one can develop plans that do not end up in a file on the bookshelf to collect dust over long periods. The first step is to make the plans interesting enough and simple enough so that they can be understood by the ordinary man. For this purpose, there are many systems and the entire system of decision making can be simplified through viewing it as a sort of a decision tree with branches going to the right and the left. In Japanese, this system is called Hoshin, which is based on a tree. The methods are to develop, communicate, and implement strategic initiatives in a manner that will have the flexibility and acceptability throughout the organization for which the plans are being made. In many cases it will be seen that the objectives of the top management do not seem to be the same as the objectives of the departmental heads or related to their activities. This is one of the fundamental beliefs in Hoshin planning and it assumes that no decisions of seniors will be accepted by the juniors without questioning of the decisions. The important part of seniors proceeding in the manner of Hoshin is to ensure that juniors understand and support the plan that is being made by the seniors. (Chapter 8 – Hoshin Planning and Chapter 9 – The Culture of Lean Production) Often the mistakes come as the end goals are taken to be the same as the means to achieve the goals. The end goals are positions where the organization has to reach and those cannot be compromised since they are correct descriptions of the achievements to be reached. The means to reach those goals can be different and there may be many paths to reach the same end. An example will make this clear and let us say that for an individual the objective is to collect an entry for a prestigious show. One of the sources can be to win a contest where the prizes are entry tickets to the show, and an individual may feel that those must be won to get an entry. At the same time, one has to remember that the objective is to be present at the show and not win the contest. Even if the person loses in the contest, there are other methods through which one can reach that concert. When the person fails to win the contest then the person should try to find another method of reaching the concert. On the other hand, the end goals have to be achieved and for this purpose fresh courage have to be built and that involves meeting new persons, learn and grow and contribute to the organization. For this purpose, even if the original path is blocked, then other methods must be found. (Pavlina, 2005) Thus it is important to review all plans regularly for them to be successful. When the method of Hoshin was first reviewed then it was learnt that a bi-monthly 2 hr review was scheduled. This was to ensure that the plans that were made were not to lie on the shelf, but be utilized. The plans can also be viewed as a part of the check in process. The steps in the cycle according to Hoshin includes vision, 1 year plan, deployment of the individual and alignment of the plan, execution or process management, diagnosis on a monthly basis and finally an annual diagnosis. However the entire process according to Hoshin is a cycle and the steps have to come one after the other – there is no beginning or end. Chapter 8 – Hoshin Planning and Chapter 9 – The Culture of Lean Production) This is a process that is realized by modern management and changes have to be made according to this process of thought. Even for healthcare, there is no end or beginning. In the case of hospitals, new methods are being developed to improve communications with patients and this will result in higher levels and quality of patient care. There are many methods of getting in touch with patients and that can help improve the no-show rate of any facilities and this is also the most expensive of patient care issues. For this purpose, the patients have to be reminded of appointments which are scheduled within a few days. This is a method that provides patients with information that are not easily available otherwise or would require additional staff for the activity of outbound calling. There are self service applications which improve on methods of reaching the patients from the offices of the medical providers. There are now systems which make it easy for the patients to get the lab test results and the ability to refill prescriptions at anytime, anywhere and there are methods of providing information at all times. This is also a responsibility for the hospitals and improves their relationship with the customers and utilizes their resources better. (INI Solutions for Government Healthcare Automating essential processes that support quality patient care) to achieve this, one would require the proper utilization of information that is with them. There are some organizations which claim to have solutions for this purpose also. When the volume of transactions for an organization grows, it is difficult to make changes that are required, and even levels of service that are promised by medical institutions are not provided. The situation becomes worse with a continuous inflow of new information which has to be stored. (WellPoint Health Networks gains higher ROI and benefits from customer satisfaction) This is a problem of continued increase in database and managing it and maintaining it at the same quality levels. The problem requires much faster processing of information and that can be done only by modern methods. The solution for many organizations where previous information is the decider for future action ensures that the concerned organization has quality and proper database management.

Atticus Finch Monologue Analysis Essay

Atticus Finch Monologue, analysis Gentlemen, I shall be brief, but I would like to use my remaining time with you to remind you that the case of Mayella Ewell vs. Tom Robinson is not a difï ¬ cult one. To begin with, this case should have never come to trial. The state of Alabama has not produced one iota of medical evidence that shows that the crime Tom Robinson is charged with ever took place. This case is as simple as black and white. It requires no minute sifting of complicated facts, but it does require you to be sure beyond all reasonable doubt as to the guilt of the defendant. Miss Ewell did something that in our society is unspeakable: she is white, and she tempted a Negro. The defendant is not guilty, but someone in this courtroom is. I have nothing but pity in my heart for the chief witness for the state, but my pity does not extend so far as to her putting a man’s life at stake. She knew full well the enormity of her offense, but because her desires were stronger than the code she was breaking, she persisted. The state of Alabama has relied solely upon the testimony of two witnesses who’s evidence has not only been called into serious question, but has been ï ¬â€šatly contradicted by the defendant. I need not remind you of their appearance and conduct on the stand. They have presented themselves in the cynical conï ¬ dence that their testimony would not be doubted. They were conï ¬ dent that you, the jury, would go along with the evil assumption that all Negro’s lie, and are immoral. Mr. Robinson is accused of rape, when it was she who made the advances on him. He put his word against two white people’s, and now he is on trial for no apparent reason- except that he is black. Thomas Jefferson once said that all men are created equal, a phrase that the government is fond of hurling at us. There is a tendency in this year of grace, 1935, for certain people to use that phrase out of context, to satisfy all conditions. We know that all men are not created equal in the sense that some people would have us believe. Some people are smarter than others, some people have more opportunity because they are born with it, some men have more money than others, and some people are more gifted than others. But there is one way in this country in which all men are created equal. An institution that makes a pauper the equal of a Rockefeller, the  ignorant man the equal of any president, and the stupid man the equal of Einstein. That institution is the court. But a court is only as sound as its jury, and the jury is only as sound as the men who make it up. I am conï ¬ dent that you gentlemen will review without passion the evidence you have heard, come to a decision, and restore the defendant to his family. In the name of God, do your duty. In the name of God, gentlemen, believe Tom Robinson. I could shoot all the blue jays I wanted, if I could hit ’em, but to remember it was a sin to kill a mockingbird†¦Well, I reckon because mockingbirds don’t do anything but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat people’s gardens, don’t nest in the corncribs, they don’t do one thing but just sing their hearts out for us. Atticus represents morality and reason in To Kill a Mockingbird. As a character, Atticus is even-handed throughout the story. He is one of the very few characters who never has to rethink his position on an issue. His parenting style is quite unique in that he treats his children as adults, honestly answering any question they have. He uses all these instances as an opportunity to pass his values on to Scout and Jem. Scout says that â€Å"‘Do you really think so?’ . . . was Atticus’s dangerous question† because he delighted in helping people see a situation in a new light. Atticus uses this approach not only with his children, but with all of Maycomb. And yet, for all of his mature treatment of Jem and Scout, he patiently recognizes that they are children and that they will make childish mistakes and assumptions. Ironically, Atticus’s one insecurity seems to be in the child-rearing department, and he often defends his ideas about raising children to those more experienced and more traditional. His stern but fair attitude toward Jem and Scout reaches into the courtroom as well. He politely proves that Bob Ewell is a liar; he respectfully questions Mayella about her role in Tom’s crisis. One of the things that his longtime friend Miss Maudie admires about him is that â€Å"‘Atticus Finch is the same in his house as he is on the public streets.'† The only time he seriously lectures his children is on the evils of taking advantage of those less fortunate or less educated, a philosophy he carries into the animal world by his refusal to hunt. And although most of the town readily pins the label â€Å"trash† on other people, Atticus reserves that distinction for those people who unfairly exploit others. Atticus believes  in justice and the justice system. He doesn’t like criminal law, yet he accepts the appointment to Tom Robinson’s case. He knows before he begins that he’s going to lose this case, but that doesn’t stop him from giving Tom the strongest defense he possibly can. And, importantly, Atticus doesn’t put so much effort into Tom’s case because he’s an African American, but because he is innocent. Atticus feels that the justice system should be color blind, and he defends Tom as an innocent man, not a man of color. Atticus is the adult character least infected by prejudice in the novel. He has no problem with his children attending Calpurnia’s church, or with a black woman essentially raising his children. He admonishes Scout not to use racial slurs, and is careful to always use the terms acceptable for his time and culture. He goes to Helen’s home to tell her of Tom’s death, which means a white man spending time in the black community. Other men in town would’ve sent a messenger and left it at that. His lack of prejudice doesn’t apply only to other races, however. He is unaffected by Mrs. Dubose’s caustic tongue, Miss Stephanie Crawford’s catty gossip, and even Walter Cunningham’s thinly veiled threat on his life. He doesn’t retaliate when Bob Ewell spits in his face because he understands that he has wounded Ewell’s pride — the only real possession this man has. Atticus accepts these people because he is an expert at â€Å"climb[ing] into [other people’s] skin and walk[ing] around in it.†

