Saturday, December 28, 2019

Society Australian Frontier War - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1463 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2019/10/10 Did you like this example? The Australian Frontier War involves the conflict that happened between the Aboriginal people and the Europeans (the British) between 1788 and 1930s through acts of resistance, battles, and open massacres. During this colonial violence, many historians have asserted that there is an estimate of about 20000 indigenous succumbed and about 2000 to 2500 British were killed. The University of Newcastle’s historian, professor Lindall Ryan came up with a map entailing the details of this war. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Society : Australian Frontier War" essay for you Create order Following years of meticulous research, there is an online map constructed, and it marked the massacres of the Aboriginal people throughout the Australian colonial frontier. Over 150 locations have been recorded through the east coast whereby these violent attacks towards the Aborigines took place when the first British fleet arrived. Therefore, Professor Ryan together with other historians agrees to this map as the most comprehensive map detailing the Frontier War. According to Professor Ryan, it was hard to locate the sources which would be in tandem with the oral history regarding the war because most of these killings conducted by the British were never meant to be discovered. Sites in areas such as Victoria, Tasmania, and other sites across Queensland as well as South Wales have been recorded. The records from these states are corresponding various accounts of the war, and the sources came from court records, settler records and diaries, and newspaper reports. Based on the facts, Tasmania was the first location where the massacre took place, and the war was referred to as the Black War. Based on the death rates in this state, it is estimated the period of this massacre was seven to eight years before other settlers migrated towards the mainland in the north. Based on the history of indigenous historians, in the beginning; the aborigines would welcome the newcomers with generosity and hospitality. However, with time passing, it was clear that the European settlers were there to stay and this led to the aborigines being dispossessed their property, more so land, water sources, and access to traditional foods. Additionally, the Europeans subjected them to sexual abuse as well as slavery. Consequently, this led to change in attitude and conflict between the two cultures was inevitable. The Maria Massacre From all the graves around Coorong area, the victims of the Maria massacre was the most notorious, yet they are the least remembered. The Maria was a 136-ton brig of wood, and it was built in 1823 on the way to Hobart Town from Adelaide. In late 1840, it went ashore on Margaret Brook reef but the passengers, as well as the crew, managed to launch the brig and they managed to arrive at the shore safely. The Milmenrura who were the local tribe befriended the crew, and they agreed to take them along the coast towards the east at Encounter Bay, which was the nearest settlement. When the ship reached the territorial boundary, the aborigines could not go past there, and this prompted the brig survivors argued they had to be taken until Adelaide. However, after the protests, the Needles Tribe took over to escort the British crew. Later, difficulties started to emerge when the crew started to entice the aborigine women for sexual favors, but they did not know the traditional obligations and responsibilities surrounding these behaviors. A letter from 26 December 1840, the aborigines of the district agreed that they will kill every European they met. Consequently, this triggered a massacre. News in the form of rumors reached Encounter Bay Whaling Station concerning the shipwreck, a group of five sailors, three local aborigines, and a police officer traveled to the location and the identified many aborigines dressed in the clothes of their fellow citizens as well as eight disjointed bodies on the shores. This was located about 40km south of Murray Mouth. This news reached Adelaide on 25 July 1840 bringing a major dismay. At this moment, Maria was overdue back at Hobart Town. Subsequently, a disciplinary expedition, which was aimed to impose fear to the native. Additionally, the main aim of this expedition was to punish the suspects through hanging of the ringleaders who fueled the killing of the crewmembers. In the event of these, three aborigines were killed, and an unknown number of the locals were wounded while they were trying to run away. More people were court martialed, two more aborigines were hanged on the spot, and their bodies were left to rot on the tree gibbets that were constructed on the graves of the first killed victims. The third guilty man coped to escape being hanged by swimming the Coorong Reach after escaping from the captors. More bodies were found squeezed in wombat holes. Over the next months, bodies were found and buried albeit there were no permanent graves, so their locations were lost. The main sites for these killings and burials were called the Fosters Bight or the Yards, which was located opposite Meningie. Additionally, three other districts locations were discovered whereby these murders happened, and it indicated that the party broke up. Based on the earlier accounts, it seemed that the passengers made their way alongside the land of Coorong to the lakes whereas the sailors went inland. Therefore, the bodies that were found could not be determined to be those of the crew and it cannot be ascertained that they could have been lost in the bush. Coniston Massacre The aborigines we furious because their source of water was being destroyed by cattle, erected fences, and the British who took their women as servants or wives. All these activities by the British violated their customs and traditions. Consequently, the aborigines’ behavior angered the new nomads because they were competing with their cattle for water. This tension went up to August 1928 where about 100 local aborigines were killed as well as hundreds of Anmatyerr, Kaytetye, and Warlpiri people who were displaced. These killings led to the Coniston Massacre. This massacre occurred from mid-August until early October of 1928, and it entailed killings in two periods. The first period happened in August, and the other one happened in September all through October. According to the massacre, the first killing occurred at Yurrkuru, and it involved the killing of Fredrick Brooks on 7 August 1928. On Coniston Station, he had camped a traditional Warlpiri soakage and right there, about 20 Warlpiri people were gathered. He then has an affair with one of the women, and this compelled the husband to kill him. Brooks body was cut using a stone axe, and it was later buried in a rabbit warren. However, his leg was remaining outside and after a day, Alex Wilson, an aborigine horse tracker, and trailer, discovered it. Afterward, he went to Coniston Station to report the incident. Constable George Murray who was in that area of Coniston Station as well as Pine Hill to investigate the cattle killings led the retaliation team. They set out on 16 August to catch the killer. Murray then went back to Alice Springs after the report of the death so that he could convene reinforcement but he was asked by Cawood to manage the case by himself. Based on the reports by Murray, five people died on the first day of the raid, and many other aborigines were caught in the cross fire that ensured. When Murray was returning to Coniston Station on 30 August, the tally of those who succumbed was 17. Contrary, the Warlpiris estimate was ranging between 60 to 70 people killed in the course of the patrol and investigation. The killer of Brooks, however, managed to evade Murray and his team and Murray had captured three suspects, Arkirkra, Woolingar, and Padygar. Padygar and Arkirkra were taken to Alice Springs to face trial while Woolinger succumbed to the injuries he during his capturing. The second part of the retaliation started after an attack on the second settler, Nugget Morton, and he was well known for his tendency to exploit aborigine women. A group of Aborigine men attacked him at Boomerang Waterhole, but he managed to fight them off by killing one of his attackers. He later went to seek help by sending a letter to Alice Springs Police, and this led to the arrival of Constable Murray towards the end of September. Until early October, Murray put up a team together and resumed with the killings around Hanson and Lander Rivers. The affected locals had an estimate of about 100 people killed during this second attack. On the other hand, Murray arrived back at the station on 18 October where he wrote few lines on his report regarding the two raids, but he did not mention the number of people killed as a result. The repercussion of these killings compelled the traditional landowners to move away because they were scared to move back. Until today, the aborigines who lived in these areas have never received the justice deserved.

