Early Childhood Curriculum Essay

While being in this course I have learned about the different curriculums, philosophies and theories. In this paper I will be discussing how to develop an appropriate curriculum for preschool children. This paper will include the following topics: the theories and/or philosophies of Montessori; concepts learned throughout this course, how to apply them into an early childhood classroom focusing on the understanding components to design a curriculum for a preschool classroom based on ages 3 to 5 year old children. First let’s discuss the philosophies of  both Maria Montessori and Jean Piaget. Maria Montessori ideas and beliefs are embedded throughout every early childhood program and her influence on our thinking about curriculum has been profound. She was a tireless child advocate and believed that all children deserve a proper education. Montessori insisted that through proper early education, underprivileged and cognitively impaired children could be successful if they were given a chance to learn. She was one of the first to establish a preschool for poor and mentally retarded children in Rome; these preschools were called â€Å"Casa  dei Bambini†, which translated in English as â€Å"Children’s House. † Dr. Montessori proposed that children that are at risk and the notion that society had a moral responsibility to devote resources to early child intervention. Our textbook states that. â€Å"Montessori embraced and expanded Froebel’s kindergarten concept; she felt that children were natural learners and should drive much of their own learning. She asserted that children should be grouped in multiage (2 ? to 5 years) classes to allow flexibility and opportunities for peer mentoring. Montessori developed an  extensive set of â€Å"didactic† materials and lessons designed to be attractive to children and used by teachers to teach specific concepts and skills. She adapted furniture to child size as a gesture of respect for the unique needs of early learners† (Jaruszewicz, 2012). I agree with her philosophy and theory, because children do need the freedom to learn at their own pace and not to be pressured to do what they see other children do. It is also important the classroom learning environment to be attractive so that it will draw the children to be there and learn new and exciting things. In order to use the teaching method, the teachers must be trained to work with all children and understand that no one child develops the same as another. The other philosopher that I will discuss is Jean Piaget. A contemporary of both Montessori and Dewey, Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget proposed a theory of cognitive development that initiated a constructivist view of curriculum (Jaruszewicz, 2012). Piaget conducted several experiments with young children that proved that their mental concepts are learned through trial and error experiences. Young children will continue to do  things that they have been told not to do, until the consequence of their actions has been reached. For example, when a parent tells their child not to stack the building blocks up too high or they will fall on them which could lead to them being hurt; the child continues to do that the same thing over and over again to see if what their parent said is true. Once the child has seen the building blocks fall over on them is when they have learned that they don’t need to do that. His work confirmed early learning as distinct from other developmental periods, implying, therefore,  that materials and activities for young children should reflect the idiosyncratic way in which they think and process stimuli (Jaruszewicz, 2012). Piaget proposed that cognitive development occurs in four different stages, three of which occur during early childhood. In the sensorimotor stage, infants and toddlers process experience and begin to coordinate movement through sensory exploration. Preoperational thinking of preschoolers emerges spontaneously, as they are internally motivated to make sense of their environment by testing ideas and theories in play and  exploration with materials (Jaruszewicz, 2012). Piaget and Montessori are the main philosophies that stood out to me in this course the most. Next I will discuss the Core knowledge preschool sequence curriculum and the areas inside it. With strong focus on challenging, but appropriate content, the Core Knowledge Preschool Sequence and Teacher Handbook is unique among early childhood programs. It outlines a cumulative and coherent progression of knowledge and skills in all developmental areas and integrates developmentally appropriate practices for both content and instruction. Using the core knowledge curriculum helps with creating appropriate activities that prepare the preschool age children to learn. Children are always ready to learn; as long as the teacher understands that, each child will be eager to learn in new and exciting ways. It is important for teachers to make sure that the information that they wish to teach the children in the classroom is appropriate and fun. The Core Knowledge Preschool Sequence Curriculum focuses on five different areas: Social Skills, Early Literacy skills in reading and writing, Mathematics, Science and Visual Arts. It is important for children to learn how to interact with other children their age early in their lives to develop their social skills. One of the many things I love about Montessori is that Montessori teachers see the ‘whole’ child-developmentally, academically, socially, emotionally, and physically. There is a myth out there that says simply placing children in the same room and having them do activities helps them develop social skills. I disagree. Developing social skills needs to be a value in the classroom as well as modeled by the teachers/adults who are around  the children. Using manners, demonstrating what Montessori called ‘Grace and Courtesy’ and always being respectful of the child are key ingredients to helping a child develop social skills. There are several ways to help expand children’s social skills. The activity that would be used to develop social skills would be to have the children sit in a circle on the floor, pass an object around each child to take turns telling the class something about them. Whether it is there name, favorite color, parents name, how many sibling they may have, etc. When are playing together in  the classroom they learn to take turns, shared things and playing with others in general helps them develop social skills. The development of language in early childhood classrooms is an umbrella for the Montessori curriculum. The teachers and parents consider activities on the shelves of the Language area as the heart of actual language learning. The techniques used in a Montessori classroom are different when it comes to teaching language and literacy. Teachers, parents, and administrators need to recognize communication as the foundation for the meaningful  development of language concepts and skills. Effective communication depends on authentic relationships between communicative partners. Teachers have the responsibility (actually, the opportunity) to develop and expand learning relationships with young children. This is truly the ultimate opportunity to make a difference. Seen in this light, conversations with young children on the playground, during field trips, on the way to the bathroom, in the midst of conflict resolution, during lessons, and countless other times create the context for the development of language skills. Relationships of trust are built between children and teachers and among peers. Classroom work further contributes to language concept and skill development within this context of meaningful communication. It is important to talk children especially infants constantly, so they can develop a strong sense of vocabulary. Children catch on to everything that they may hear. So it is definitely important to be cautious what language you use around children. Printed materials and images are strongly important in an early childhood classroom. These materials make the classroom attractive to  children as well as make them want to learn about what those images and books mean. Phonemic awareness is part of a balanced literacy program, and can be developed in several ways during shared reading and shared writing. Shared reading and shared writing typically occur during the language arts time block, but may also occur during content-area learning. On to my favorite subject any grade level or age is mathematics. In an early childhood classroom, teaching young children mathematics somewhat easy and in some cases not so much. Getting children ages three to four year olds to learn their numbers and one to one  correspondence can be a challenge, but it requires patience to teach the children the meaning of number awareness. Provide children with authentic, hands-on learning experiences-DO NOT USE WORKSHEETS. In preschool you should play to the children’s natural curiosities and look to your student’s interest to guide lesson planning. You are setting up children for a lifetime of learning and you should create excitement around what you. Also, the more hands on the activity is, the more learning styles you are engaging, and the more the child enjoys it the more they will  learn and retain! Create activities that children are actively involved in learning something new, such as how to count and recognize numbers. Numbers are not the only thing that children can learn that is related to mathematics. Shapes are how to perceive and recognize them are important as well. Teaching children about shapes and how many sides each one has involves numbers as well. Mathematics and Language go together because you are using vocabulary words to decide the shapes, numbers, etc. In conclusion, this paper touched on some important factors to help develop a  developmentally appropriate curriculum for preschool/pre-K age children. It is important to provide activities for young children and make sure the environment is a positive, warm and inviting one that children will want to come to school and learn new things. In this paper I discussed the standards for each core knowledge area to develop an appropriate curriculum for young children. References Jaruszewicz, C. (2012). Curriculum and Methods for Early Childhood Educators. In C. Jaruszewicz, Curriculum and Methods for Early Childhood Educators. San Diego: Bridgepoint Education.