Extension Activities for Bread and Jam for Frances

Extension Activities for Bread and Jam for Frances Engaging in activities related to favorite children’s books is a great way to incorporate relaxed homeschooling and low-key learning with young children. And, its fun for the whole family.  As C.S. Lewis said, â€Å"A childrens story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good childrens story in the slightest.† One of my familys favorite picture  books is  Bread and Jam for Frances, by Russell Hoban. In the story, Frances the badger only wants to eat bread and jam. Her picky eating habit are frustrating for Frances mother. She says Frances won’t try anything new. Parents of picky eaters can surely relate. Read Bread and Jam for Frances with your child, then, try some of these fun activities! Hands-on Learning Activities Using the Picture Book Bread and Jam for Frances 1. Jump rope. Frances seems to always have her jump rope handy. She jumps while chanting, â€Å"Jam on biscuits. Jam on toast. Jam is the thing that I like most.† Talk to your child about the importance of physical activity. Discuss her favorite activities and the health benefits of fresh air and sunshine. Encourage your child to get active by jumping rope. It’s a fantastic cardiovascular activity that helps kids develop better coordination and rhythm. See if you can jump in time to Frances’ chant or try making up jump rope rhymes of your own. 2. Make homemade bread. Frances loves bread and jam. Who can blame her? Homemade bread is especially tasty. Try making your own bread. Baking bread offers many educational benefits, such as: Reading a recipeMeasuring and fractionsFollowing directionsDiscovering the science of yeast Following easy bread baking tips for beginners, you can make a simple, one-loaf yeast bread. If you don’t want to make your own, take a trip a bakery. Call ahead to arrange a tour so you can see how bread and other baked goods are made on a large-scale basis. 3. Make jam. Store-bought jam is definitely easier, but homemade jam is delicious! Try  making a simple, homemade jam  to enjoy.  Depending on the time of year, consider taking a field trip to pick your own strawberries or blueberries for your homemade jam. 4. Plan a nutritional meal. Frances prefers bread and jam to the nutritious meals her mother prepares. Even Frances’ younger sister is willing to try new things. And, Frances’ friend Albert has practically turned his lunchtime routine into a work of art. Talk with your child about what it means to make healthy food choices. Discuss which foods are the best for a healthy diet and what foods make healthy snacks for kids. Then brainstorm together to plan a healthy menu for the day. Include foods for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. Be sure to experiment with some healthy recipes that are new to your family. Make a shopping list for the meals on your list and visit the grocery store. Many grocery stores offer field trips for homeschool groups. Our local store offers a tour that includes a discussion about healthy food choices and provides students with an opportunity to sample foods they may not have tried before. 5. Practice setting the table. Frances makes a big deal out of the last meal we observe her eating at the end of the book. Not only is she excited to try new things, but she takes the time to set a lovely table to enjoy the meal. Talk with your child about how to set a table. Discuss  good table manners. You can even make some tissue paper flowers to place on your table. My kids and I love all of the Frances books, but Bread and Jam for Frances is one of our favorites. Use these  simple extension activities from the story of the picky-eater badger as a springboard for fun learning opportunities.