Friday, December 20, 2019

Origin of Hindu Religion - 2457 Words

A Hindu ( pronunciation (help ·info), Devanagari: à ¤ ¹Ã  ¤ ¿Ã  ¤ ¨Ã  ¥ Ã  ¤ ¦Ã  ¥ ) is an adherent of Hinduism, a set of religious, philosophical and cultural systems that originated in the Indian subcontinent. The vast body of Hindu scriptures, divided into Ã…Å¡ruti (revealed) and Smriti (remembered), lay the foundation of Hindu beliefs, which primarily include dhà ¡rma, kà ¡rma, ahimsa and saá ¹Æ'sÄ ra. VedÄ nta and yoga are one of the several core schools of Hindu philosophy, broadly known as the SanÄ tana Dharma. The word Hindu is at times attributed to all persons professing Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism or Sikhism as is used in the Constitution of India.[1] With more than a billion adherents, Hinduism is the worlds third largest religion. The vast majority of Hindus,†¦show more content†¦The Vedas are the oldest sacred books of Hinduism and lay the foundation of several schools of Hindu thought.[21] The Upanishads refers to those scriptures which form the core teachings of the VedÄ nta philosophy.[22] Adi Shankaras commentaries on the Upanishads led to the rise of Advaita Vedanta, the most influential sub-school of Vedanta. In the holy text Merutantra,the word Hindu is defined as Hinani Gunani Dushyanti iti Hindu.Meaning that Gunani that which destroys the inferior raja-tama components or gunas is a Hindu.Thus, to be a Hindu is to follow a way of life that enhances the spiritually pure sattva component and sattva predominant qualities like love, courage, humility, expansiveness, etc.and overcomes the spiritually impure raja-tama predominant attitude like anger, lust, jealousy, greed, attachment, pride etc. Hinduism consists of several sects and denominations, of which Vaishnavism and Shaivism are by far the most popular.[23] Other aspects include folk and conservative Vedic Hinduism. Since the 18th century, Hinduism has accommodated a host of new religious and reform movements, with Arya Samaj being one of the most notable Hindu revivalist organizations. Due to the wide diversity in the beliefs, practices and traditions encompassed by Hinduism, there is no universally accepted definition on who a Hindu is, or even agreement on whether term Hinduism represents aShow MoreRelatedOrigin of Hindu Religion2468 Words   |  10 PagesA Hindu ( pronunciation (help ·info), Devanagari: à ¤ ¹Ã  ¤ ¿Ã  ¤ ¨Ã  ¥ Ã  ¤ ¦Ã  ¥ ) is an adherent of Hinduism, a set of religious, philosophical and cultural systems that originated in the Indian subcontinent. The vast body of Hindu scriptures, divided into Ã…Å¡ruti (revealed) and Smriti (remembered), lay the foundation of Hindu beliefs, which primarily in clude dhà ¡rma, kà ¡rma, ahimsa and saá ¹Æ'sÄ ra. VedÄ nta and yoga are one of the several core schools of Hindu philosophy, broadly known as the SanÄ tana Dharma. The word Hindu isRead MoreHinduism, Islam, And Hinduism Essay1205 Words   |  5 Pagesgraces that make a society prosper. Each religion has its unique features that differentiate it from other religions across the world. The beliefs and practices of various religions often follow a set of principles laid by the founders of that religion. In most cases, these principles often have a primary theme that they tend to support. The major religions that are practiced b many people across the world are Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism. The three religions are practiced in different parts of theRead MoreHinduism Essay993 Words   |  4 Pagesliving religion since some elements of it date back thousands of years; Hinduism has no single founder, no single scripture, and no commonly agreed set of teachings despite many k ey figures and numerous holy books that might indicate otherwise. Hence why Hinduism is often referred to as a â€Å"way of life† and why it makes sense that the religion was informed by so many external conditions around its â€Å"birth† (BBC Religion Profile, Hinduism) For instance even though the birth of the term â€Å"Hindu† couldRead MoreThe Complexities of Hinduism803 Words   |  4 PagesThe religion of Hinduism is the third largest religion in the world. The many aspects of Hinduism present a complex religion. However complex and intellectual this religion seems, the over whelming branches and diversities of Hinduism pose problems for the Hindu worldview. The history, nature of the world, practical outcomes, and superiority of Christianity display the challenges that Hinduism presents. From Hinduism’s pantheon of gods to its dysfunctional caste system, this religion has wreakedRead MoreReasons for Devotion to Hindu Goddesses1540 Words   |  7 PagesReasons for devotion to Hindu goddesses Hinduism portrays feminine divinity in a more exalted way than most other religions do. Though Hindu goddesses are usually depicted as consorts, wives or companions to a Hindu god, cases exist in which they are worshipped independently; Tantrism for example, where it is believed that women posses more spiritual power than men, thus men can achieve divinity through union with a woman (â€Å"Tantrism†). Most villages reinforce the mother aspect of goddesses andRead MoreHinduism : Hinduism And Hinduism1140 Words   |  5 Pagesbelief that one suffers the effects of their actions, if not in the present life, but each life afterwards. 1. The Question of Origin - The origins of Hinduism can be traced back as far as 200 years before Christ, during which time Aryan deities have been traced to. There is no one start, or founder to pinpoint the origins of Hinduism. 2. The Question of Identity - Hindu worship over many deities, and have a two belief system that sin and evil are just illusions and that time is cyclical. They believeRead MoreReligious Views On Euthanasia And Assisted Suicide1528 Words   |  7 PagesDaniel Kessler Professor Brislen GREL 101 15 November 2014 Religious Views on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide Throughout the millennia since the origin of man, technology has continuously evolved contributing to a longer life expectancy among humans. Now, even terminally ill patients can be kept alive by medications and machines. These life saving devices also carry the potential to kill a human with little effort or time. The debate has arisen as to whether people have the â€Å"right to die† or oftenRead More Hinduism Essay1327 Words   |  6 Pagesknown as the worlds oldest religion. According to ISKCON Educational Services (2004), it is hard to construct a timeline because Hinduism has no identifiable human founder or specific origin in history. It is so old that its past goes into pre-history. It is extremely diverse with the Hindu people being more interested in the meaning of events than in providing first hand records. There is also no clear-cut divide between history and myth. It is believed that Hindu traditions appeared aroundRead MoreComparison of Hinduism and Buddhism Essay772 Words   |  4 PagesComparison of two Religions Religion has been a practice of many cultures from the beginning of time. Research two different religions, and determine what the origins of the religions are. Find out what is similar, and what is different about the two religions, that you choose. Analyze the two different religions and discuss. Origin of Hinduism The origin of Hinduism is a mystery, because there is no founder for this religion. This religion developed over four thousand years ago. There is no authorRead MoreWhy Hinduism Should Be Considered A World Religion1299 Words   |  6 PagesWhy Hinduism Should Be Considered a World Religion Introduction Religion in the world today mostly depend on the number of adherents and the rate of at which they increase in the world. While considering the statistics, studies indicate that Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world and with a projection that by the year 2050, its popularity shall have increased more than any other religion in the world. Alongside Islam is the Hinduism, religion which is also projected to have a faster growth

Thursday, December 12, 2019

Socrates a classical Greek (Athenian) philosopher Essay Example For Students

Socrates a classical Greek (Athenian) philosopher Essay Socrates is a noteworthy and important historical figure as a philosopher, because of his and his pupils influence on the development of the philosophical world. His teachings, famous arguments, and ideas began the outgrowth of all later western philosophies. Born in 469 BC just outside of Athens, Socrates was brought up properly, and thoroughly educated. He was raised as most Athenians; developing both physical and mental strengths. Socrates then went on to learn from Archelaus the philosopher. Here he studied astronomy, mathematics, and was introduced to philosophy, which was a new concept at the time. Archelaus taught of explanations for the world with a scientific approach. Socrates, however, turned away from this idea and created his own. He decided that instead of trying to understand the universe, a person should try to understand himself. To express his philosophy, Socrates spent his days in the marketplace of Athens, telling people of his ideas. His voice was heard, and he was soon declared to be the wisest of all men. Socrates was skilled in the art of arguing. He developed a method by which he would win every debate. His favorite hobby was going to the marketplace and debating philosophical issues with other men in front of an audience. The result of these debates was that Socrates embarrassed the wise men in front of the crowd. This caused many to dislike him. After being named the wisest man, Socrates attempted to prove that this was not true. He debated with many men in the streets. These debates are some of his most famous argument methods. He started the discussion by stating that he knew nothing. As a result of the debate, he was able to prove that although his opponents claimed that they were wise, they knew nothing either. Socrates concluded that he really was the wisest man because unlike the others, he knew that he knew nothing. Socrates had many ideas and philosophies concerning issues other than the knowledge of oneself. These included explanations of the universe, the belief in god, and lifes goals. Other, earlier philosophers, had many different interpretation for the makeup of the world. Some believed that it was made out of numbers, others thought that it was made of a single substance, or many different substances, while still conflicting philosophers theorized that everything was formed out of atoms, and even illusions. Socrates had his own, different ideas. He believed that the world was made of forms that are not within the reach of our senses, but only of our thoughts. This means, for example, that when we think of characteristics such as roundness, we only picture ideas of it like a ball or a wheel. Therefore, he assumed that we only understand specific things that participate in our lives. In his search for the inner truth of oneself, Socrates theorized the explanation to the question of what the goals of life are. He concluded that everyone tries to find the meaning of happiness and goodness in their existence. This is the purpose of life. However, true happiness comes in many forms and is disguised in a way that people spend their lives looking for goodness, but finding only the evil in which it is concealed. The only way to discover true happiness, goodness, and the right way, is to fully understand oneself. Socrates did not believe in the Greek gods or religion. He had his personal view of god. Socrates felt that there must be some form of divine power because everyone seemed to believe in some kind of god and religion. He also believed in a sort of immortality. He hypothesized that there was an afterlife. His explanation for it was that people who had achieved goodness in their lives knew where they were going afterwards, and that evil people tried to ignore the fact that immortality existed. He preached that the soul was a persons true being, and that our goodness in life reflected on the goodness of our souls. Animal Farm - Animalism Vs Marxism EssayI knew that my opinions and theories were strong, I had performing and arguing skills, and my ideas would consist of principles rather than sciences. The simple lifestyle of the philosopher appeals to me. I enjoyed the unusual behaviors that I associated myself with. All that really interested me was the great mysteries of philosophy, and the questions of knowing oneself, which I devoted my life to learning and teaching. Mark Your teaching was remarkable and much can be learned from studying it even after your death; why is that you never bothered to record your works for later generations? Socrates Many have asked this before and for quite obvious reasons. Most other noteworthy historical figures did keep a record of their works ever since the invention of written language, yet not one of mine exists in writing. I do not exactly know the reason for this. Whether there are records of my work or not, does not matter. I will forever be remembered by my loyal pupils, the Athenian population, and the world. Furthermore, nothing I ever said was of too great importance. And to tell you the truth, I never really wanted to take the time to keep useless records. That nonsense did not concern me nearly as much as most of my other problems as a philosopher. I had to make money somehow, to support my wife and three sons. As you might have guessed, being a philosopher does not exactly bring you riches. One of the reasons I began teaching was to make money. Also, I had to deal with many peoples constant hatred of me, mainly due to my victories in debates against them. Some, with high political positions, even wanted me dead at points of my life. And one even succeeded. So, you see, no matter how simple and easy going my life may seem, there are quite a few difficulties attached to it. Mark Your trial and death are quite interesting and famous historical events. They have been interpreted by many and confused some; what caused you to make such drastic and unusual decisions, the consequence of which you knew forehand? Socrates This I am aware of. As a matter of fact, some even claim that I was mentally ill, and blame that as the cause for my actions. This of course I deny. The truth includes a mixture between my philosophical beliefs and the thoughts that have occurred to me during my last days. I always believed that there is an after-life. And that must have somehow influenced my decisions. Even though the religious part of this came to me only afterwards. At first many others and I thought that this ridiculous trial was an obvious hoax. Who would have thought that such a crime, which I was evidently not guilty of, be punished by the death penalty. I fooled with the court. They on the other hand were quite serious about it. In the last days, I realized that there was no way out. True I could have argued with the court and won. I could have escaped using the plan devised by my dear friends. But since there was a high-ranking leader who wanted me dead, it was going to happen no matter what. Furthermore, my governmental beliefs stand true in all situations; the law should be followed and that is all. There was not much I was willing to do. After some thinking, I decided to go along with the law, after all, I had lived a happy life. One that I was proud of living, no matter how unusual it may appear to others. I was an old man of seventy. I found and understood myself, and had achieved happiness and goodness. There was nothing more that I desired. I knew what was waiting for me after death and was ready for it.