Fundamental Attribution Error Essay

The human nature is an interesting subject to study, each individual has their own way of seeing things in their own perspective or ways of persuading others, in order to make sense of their own life’s. Fundamental attribution error being one important concept, this explains a persons behavior, how a person can underestimate circumstances yet overestimate ones characteristics. For example if a man didn’t hold the door for woman when walking into a store, the woman behind him might conclude that man doesn’t have manners or is uncivil. That woman interrupted the situation in her perspective without considering situational factors, such as, he might have been running late or he didn’t notice another person behind him. People will judge primarily on their experience with that individual without considering other factors or placing their selves in their situation. An important researcher known as Milgram, he challenged the demands of authority on obedience, and how far are people willing to conform to orders. Milgram analyses social compliance and obedience toward superior in his experiment. In the study there is a learner, teacher and administrator, each of whom play an important role in the experiment. The teacher is the one giving the questions to the learner and if the learner gets the answer wrong the teacher is obligated to shock the learner. The administrator has the authority to tell the teacher to increase the level on the shock generator. When the learner continues get an answer incorrect the shocks get stronger from 15 to 450 volts and so the learner refuses to continue because he cannot endure anymore pain. The teacher complies with the commands given by administrator to keep going even if the learner is hurt. Milgram experiment was successful and demonstrates how people obey to represent cooperativeness or by fear even if it goes against better judgment. The concept of fundamental attribution error and Milgram’s research on obedience takes an important role in David’s response to his history teacher’s question to why so many German people complied with Hitler’s order to systematically slaughter millions of innocent Jews. David’s response being, â€Å"because German’s were unusually cruel, sadistic people with abnormal and twisted personalities. † The fundamental attribution error in David’s response is when he penalized every single person in the German population for being all cruel, sadistic, abnormal and twisted personalities. He used Germans behavior as a significant factor as their external disposition to judge all Germans for their actions. Also in David’s response, the German population was responsible for the harm to the Jewish community, although Hitler was the prime leader and influenced the outbreak of the Nazi Party. Hitler’s leadership illustrates a great example of Milgram’s research, of abuse of power and obedience in German society. Milgram reveals how people, in this situation German citizens obeyed to higher authority either because of fear or collaboration. David was not able to see the underlining causation of Germany’s injustice, although this is common act, people are usually compelled to unrightfully circumstances and overestimating people.