How To Easily Find Content Marketing Ideas

How To Easily Find Content Marketing Ideas I couldn’t believe my eyes. It seemed like every single content marketing idea that I had just come up with was already readily available on Google. And when it came to social media content and content marketing these names- Neil Patel, Kevan Lee, Belle Beth Cooper, and Garrett Moon- kept popping up again, and again, and again. As a young, budding content marketer, I was distraught, and yet curious. How were these people able to come up with all these content marketing ideas and topics- some of which had barely germinated in my mind? Were they extraordinarily creative? Were they even mortal? As it turns out, yes, they are all regular human beings just like you and me. And just like us, they had to start somewhere, too. The good news is, thanks to technology, we live in a time of unprecedented access to resources and knowledge. By tapping the right sources, you  can easily come up with enough marketing  ideas to last a year and beyond. Before we get started, it’s important to have a place where you can note down all your ideas- which is also known as a â€Å"swipe file†- even if they are just half-formed. Your swipe file could be on a  Google Docs spreadsheet, , or recorded with a plain ol’ pen-and-paper. If you’re ready, let’s dive into it. How To Easily Find Content Marketing Ideas via @legendt 1. Look At What Others Are Writing About- And Do A Better Job You probably already have a list of blogs and publications that you look up to and hope to emulate one day. Why not start emulating them right away? Have a look at their top posts, and come up with similar ones, but better. There’s a reason why these blog posts did well for them, and if your target audience overlaps with theirs, you can be sure that this will be a win. Backlinko’s Brian Dean calls this  the skyscraper technique. Here are four ways that you can make your post superior to the original (Thanks, Brian!): Make it bigger or longer:  Go for broke, and find 100 ways to do help your audience  instead of just 50. Making a comprehensive guide gives your audience a one-stop solution for what they're searching for, shows your expertise, and builds your credibility. Make it more up-to-date:  A list post that did well in 2015 will likely do well again in 2016, and the year after, and so on. Build on what you know already works with your more recent  knowledge. Make it look nicer:  An infographic that visualizes text content that resonated with readers will certainly attract more attention. Heck, infographics are some of the most-shared types of social media content, and  content with visuals included about every 100 words can grow your shares by 30%. Make it far more detailed:  100 bullet points will never compete with 100 points with brief descriptions. Case in point: I recently noticed that there were multiple posts on beautiful resume designs that topped the first page of Google, but the biggest post listed only 50 examples. I decided to shoot for a list post of 70 well-designed resume examples. This particular blog post  ended up becoming our most-viewed article for that week  and was shared more than 600 times on our social media channels in the same time period as well. Not too shabby. If you’re not sure which blogs to look at, try entering your topic keywords into BuzzSumo, which will then magically churn out a list of the most-shared related content on the blogosphere: 2. Listen To What Your Customers Are Asking About Think that it’s hard to come up with content marketing ideas for your niche? Try doing it for a pool company, and you’ll realize the true meaning of hard. Yet back in 2009, Marcus Sheridan’s company River Pools and Spas was able to use content marketing to dominate the pool industry. His solution for coming up with topics is exceedingly simple: To answer his customers’ questions. â€Å"The problem in my industry, and a lot of industries, is you don’t get a lot of great search results [online] because most businesses don’t want to give answers; they want to talk about their company,† he said in an interview  with The New York Times. â€Å"So I realized that if I was willing to answer all these questions that people have about fiberglass pools, we might have a chance to pull this out.† When brainstorming with his clients over at his online marketing consulting business, The Sales Lion, Marcus reveals that he has â€Å"never had a company come up with less than 100 questions in 30 minutes.† There are a number of ways to find out what your customers are asking about in your industry and business: Ask your sales teams who have regular interactions with the customers. Use a live chat app such as Zopim or Olark to chat with them online. Even better, organize a community meetup to engage with your users face-to-face. Hootsuite does Hootups, for example, while we run PiktoTours  regularly at Piktochart. This method is highly recommended- we get a lot of invaluable feedback and suggestions from these meetups.Simple and effective #ContentMarketing:  Listen to questions and respond with valuable answers.3. †¦And Listen To Others In Your Industry,  Too Your customers might be an excellent source of potential  marketing ideas, but they might have missed out on a question that others asked. How do you find out what the rest of the industry is curious about? Find out where they gather to talk shop. Facebook groups, Twitter chats, and forums are some of the platforms that will bring them all together. It pays to become an active participant, as you can get industry-wide exposure over there. Another popular platform that attracts questions across a variety of industries is Quora. According to Marc Bodnick, Quora’s head of business and community, the QA website has around  500,000 topics as of 2014. That’s a whole lot of potential blog topics to pick out right there! To optimize your efforts, focus on questions that have a lot of followers, answers, or views, like this one: With 1,700 followers and over 300,000 views, you can be sure that many people are curious to know what the perfect startup team is. Sounds like a great blog post in the making! You can find most of these high-traffic questions in the topic FAQ: As a bonus, you can post your answer to the topic with a link to the blog post you’ve written to get a boost in traffic as well. It will drive traffic to your blog in no time. This is because all the followers of a question will receive a notification email as soon as you post your answer. Game, set, and match. Answer your audience's questions and share your take where they already hang out.4. Interview Industry Rockstars Every industry has its rockstars. Startups have Elon Musk. Designers have Jony Ive. And marketers have Seth Godin. And their success and experience make them a treasure trove of tips, tricks, and advice- things that your readers are dying to learn. To get the most from them, it’s important to know them well first. Here’s where a little journalistic inquiry will come in handy. First, find out what their stories are, and what is so extraordinary about them. Look for content marketing ideas and think about what your readers can learn from them  like Contently did when they interviewed Seth Godin on the future of branded content.  Come up with topics accordingly. What is their secret to being so productive? How could they do what they do so darn well? What were some of the greatest mistakes  they've made? Connect their expertise to what you know your audience will dig, and you'll have a winner. 5. Be Authentic Okay, that sounds like fluff, but hear me out. People love stories.  It’s built into us- we can’t help but look for the story in everything. This is because  it's â€Å"a way for humans to feel that we have control over the world.† And you are most uniquely qualified to talk about your own stories. I don’t mean  for you to make up fictional tales. Talk about your journey, struggles, and opinions. For example, what are your goals, and how are you trying to achieve them? Groove’s Alex Turnbull managed to build out  a popular blog out of their singular mission: To reach $100,000 (and now $500,000) in revenue. Think that you have nothing worth sharing? Everyone does, according to  John O’Nolan from Ghost: "These posts aren't just an exercise in narcissism, they can be incredibly useful for other people in your industry. Everyone has to start somewhere, and by learning from your mistakes the next generation can progress even quicker.† Companies like Buffer  and iDoneThis  have also dedicated whole blogs to telling the inside story. Put the spirit of point 1 into action (publish better content than anyone else), and have a look at what kind of topics these example companies tackle- they could apply to you, too. 6. Keep Up-To-Date Every industry has its  own set of buzzwords and trends  that constantly go in and out of fashion. If you’re quick enough, you can ride these waves and come up with post after post where you can put your two cents worth in. Take the â€Å"guest blogging scare† of 2014 for instance. Google’s former head of the web spam team Matt Cutts had denounced guest blogging  as a spammy practice, foreshadowing that Google would not view them kindly. The marketing community blew up: One by one, articles which mostly  disagreed  with  Matt started popping up everywhere. The most convincing writers were able to lead the conversation on this topic. Buffer also did a great job  analyzing what the change of Twitter favorites to likes would really mean for marketers, just a day or two after the news was released. You can stay abreast of trending topics in your niche by using Google Alerts. Create an alert with keywords that are relevant to you and your company, and have it send updates to you as and when things surface. NinjaOutreach  is also an effective tool for finding out what topics are currently hot in the social media world: Also, do keep a close lookout for recent research and studies on topics in your niche as well. A recent study by Constant Science found that  roughly 65 percent of participants think that web content is a â€Å"hit or miss† or â€Å"unreliable.† Research-backed blog posts are an advantage you can easily tap on. For example, we focus a lot on design-related topics over at the Piktochart blog. As such, I check the Visual Design section of Nielsen Norman Group’s website  daily to see if there are any great tidbits that I can latch on to. 65% of people think web content is hit or miss. Data-driven, research-backed content stands out.7. Refresh Old Hits Not every blog post that you write will be a hit. Chances are that one or two might be, and end up bringing the bulk of traffic over to your site. These articles are your crown jewels.  See how you can create updated versions of them that are relevant to today so you can repeat that initial success. Hubspot does this on a regular basis: Also, it’s worth putting in some time to analyze what makes them so good, and see if you can spin some content marketing ideas off of them. Do a blog content audit  to find out which of your posts are suitable to do this. As Crew’s editor Jory Mackay found out, it is a tedious process, but well worth the trouble. If your definitive guide to making infographics  is regularly bringing in substantial repeat traffic, for example, it shows that there is interest among your readers in the process of creating infographics.  Topics like "100 infographic ideas that work",  which comes before the creation process, and "50 ways to market your infographic",  which comes after, might also be attractive to your audience in this case. Success shows audience interest. Learn from it to inspire new #marketing ideas.This Is Just The Beginning... As you can see, content marketing ideas are a dime a dozen. Coming up with them is the easy part. The tough part comes after, when you put pen to paper (or your fingers to the keyboard)- that’s a whole new ballgame  with different rules! So don’t get too wrapped up in ideation. Once you have a decent number of topics, get started right away. As Derek Sivers puts it: â€Å"To me, ideas are worth nothing unless executed. They are just a multiplier. Execution is worth millions.†

10 Ultra Useful Computer Tips and Keyboard Shortcuts

10 Ultra Useful Computer Tips and Keyboard Shortcuts Even if you haven’t spilled coffee on your trackpad, sometimes it can be a huge time-saver to use keyboard shortcuts. Remember those? Gone are the days of ALT + F4. Here are a few updated hacks for the modern world. 1. Set your Gmail accidental â€Å"Undo† functionSet yourself a 5-7 second â€Å"whoopsies† window for sent messages with this handy â€Å"undo† function- for those times when you realize you forgot an attachment or spelled your boss’s name wrong. Or worse- hit â€Å"reply all.† Just follow these instructions.2. Access your address barJust type control + L.3. Restore default size of a webpage after zooming in or out.Press control + 0 (command + 0 on a Mac).4. Squeeze more bookmarks into your browser’s bookmarks tabRight or control + click on each of your bookmarks, select â€Å"Edit,† and delete all text. You’ll be left with just the favicon and will have much more room for other icons.5.  Supercharge your w i-fi signalTurn your computer into your very own Wi-Fi hotspot by downloading Virtual Router. This one is a life safer if you hate getting charged a penalty fee for going over your data limit.6. Create a portable WikipediaUse Wikipedia Nearby to nab articles based on your location. Be in the know! And if you like being a font of knowledge, try changing your home page to Wikipedia Random and learn something new every time you open your browser.7. Pause a video in YoutubeClick â€Å"K.† And to jump forward or back by 10 seconds, use â€Å"J† and â€Å"L,† respectively. You can also use the buttons to speed up or decrease speed of playback on videos.8. Open your PowerPoint directly into Presentation ModeJust right click and select â€Å"Show† rather than â€Å"Open.† You’ll look a whole lot smoother in front of your boss and big clients.9. Drag multiple tabs to a new window(In Chrome) Press control and click on the tabs you want to move, then drag them together out of one window until they spontaneously generate and populate a new one. Poof!10. Scroll side to side(In Chrome) Press shift and scroll.These are just a few ways to save you time you didn’t even realize that you were wasting.