Wednesday, December 4, 2019

An Essay on the Jaded Truths of Sex Love free essay sample

There is this mistake many of us who have yet to fall in love, or at the very least come to grips with an adequate definition of what that word actually means make on a fairly consistent basis. Make no mistake I am not the wisest man on the planet, nor have I ever claimed to be but I think there are few pieces of knowledge that I have picked up along my journey this far and it seems only fair that I impart them on those willing to listen in order to spare them some heartache and sadness. There are a few major points to which I will draw major attention to, there are a variety of others but as I want this to remain a simple essay, allowing for enough interest to be generated in order to finish it I will keep it as condensed as I can. The topics to be discussed with are these; sex and love, and the relation between the two. This will not be an essay in the traditional sense which would see a number of quotations and citations interspersed in the body of the text, but one complied rather as a retelling of some of the knowledge I have gained through experience. Let us start with love, such a novel word seems to be tossed about in our modern society more than ever before (although that is because those of us alive to claim that now were not alive ever before in order to properly determine that) still perhaps something has gone wrong to allow for this to happen. Of course we are all aware of the most prominent modern use of the word, which has to do primarily with thus of us of the male population who to impress all of their high school friends by sleeping with their girlfriend tells her the magic word which is suppose to swoon her off her feet, make her dizzy with desire and get you faster towards your end goal faster than anything else you have ever tried. Well done men, really aced that one. Though I fi nd it very hard to believe that those lucky members of the female population have not yet figured this scheme out, as it is not particularly subtle or clever. So let us suppose for a minute that this is the case and that all those girls in high school are waiting to hear that magical word, in anticipation that it signifies the final step towards taking the plunge, towards â€Å"hitting a home run† in the most crude terms. What a terrible situation this is then that we have arrived at isn’t it? Where the word of love and the mere uttering of the word is no longer designated for the upper most levels of affection but instead it is used simply as a tool for the advancement of bedroom activities. Though the previous statement is for men, I have no idea as to whether or not women employ this trick just as readily in order to get sex. Though if it does indeed go both ways than the situation as become far more grievous than anticipated. The other major problem with this whole love situation, (referring of course to the announcement of love prematurely, when neither party is truly ready for it) and with that the receiving party feels; 1) obligated upon receiving the â€Å"love† word and that they therefore should reciprocate the word and 2) leading to one or both parties taken to a state of confusion as to whether or not the other party or themselves in fact really truly believe what they are saying. Then of course with both parties in a state of confusion they continue to progress down the path to the perceived end goal which will only cement this proposed â€Å"love† that the two parties share. That is the topic for the following paragraph. Firstly I do believe some clarification is in order to all those readers still under the influence of the perception that â€Å"sex† is to â€Å"love making† what the â€Å"sun† is to so many other stars in the sky, that they are one in the same. This is entirely false, so much so that I am not even sure that there are words at my disposal equal to the task of describing how different these two things are. The notion that they are the same has led to many a problematic situation, especially among those who see their first time as â€Å"the making of love†, so I shall now attempt to break down the world of virginity and the loss thereof to all those who are feeling lost. There seems to be this perception that the loss of virginity is something entirely different to both sides, that the female loss is this tragic loss of innocence, a loss of something that was sacred and can never be redeemed. While on the other hand the male loss is viewed as being something else entirely, more masculine, a right of passage, and a gateway to the world sort of thing. This is entirely an error, one quite drastic to say the least. Men, while in an attempt to seem macho and masculine may shrug the first time off as something meaningless, just a bit of harmless fun that is i ntended in no way to hurt anyone’s feelings do interestingly enough feel quite similarly about the loss of virginity as females do. (This cannot of course be applied to all subjects of both populations but rather the majority of them). A loss is a loss, regardless of who is doing the losing, the major point here is that in a case where let us suggest two people lose their virginity at the same time they will both feel in someway connected, but the woman slightly more so, placing the guy ahead in terms of emotional disconnect, leading the man to be the one which is more than likely to shrug the act off as nothing (the other part is that men have a tendency to hide their emotions, especially ones that will make them seem weak, effeminate or â€Å"pussy† thus they are usually hidden). This is entirely turned on its head when the man goes in as a virgin; felt the aforementioned connection and the other party did not reciprocate. Thus the man quite interestingly enough will receive the feeling of hurt and lost that we most commonly attribute to the woman in the situation. The real point that has been attempted to be made here is that sex equals sex and love making equals love making, very rarely do the two ever co-exist in harmony where both parties enjoy the same feeling to the act in question. Most often one side feels something while the other side feels nothing whatsoever, and someone gets hurt but if this confusion could start to be rectified as a whole within the community of our youth I do believe that there is a good chance that such situations of hurt could be avoided, sex is sex, and losing yourself in some sort of emotional fantasy over the first time is a useless waste of time.

Thursday, November 28, 2019

Essay Examples on The Great Gatsby Essay Example

Essay Examples on The Great Gatsby Paper 1st Essay Sample on The Great Gatsby In the book the Great Gatsby, none but a few people had the idealistic American Dream. To some characters it seems the American Dream, has replaced by materialism and greed. What does the American Dream mean? What does it stand for? If a person has achieved their American Dream how should they go about living?The American Dream is the vision to be successful and to provide from and family the best way you can. Their dream is to also have money. In the book the Great Gatsby there are many characters with money. Someone who assume they have really accomplished their mission to have the American Dream. Confused with the tremendous mansions, jewelry, fancy cars and clothes, however they have yet to discover the feeling of the American Dream. These characters are reluctant to live their lives on a positive note. Therefore, they peruse lives of materialism and greed. The characters such ass Tom and Daisy Buchanhan, Gatsby and Myrtle Wilson have all misplaced the American Dream with materialism and greed. Tom Buchanhan has replaced the American Dream with materialism and greed in many ways. He works for nothing he has and plays all day. Another thing he does which takes up much of his time is have an affair. Never the less he has his wife Daisy sitting in his huge mansion alone with his daughter which he barley sees regularly. He has an Affair with a woman named Myrtle Wilson. We will write a custom essay sample on Essay Examples on The Great Gatsby specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Essay Examples on The Great Gatsby specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Essay Examples on The Great Gatsby specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer A woman who has no feeling for anybody but herself and cares about living the highlife rather than living he own life.She lives to have Tom shower her with gifts and take her as her number one priority. Jay Gatsbys obsession with materialism and greed is somewhat different from others in the novel. Gatsby had an overwhelming love for Daisy, Tom Buchanhans wife. He felt so in love that his greediness of mind overwhelmed his actions. He began buying jewelry, furniture, clothes, automobiles and mansions to buy her love. 2nd Essay Sample on The Great Gatsby Throughout F. Scott Fitzgeralds letter to Scottie we identify his anger yet attends carefully to his audience.We will examine in depth Fitzgeralds relationship with Scottie. In Fitzgeralds letter his anger towards his young adolescent daughter Scottie age twelve is evident.Fitzgerald quickly establishesa connection from one genre to another.He takes stand by expressing his feelings and concerns with use of wit and humour. Evidently F. Scott attends carefully to his audience, his letter is geared to a adolescent, young adult audience. The letter is written with human experiences to deal specifically to this specific genre.This then shows realization to the audience that he in fact is concerned and wants the best for Scottie. I personally feel that F.Scott Fitzgeralds letter was appropriate for its intention of guidance.H e expressed his anger midly, with the use of humour, wit, concern.He makes the generation gap evident.He saysyou think of me as an older person, an authority†¦ for the young cant believe in the youth of their fathers.F. Scott uses his past experiences and knowledge to guide his troubled daughter in the right foot steps intellectually and emotionally.Scotties lack of interest and guidance is evident as Fitzgerald says, you will reject it now but at a later period some of it may come back to you as truth. In conclusion, F. Scott development of letter writing has proven to attend to his audience with great interest. It was evident that his letter to Scottie was appropriate and indeed has yielded a strong message through letter writing.

Sunday, November 24, 2019

French Verbs of Perception Follow Their Own Drum Beat

French Verbs of Perception Follow Their Own Drum Beat French verbs of perception are verbs that, logically enough, indicate a perception or sensation. There are six common French verbs of perception:   Ã‚  Ã‚  apercevoir   to catch a glimpse of  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ãƒ ©couter  Ã‚  to listen to  Ã‚  Ã‚  entendre  Ã‚  to hear  Ã‚  Ã‚  regarder  Ã‚  to watch  Ã‚  Ã‚  sentir  Ã‚  to feel  Ã‚  Ã‚  voir  Ã‚  to see Verbs of perception and sensation may be followed by a noun or an infinitive. Note that in this construction, the French infinitive following the verb of perception is often translated into English as a present participle.For example:   Ã‚  Japerà §ois un arbre.I see (a glimpse of) a tree.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Japerà §ois tomber un arbre.I see (a glimpse of) a tree falling.   Ã‚  Jà ©coute les enfants.Im listening to the children.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Jà ©coute parler les enfants.Im listening to the children talking.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Jentends les à ©tudiants.I hear the students.Jentends arriver les à ©tudiants.I hear the students arriving.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Je regarde là ©quipe.Im watching the team.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Je regarde jouer là ©quipe.Im watching the team play.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Je sens le vent.I feel the wind.Je sens souffler le vent.I feel the wind blowing.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Je vois le chien.I see the dog.Je vois courir le chien.I see the dog running.   Word Order With Verbs of Perception Word order with French verbs of perception depends on whether the infinitive has a subject and/or object and whether these are nouns or pronouns.  How do you know whether the noun or pronoun that precedes the verb is the subject or the direct object? If the noun or pronoun is the person or thing performing the action of the infinitive, it  is the subject of the infinitive. If the person or pronoun is not performing the action but rather is being performed by the infinitive, it is the direct object. When the infinitive has either a subject pronoun or object pronoun, it must be placed in front of the main verb. Subject   Ã‚  Ã‚  Jentends les enfants arriver.(I hear the children arriving.)Je les entends arriver.Je regarde la fille à ©crire.(I see the girl writing.)Je la regarde à ©crire. Object   Ã‚  Ã‚  Jentends lire  lhistoire.(I hear the story being read.)Je lentends lire.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Je  vois  coudre  une robe.(I see the dress being sewn.)Je la vois coudre. If the infinitive has a non-pronoun direct object and no subject, it must be placed after the infinitive.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Jentends lire lhistoire.(I hear the story being read.)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Je vois coudre une robe.(I see the dress being sewn.)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Je regarde nettoyer la chambre.(Im watching the room being cleaned.) If the infinitive has a non-pronoun subject and no object, the subject can be placed either before or after the infinitive.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Jentends les enfants arriver.Jentends arriver les enfants.(I hear the children arriving.)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Je regarde la fille à ©crire.Je  regarde  Ãƒ ©crire la fille.(Im watching the girl write.)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Je sens le vent souffler.Je sens  souffler  le vent.(I feel the wind blowing.) If the infinitive has a non-pronoun subject as well as an object, you must place the subject in front of the infinitive and the object after it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Jentends les enfants casser le jouet.(I hear the children breaking the toy.)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Je regarde le monsieur à ©crire une lettre.(Im watching the man write a letter.)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Je sens le vent caresser ma peau.(I feel the wind caressing my skin.) If the  subject  is a pronoun  (a.), it precedes the conjugated verb. If the  object  is a pronoun  (b.), it precedes the infinitive.   Ã‚  Ã‚  a.  Je les entends casser le jouet.(I hear them breaking the toy.)b.  Jentends les enfants le casser.(I hear the children breaking it.)   Ã‚  Ã‚  a.  Je le regarde à ©crire une lettre.(Im watching him write a letter.)b.  Je regarde un monsieur là ©crire.(Im watching a man write it.)   Ã‚  Ã‚  a.  Je le sens caresser ma peau.(I feel it caressing my skin.)  b.  Je sens le vent la caresser.(I feel the wind caressing it.) If both the subject and object are pronouns, you must place the subject in front of the main verb and the object after it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Je les entends le casser.(I hear them breaking it.)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Je le regarde là ©crire.(Im watching him write it.)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Je le sens la caresser(I feel it caressing it.) Agreement With Verbs of Perception The rules of agreement for verbs of perception in the compound tenses are a bit different than for other verbs. Rather than agreeing with the direct object, as for most verbs conjugated with avoir in the compound tenses, verbs of perception only require agreement when the subject precedes the verb.  How do you know whether the noun or pronoun that precedes the verb is the subject or the direct object? If it is the person or thing performing the action of the infinitive, it is the subject of the infinitive and follows agreement  rule 1  below. If it is not performing the action but rather is being performed on by the infinitive, it is the direct object and follows  rule 2  below. 1.  If the  subject  of the infinitive precedes the verb of perception, there is agreement:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Jai vu  tomber  la fille.I saw the girl fall.La fille que jai  vue  tomber.Je  lai  vue  tomber.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Jai regardà ©Ã‚  les  enfants  Ãƒ ©crire.I watched the children write.Les  enfants  que jai regardà ©s à ©crire.Je  les  ai regardà ©s à ©crire.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Jai  entendu  arriver  les  Ãƒ ©tudiants.I watched the students arrive.Les à ©tudiants que jai entendus arriver.Je  les  ai  entendus  arriver. 2.  There is no agreement with the  direct object  of the infinitive.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Jai vu  les  enfants  Ãƒ ©crire  les  lettres.(Enfants  is the subject;  lettres  is the direct object. Even if we leave out  enfants,  lettres  is still the direct object, so there is no agreement.)Jai vu à ©crire  les  lettres.I saw the letters get writtenLes lettres que jai vu à ©crire.Je  les  ai vu à ©crire.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Jai entendu le monsieur lire une histoire.(Monsieur  is the subject;  histoire  is the direct object.)Jai entendu lire une histoireI heard a story get read.Lhistoire que jai entendu lire.Je lai entendu lire.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Jai à ©coutà © une fille chanter les cantiques.(Fille  is the subject;  cantiques  is the direct object.)Jai à ©coutà © chanter les cantiques.I listened to the hymns (get) sung.Les cantiques que jai à ©coutà © chanter.Je les ai à ©coutà © chanter.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Ami-Quebec and Forward House Community Service Essay