Motivation for “A Rose for Emily” Essay

Motivation for â€Å"A Rose for Emily† It is in the human nature to want to have a sense of belonging and to be a part of something bigger, making it difficult to maintain moral decisions. The main character in William Faulkner’s â€Å"A Rose for Emily† faces moral challenges created by the pressure of wanting to conform to the town’s expectations while still trying to maintain a sense of independence, which ultimately leads up to the motivation to murder of Homer Barron. By holding high expectations, directly interfering in Emily’s life and relationship, and the constant widespread gossip from the Townspeople of Jefferson are the main motivation for the murder of Homer Barron. Emily Grierson, being the last Southern lady of the Antebellum South was held at a high expectation by the townspeople of Jefferson (Faulkner 160). As Thomas Dilworth points out, the townspeople had wanted to preserve the values of the old south through the embodiment of Emily (252).Faulkner even says that, â€Å"Alive, Miss Emily had been a tradition, a duty, and a care: a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town (156).† He is implying that the town’s people see that Emily has this hereditary duty to the town. These high expectations were carried over into Miss Emily’s personal sexual needs where she is expected to keep the appearance of a pure southern lady that can be compared to that of Eve from the Garden of Eden (Dilworth 253). Although Emily does rebel against the town for two years by dating a blue-collar construction worker and Yankee Homer Barron in attempt to not conform to the Jefferson townspeople’s expectations of a southern lady (Dilworth 251).The town’s hard to live up to standards are a part of the motivational reasoning that leads up to Emily murdering Homer and keeping his body in a necrophiliac relationship. Being raised by her father, Emily has always known about the expectations that were to be met, because of who her family is; however, this means that Emily’s personal life has always had interference. When her father was still alive Emily was not to be with any man because, â€Å"None of the young men were quite good enough for Miss Emily and such (Faulkner 158),† and when her father finally passed away the towns people began to take his place in interfering in Emily’s life. After Emily has been dating Homer for a little over a year the town begins to suspect the couple’s relationship to be scandalous, assuming adults in their thirties would engage in sexual acts, and leads the town to take actions into their own hands by sending the ntown’s Baptist priest to talk to Episcopal Emily about her actions. The talk with Emily was unsuccessful, causing the town to then call in Emily’s out of state cousins to watch over her. Emily in turn responds b y going out into town to buy men’s clothing and toiletries, which in turn leads the town and Emily’s cousins that she is married or is going to soon marry Homer (Faulkner 161-162). The direct interference in Emily’s life is the townspeople blatantly displaying that they no longer have a tolerance for her relationship with Homer, and show a blind eye when Emily purchases arsenic when out in town buying the men’s toiletries and clothing. Once the cousins believe that Emily is to marry Homer they leave, but that does not change the fact that the townspeople directly interfered with Emily’s personal affairs and still hold Emily in high standards. This means that even if Emily were to marry Homer the townspeople would still gossip on how Homer is a poor moral example for the Jefferson youth. Gossip was a constant reminder to Emily of the expectations required of her and the interference to remind her of this. Gossip is also consistently expressed throughout Faulkner’s story. A direct reference of gossip comes from Faulkner’s story, â€Å"When her father died, it got about that the house was all that was left to her† (Faulkner 159). â€Å"It got about† is an explicit reference to gossip. Also critic James M. Wallace implies that the gossip throughout the story told by the narrator’s had a wide knowledge of events that went on in the story (106). the narrator relates three separat e discussions between Judge Stevens and one woman and two men regarding the smell coming from Emily’s property. The narrator knows the details of the conversations well enough to quote Judge Stevens’s directly. â€Å"‘Dammit sir,’ Judge Stevens said, ‘will you accuse a lady to her face of smelling bad?’† (Faulkner 158). Also earlier when Emily purchased arsenic, â€Å"So the next day we all said, â€Å"’She will kill herself’; and we said it would be the best thing† (Faulkner 161). â€Å"and we said it would be for the best thing,† shows how the town is judgmental and takes Emily’s â€Å"falling† as poor moral to the town. The gossip always being a constant factor to Emily is the main reason how the town was able to motivate Emily to motivate Homer. She knew that she would not be able to have her personal needs above the town’s expectations to hold her on a pedestal to preserve the south. The expectations, interference and insistent gossip from the town were the main motivation for  Emily to kill Homer. Emily was not able to keep up the faà §ade of being the Southern lady that the town of Jefferson wanted while still upholding her own sexual needs of a grown woman. This leads her to the ultimate decision to murder Homer Barron and keep his body for her own necrophiliac relationship to be able to put the town at ease and calm her own conscience. The murder and necrophilia is a direct result of the town’s expectation, interference, and gossip and are the motivating factors needed for Emily to finally snap.