Human Relations 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Human Relations 2 - Essay Example The process takes place as it is revealed to the therapist by the unfolding of past happenings impacting the present by increasing the horizon of awareness. It helps the client comprehend and adjust to opposing elements by reorganizing their different aspects. The gestalt therapist helps in identifying the client’s dire needs, problems, and interests. By conducting experiments, such figures are highlighted and hurdles to realizations and awareness are explored. Like other major approaches, the gestalt approach has its strong and weak areas. Strengths of the gestalt approach: In gestalt approach dialog with the client is held in a lively and creative way to bring out and identify the current life issues. Client gets acquainted with self, others, and the environment. The gestalt therapy centers on genuine relationships and dialog. Stress is laid on awareness, field theory, and phenomenology. The approach focuses on the current, on-the-spot experiences of the client. The client learns through creative and continuous use of active experiments, clearing the path to experiential learning. Holistic approach views each experience of the client with equal concern. Without any set pattern, the approach helps individuals to take notice of the threshold between them and their environment. A crucial strength of gestalt therapy is equal involvement of theory, practice, and research. Empirical research plays a crucial part in helping individuals become aware of their environment. The subjective research helps in process and outcome s tudies, indicating that gestalt approach is comparatively better than other approaches for different psychological disorders. It has positive impact on clients with disturbed personalities, psychosomatic problems, and drug addicts. Gestalt approach provides long term after-treatment relief to the client. Weaknesses of the gestalt approach: The gestalt approach

Community Health Nursing Intervention Research Paper - 1

Community Health Nursing Intervention - Research Paper Example llowing the windshield survey and the statistical analysis because the majority of hospital admission and a higher percentage of the mortality rate in the community link to either of the three. From the data gathered there is a high prevalence of deaths or hospital emergencies are resulting from heart and respiratory diseases issues. For example in the data, the rate of deaths due to heart disease stood at 191.9 per 100,000 people. Comparing to other states this number is very high. It is for this reason that the survey revealed heart disease to be the top cause for the high mortality rate in the community. The analysis also highlights that the major cause for heart disease and respiratory problems in the area is due to air pollution and overcrowding. The next concern in the area is the number of motor vehicle accidents. Most hospital emergencies also attribute to the high rate of motorcar accidents in the region. Based on the priority health issues raised for this community, a cancer screening and awareness program for people of all ages is proposed to aid in early identification and treatment. This program is best suited as it will be able to create awareness and control the menace brought by overcrowding and air pollution. The proposed intervention is specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timed therefore making it meat all the requirements of a SMART program. The program is specific for testing and treating heart disease patient in the community by ensuring at least everybody undergoes testing for signs of heart disease twice a year. The outcome of the proposed intervention will help in reducing the mortality rate of the community and prolong life expectancy of the whole community as a whole. The intervention will be able to educate people on ways of preventing and avoiding situations that may lead to heart disease or complications. This will also provide a means for people who are above the age of 65 who are at most risk access the necessary

British Prime Minister Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 10000 words

British Prime Minister - Coursework Example 10, Downing Street, the present residence of British prime minister is naturally the centre of power in Britain. As one of the most powerful offices in the world even after the receding of imperial colonialism, office of the British Prime Minister has a unique position in the political world. Prime Ministerial office of Great Britain did not come into existence all of a sudden; but had been the result of a painful and lengthy democratic revolution. Democracy in Britain has shaped in a very different way from the other democratic States of the world, because British democracy has to assert itself under the domineering rule of British Monarchs. Starting from the days of Magna Carta, British parliamentary system evolved to reach the present political model. Britain never had a written constitution and instead, depends on covenants, political and historical traditions and precedents. Still it is considered to be the mother of all constitutions in the world and all her institutions are in their respective places. "There is no lack of statutory provisions regarding the various institutions of government, considered individually. What is lacking is a documentary and authoritative statement of the relations between these institutions," Birch (1990, -p.21). Not unnaturally democracies of the world are careful about their democratic legacies and more so Britain. The Prime Minister's office is full of constitutional checks and balances that are in place, so that an unscrupulous individual who might one day happen to occupy this exalted office, would not be able to misuse the power pattern in any way. Scepticism about politicians could be harmful to some extent, but it pays to be careful. "Unlike Civil servants, however, Prime Ministers are men who may be in a job one day and out the next. And so, having pursued power and seized it, they proceed to use and abuse it in order to dominate the Press in an apparently paranoid pursuance of survival," says Margach (1978, p.3). Some of the balances and checks that prevail on the office of British Prime Minister will be discussed here. SEPARATION OF POWERS Also called Trias Politica a term used by French political thinker Baron de Montesquieu, who lived during 18th century, the Age of Enlightenment, which is closely linked with the scientific revolution, emphasizing reason, science and rationality. Montesquieu was the originator of separation of powers, today used in all democratic states, as a check on powerful heads of states, so that the constitutional powers are not misused and the constitution itself is not usurped. Separation of power mainly works on three branches, legislature, judiciary and executive. The states are worried about the tyrannical and dictatorial rules because most of the states have come out of it to become democratic. After the Glorious Revolution when Britain became a constitutional monarchy, there was a lot of hesitation and nervousness in the air thinking that dictatorial tendency might return again. So, power of monarchy was drastically reduced to an unbelievable level to give most of it to the Prime Ministe r, Cabinet and Parliament. It was again realised that Prime Minister himself could become a dictator if checks and balances are not firmly in place and thus, the Separation of Power came into existence in Britain, though not as separation of powe

Executive Brief Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Executive Brief - Article Example owledge for employees requires authoritative; when the goals or aim is majorly focused on increasing the engagement of employees in work calls for the consultative (Langhorne, 2014); while when the aims or goals are spread out and are deeper rooted in the organization it calls for consensual type of decision-making (Langhorne, 2014). Decision-making exhibits itself as a form of communication whereby the manager exercises his power and understanding through he delivery of adequate decision on the best way the company or organization should take therefore if a manger offers a negative decision or communication to the workers it largely affects the organizations trust in his management qualities. When the decision-making qualities are exercised by an individual the chances of the organizations taking unnecessary risks and the likelihood or problems arising is greatly reduced as they present a situation as easy to addressed following what is best need for the company (Langhorne, 2014). CONCLUSION: Therefore, the performance of an organization clearly depends on the decision-making qualities present in the managerial team of an organization that greatly understand the strength of building an organization’s trust (Langhorne,

Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 55

Case Study - Essay Example This implies that Ms. A has progressively lost excessive amount of blood thus resulting in the reduction of her iron levels. Iron deficiency anemia is a common type of anemia especially among women. Iron is a fundamental composition of blood. Among the common causes of the iron-deficiency anemia is excessive blood loss as is the case with Ms. A. heavy menstrual flow among women is the leading cause of iron loss thereby causing the anemia (Fry & Sandler, 1993). Ms. A explains that ever since she was ten she suffered from both menorrhagia and dysmenorrheal. The excessive loss of blood results in the loss of the red blood cells thus reducing the amount of hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is a significant component of the red blood responsible for the red pigmentation of the blood. Besides coloring the blood, hemoglobin transports oxygen to the various tissues of the body. Excessive bleeding thus results in the loss of hemoglobin a feature that impairs the functionality of the body tissues since they will not receive adequate amounts of oxygen (Hoffbrand, Moss & Pettit, 2011). Oxygen facilitates metabolism. As such, pe ople with minimal amounts of oxygen will lack adequate energy. Ms. A has noted specific symptoms since the beginning of the current golf season. The symptoms include shortness of breath, lack of energy and enthusiasm among many others. These symptoms are characteristic of iron deficiency anemia. As explained earlier, excessive bleeding results in the loss of hemoglobin a pigment responsible for transporting oxygen to the tissues of the body. The lab report provides succinct symptoms of the iron-deficiency anemia. Key among the components of the lab report is the fact that red blood cell smear showed microcytic and hypochromic cells. This implies that the red blood cells appear pale and thinner than in normal circumstances (Uthman, 1998). Ms. A’s blood appears so owing to the deficiency of hemoglobin in her red