Ami-Quebec and Forward House Community Service - Essay Example The researcher visited Ami- Quebec community center and Forward House community center. Ami-Quebec community center is located in Boulevard Decarie, Montreal in Canada. Its contact numbers are (514-486-1448) for those within Montreal and (1-877-303-0264) for those outside Montreal. Ami-Quebec is a mental facility that aims at helping families cope with the effects of mental illness through education, information, support, and advocacy. The center also aims at raising public awareness of mental illnesses and dispelling the shame and stigma surrounding mental illness. Ami-Quebec center adopts various programs to support the community. One of the programs adopted is the education programs. This program aims at educating families living with Borderline Personality Disorder. The other program is through the use of support groups. These groups allow the interaction of peers through weekly private sessions whereby members are encouraged to share in a small group setting. Similarly, the faci lity makes use of counseling as a one-on-one service program that addresses the challenges encountered by caregivers when providing care to someone with a mental illness. Forward House community is located in Parksville, Canada. The facility provides care to patients with persistent mental health and addiction recovery. The facility aims at meeting the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual needs of the clients, both the patients and their families and friends. This facility has several partners.

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

English Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 42

English - Essay Example The answer is that there are serious problems in terms of distribution. Food is not accessible to everyone. Some governments, for example, steal food from their people. They might buy large quantities of rice on the world market and store it in warehouses hoping to resell it when the price goes up, instead of giving it to the people who need it most. This is a serious problem. Also, may poor countries have bad infrastructure. They simply lack the ports, railways, and roads that are needed to distribute food to rural areas. If a country lacks a port to bring in cargo it can be much more difficult to feed people. In Africa this has long been a problem. Fortunately new infrastructure is being built by the Chinese there which will hopefully alleviate the problem. Hunger is a terrible problem. But the cause is not necessarily or simply a lack of food. In order to solve this problem we need to empower people to build up their infrastructure so as to have better access to food. Mad Max Auto is a famous car company. We have a good market share, but we are looking to expand in a new direction. For the last few years there has been a lot of talk about the environment and about how to go green and save the planet. This is becoming a very important part of the decision consumers make when they buy a car. Therefore, I, as CEO, have become convinced that we need to make our cars greener. We need to develop the ultimate green car. This change in the culture has been several years in the making. People have slowly been learning more about climate change. They want to change their buying habits to reflect their new â€Å"green consciousness.† When they look at cars, they no longer want a big gas guzzler—they want something that will have low emissions and use less gas. They want something they will good about. In short, they want a car that makes them feel like a good person rather than a wasteful person. As a businessman it’s very important that I make note of changes

Monday, November 18, 2019

Course of Conduct Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Course of Conduct - Essay Example an who acts voluntarily does so at his own peril and is liable for the consequences of the actions voluntarily undertaken, whether intended or as a result of failure to obey the duty of care he owes to other parties. Using the cases of Lynch v. Fisher and Palsgraf v. Long Island Rail Road, the paper also investigates which of the two theories is more compelling. Contrary to the view advanced by the criminalist theory by Austin, the mental anticipation of risk must never be required as an element for the imputation of the tort liability. This is because such a legal dimension would permit the incorporation of several unjustified assumptions. These assumptions would more often than not lead to high level miscarriage of justice. â€Å"It might be assumed that trespass is founded on the defendant having caused damage by his act without regard to negligence† (Lynch v. Fisher 2). Secondly, it is very difficult for the jury to determine with certainty, the mental intentions of the act, which was done sometime in the past and damages incurred by another party. Oliver Wendell Holmes points that every man assumes the risk of his acts, be it the consequences are intended, or not, since the acts are voluntary, as demonstrated in the case of Lynch v. Fisher. In ordering, the restatement of the Law of tort’s section 435, the Louisiana appellate court upheld an earlier ruling in which the defendant, Gunter was charged with and convicted for negligence that resulted in physical injury of the plaintiff. This was done on three major grounds; the claim that the defendant was delirious at the time he shot the plaintiff and that he was out of his mind and suffering from temporary derangement of intellect, was rejected on the grounds that because of the defendant’s own negligence, he temporarily lost his power to reason. Additionally, all the rescue efforts had been made and that the actions by the plaintiff were just before the shooting, given that he was giving comfort to the