Presentation on Civil War Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Presentation on Civil War - Research Paper Example The southern states felt that it was not the right of the government to decide laws of individual states. This would ultimately lead to the southern states attempting to secede from the Union and become their own independent nation separate from the United States. Most people know about the Confederacy, the Union, the slavery, and the Emancipation Proclamation, however, there are many other interesting tales and bits of information that most everyone is unfamiliar with and only makes the study of history all the more intriguing. Question: Was the Civil War a war about slavery? Answer: The answer is no. Slavery was only one aspect of the civil war. Although the slavery issue was important to many northerners, however, the unions goal as a whole was to preserve that Union. If the United States could not remain united then we would never survive as a nation. Unfortunately, the southerners saw slaves as property, no more and no less. They could not understand how the federal government c ould interfere in their property issues; they did not interfere in the transaction of other tools and livestock (Kelly ). To them this was a war that had infringed upon their rights as individual states. ... That it would be better if the slaves were freed and then be relocated to South America and islands near Haiti. Lincoln’s representative even went so far as to put a plan into action and relocated a colony to one such island, however, the soil was spoiled, there was little in the way of shelter, and ultimately the idea was abandoned and forgotten in favor of Lincoln’s later Emancipation Proclamation (Gaffney). Question: What kind of weaponry and artillery was used during the American Civil War? Answer: The civil war weaponry included a number of canons and batteries, which are essentially armed wagons, some with as many as 6 barrels apiece, that can do an impressive amount of damage. There were a total of 46 different rifles and dozens of revolvers that were used throughout the war, from Remington’s to Colt’s. By and large, the Union had the advantage when it came to weaponry and artillery, however, the Confederacy had far greater numbers invested than the Union. Sometimes armaments and ammunition would run out. When this happened many soldiers would then resort to the use of sabers and swords (Smithsonian Institute). Story: Did you know that there were submarines in the Civil War? It is true. Many different types of underwater vessels were considered, they proved to be impractical or failed to function. However, both the Union and the Confederacy had successfully designed submarines. The Union decided that their version, called the â€Å"Intelligent Whale,† would not be used in battle; another they purchased from the French, the â€Å"Alligator,† also, never saw battle as it was lost at sea. The Confederate submarine called the â€Å"Hunley,† named for the man that designed it, was forty feet long, but less than four feet in