Business to Business Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Business to Business - Assignment Example The paper tells that trade or business has always been one of the vital factors that have regulated the growth and development of any civilization. It has not only helped in the advancement of civilization but also been instrumental in the process of globalization. However, with the passage of time, the process of globalization and modernization has brought significant changes in the social, cultural and economic aspects of human race. The most significant change can be observed in the field of technology which has dramatically altered and influenced the business activities. The process of globalization and modernization has made the global business environment very attractive with business organizations being able to access overseas markets with least constraints compared to earlier times. However, on the other hand, due to globalization, the global business environment has become much more competitive with the introduction of free trade policies. . In this regard, Hope and Maeleng have identified free trade policy as a â€Å"competition-enhancing device†. In order to cope with this increase in competition, business organizations are constantly trying to bring in a number of improvements in their business activities and hence, they clearly identify the importance of business activities and associated stakeholders. Business related transactions can happen between any two individuals, or government and non-government organization. In this age of technological advancements, business organizations are trying to maintain transactions in electronic medium. The use of internet backed technologies like e-commerce has revolutionized all types of business transactions, be it business to business or business to customer transactions3. Relevant Literature In the post-modern business scenario, business models have been transformed with the changing nature of the business environment. In order to survive in the market, business organizations are constantly trying to incorporate technological advancement in their business process. E-commerce and e-business are two most vital technological advancements in this field. There are a number of reasons that has initialized such technological advancements. Barbara Parker has identifies major factors that brought such technological changes in the business process. Some of them are like increased process of innovation through research and developments; necessity of developed working process and lifestyles; demand for better interconnectivity in global market etc4. Due to these initiatives, the business organizations are currently enjoying better leverage for growth and development. The nature of the business model in an organization depends on the nature of commercial activities that they are engaged in. A business to business transaction is one in which a business organization interacts with another business organization. Example, in the case of manufacturers of automobile parts, they will be dealing wit h other automobile manufacturers who directly supply finished products to the market for sales... However, the company that buys automobile parts from another company and delivers the final product to the customer, is engaged in both commercial transactions, business to business and business to consumers. The primary focus of this paper is on the business to business commercial transaction and hence, the analysis and discussion aim to cater the same. Many post-modern organizations are incorporating latest technologies to enhance the value of their business by offering better customer services. In the process of business to business transactions, technologies like e-business and e-commerce influence the value chain of the company as the traditional value chain transforms to a new upgraded one. Value chain of a business includes its primary and supporting activities. The incorporation of e-business technologies in

Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 55

Case Study - Essay Example This implies that Ms. A has progressively lost excessive amount of blood thus resulting in the reduction of her iron levels. Iron deficiency anemia is a common type of anemia especially among women. Iron is a fundamental composition of blood. Among the common causes of the iron-deficiency anemia is excessive blood loss as is the case with Ms. A. heavy menstrual flow among women is the leading cause of iron loss thereby causing the anemia (Fry & Sandler, 1993). Ms. A explains that ever since she was ten she suffered from both menorrhagia and dysmenorrheal. The excessive loss of blood results in the loss of the red blood cells thus reducing the amount of hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is a significant component of the red blood responsible for the red pigmentation of the blood. Besides coloring the blood, hemoglobin transports oxygen to the various tissues of the body. Excessive bleeding thus results in the loss of hemoglobin a feature that impairs the functionality of the body tissues since they will not receive adequate amounts of oxygen (Hoffbrand, Moss & Pettit, 2011). Oxygen facilitates metabolism. As such, pe ople with minimal amounts of oxygen will lack adequate energy. Ms. A has noted specific symptoms since the beginning of the current golf season. The symptoms include shortness of breath, lack of energy and enthusiasm among many others. These symptoms are characteristic of iron deficiency anemia. As explained earlier, excessive bleeding results in the loss of hemoglobin a pigment responsible for transporting oxygen to the tissues of the body. The lab report provides succinct symptoms of the iron-deficiency anemia. Key among the components of the lab report is the fact that red blood cell smear showed microcytic and hypochromic cells. This implies that the red blood cells appear pale and thinner than in normal circumstances (Uthman, 1998). Ms. A’s blood appears so owing to the deficiency of hemoglobin in her red

Salaries in football Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Salaries in football - Essay Example Football players also face the reality of an extremely short career when compared with actors, singers, or even other professional sports. While they are playing their pay depends on the negotiated minimum set by the players union, the player's ability, incentives, and signing bonuses. Every player is guaranteed a minimum pay rate, but almost every player exceeds this amount. The Green Bay Packers had the lowest median pay rate during the 2007 season, yet all their players exceeded the minimum for a first year player of $285,000. The $285,000 minimum is for a first year player, an amount, which increases, based on the number of years in professional football. In addition, players are paid for their pre-season workouts and post season games. These extra incentives and bonuses helped bring the median pay of the highest paid Pittsburgh Steelers to over $1,1 million during that same season (USA Today, 2009). The team salary cap to some degree limits the amount of money the team is able to pay players, but many earn in excess of several millions of dollars such as Dwight Freeney of the Indianapolis Colts at $30.75 million (Weisman, 2007). While traditionally quarterbacks have been considered the franchise position and commanded the highest pay, in 2007 only 2 of the to p 20 salaries went to quarterbacks (Weisman, 2007). Defensive players can often garner higher signing bonuses because "Freeney and a number of other defensive ends signed new deals as free agents, while quarterbacks rarely get to free agency (Weisman, 2007). Indeed on the Indianapolis Colts, where the highest paid player calls home, the star quarterback Peyton Manning earns just one-third that amount (USA Today, 2009). These incredibly high salaries come from a variety of sources. On top of a base salary are signing bonuses and performance incentives. For example, Dwight Freeney's base pay is only $750,000, but received a $30 million signing bonus (USA Today 2009). Most signing bonuses are paid out over a number of years to allow the team to average them out and stay under the salary cap. Many players also negotiate for incentive bonuses based on their level of performance during the season. This may be based on yards gained for a running back or touchdowns for a quarterback. Performance incentives can come in the form of individual or team performance, and performance based incentives are usually a small portion of the players overall pay. For many of the top tier players, the signing bonus is a large portion of their pay. It is also the most secure portion of their pay as it cannot be lost based on future unpredictable events such as injury or being cut from the team. The player receives their pay through a sequence of checks distributed throughout the season. The signing bonus is paid upfront, and the salary is pro-rated throughout the season. The player receives a check for one-seventeenth his yearly salary each week during then season. At the end of the season the player receives additional money for his performance incentives and post-season play. If the player loses his slot on the roster during the season and is cut from the team, he gets to keep the signing bonus but loses the remainder of the weekly checks. Determining the level of pay for any individual player is a complex system of supply and demand, level of ability, years in the NFL, and the salary cap. Team owners