Friday, November 15, 2019

Theories and Approaches to Learning

Theories and Approaches to Learning Write about helpful and unhelpful approaches to learning during your own education. What was positive about those approaches? Did they reflect or express any particular theories of learning? Life is a learning experience. When I was a young girl I was so confident and positive about what I wanted. Maths and Science were my favourite subjects but I was not given freedom to learn as I wanted to learn these subjects. I realized this after I gained a very good experience in teaching primary school children. Student motivation is rooted in students subjective experiences, especially those connected to their willingness to engage in lessons and learning activities and their reasons for doing so. (Brophy, 2004, p. 4) According to Brophy, I must say learning is, interesting fun and exciting when the curriculum is well matched to students interests and abilities and the teacher emphasizes hands-on activities in order to keep the students busy and engaged. When the teacher teaches the right things the right way, motivation takes place by itself. If students are not enjoying learning, something is wrong with the curriculum and teachers instruction. At times I felt my school life was boring and frustrating because I hated all subjects except Maths and Science. I had to sit and listen to longtime instructions and copy the notes from the chalk board. I managed myself for learning because I had to show the Progress Report with good grades to my dad. Ê »Science is like everything, I guess and I think everything has a science to it. [When] baking cookies you have to add the right amount of eggs and milk and stuff like that (Kaufman, Moss, Osborn, 2003, p. 48) As I agree with Kaufman, Moss Osborns point of view, these two subjects add lot of fun to learning as they contain lot of practical activities which are conducted in the school laboratory. I loved to learn through doing and touching, it is because I had trouble sitting still and learning. My worst day during Science period was when my teacher said no when I offered him my help to fix the Bunsen burner to the gas cylinder. He said ‘you are still young so must stay away. Now I understand that I was a kinaesthetic learner that time, my teacher could have engaged me in his work because I could be better able to understand information by doing hands-on activities. I am not going to blame my teacher for this because at the time of my learning teacher centred education was given importance by educators. If teachers are able to understand childrens learning needs, it will reduce lot of frustration like homework incompletion, failures in assessments and sports and speaking in public. A s long as I know sometimes kids are just doing what works for them but, the curriculum in practice when I was in school did not cater the childs individual needs and the educators did not consider the childs learning style. I know that cognitive focuses on the inner mental activities such as thinking, memory, knowing, and problem-solving so, I think at cognitive stage the children should be catered carefully according to their learning needs. I gained lot of experience in teaching, today I am an experienced teacher, I wish I was my teacher when I was in school because when I was a child I did not get what I give to the pupils in my classroom now. As a teacher, I work in my classroom according to my childrens expectations. I believe in group work, differentiated planning, reading a lot for fun, guided reading, shared reading, classroom policies, and ongoing assessments which help me know the level of progress frequently. The few hyperactive boys in my classroom are always my helpers; they are always engaged in classroom jobs. In a typical classroom, some children process information best by hearing the teacher explain it, some learn by seeing whats on the chalkboard, and others learn through hands-on exercises. Nowadays colleges have increasingly begun teaching new students about learning styles so they can develop effective study habits. Three basic learning styles are auditory, kinaesthetic, and visual. Auditory learners prefer listening to explanations over reading them and like to study by reciting information aloud. These types of learners may want to have background music while studying, or they may be distracted by noises and need a quiet space to study. Kinaesthetic learners learn by doing and touching. They may have trouble sitting still while studying, and they are better able to understand information by writing it down or doing hands on activities. Visual learners process new information by reading, looking at pictures, or watching a demonstration but, they may grow impatient listening to an explanation. I still remember the learning style and classroom setting when I was small which is mostly similar to what shown on the video clip of ‘The four UK teachers experience in a Kenyan school. At least for ten years my classroom strength was 35-40 children, our tables and chairs were laid in rows, teachers table and the chalk board was at the front of the class. The classroom layout was so congested, though we learnt how to move around without any incidents, our teachers never approached each table in order to assist the individual needs. Teacher instruction was mostly lecture based and activities contained more board work. We were never treated according to our learning styles which are auditory, kinaesthetic, and visual instead the whole class was given the same type of activities only the able children understood them and completed on time and the rest were neglected. Regret to say that our teachers failed to realise that all of us are designed to absorb information differently; each learning style results in people with various interests, desires and talents and learning is more fun and effective when the teachers look into multiple learning styles. Children learn more efficiently on their own way and can reach their potential by working smarter. Once a teacher identifies the childs learning style, she can give that child the freedom to learn which will support his work at home, at school, and in life. Once my English language teacher asked us to write a simple paragraph on ‘Good Schools, since I like role play activities, I wrote the paragraph and drew pictures of girls and wrote two dialogues in the speech bubbles as they speak the positive things in the school. My teacher saw my work and crossed out the picture and said ‘this is not required here. That time I took this as my teachers valid point of view but later when I became a te acher I thought my teacher should have appreciated my speech bubbles and corrected the sentences or showed me what rules I should follow when I write statements in the speech bubbles. In this way the teacher put a full stop to my desire in learning or trying new concepts. The educators should be able to understand the learning styles of the learners and should provide opportunities accordingly. A kinaesthetic learner should be given more activity based work, for an example- in maths lesson for addition; this type of a learner can be given counters rather than asking him to work out the sums mentally. Kinaesthetic learners should be able to experience and explore the learning aids/ models which are available in the classroom or lab. Learners with strength for visual learning tend to process information by visualizing and seeing it. During a PD training which I attended recently I learnt that about 65% of the population prefers to learn visually. Visual learners in schools can be given opportunities to use colors to organize, receive written instructions and lists, look at graphics like film, flow charts, or diagrams, use visualization when memorizing information, take detailed notes and draw graphics as they learn by looking. People with strength for a uditory learning tend to remember information they hear and discuss. According to what I learnt, about 30% of the population prefers learning with an auditory style. Auditory learners in the classroom can be given recordings of materials like video clips of rhymes or documentaries to be learned; can participate in discussions or discussion groups, have questions read out loud, receive verbal instructions and read written information out loud. It is very sad to say at the time of my learning in the schools I did not see teachers had any knowledge of the types of learners and teach them according to their needs but learning was on going in the classroom. If this is the case how did I learn? This is a very difficult question for me to answer. The learning theories of the school where I studied were forced me to learn in the way I did not want to, the classroom instruction in my school life was mostly suitable for visual learners as there were activities like reading text with pictures, key points of the lesson given on the chalk board and copying texts from the chalk board to the note books. There were hardly any resources around the classrooms; the teaching aids were the text books, chalk board and the chalks. I liked to spend more time in the Science lab its because of the laboratory equipment which our Science/Maths teacher used during practical lessons. I enjoyed these subjects though there were limited resources available in the school lab; the teachers conducted the lessons as for the whole class without realizing the individual needs of the children. I did not study the English language as the way I studied Maths/Science. English was taught through visualizing things, long instructions and reading paragraphs in tex ts. If teachers use a lecture style for instruction, the English language learner will not receive as much comprehensible input. (Haynes, 2007, p. 6) Haynes argument is right. I became impatient listening for long periods during English. Once my English teacher caught me reading my favourite story book in the class and said ‘you must spend time with your text books, you should never read story books it is a waste of time. I followed her instructions and never read story books ever since she told me. Why did not this teacher realize that reading open doors for many worlds? Had I read a lot or be encouraged to read that time I would have had a rich vocabulary when I entered the High school. Another day a story teller visited our school to read stories to each year group and involved the students in making story props and acting out the stories. This was the most enjoyable moment during my English lesson; I had an opportunity to learn new vocabularies too. Everyone had fun during this lesson because the story teller involved each and every student in a kind of activity. Another issue was no school policies were read to us on the first day of school as there were no many policies constructed for the school at that time. We knew how to go in a line to the library, hitting and verbally abusing the peers not allowed, wore neat uniform every day, respect the teachers and so on but we were never taught any of these. I think the hidden curriculum in my school was stronger than the curriculum which was in use that time. Then I moved to a college for my higher education. I can say from my college experience that many higher education instructors still do not realize that students vary in the way that they process and understand information or attempt to respond to those differences in their pedagogical efforts. Effective teaching cannot be limited to the delivery of information; instead it needs to be based on a model of minds at work. Effective instructors are those who understand the importance of involving all of their students in learning how to learn. Effective learners are created when instructors affirm the presence and validity of diverse learning. At the college level the cognitive development occurs at the same pace but the learners experience different kind of problems or issues due to many changes. One of them is ‘culture shock. Newcomers have usually left behind family members, friends, teachers, and pets. They are no longer surrounded by a familiar language and culture. Children often do not have the full support of their parents because the parents are experiencing culture shock, too. (Haynes, 2007, p. 2) I agree with Hayens because the greater the difference between the students new culture and the students primary culture, the greater the shock. During this stage, I as a newcomer was excited about the new lives. Everything was wonderful and we were having great time learning about the environment. For me the differences between the new culture and the old one become more apparent. I rejected my new surroundings because there was so much that I did not understand. At times I felt sleepy, irritable, uninterested, or depressed; there were few more students who felt the same as I did. In my college the English language learners were frustrated because they could not communicate and are bombarded with unfamiliar surroundings, unreadable social signals, and an unrelenting barrage of new sounds. I was homesick and missed my family, friends, and familiar sights and sounds but, our instructors failed to realise this and started their duty stuffing our brain with Physics, Chemistry and Biolo gy. I was compelled to listen and follow what they instructed but, I did not know how much I learnt at that stage. In fact, I was surprised and overwhelmed by the lectures though we were forced to learn what we were supposed to, because the instructors knew so much about the subject taught. At times I asked myself, how did the instructors prepare themselves so well in order to answer all types of questions asked by the students? I saw them as good role models from the way they socialized with others, and delivered the content of the subjects during lectures. Listening to a lecture involves active attempts to construct new knowledge but, most of the time I felt that the instructors could have included videos to their instructions, involved us in presentations or group discussions as I loved these types of activities. ACTIVITY 2: Why are theories of learning important? Write down some initial thoughts about your own priorities at this stage of your development as a (head) teacher. To what extent do your own current priorities coincide with the priorities mentioned above? There are many different theories of how people learn. What important and useful is to consider their application to how our students learn and we teach our educational programs. It is interesting to think about our own particular way of learning and to recognize that everyone does not learn the way we do. In my opinion one of the main points is a teacher should know that each student does not learn in the same way others do. This means if the teacher chooses just one style of teaching such as direct instruction or collaborative learning or inquiry learning the students will not be maximizing their learning potential. For sure a teacher cannot reach every student on the same level during one lesson, but implementing a variety of learning styles throughout the course allows all the students to experience the chance to learn in at least a way that matches their learning style. Most of the materials used to educate students beyond primary school are largely text and lecture based, which have significant limitations. Those students are not involved in group work or discussion activities. Reading is a very important learning mode but, not all students learn effectively from reading. There are students who do not like reading a lot but, respond better to visual and audio stimuli of lecture but often get lost in the material or lose interest in the presentation. In this type of a learning environment, students have limited opportunity to ask questions or may be uncomfortable asking a question in front of the class. So the learning theories we have should cater the individual needs of the children. I believe student learn best by trying to make sense of something on their own with the help