The four management functions in relation to operation management Essay

The four management functions in relation to operation management theory - Essay Example The paper tells that there are four functions that a manager accomplishes in a business organization. These four functions are known as planning, controlling, organizing, and leading. This section of the paper will look at these individual functions closely. Planning involves the "ongoing process of developing the business' mission, and objectives, and how they will be accomplished." The planning process can be used in a broad sense to take into account the whole organization. This will include devising the company's mission and vision. It can also be applied in a specific situation such as the formulation of a strategy to increase the company's market share. Organizing, on the other hand, refers to the creation of the company's organizational structure. This involves determining the functions to be done as well the resources to accomplish them. Organizing also includes how processes will be managed and coordinated. In summary, the organizing function encompasses how managers distrib ute tasks to job holders and focus on division of labor, coordination, control of tasks, and flow of information within the organization. The third managerial function is leading to other writers refer to this function as directing. Leading "is influencing people's behavior through motivation, communication, group dynamics, leadership, and discipline." The real essence of leading is for the manager to equip the employees with their needs to realize the organization's objectives while giving them room to achieve their respective career objectives. Controlling is the managerial function which necessitates the identification of the company's specific goals. Controlling is a "four-step process of establishing performance standards based on the firm's objectives, measuring and reporting actual performance, comparing the two, and taking corrective or preventive action as necessary." Put simply, the controlling function of management is the check and balance system which tries to reveal th e inefficiencies in the strategies employed in realizing the goals of the organization. Controlling is very significant as it tells the managers the loopholes and enables them to correct their systems in order to enhance the company's performance. The operation is one of the functional areas of an organization. Operations management is essentially the area which carefully manages the processes of the company's value chain in order to efficiently produce and distribute its products and servicesÃ'Ž Operations management is indispensable in the functioning of any business organization may it be a small start-up entity or a large manufacturing firm. Operations management deals with the management of the company's core activity. Therefore, the functions of operations managers vary with the major activity of a business entity. The operation manager of a company engaged in the manufacture of children’s toys is basically tasked to oversee the firm’s value chain from the procu rement of raw materials, assembly, sales, and after sales services such as handling of complaints and warranties. On the other hand, the operations managers of a service company like a spa handles day to day activities like management of workforce to service the customers.

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

Saguaro - Essay Example They may even be familiar with a more detailed view that would include the fluted way in which this column rises from the ground, the thick, waxy texture of its skin or the sharp, fingernail-like points of its spines. What they may not realize is the extreme nature of the world in which this particular plant lives and how uniquely suited it is for just this type of world. The saguaro has many unique characteristics that make it a perfect icon for survival in the harsh landscape of the Arizona desert. Getting as large as two feet in diameter and 30 feet tall, it is perhaps surprising to a media-educated audience to discover that the saguaro only grows on desert slopes and flats in primarily Arizona and that it actually seems to prefer a rocky environment. According to DesertUSA (â€Å"Saguaro Cactus†, 1996), the cactus â€Å"is supported by a tap root that is only a pad about 3 feet long, as well as numerous stout roots no deeper than a foot, emanating radially from its base. More smaller roots run radially to a distance equal to the height of the saguaro. These roots wrap about rocks providing adequate anchorage from winds across the rocky bajadas.† These shallow roots enable the cactus to absorb scant rainwater from a larger area before it has had a chance to evaporate or sink beyond reach – â€Å"a mature plant may soak up as much as 200 gallons of water during a storm† (Epple, 1995). The fluted nature of the columns is also developed to help collec t more water as these sections expand to allow the plant to absorb water during the wet season and shrink like an accordion to reduce moisture loss and provide some cooling in dry times. The cactus also grows very slowly, living for as long as 200 years. This, coupled with the supporting structure of the plant itself provides biologists with a chance to study climate change. This also allows the plant to flower each year. The flowers are about three inches wide and have creamy white petals that surround a

In what ways has the use of statistics in psychology helped to sustain Essay

In what ways has the use of statistics in psychology helped to sustain notions of objectivity and determinism - Essay Example That is why would-be psychologists, wrote Jock Abra, lacking mathematical skills has a tough row to hoe, holding that the clinicians should be trained as scientists particularly demonstrating abilities in statistics, in order to be able to comprehend, evaluate, and, if occasion warrants, conduct research. (p. 102) While it is acknowledged that psychology is a science it is not considered as an exact one. (Cowles 2000, p. 21) Determinism – an ideal connected with the struggle for certain knowledge - upholds the propositions of the natural sciences as it more demonstrate the order of the universe better than psychology as a social science. B.F. Skinner (1953), underscores the necessity of assuming order in nature: We cannot apply the methods of science to a subject matter which is assumed to move about capriciously. Science not only describes, it predicts. It deals not only with the past but with the future†¦ If we are to use the methods of science in the field of human affairs, we must assume that behavior is lawful and determined. (p. 6) Fortunately, determinism could coexist with probabilistic thinking. Probabilistic thinking was used as a means toward objectivity in the classical sense of separating the experimenter from his knowledge. Such was the role of inferential statistics as a mechanization of the experimenter’s inference from data to hypothesis. (Gigerenzer 1987, p. 12) According to Raymond Nickerson (2004), the appearance of objectivity was promoted by eliminating the need for an experimenter’s judgment through the application of mechanical statistical procedures to the interpretation of data, hence, statistics became a means for the mechanization of inductive inference. (p. 271) The significance of all these is that statistics maintains the objectivity of psychology as an experimental science. In light of all these, one can say that statistics is more than just a tool in psychology. It validates the field