A Short Review of Walden Essay Example for Free

A Short Review of Walden Essay Walden is a book written by Henry David Thoreau, published in 1854. He is an American writer and naturalist who left his family and lived in solitude. He lived a simple life during his two-year stay and only received a few visitors because he spent most of his days thinking and observing nature and working on his essays. In his book, he explains why he sought refuge from society. I like what he says about life, that we must live the most out it. No matter how mean life is we should not shun it and call hard names because life is not as bad as we think it is. I like his emphasis on how to cherish life despite its imperfection. I agree that there really is more to life than richness. Despite how poor you may be, people should still call it life because even in the slums life is more than what we see. In the first chapter of the book, Thoreau identified the major problem, which is how the acquisition of material goods may consume your life. In one of his passages, he stated that, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived, which means that he want to live out his life. It is an irony. I also got confused when he kept on encouraging on living life to the fullest when he himself is trying to avoid the specific lifestyle he does not even make a genuine effort to try his ideas and follow his own advice. However, I noticed some bitterness in his work. He encourages his readers to welcome change but he seemed much laid back in things such as not trying to improve oneself either in the physical appearance such as the clothing he wore and even not socializing and meeting many friends. I think he is attempting to rearrange society and he sound more like doing a religious talk, a sermon. In Walden, Thoreau keeps emphasizing the importance of nature and his view of materialism as a force damaging the human spirit. I think his ideas are brilliant, very close to reality. It points to the very core of our society’s problem. In Walden, Thoreau believed the major problem only exist in his time when the problem of materialism grew until these days. The acquisition of material goods puts you to an addiction that only you can get away with. We all must apply his ideas on our lives. I believe that it is best if we put importance on spirituality over materialism. Although, we cannot avoid this modern society from upgrading so fast but we can stop and control ourselves from being consumed by all of those. I think it is wiser to be conscious and be aware of how materialism could affect our spirituality. It is like a parasite dwelling on us, consuming our spirit and without us knowing we left with nothing but scarred soul. His ideas can very helpful to us by starting on ourselves. By applying the system to our lives and putting spiritual above the material. We are all responsible of our own destiny that is why we must be logical about our actions. That is why sometimes we need to give ourselves a time alone, a time away from the busy life, and just be alone in a place where we could reflect helps us clear our minds from negative notions. It is a way of challenging ourselves if we could resist the temptation of life from reach for something not very necessary for survival and if we could resist the temptation of luxury and greed, is a called a test. Who ever dares to take the test of simple living, lives a life of happiness and contentment. Work Cited Thoreau, Henry David. Walden and Resistance to Civil Government. Rossi, William, ed. New York: W. W. Norton Company, 1992.

The Introduction To What Is Learning?