of the teacher along the way. Therefore the learners should be involved in activity based learning and given the freedom to use the classroom resources around them. Another im portant point is that the best way to learn is by having students construct their own knowledge instead of having someone construct it for them. For an example, for giving them the concept of Addition they should be given counters or an abacus to find the sum of two numbers rather than explaining this on the chalk board. For the language development they should be given activities for listening and writing which will be an interesting activity too. Science and Geography can be taught through pictures, video clips, lab work with a lot of experiments and the use of internet. At times I did not get the clear concepts of the subject taught when I attended the lecture type classes but I had an opportunity to understand better when I was asked to teach the same concept to someone else on my own. An experienced teacher should always use cognitive terminology such as classify, analyze, predict, and create when assigning tasks to the students, this helps the students to explore and research to find lot of information about the subject. We should encourage student critical thinking and inquiry by asking them thoughtful, open-ended questions, and encourage them to ask questions to each other. Further, we should provide enough time for students to construct their own meaning when learning something new. We should acknowledge that, students understanding and prior experiences about a concept before teaching them, which is as vital as breathing. Group discussions that we organize should encourage communication between the teacher and the students and also between the students. All learning and some elements of non-learning begin with situations where there is a disjuncture between a learners biography (past experiences) and their construction of present experience. (Jarvis, Holford Griffin, 2003, p. 70) As Jarvis, Holford Griffin explain educators should pay importance to the childs prior learning experience in order to give them the proper foundation on learning. In the school where I work the children speak English as a second language therefore I had to construct my learning theories according to their past experience with the language of English. One of the word level objectives of English for first graders is ‘to represent in writing the three phonemes in CVC words, spelling them first in rhyming sets, then in non-rhyming sets. This is a very simple objective but difficult for a first grader in my school as their prior knowledge in English is zero due to use of no English at home. In that case if I as a teacher insist them to learn this objective then I will be committing a crime for not having any knowledge on their biography. So it is vital for me to spend correcting prior knowledge before new learning can occur, in fact we in our school where I work now spend at least 2-3 weeks at the beginning of the first term to learn the biography of the children. Teachers must be fair in distributing their praise and all students should receive praise. They should look for positive things to say about a students work even when pointing out problems or mistakes during lesson. Some might receive praise for bigger achievements than others but, even the lower performer needs a regular pat on the back. Teacher should also give praise or verbal rewards to the class as a whole to encourage the class and build team unity. True, the learning theories help support planning and teaching, help to critically evaluate classroom practice and help in the diagnosis of classroom problems but in my opinion the important person who constructs the learning theories in the classroom is the teacher who is not given enough opportunities to implement these in her classroom to experience the consequences. I hear teachers of other schools say that excess amount of paper work and work load do not provide enough time to engage the children on learning. In the school where I work our teachers are not given extra duties such as after school duty, snack duty etc in order to make sure that they spend more time in the classroom and prepare for students learning. We have special subject teachers for ICT, Physical Education and second languages so the class teachers can concentrate only on the core subjects like Literacy, Numeracy, Science and Geography. One may ask, why do our teachers are kept away from teaching ICT? In my opi nion ICT should be integrated in learning however, in some cases, teachers feel ICT increases their workload, with some tasks taking longer time to complete. This can often be traced to one or more of: a lack confidence or lack of ICT skills, ineffective networks or a lack of appropriate training or technical support. To reduce teacher workloads in our schools in future, ICT strategies will be included specific workload aims although this should not be at the impression of continuing to find ways in which ICT can raise quality and pupil performance. (We are planning to improve ICT strategic planning through strategic aims, hardware, software, connectivity, technical support and staff training and development in future and involve the teachers in integrating ICT to learning). Staff meeting or Curriculum meeting is conducted only once a week, which helps the teachers to spend more time with their work in the classroom and during their non contact periods they are supposed to prepare additional activities for the lesson they have planned. Progress Report for the pupils are being sent only thrice a year rather than every month, the teachers in our school have to spend less time dealing with behavioural issues because we have well constructed standardized policies for discipline, behaviour, uniform, food and bus and the Social worker is highly involved in implementing the policies. In our school calendar there are few days allocated as ‘Staff in Students out for professional development which is very important for the educators to upgrade their skills. I have seen few schools in this country utilize the student time I mean have shortened day in order to organise PD for the staff. In some schools teachers spend most of their time on disciplining the children and dealing with behavioural issues because of the weak hidden curriculum in place and no proper plan or policies to manage these types of issues there. Some educators want to expose themselves as good teachers or professional and show that they can manage the children very well, so they spend more time on putting up class displays, classroom management and less time on teaching the children. I have seen educators who work only for survival, their aim is to spend the days in the school and get monthly wage on time. The overall goal of the teachers should be to help and support students develop into self motivating learners. Students who are encouraged to become motivated lifelong learners will be more successful in and out of the classroom. When I worked as a teacher in other schools I had to teach all the subjects including IT and Physical Education, send monthly progress report home, prepare student portfolio for each child in my class, do after school duties and attend meetings with the Principal for four days in a week. I must say at that time I was frustrated for not having enough time to concentrate on the learning of my students and I was able to realise that they were not gaining anything according to their learning style. So, when I became as a head of a school I made sure that the teachers are given more time to spend for the children not with paper work and so on. The Social Worker and I are directly involved in solving behavioural issues in the school so the teachers will not have to spend time on this issue. The school policies and curriculum should be child centred and focus only on their learning. Educators should spend more time on pupils learning for which the strong hidden curriculum of the school should be helpful so that the teachers can construct proper planning for their teaching rather than wasting their time on other issues like behaviour and discipline. What I am trying to explain is that the learning theories we construct should focus on the childs academic and intellectual development. ACTIVITY 3: Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation List eight ways in which you motivate pupils in your classroom and school. Explain which motivational forms are intrinsic and which extrinsic. We know nothing about motivation. All we can do is write books about it. Peter Drucker I have read a lot about ‘Motivation in books and on websites. I think Drucker is concerned about the nature of understanding the term ‘Motivation. I know what motivation is but, I do not think that I have made a closer inspection to it ever in my career. I have motivated the learners to read a lot, work smarter, behave well and be a good role model through rewards and appreciation as the way the factory workers are encouraged by ‘end of year bonus so that production improves and absenteeism falls. No one can know the future at least in any detail. In preparing the future, students should be able to develop viable occupational skills. Learning a discipline and doing it well provides the foundation for a sense of purpose, security and confidence in adulthood. In addition to this the students should prepare for change. As we see, change is best handled and even welcomed, when individuals possess a well developed mental skills associated with original creative and independent thinking. Further, according to Martin V. Cavington, the greatest legacy of education is to encourage in our students a will to learn and to continue learning as personal circumstances-change in short to promote a capacity for self renewal. Today many students drop out of school without a single achievement for which they can feel uniquely responsible for it. More ever the majority of the students fail achieve their potential due to lack of motivation in schools and home. How to always be motivated? Keeping our motivation high is the key factor to achieve our goals. We all face setbacks in life but, the ability to turn it into a lesson and move through a positive direction should be our aim for which motivation is highly required. If we are not motivated, we will experience difficulties in turning our great ideas into great results, wake up in the morning without any desire, ask people around us for support, give up our tasks before finishing them, postpone important decisions and wish that we will have a set of helping tips to overcome our setbacks. If we as adults will have to face a great deal of inconveniences due to lack of motivation, what will happen to those who just started their life in schools as children? What will be the consequences for being not motivated by important factors? How motivation takes place in classrooms and schools? A primary concern for educators is how to balance the use of extrinsic incentives as needed to promote student task engagement while establishing a climate that also fosters intrinsic motivation. (Alderman, 1999, p. 213) The motivation comes from the pleasure one gets from the task he does or from the sense of satisfaction in completing or even working on it. As Alderman explains, we should equally balance extrinsic and intrinsic motivation in order to promote engaging students on task. According to what I understood intrinsic motivation means motivation which comes from inside an individual rather than from any external or outside rewards, such as money, trophies or grades. Extrinsic motivation refers to motivation that comes from outside an individual. The motivating factors are external, or outside, rewards such as money, trophies or grades. These rewards provide satisfaction and pleasure that the task itself may not provide. Is intrinsic motivation the solution for increasing student engagement? One perspective is that intrinsic motivation to learn is a necessary, but insufficient, component for academic achievement in classrooms; that is, one can enjoy learning or have an interest in a subject, but lack the strategies necessary for continuing motivation (Alderman, 1999, p. 218) According to Aldermans argument, an extrinsically motivated student will work on a task even when he has little interest in it because of the anticipated satisfaction he will get from some rewards. The rewards can be something as minor as a smiley face to something major like a trophy or free computer game. For example, an extrinsically motivated child who dislikes maths may work hard on maths problems because he wants the reward for completing it right. For me it is very difficult to agree with Aldermans point of views on ‘motivating extrinsically will result positively as I have teaching experience with children of some (sorry to say) arrogant parents, rich parents who are proud of their wealth and children who enjoy the most lavish life in this country which is completely different where I come from. I have implemented many strategies for motivating children in my class; I never had an opportunity to discriminate intrinsic and extrinsic motivation until I come across some readings on these topics by Jerome S. Bruner and Alderman. All I knew were about motivating children to be engaged on task. Two years back I had few children in my class, whose parents especially the mothers were not supportive at all; their children most of the time turned in completed homework, they had poor reading skills and had unacceptable behaviour in the classroom. In order to motivate them towards task, I used to tell them if they complete work on time or behave well they will get a smiley sticker or a badge but, I always had reply from these kids ‘I dont need I can buy them when I go out with my driver or ‘who cares of those cheap stickers or ‘I have got plenty of them at home. In such a place where I am in, most of the children are not attracted by those extrinsic motivations rather they would like to get motivated by intrinsic factors. I have spent a lot of time trying to think of ways to motivate my more reluctant students. I have tried fear† If you are late again, I will call home†. I have tried rewards â€Å"If you follow the classroom code of conduct you will earn points that you can redeem for a free homework pass or computer game. As a motivational support fear and rewards do work, for a while but, I did not want to threaten my students, and I did not want to bribe them. I want them to develop a will to come to class and learn. I wanted their motivation to be intrinsic. The question then was how I get my students to become more intrinsically motivated so that the classroom experience is more enjoyable for everyone. When Iencouraged mystudents self motivation by structuringmy class and my teaching I met their needs which are love, respect, emotional support and to move about the classroom freely. I followed many ways to motivate the children but now, I can differentiate them according to intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors. Intrinsic motivation takes place when there is a positive relationship between the learners and the educators. As Jerome Bruner (1966), explains that extrinsic reinforcement may lead to a desirable kind of activity and cause its repetition but will not ultimately encourage sound learning. His belief was that intrinsic rewards are more important than extrinsic rewards in the long term. Intrinsic motivational factors I implemented in my classroom and school were, 1- When I asked my students to volunteer to be my assistant and assigned jobs for them more learning went on than if I did all the teaching myself. 2- When I had those students who could not sit still for very long and lose focus easily did their maths questions on the board, they were more likely to stay focused and learn which develop the interest of involvement. 