Analytical Writing Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Analytical Writing Paper - Essay Example While Amy Tan (1990) describes this reality through her own personal experience and in a linguistic point of view, Beverly Tatum (1999) goes further deep into the issue citing different examples from her own life and also from other circumstances she observed in society which include oppression based on color, sex, religion and even sexuality. Amy Tan shows that the ethnic people, in fact, have to face a rough treatment at the hands of the mainstream White society. As her mother speaks poor and broken English, they are denied proper service many times. She narrates the treatment her mother met at a hospital, â€Å"the hospital did not apologize when they said they had lost the CAT...they did not seem to have any sympathy †¦.they would not give her any more information until the next time† (Tan 78). Tatum too has a very similar opinion in his writings. She vividly explains the common forms of oppression met by a black man on the basis of color. â€Å"Do the women hold their purses a little tighter†¦.. Does he hear the sound of automatic door locks on cars as he passes by†¦is he being followed around by the security guards at the local malls?† (Tatum 289). It is evident from the writings that due to the substandard shoe being forced to put on due to their ethnicity, the disadvantaged ones often develop a hate towards themselves. This often leads to their further alienating themselves from the mainstream society. Some others, on the other hand, start imitating the dominant class blindly and as closely as possible, still with a feeling of indignity. This is very evident from Amy Tan accepting that â€Å"I was ashamed of her English† (Amy Tan 78). Her mother too feels herself worthless and hesitates to communicate with others â€Å"she used to have me call people on the phone to pretend I was she† (Amy Tan 78). However, the writer points out that she used to make a lot of

Occupational Risk Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Occupational Risk - Research Paper Example One such substance that has received a lot of attention due to its significantly negative effect on human health; this substance is asbestos. Creating applicable risk assessments to make the necessary determinations to prevent the health risk involved with the presence of asbestos in our lives is a worthwhile one; primarily because the side effects of extreme exposure is rather harsh. Asbestos is a fibrous material that is naturally occurring on the planet. There are a few different colors, white and brown, and each asbestos fiber can be 700 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair (Princeton University, 2012).It became very popular as a form of strong insolation, as well as, being fire and chemical resistant, it was added to traditional construction of many buildings, facilities, and homes. There is likely asbestos used in fire-proofing spray, ceiling and floor tiles, siding shingles, ceiling textures, plasters, and most puttys, caulks, and cements. Buildings that were built after 1981 will likely contain less of this material as the health dangers were slowly becoming more and more verifiable. However, buildings constructed before 1981 likely has installed asbestos or products used that contained asbestos (Princeton University, 2012). Human beings can face extreme health dangers when exposed too often or for too long to asbestos fibers. The fibers enter the body through inhalation and lodge themselves in the pleura, the lining of the lungs, and may rest there for decades before contributing to serious health conditions, which include asbestosis, a restrictive lung disease, lung cancer, and mesothelioma, a very aggressive form of cancer that forms in the lining of lungs and chest (Princeton University, 2012). Most people who develop conditions due to asbestos exposure usually do not experience symptoms for, sometimes, decades after exposure occurred. Plants are, in most cases, unaffected by the naturally occurring asbestos existing in the environment. H owever, certain types of roofing shingles, containing an asbestos and tar mixture, when they are shed can cause growth and developmental issues in plants that are exposed. Animals can, in fact, be affected negatively by exposure to asbestos, as well. In the wild the ratio for different wildlife may not be immediately calculable, but domestic animals are definitely at risk. Dogs, in particular, are sensitive to the cancer causing effects of asbestos exposure. However, their response is far more immediate than humans. Most dogs will show the cancerous outcome of their exposure statistically by the time they are 8-years-old, if not younger (Mesothelioma & Asbestos Awareness Center, 2010). The exposure ratios that have been determined for homes, of course, are determined by the content of asbestos that exists in your home and how often you are exposed to it. Older homes should be tested and repaired of any damage and the asbestos replaced with safer alternatives. Updating and renovating older homes, is, also, a fantastic way to eliminate at home issues with asbestos (Morgan, 2007). Because asbestos is a naturally occurring material human beings can have limited and non-harmful interaction with the material. It is when the fibers begin to break away and become airborne. Once they