The Introduction To What Is Learning? Philosophy is taking a theory on what one believes and why s/he believes, and these beliefs are based on ethics. It is also based on how and what one thinks about something. In short, philosophy is ideas that create reality and makes ones view clear. In this paper, in order to address my philosophy of education with regard to the Zambian education system, the purpose of education, what learning is, and what teaching is, will be discussed. Thereafter, my educational philosophical statement shall be discussed to summarize my final paper on Teacher Education. In the first place, this paper will look at the purpose of education for Zambia, at its different stages of development to what it is and serves at the moment. Purpose of Education: Education, in the Zambian scenario, has moved from indigenous, pre colonial, colonial, post colonial and after independence to the present times. It has also continued to move through the three political republics and economic phases the country has experienced. In all these periods, the school system and the education at large have tried to answer to the demands of the prevailing trends and were tailored to satisfy the needs of society at that time. This is because political changes define the purpose of education when a particular party is in power or leadership. From time immemorial, before formal education came into existence, Africans and Zambians in particular, had their indigenous form of education, which usually stressed on communal and social aspects of life rather than on individual and competitive aspect. This was true as everyone in the community took responsibility in making sure that certain values in the community were preserved. This was also part of each community members social responsibility for the common good of all. This, therefore, made this kind of education meaningful, unifying, holistic, effective, practical and relevant since it was meant to address immediate social and communal concerns. In todays education system, these characteristics can still create meaning though with a broader view of addressing both immediate and long term problems. The education offered must possess the above characteristics if it has to promote healthy democratic societies of this century. Indeed this kind of education is relevant as it addr esses the whole human being in his/her entirety. During pre colonial and colonial times, schools did not take into consideration various needs of the people, especially indigenous locals. Colonial masters and settlers gave minimal education to Zambians, which later proved to be a source of economic inequalities and social stratification, as well as an instrument of imperialism. This kind of education was not just inadequate but was also largely irrelevant to the needs of the locals (Kelly, 1999). On the other hand, missionaries introduced some kind of formal education to Zambians. This education condemned the African indigenous ways of teaching and learning to the strongest terms and labeling it as paganism or worship of idols. In their quest to introduce some form of western education, missionaries faced difficulties converting the elderly Africans. This made them target young people so that they could teach them how to read in order to help spread the gospel messages to the locals. However, this formal education given to Zambians was also just limited to learning literacy and numeracy, while other missionaries tried to develop locals skills in the vocational type of education, that is, Agriculture, Carpentry, Black smith, and many other skills. This was said to be a better way of improving the living standards of the African locals. To the contrary, the skills imparted in young Africans were meant to serve the colonial masters and missionary interests. With all the efforts missionaries put in to bring some form of formal education, colonial masters did not support the idea. Instead, the Northern Rhodesia government pursued an education policy designed to foster a rural school system biased toward education of the masses, preparing them to work in a rural setting and consolidating a conservative social order, based on tribal authority, in the interest of a settler class (Camody, 1992). This type of school system was meant to keep the Zambian locals under developed even when natural resources, such as Copper, earnings and taxes were being collected form Northern Rhodesia. The colonial government made sure that if education was to be provided, it did not go beyond primary or elementary level. It was believed that locals with this kind or level of education would carry out clerical and vocational kind of jobs for the white settlers and colonial masters with less difficulty. After independence, Zambia realized the importance of formal education to its locals. This had to be done by constructing more Primary and Secondary schools. From that time to the present, most locals look at schools as liberators and a stepping stone to a brighter and better future life. During pre colonial and colonial times, locals that received good education also got some good jobs. With good education and good jobs, living standards of some people was seen to be changing for the better as they could afford basic necessities when they got their pay. With this clear view of what education could do, Zambians realized the need for their children to go to school and get jobs that they could not get before independence. The school today is seen as a window toward economic independence for a family as one member gets a good paying job. It is believed that going to school is the best chance Zambian children have to take control of their lives. This is because an educated population wi ll help tackle the overwhelming problems of poverty. For a Zambian child today, the opportunity to stay in school and obtain a secondary education can mean the whole world to a young student. This is surely the chance to keep learning, developing and dreaming, as the gift of education is one that really never stops giving. As Young (1971) stated that, for children from disadvantaged homes, active participation in school may be the only opportunity that they have to acquire powerful knowledge and be able to move, intellectually at least, beyond their local and the particular circumstances. Most schools in Zambia have provided this service to many as they have rekindled the urge to learn and abilities imbedded in most people who might not have realized their potential without the current school system or education. The current Zambian government has developed a policy of universal free primary education. This has allowed enrollment of about 95% primary school age children with about 2 0% continuing to secondary school level and 2% of the 20 to 24 age group in tertiary level (www.unicef.org/zambia/children). This shows that drop out rate is very high and only about one third of children enrolled at first grade reach the anticipated levels at grade six. Without schools, Zambia would not have seen the current development and economic growth. The school system has helped tap talent and skill in most young Zambians who have in turn contributed to the economic and social being of our country. For sure the knowledge acquired in school may not have been acquired at home. So, we see that the purpose of education is to make sure that learners gain access to different specialist fields of knowledge, thus uplifting their social economic status in life. However, the school in Zambia needs to do more as many reasons why it existed in pre colonial and colonial times are still evident that only a few rich are able to access high and tertiary education. The poor have had difficulties realizing their dreams as they cannot afford the expensive education, which can easily change their social economic status in a short time once acquired. Only a selected few and their families achieve or attain this purpose. The curriculum seems to promote the interests of the rich and powerful citizens of our time. Politicians and ministers send their children to good schools, which are well funded and with qualified teachers while the poor people will send their children to mostly public schools, which are also poorly equipped and lack teachers. Higher education is equally very expensive making it only accessible by the few rich people. It is like a school is not, truly, just a place where everyone is special. Therefore, it is important that education is given to all regardless of their social and economic status. Government must provide equal access and same conditions to all public schools. Boyer, in his book The Basic School says that, a school is a place where everyone comes together to promote learning. If everyone is allowed to come to any school of choice in terms of specialty, then sharing of ideas will cater across all sections of life. These ideas put together would bring about national development for the good of our country. Above all, the purpose of education for the future of Zambia should be to create democratic citizens. Democracy is mentioned and stated in various forums and is documented but is also less practiced or not put into practice at all. The effective democratic principles need to be imparted in each and every learner so that the political climate and values are protected in our nation. Since the school is a disciplined place, students begin to understand that everyone lives within limits, along with free dom, and that the rights of others must be sensitively respected. Therefore, it is true to say schools have a unique role to reproduce human societies and in providing the conditions which enable them to innovate and change. Society must change as times change and try to be innovative with new ideas to ease human conditions of survival, in order to be at par with latest demands and changes in the education system. Without schools, life would have been as difficult as the world would have been fragmented and underdeveloped. Without schools, each group of people would have had difficulties to begin doing things, thus making life for each generation difficult. This is because education is there to assure coherence or continuity from one generation to the next. Schools are important for each generation as we live in a world of new developments. However, this education can only be meaningful if the learning that goes on the schools has meaning. So, what students learn, help in defining what the purpose of education is for a country like Zambia to develo p, but the question may be asked as to what really is learning? What is Learning? Learning is a wider term that may not have one specific meaning. However, it can easily be defined as the acquisition of knowledge or skills through experience, practice, or study or by being taught. This knowledge acquired is usually new or the modification of existing knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, or preferences and may involve synthesizing different types. Websters Dictionary also defines learning as the act or experience of one that learn; knowledge of skill acquired by instruction or study; modification of a behavioural tendency by experience. Basically, from an educators perspective, learning involves helping people along the learning process, and learning includes all of the things that we do to make it happen. As an end result, we know that learning occurs when people take newfound information and incorporate it into their life. Munsaka (2011) defines learning as a relatively permanent change that happens to behaviour and/or knowledge due to experience. So, learning m ust bring some form of change in one in order to be meaningful and qualify as learning. Children learn in many ways, as can be confirmed through the many theories of learning that notable scientists and researcher have devised, such as Humanist, Behaviorism, Social Learning, Cognitive, Critical Reflection and/or Constructivism. Humanists believe that learners will naturally progress toward increased competence, autonomy, freedom, and fulfillment, while Behaviorism emphasizes on changes in observable behaviors. Social learning theorists explain that most of what children learn is through observation and interactions with other learners in a social context. Cognitive learning is a process occurring inside the learner in an attempt to make sense out of the world and give meaning to experiences, while Critical Reflection refers to learning that is deeper, more fundamental, relating to values, philosophical, and worldview and the nature of knowledge itself. Constructivists look at the importance of active involvement of learners in constructing knowledge for themselves. Cons tructivism, therefore, emphasizes top-down kind of learning, that is, begin with complex problems and teach basic skills while solving these problems. In todays learning, how children learn is just as important as what they learn. They are taught the basic skills in all the fundamental areas and also to be active seekers of information and constructors of knowledge. This is accomplished through learning activities that emphasize problem solving, communication, collaboration, seeking connections, technology, and engaged learning as children are actively involvement in the learning process. This is opposed to the current system where it is expected that learning goals should be achieved by a certain age, (Medina, 2008: 67). So, one of the first things a teacher must do when considering how children learn is to acknowledge that each child does not learn in the same way. This means children develop at different rates even when they are of the same grade or at the same age. Therefore, un derstanding the learners before they learn is inevitable. Because of this, some will learn better by modeling others, while some learn better when either positively or negatively reinforced or motivated. On the other hand, many children will learn well when they do things for themselves. This has not been the case in many instances as children are usually viewed as blank slates, meaning people who do not know anything until the teacher has imparted something in them. Since learning refers to changes in the learners knowledge that arise from experience, learners should not be viewed as passive receivers of information, but rather as active participants in the process of generating knowledge (Munsaka, 2011). Learning can, therefore, be viewed from the perspective of the changes that take place in behaviour and/or the changes that take place in knowledge through learners own initiative to create their own content or information to learn. Our role as teachers is to make sure that as ch ildren learn; they gain knowledge in the learning process and actually implement the new skills over a long period of time. For learning to take place, learners must be actively involved in the learning process. Some interaction of some kind between a learner and his/her environment should happen. This means the learner determines the course of learning as s/he tries to solve problems and constructs ideas to answer to the questions at hand. In this case, the teacher acts as a guide who assists the learners to make sense of the information recorded in order to create meaning through correct interpretation. Resnick (1989: 2), states that, learning occurs not by recording information but by interpreting it. It is very true that learning occurs when the students are confronted with something new or different from what they already know. Learners learn when they respond by incorporating new ideas, adapting to the new environment or even rejecting what is new. As learners attack or respond to new ideas, it is the duty of the teacher to help out as learners are not the sole players in the constructivist learning process. Other players, such as tutors, lecturers, and friends are very important if meaningful learning is to take place. Since learners are allowed to build their own understanding from various sources and make this learning a very personal construct, I