3- When I greeted my students at the classroomdoor early morning with a smile and allocate games and puzzles for them to d Theories and Approaches to Learning Theories and Approaches to Learning Write about helpful and unhelpful approaches to learning during your own education. What was positive about those approaches? Did they reflect or express any particular theories of learning? Life is a learning experience. When I was a young girl I was so confident and positive about what I wanted. Maths and Science were my favourite subjects but I was not given freedom to learn as I wanted to learn these subjects. I realized this after I gained a very good experience in teaching primary school children. Student motivation is rooted in students subjective experiences, especially those connected to their willingness to engage in lessons and learning activities and their reasons for doing so. (Brophy, 2004, p. 4) According to Brophy, I must say learning is, interesting fun and exciting when the curriculum is well matched to students interests and abilities and the teacher emphasizes hands-on activities in order to keep the students busy and engaged. When the teacher teaches the right things the right way, motivation takes place by itself. If students are not enjoying learning, something is wrong with the curriculum and teachers instruction. At times I felt my school life was boring and frustrating because I hated all subjects except Maths and Science. I had to sit and listen to longtime instructions and copy the notes from the chalk board. I managed myself for learning because I had to show the Progress Report with good grades to my dad. Ê »Science is like everything, I guess and I think everything has a science to it. [When] baking cookies you have to add the right amount of eggs and milk and stuff like that (Kaufman, Moss, Osborn, 2003, p. 48) As I agree with Kaufman, Moss Osborns point of view, these two subjects add lot of fun to learning as they contain lot of practical activities which are conducted in the school laboratory. I loved to learn through doing and touching, it is because I had trouble sitting still and learning. My worst day during Science period was when my teacher said no when I offered him my help to fix the Bunsen burner to the gas cylinder. He said ‘you are still young so must stay away. Now I understand that I was a kinaesthetic learner that time, my teacher could have engaged me in his work because I could be better able to understand information by doing hands-on activities. I am not going to blame my teacher for this because at the time of my learning teacher centred education was given importance by educators. If teachers are able to understand childrens learning needs, it will reduce lot of frustration like homework incompletion, failures in assessments and sports and speaking in public. A s long as I know sometimes kids are just doing what works for them but, the curriculum in practice when I was in school did not cater the childs individual needs and the educators did not consider the childs learning style. I know that cognitive focuses on the inner mental activities such as thinking, memory, knowing, and problem-solving so, I think at cognitive stage the children should be catered carefully according to their learning needs. I gained lot of experience in teaching, today I am an experienced teacher, I wish I was my teacher when I was in school because when I was a child I did not get what I give to the pupils in my classroom now. As a teacher, I work in my classroom according to my childrens expectations. I believe in group work, differentiated planning, reading a lot for fun, guided reading, shared reading, classroom policies, and ongoing assessments which help me know the level of progress frequently. The few hyperactive boys in my classroom are always my helpers; they are always engaged in classroom jobs. In a typical classroom, some children process information best by hearing the teacher explain it, some learn by seeing whats on the chalkboard, and others learn through hands-on exercises. Nowadays colleges have increasingly begun teaching new students about learning styles so they can develop effective study habits. Three basic learning styles are auditory, kinaesthetic, and visual. Auditory learners prefer listening to explanations over reading them and like to study by reciting information aloud. These types of learners may want to have background music while studying, or they may be distracted by noises and need a quiet space to study. Kinaesthetic learners learn by doing and touching. They may have trouble sitting still while studying, and they are better able to understand information by writing it down or doing hands on activities. Visual learners process new information by reading, looking at pictures, or watching a demonstration but, they may grow impatient listening to an explanation. I still remember the learning style and classroom setting when I was small which is mostly similar to what shown on the video clip of ‘The four UK teachers experience in a Kenyan school. At least for ten years my classroom strength was 35-40 children, our tables and chairs were laid in rows, teachers table and the chalk board was at the front of the class. The classroom layout was so congested, though we learnt how to move around without any incidents, our teachers never approached each table in order to assist the individual needs. Teacher instruction was mostly lecture based and activities contained more board work. We were never treated according to our learning styles which are auditory, kinaesthetic, and visual instead the whole class was given the same type of activities only the able children understood them and completed on time and the rest were neglected. Regret to say that our teachers failed to realise that all of us are designed to absorb information differently; each learning style results in people with various interests, desires and talents and learning is more fun and effective when the teachers look into multiple learning styles. Children learn more efficiently on their own way and can reach their potential by working smarter. Once a teacher identifies the childs learning style, she can give that child the freedom to learn which will support his work at home, at school, and in life. Once my English language teacher asked us to write a simple paragraph on ‘Good Schools, since I like role play activities, I wrote the paragraph and drew pictures of girls and wrote two dialogues in the speech bubbles as they speak the positive things in the school. My teacher saw my work and crossed out the picture and said ‘this is not required here. That time I took this as my teachers valid point of view but later when I became a te acher I thought my teacher should have appreciated my speech bubbles and corrected the sentences or showed me what rules I should follow when I write statements in the speech bubbles. In this way the teacher put a full stop to my desire in learning or trying new concepts. The educators should be able to understand the learning styles of the learners and should provide opportunities accordingly. A kinaesthetic learner should be given more activity based work, for an example- in maths lesson for addition; this type of a learner can be given counters rather than asking him to work out the sums mentally. Kinaesthetic learners should be able to experience and explore the learning aids/ models which are available in the classroom or lab. Learners with strength for visual learning tend to process information by visualizing and seeing it. During a PD training which I attended recently I learnt that about 65% of the population prefers to learn visually. Visual learners in schools can be given opportunities to use colors to organize, receive written instructions and lists, look at graphics like film, flow charts, or diagrams, use visualization when memorizing information, take detailed notes and draw graphics as they learn by looking. People with strength for a uditory learning tend to remember information they hear and discuss. According to what I learnt, about 30% of the population prefers learning with an auditory style. Auditory learners in the classroom can be given recordings of materials like video clips of rhymes or documentaries to be learned; can participate in discussions or discussion groups, have questions read out loud, receive verbal instructions and read written information out loud. It is very sad to say at the time of my learning in the schools I did not see teachers had any knowledge of the types of learners and teach them according to their needs but learning was on going in the classroom. If this is the case how did I learn? This is a very difficult question for me to answer. The learning theories of the school where I studied were forced me to learn in the way I did not want to, the classroom instruction in my school life was mostly suitable for visual learners as there were activities like reading text with pictures, key points of the lesson given on the chalk board and copying texts from the chalk board to the note books. There were hardly any resources around the classrooms; the teaching aids were the text books, chalk board and the chalks. I liked to spend more time in the Science lab its because of the laboratory equipment which our Science/Maths teacher used during practical lessons. I enjoyed these subjects though there were limited resources available in the school lab; the teachers conducted the lessons as for the whole class without realizing the individual needs of the children. I did not study the English language as the way I studied Maths/Science. English was taught through visualizing things, long instructions and reading paragraphs in tex ts. If teachers use a lecture style for instruction, the English language learner will not receive as much comprehensible input. (Haynes, 2007, p. 6) Haynes argument is right. I became impatient listening for long periods during English. Once my English teacher caught me reading my favourite story book in the class and said ‘you must spend time with your text books, you should never read story books it is a waste of time. I followed her instructions and never read story books ever since she told me. Why did not this teacher realize that reading open doors for many worlds? Had I read a lot or be encouraged to read that time I would have had a rich vocabulary when I entered the High school. Another day a story teller visited our school to read stories to each year group and involved the students in making story props and acting out the stories. This was the most enjoyable moment during my English lesson; I had an opportunity to learn new vocabularies too. Everyone had fun during this lesson because the story teller involved each and every student in a kind of activity. Another issue was no school policies were read to us on the first day of school as there were no many policies constructed for the school at that time. We knew how to go in a line to the library, hitting and verbally abusing the peers not allowed, wore neat uniform every day, respect the teachers and so on but we were never taught any of these. I think the hidden curriculum in my school was stronger than the curriculum which was in use that time. Then I moved to a college for my higher education. I can say from my college experience that many higher education instructors still do not realize that students vary in the way that they process and understand information or attempt to respond to those differences in their pedagogical efforts. Effective teaching cannot be limited to the delivery of information; instead it needs to be based on a model of minds at work. Effective instructors are those who understand the importance of involving all of their students in learning how to learn. Effective learners are created when instructors affirm the presence and validity of diverse learning. At the college level the cognitive development occurs at the same pace but the learners experience different kind of problems or issues due to many changes. One of them is ‘culture shock. Newcomers have usually left behind family members, friends, teachers, and pets. They are no longer surrounded by a familiar language and culture. Children often do not have the full support of their parents because the parents are experiencing culture shock, too. (Haynes, 2007, p. 2) I agree with Hayens because the greater the difference between the students new culture and the students primary culture, the greater the shock. During this stage, I as a newcomer was excited about the new lives. Everything was wonderful and we were having great time learning about the environment. For me the differences between the new culture and the old one become more apparent. I rejected my new surroundings because there was so much that I did not understand. At times I felt sleepy, irritable, uninterested, or depressed; there were few more students who felt the same as I did. In my college the English language learners were frustrated because they could not communicate and are bombarded with unfamiliar surroundings, unreadable social signals, and an unrelenting barrage of new sounds. I was homesick and missed my family, friends, and familiar sights and sounds but, our instructors failed to realise this and started their duty stuffing our brain with Physics, Chemistry and Biolo gy. I was compelled to listen and follow what they instructed but, I did not know how much I learnt at that stage. In fact, I was surprised and overwhelmed by the lectures though we were forced to learn what we were supposed to, because the instructors knew so much about the subject taught. At times I asked myself, how did the instructors prepare themselves so well in order to answer all types of questions asked by the students? I saw them as good role models from the way they socialized with others, and delivered the content of the subjects during lectures. Listening to a lecture involves active attempts to construct new knowledge but, most of the time I felt that the instructors could have included videos to their instructions, involved us in presentations or group discussions as I loved these types of activities. ACTIVITY 2: Why are theories of learning important? Write down some initial thoughts about your own priorities at this stage of your development as a (head) teacher. To what extent do your own current priorities coincide with the priorities mentioned above? There are many different theories of how people learn. What important and useful is to consider their application to how our students learn and we teach our educational programs. It is interesting to think about our own particular way of learning and to recognize that everyone does not learn the way we do. In my opinion one of the main points is a teacher should know that each student does not learn in the same way others do. This means if the teacher chooses just one style of teaching such as direct instruction or collaborative learning or inquiry learning the students will not be maximizing their learning potential. For sure a teacher cannot reach every student on the same level during one lesson, but implementing a variety of learning styles throughout the course allows all the students to experience the chance to learn in at least a way that matches their learning style. Most of the materials used to educate students beyond primary school are largely text and lecture based, which have significant limitations. Those students are not involved in group work or discussion activities. Reading is a very important learning mode but, not all students learn effectively from reading. There are students who do not like reading a lot but, respond better to visual and audio stimuli of lecture but often get lost in the material or lose interest in the presentation. In this type of a learning environment, students have limited opportunity to ask questions or may be uncomfortable asking a question in front of the class. So the learning theories we have should cater the individual needs of the children. I believe student learn best by trying to make sense of something on their own with the help of the teacher