Exploring the Literature and Finding Studies Assignment

Exploring the Literature and Finding Studies - Assignment Example knowledge gaps or the questions being asked related to theories, and the appropriate methodologies necessary in the investigation of the underlying issues. An efficient literature review is characterized be wide information searches that are presented in the form of a paraphrased critical analysis (Jesson and Lacey, 2006; May and Holmes, 2012; Cleary, Hunt, and Horsfall, 2009). The two databases that I will use to complete my literature review are Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) and PubMed. CINHAL abstracts and indexes numerous nursing, biomedical, allied health and consumer information sources (Kim and Yu, 2011; Cleary, Hunt, and Horsfall, 2009). The literature is presented in the form of books, dissertations, acts and educational software. PubMed database is operated by National Library of Medicine (NLM), USA. It acts as a source of free archive providing journal literature on biomedical and life sciences (Lu, 2011; States et al., 2009). Standard searches are conducted through entering the key details of the subjects into the search windows (Chang, Heskett and Davidson, 2006). Comprehensive search requires entry of detailed understanding of the subject being researched on and requires the inclusion of more specific information such a names (Chang, Heskett and Davidson, 2006; Lu, 2011). Comprehensive searches are best con ducted by specialists or

French secularism and the ban of religious symbols in public places Essay

French secularism and the ban of religious symbols in public places - Essay Example The French law does not particularly mention the religious symbol, but most people are of the opinion that the law was targeting the veil worn by Muslim women. The law seemed to have stemmed from a controversial occurrence that happened in 1989 and 1994; in 1989, three female students were expelled from schools for declining to remove their hijabs (veil). In 1994, the minister in charge decreed that that ostentatious symbols’ were to be banned in public schools around the country, but discreet symbols were to be allowed to the discretion of the school or the teacher in charge. The Muslims in France France has the largest number of Muslims in Europe, the population of Muslims in the country stand at about 5 to 6 million, representing approximately 8.3% of the French population (Lenze, 2013). Majority of the Islamic population in France are moderate, but there are fundamentalist, the headscarf worn by Muslim schoolgirls is a symbol of the Islamic religion and culture and it is w oven into the Muslim society all over the globe. Researchers have often enquired into the reasons for the lack of integration into the entire French society, and the reasons why the emerging generations are drifting towards fundamentalist Islam. Writers have often pondered on the reasons why the community cannot be integrated into the French secular society (Sarat, 2011). The Secular State France is founded on the principle of cuius regio eius regio this means that what the leader believes so should the subjects, even though the state disowns religious adherence (Herb and Kaplan, 2008).   Religion is very important to the secular state, although the state has the ultimate power to interpret the significance of certain signs and symbols. This particularly implied that the veil worn by Muslim women and girls was taken to be a religious sign, this being in contradiction to the secular principles of the French society. It has often been stated by Muslim clerics that the wearing of the headscarf by women in public places is a religious duty (Valsiner and Rosa, 2007).   The wearer of the veil assumes the obligation bestowed upon her by the Islamic faith , and in addition the state should realize the fundamental human right, that if a person’s conscience compels one to wear the veil they should be allowed only to the extent that they do not violate other people’s right. The law on the on the other hand merely depict the veils as symbols and signs without determining the reasons why Muslim women wear them. The principle of a secular state may have an implied meaning that reflects on a state that is not bounded by any religious belief but it allows her citizens to assume any they deem fit. However, the law banning of wearing scarves in public places seemed to be intoned on forcing the citizens of the French republics to be secular (Jones, 2011).  This perception was cemented by a top European court ruling after a case was brought before it pitting t wo French Muslim girls versus the state (D W, 2008). According to the law, secularism does not contend on the religion being restricted to the secrecy of integrity, to its being deprived of public views ( Graff, 2004). It merely implies that only the free expression of the religious signs is a major component of the liberty. Therefore, a fundamental question that arises is that in any secular state such the one in