believe constructivism is the way to go if learning has to be relevant to learners. For instance, in my teaching of Art and Design, learners are at liberty to determine what they want to know and how they want to learn, especially with their practical learning, which requires them to produce artifacts. At the moment, the students use sketch books to draw and come up with artworks of their choice and ideas. However, to design effective environments, one needs a very good understanding of what learners know when they come to the classroom. Constructivism views learning as a process in which the learner actively constructs or builds new ideas or concepts based upon current and past knowledge or experience. In other words, learning involves constructing ones own knowledge from ones own experiences. (Devries Zan, 2003) Constructivist learning, therefore, is a very personal endeavor, whereby internalized concepts, rules, and general principles may consequently be applied in a practical lesson. Regardless of the variety of content, constructivism promotes a students free exploration within a given framework or structure. Learners have to construct and do what they want to learn since Constructivism demands that learning be an active, contextualized process of constructing knowledge rather than acquiring it. This knowledge is constructed based on personal experiences and hypotheses of the environment and learners continuously test these hypotheses through social negotiation. Each learner has a different interpretation and construction of knowledge process. The learner therefore is not a blank slate (tabula rasa) as other theories might suggest but brings past experiences and cultural factors to a situation. The teacher acts as a facilitator who encourages students to discover principles for themselves and to construct knowledge by workin g to solve realistic problems. Aspects of constructivism can be found in self-directed learning, transformational learning, and experiential learning. I strongly believe that learning makes sense when learners determine what they want to learn. Learning also brings meaning when learners discover for themselves and can learn from even unexpected sources. If all teachers can give room for learners to decide what and how they want to learn, then learning will make meaning, be exciting and also relevant to the learners. This, however, does not rule out the importance of teaching. A teacher remains important in the learning process, thus the need to look at what teaching really is and what it does to complete the whole process of learning. Though learning can take place without a teacher, guidance is cardinal in order to be systematic in the learning process of students. What then is teaching and what role does it play in the education of students? What is Teaching? Teaching is a term that one may not be so clear if in its definition learners are not mentioned anywhere. Most importantly, the two cannot be separated as they go hand in hand. Teaching, in my view, is learning, challenging, trying in great ways, and is caring for the learners as it involves helping them. Anderson and Burns (1989) defines teaching as an interpersonal, interactive activity, typically involving verbal communication, which is undertaken for the purpose of helping one or more students learn or change the ways in which they can or will behave. So, we see that teaching is a process which is designed and performed to produce change in behaviour of students. It is however important to realize that the purpose is not to teach students how to memorize information, or how to know all the correct answers, but it lies in getting students to truly understand the concepts being put across for their benefit. If well handled, teaching is a profession that can produce something amazin g when the right ideas and beliefs are implemented in the classroom. Therefore, teaching refers to the teachers construction of environments for the students that are intended to foster changes in the learners knowledge and behaviour. (Gagne, 1974) As a strong supporter and believer of constructivist theory, I always acknowledge that no one learner learns the same way as the other. Each learner learns in his/her own way and understands things differently. Hence, careful selection of styles or methods of teaching would be of help for better comprehension in learners. This means if a teacher chooses just one style of teaching, the students will not be maximizing their learning potential. However, in my style of teaching, I have in many times believed that students can construct their own learning and that all students have something to contribute to the classroom environment. By connecting students learning to something they know, they get involved in their works with the seriousness it deserves and are motivated more than ever before. My job solely remains as a facilitator, where I clearly guide and assist the students through their tasks and their own discoveries. As a guide, I provide access to information rather than acting a s a primary source of information. This allows students to search for knowledge through the artifacts they make, thus answering to the questions on their minds. So, for students to construct knowledge, they need the opportunity to discover for themselves and practice skills in real situations. Providing students access to hands on activities and allowing adequate time and space to use materials that reinforce the topic being studied creates an opportunity for individual discovery and construction of knowledge to take place. I take learning in a direction relevant to students interest by asking them to come up with their own practical projects. In this way, students generate ideas and set goals that make for much richer activities than I could have created or imagined myself. Therefore, I view teaching as a process of encouraging students to make links between their real world experiences and the subject being studied. In Art and Design, it is important to provide students with hand s on activities because it makes students have ownership in the project or activity. They are motivated to work hard and master the skills necessary to reach their potential and/or goals. Being clear, however, about my expectations and communicating them clearly helps my students to learn more and perform better. Teaching is not just telling and supplying students with facts and information in much the same way that an empty glass is filled or a plain paper is filled with writings or even as though they were blank slates, as convinced by most of the behaviorists. These educational practices have been successful at producing proficiency in the lower order skills measured on many tests, but have generally met with little success in developing the kind of knowledge and abilities that students need in real life situations (National Assessment of Education Progress, 1981). Newer understanding of how people learn present a formation of teaching that focuses on developing thinking students who understand and can use what they learn. This idea is what is termed as constructivist because it sees learning as an active internal process in which learners actively create knowledge by connecting new information to what they already know, rather than as a process in which learners are passive recipients of information transferred to them from external sources. Teaching in this way emphasizes on developing students capacities for analysis and problem solving, rather than on having them cover the curriculum in the most efficient manner possible. It is rooted in the assumption that all human beings have a deep drive to make sense of the world (Carini, 1987). Constructivist classrooms function on the basis that learning in school should not be different from the many rich natural forms of learning that students have experienced before they have ever entered the school. Real life situations form the basis for learning and teaching is based on the confidence that in the course of trying to solve practical problems, students have continual opportunities to organize and reorganize their understandings and to develop various access routes to their knowledge. In my teaching, students are allowed to do practical activities, which are mainly hands on type of artworks. My teaching style, based on the constructivist theory of learning, allows students to use their own imaginations and personal experiences to come up with artifacts. As students interact socially, their learning is supported by multiple exposures since they bring into one place various experiences. In this way, they determine their course of learning. They are also allowed to copy and learn from other prominent artists and craftspeople in the community. This gives them an opportunity to learn from other people other than the teacher or lecturer and peers. This kind of learning remains natural as it does not alter the usual form of learning, which the community has always embraced. Although in most cases the choice of a teaching strategy depends on the topic being covered and the availability of teaching resources, the use of materials and tools is definitely inevitable in order to motivate the learners to develop their manipulative skills and to be creative students. Lessons guided by constructivist understandings provide opportunities for the students to actively explore, inquire, discover, and experiment with the materials provided. The learning and teaching materials, which are so essential in the teaching of Art and Design, provide students with insights and practical realities of concepts and theories they are learning. On the other hand, some students l earn well through observation and curiosity. They are able to reproduce artworks of others after learning by observation. In my teaching, I emphasize on the use of a critical eye, asking students to go beyond just looking at things but to see things with an extra eye. Some students learn faster while others learn slower, but the fact is they are able to use their curiosity to learn and do well on what they see. As a teacher who is always there to facilitate teaching and learning, I give more time to the students so that they can perfect their curiosity. Above all, I should know how to employ the most effective teaching and learning strategies to enable students make progress. The whole process of teaching using the constructivist ideas, as a teacher, is to help the students learn as much as their potential permits (Travers et.al, 1993). Using the four practical starting points in Art and design, the teacher makes sure that performance based teaching provides opportunities for real world experiences in which the student can apply prior knowledge, create new understandings and extend their skill in practical ways. Perkinson in Muzumara (2011) also emphasizes that as teachers we need to involve our pupils in the lessons we teach through practical work where they can use their knowledge, manipulative skills and apply their different senses to learn new ideas and develop knowledge and understand. Much of the art lessons are practical, where students usually learn by doing, which helps to enhance and promote the development of processes, manipulative skills, attitudes, as well as the acquisition of knowledge. The available literature, however, reveals that there is not any theory of teaching at all. There are only models or paradigms of teaching. Teaching theory takes a wider viewpoint. Thus, teachers and students are the major variables of teaching theory. It is based upon learning theory, learning conditions and learning mechanisms. Constructivists, therefore, provide students with flexible schedules and lots of time to explore a variety of issues and topics. This gives them the opportunity to temporarily shift their attention, if they want, and their work to focus on other studies and to return, at later dates, to previously unfinished projects or interests. Even if this theory is integrated around a theme and generally consists of more active assignments than written tasks, the ideas in it are developed and organized by someone other than the student, who in this case, is the lecturer or teacher of Art. In contrast, curricula developed through constructivist teaching are not only driv en by students pursuits of their own questions but also are built to include opportunities for students themselves to connect, organize, and integrate their understandings from the information they encounter in the course of their various experiences. As a teacher or lecturer, I act as a guide, a mentor, and an advisor, building bridges between my students individual interests and understandings and the common skills and knowledge society expects them to acquire. Falk (1994) affirms to this fact that constructivist teachers help students understand that there is a place for everyone in the classroom and the school. My philosophy of Education In order to define the purpose of education, what learning is, and indeed what teaching is, it is important also to state my philosophy of my involvement in education, thus my philosophy of education. In my teaching of Art and Design to the students, I have come to believe that my students have something to offer in my art classes. In order to foster critical thinking in my students, my teaching philosophy is to make sure students learn by discovery, do things with their own minds and own creativity. I believe this kind of teaching and learning brings true meaning of what education must be like or is like. By doing things for themselves and directing their learning, students truly understand the concepts for each topic under study. Art and design is a practical subject. In its practicability, it allows me as a lecturer to give guidance and facilitate students learning as they discover relevant information. The practical nature of the subject I teach allows every learner, slower or faster, to give in their best abilities even as I give guidance. Through encouraging students in what they do practically, students are connected to the real world as they produce things they see in the environment through hands on activities. I also believe that as a guide and as an educator, I must accord a fertile ground for my students to meet their fullest potential in their construction of knowledge through the artworks they make. I do this well by providing access to relevant knowledge that will help them develop emotionally, socially, physically, and intellectually. The use of a variety of strategies due to a number of topics which require diversity in teaching will be/is considered but students do more of discoveries and construct their own knowledge, thus constructivist theory. A variety of material used in Art and design accords my students a chance to improve their manipulative skills and creativity. As I provide these materials, the students take this opportunity to experiment and discover answers to the questions that puzzle their minds. With the materials provided, students discover information relevant and of interest to their lives, thus self motivation in their own course of study. This also creates ownership of the artifacts for the students. As an educator, my role is to instill the desire to find out more by students as they discover and re discover new information and knowledge through their various artworks. My role as lecturer is to give students the tools with which to cultivate their own gardens of knowledge. To accomplish this goal, I will teach to the needs of each student so that all can feel capable, competent and successful. I will present the curriculum that involves the interests of the students and makes learning relevant to life. This is easily done when students are directly in hands on learning in order to make them active learners. This ensures learning is tied into the world community to help students become caring and active members of the society, who will also function effectively in a dynamic world. The acquisition of knowledge for long life skills is d