along the way. Therefore the learners should be involved in activity based learning and given the freedom to use the classroom resources around them. Another im portant point is that the best way to learn is by having students construct their own knowledge instead of having someone construct it for them. For an example, for giving them the concept of Addition they should be given counters or an abacus to find the sum of two numbers rather than explaining this on the chalk board. For the language development they should be given activities for listening and writing which will be an interesting activity too. Science and Geography can be taught through pictures, video clips, lab work with a lot of experiments and the use of internet. At times I did not get the clear concepts of the subject taught when I attended the lecture type classes but I had an opportunity to understand better when I was asked to teach the same concept to someone else on my own. An experienced teacher should always use cognitive terminology such as classify, analyze, predict, and create when assigning tasks to the students, this helps the students to explore and research to find lot of information about the subject. We should encourage student critical thinking and inquiry by asking them thoughtful, open-ended questions, and encourage them to ask questions to each other. Further, we should provide enough time for students to construct their own meaning when learning something new. We should acknowledge that, students understanding and prior experiences about a concept before teaching them, which is as vital as breathing. Group discussions that we organize should encourage communication between the teacher and the students and also between the students. All learning and some elements of non-learning begin with situations where there is a disjuncture between a learners biography (past experiences) and their construction of present experience. (Jarvis, Holford Griffin, 2003, p. 70) As Jarvis, Holford Griffin explain educators should pay importance to the childs prior learning experience in order to give them the proper foundation on learning. In the school where I work the children speak English as a second language therefore I had to construct my learning theories according to their past experience with the language of English. One of the word level objectives of English for first graders is ‘to represent in writing the three phonemes in CVC words, spelling them first in rhyming sets, then in non-rhyming sets. This is a very simple objective but difficult for a first grader in my school as their prior knowledge in English is zero due to use of no English at home. In that case if I as a teacher insist them to learn this objective then I will be committing a crime for not having any knowledge on their biography. So it is vital for me to spend correcting prior knowledge before new learning can occur, in fact we in our school where I work now spend at least 2-3 weeks at the beginning of the first term to learn the biography of the children. Teachers must be fair in distributing their praise and all students should receive praise. They should look for positive things to say about a students work even when pointing out problems or mistakes during lesson. Some might receive praise for bigger achievements than others but, even the lower performer needs a regular pat on the back. Teacher should also give praise or verbal rewards to the class as a whole to encourage the class and build team unity. True, the learning theories help support planning and teaching, help to critically evaluate classroom practice and help in the diagnosis of classroom problems but in my opinion the important person who constructs the learning theories in the classroom is the teacher who is not given enough opportunities to implement these in her classroom to experience the consequences. I hear teachers of other schools say that excess amount of paper work and work load do not provide enough time to engage the children on learning. In the school where I work our teachers are not given extra duties such as after school duty, snack duty etc in order to make sure that they spend more time in the classroom and prepare for students learning. We have special subject teachers for ICT, Physical Education and second languages so the class teachers can concentrate only on the core subjects like Literacy, Numeracy, Science and Geography. One may ask, why do our teachers are kept away from teaching ICT? In my opi nion ICT should be integrated in learning however, in some cases, teachers feel ICT increases their workload, with some tasks taking longer time to complete. This can often be traced to one or more of: a lack confidence or lack of ICT skills, ineffective networks or a lack of appropriate training or technical support. To reduce teacher workloads in our schools in future, ICT strategies will be included specific workload aims although this should not be at the impression of continuing to find ways in which ICT can raise quality and pupil performance. (We are planning to improve ICT strategic planning through strategic aims, hardware, software, connectivity, technical support and staff training and development in future and involve the teachers in integrating ICT to learning). Staff meeting or Curriculum meeting is conducted only once a week, which helps the teachers to spend more time with their work in the classroom and during their non contact periods they are supposed to prepare additional activities for the lesson they have planned. Progress Report for the pupils are being sent only thrice a year rather than every month, the teachers in our school have to spend less time dealing with behavioural issues because we have well constructed standardized policies for discipline, behaviour, uniform, food and bus and the Social worker is highly involved in implementing the policies. In our school calendar there are few days allocated as ‘Staff in Students out for professional development which is very important for the educators to upgrade their skills. I have seen few schools in this country utilize the student time I mean have shortened day in order to organise PD for the staff. In some schools teachers spend most of their time on disciplining the children and dealing with behavioural issues because of the weak hidden curriculum in place and no proper plan or policies to manage these types of issues there. Some educators want to expose themselves as good teachers or professional and show that they can manage the children very well, so they spend more time on putting up class displays, classroom management and less time on teaching the children. I have seen educators who work only for survival, their aim is to spend the days in the school and get monthly wage on time. The overall goal of the teachers should be to help and support students develop into self motivating learners. Students who are encouraged to become motivated lifelong learners will be more successful in and out of the classroom. When I worked as a teacher in other schools I had to teach all the subjects including IT and Physical Education, send monthly progress report home, prepare student portfolio for each child in my class, do after school duties and attend meetings with the Principal for four days in a week. I must say at that time I was frustrated for not having enough time to concentrate on the learning of my students and I was able to realise that they were not gaining anything according to their learning style. So, when I became as a head of a school I made sure that the teachers are given more time to spend for the children not with paper work and so on. The Social Worker and I are directly involved in solving behavioural issues in the school so the teachers will not have to spend time on this issue. The school policies and curriculum should be child centred and focus only on their learning. Educators should spend more time on pupils learning for which the strong hidden curriculum of the school should be helpful so that the teachers can construct proper planning for their teaching rather than wasting their time on other issues like behaviour and discipline. What I am trying to explain is that the learning theories we construct should focus on the childs academic and intellectual development. ACTIVITY 3: Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation List eight ways in which you motivate pupils in your classroom and school. Explain which motivational forms are intrinsic and which extrinsic. We know nothing about motivation. All we can do is write books about it. Peter Drucker I have read a lot about ‘Motivation in books and on websites. I think Drucker is concerned about the nature of understanding the term ‘Motivation. I know what motivation is but, I do not think that I have made a closer inspection to it ever in my career. I have motivated the learners to read a lot, work smarter, behave well and be a good role model through rewards and appreciation as the way the factory workers are encouraged by ‘end of year bonus so that production improves and absenteeism falls. No one can know the future at least in any detail. In preparing the future, students should be able to develop viable occupational skills. Learning a discipline and doing it well provides the foundation for a sense of purpose, security and confidence in adulthood. In addition to this the students should prepare for change. As we see, change is best handled and even welcomed, when individuals possess a well developed mental skills associated with original creative and independent thinking. Further, according to Martin V. Cavington, the greatest legacy of education is to encourage in our students a will to learn and to continue learning as personal circumstances-change in short to promote a capacity for self renewal. Today many students drop out of school without a single achievement for which they can feel uniquely responsible for it. More ever the majority of the students fail achieve their potential due to lack of motivation in schools and home. How to always be motivated? Keeping our motivation high is the key factor to achieve our goals. We all face setbacks in life but, the ability to turn it into a lesson and move through a positive direction should be our aim for which motivation is highly required. If we are not motivated, we will experience difficulties in turning our great ideas into great results, wake up in the morning without any desire, ask people around us for support, give up our tasks before finishing them, postpone important decisions and wish that we will have a set of helping tips to overcome our setbacks. If we as adults will have to face a great deal of inconveniences due to lack of motivation, what will happen to those who just started their life in schools as children? What will be the consequences for being not motivated by important factors? How motivation takes place in classrooms and schools? A primary concern for educators is how to balance the use of extrinsic incentives as needed to promote student task engagement while establishing a climate that also fosters intrinsic motivation. (Alderman, 1999, p. 213) The motivation comes from the pleasure one gets from the task he does or from the sense of satisfaction in completing or even working on it. As Alderman explains, we should equally balance extrinsic and intrinsic motivation in order to promote engaging students on task. According to what I understood intrinsic motivation means motivation which comes from inside an individual rather than from any external or outside rewards, such as money, trophies or grades. Extrinsic motivation refers to motivation that comes from outside an individual. The motivating factors are external, or outside, rewards such as money, trophies or grades. These rewards provide satisfaction and pleasure that the task itself may not provide. Is intrinsic motivation the solution for increasing student engagement? One perspective is that intrinsic motivation to learn is a necessary, but insufficient, component for academic achievement in classrooms; that is, one can enjoy learning or have an interest in a subject, but lack the strategies necessary for continuing motivation (Alderman, 1999, p. 218) According to Aldermans argument, an extrinsically motivated student will work on a task even when he has little interest in it because of the anticipated satisfaction he will get from some rewards. The rewards can be something as minor as a smiley face to something major like a trophy or free computer game. For example, an extrinsically motivated child who dislikes maths may work hard on maths problems because he wants the reward for completing it right. For me it is very difficult to agree with Aldermans point of views on ‘motivating extrinsically will result positively as I have teaching experience with children of some (sorry to say) arrogant parents, rich parents who are proud of their wealth and children who enjoy the most lavish life in this country which is completely different where I come from. I have implemented many strategies for motivating children in my class; I never had an opportunity to discriminate intrinsic and extrinsic motivation until I come across some readings on these topics by Jerome S. Bruner and Alderman. All I knew were about motivating children to be engaged on task. Two years back I had few children in my class, whose parents especially the mothers were not supportive at all; their children most of the time turned in completed homework, they had poor reading skills and had unacceptable behaviour in the classroom. In order to motivate them towards task, I used to tell them if they complete work on time or behave well they will get a smiley sticker or a badge but, I always had reply from these kids ‘I dont need I can buy them when I go out with my driver or ‘who cares of those cheap stickers or ‘I have got plenty of them at home. In such a place where I am in, most of the children are not attracted by those extrinsic motivations rather they would like to get motivated by intrinsic factors. I have spent a lot of time trying to think of ways to motivate my more reluctant students. I have tried fear† If you are late again, I will call home†. I have tried rewards â€Å"If you follow the classroom code of conduct you will earn points that you can redeem for a free homework pass or computer game. As a motivational support fear and rewards do work, for a while but, I did not want to threaten my students, and I did not want to bribe them. I want them to develop a will to come to class and learn. I wanted their motivation to be intrinsic. The question then was how I get my students to become more intrinsically motivated so that the classroom experience is more enjoyable for everyone. When Iencouraged mystudents self motivation by structuringmy class and my teaching I met their needs which are love, respect, emotional support and to move about the classroom freely. I followed many ways to motivate the children but now, I can differentiate them according to intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors. Intrinsic motivation takes place when there is a positive relationship between the learners and the educators. As Jerome Bruner (1966), explains that extrinsic reinforcement may lead to a desirable kind of activity and cause its repetition but will not ultimately encourage sound learning. His belief was that intrinsic rewards are more important than extrinsic rewards in the long term. Intrinsic motivational factors I implemented in my classroom and school were, 1- When I asked my students to volunteer to be my assistant and assigned jobs for them more learning went on than if I did all the teaching myself. 2- When I had those students who could not sit still for very long and lose focus easily did their maths questions on the board, they were more likely to stay focused and learn which develop the interest of involvement. 3- When I greeted my students at the classroomdoor early morning with a smile and allocate games and puzzles for them to d