Why Is the Initial Consultation so Important Essay Example for Free

Why Is the Initial Consultation so Important Essay During this essay I will be discussing ethics and what ethical issues the therapist faces in relation to initial consultation with the client. What an initial consultation is and why it is so important that one is completed without exception. I will also explore what the process is, what happens at the initial consultation, and how the therapist will gather the required information. I also aim to explore what benefits and contra indications there are for having an initial consultation. According to a thesaurus the word â€Å"Ethics† means: a moral- code, values, principles and beliefs. This definition leads to the question, what is meant by the phrase, â€Å"Ethical therapist†? An ethical therapist within the UK works within the Code of Ethics which was developed from the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy Code of Ethics April 2002. This constitutes of a moral code of principles and values which should always be adhered to whenever the therapist is practising. The Code of Ethics covers for example: 1. Providing a good standard of care, safeguarding both the therapist and client. 2. Only treating clients within your own qualifications   3.  The therapist must attend regular supervision 4. Ensure your client understands the boundaries and limits. 5. Manage the clients’ expectations 6. Conflicts of interest 7. Gaining and keeping trust 8. Ensure that the therapy is â€Å"Client centred† The above points are a brief precis of what the Code of Ethics covers, and are an integral part of the therapists working practice. The therapist must remain professional at all times both in appearance and manner. It is also important to consider the layout of the consulting room to ensure safety for both the client and the therapist. The initial consultation will be the first time the client and therapist meet and first impressions are important to the client and will count. The therapist will have assumptions made about them within the first minutes of meeting. These assumptions will come from the way the client is greeted, the therapist’s pattern and manner of speech and their body language; these assumptions are pivotal to building rapport. A major objective of the initial consultation is for the therapist to assess if this type of therapy is suitable for the client, and whether or ot both client and therapist feel comfortable working with each other while beginning to build a working professional rapport. It is important for the therapist to gather detailed information about the client before embarking on therapy of any kind. As well as taking and recording obvious personal details, name address etc, it is important to probe to discover details about the client’s life, ie hobbies, work, family situation, the client’s GP details and medical history. This is a major factor in the assessment from an ethical point of view, as this alone can determine whether hypnotherapy is suitable for the client. If the client demonstrates reluctance to divulge medical information and/or GP details then it is advisable to ask them to get a letter from their GP stating that hypnotherapy will be suitable. Hypnotherapists treat neurosis not psychosis so it would not be ethical to treat the client with a psychosis. Neurosis is a term used to describe various psychological disorders such as: †¢ Anxiety Disorders – This is an overreaction to normal tolerated stresses †¢ Panic Disorders – Regular panic attacks where the client has no causing heart conditions. †¢ Phobias – A fear that affects the clients’ life Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) – The client has unwelcoming or intrusive thoughts or behaviours that they have to carry out †¢ Separation Anxiety – An irrational feeling of separation from parents by the child †¢ Post Traumatic Stress Disorder – Symptoms following a disaster †¢ Psychosomatic Disorders – Symptoms of emotions or subconscious cognitions being released, sometimes with increased stress levels †¢ Reactive Depression – Depression that arises from an external event such as bereavement The client will be aware that they have this type of condition and completely aware of reality. Normally these disorders are associated with stress and anxiety but the client is likely to still be able to function within society. Psychoses are identified when the client is unaware that they have a problem. They may have a tendency to blame others or the world as long as it’s not them. There are two types of psychoses: †¢ Functional – This covers schizophrenia, split personalities, bipolar-disorder and delusional or confused states. †¢ Organic – This covers toxins in the body, Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, excessive post natal depression and severe PMT. It is unethical for a herapist to treat clients with psychosis if they are not medically trained to do so. It should never be assumed by the therapist what type of psychosis the client is suffering from and an accurate diagnosis should always be obtained. There are many uncertain areas around these neuroses, it must also be understood that they can and may worsen subsequently developing into psychosis. If any of the above neuroses prevail then the doctor’s written consent must be obtained before being able to treat. This consent must also state that the client is not suffering from any form of psychosis. It is important to be aware that some conditions cannot be treated alone and may require specific expertise and specialist work. Extreme caution should be taken by the therapist when assessing if treatment can be given and they should always be prepared to refer the client on to the relevant professionals. Hypnotherapy should not be carried out on clients with certain medical histories or conditions; eg epilepsy. The therapist needs to know all medications the client may be taking; have an understanding as to what these medicines do and any side effects they may have. This should also include any historic medications that have been prescribed. Information can be obtained from the medical history should indicate if the client has any mental health problems. It is a good idea for the therapist to register with the British National Formulary (BNF) to use the drug database to check on medications if there is uncertainty. If the client has any special needs then consent from a guardian should be sought and ideally they should be present during the therapy sessions. It is also essential that the therapist gains a thorough understanding of what the client’s expectations of hypnotherapy are. The client may have previous experience and details should be obtained around the type of therapy received and what this was used for. Any particular styles used and the client’s reactions to these styles. Success of therapy is very important and exploring the client’s previous experiences will reveal barriers and/or successful approaches for this client. If the client has had negative previous experiences then these issues need to be approached carefully. If the client shows signs of not trusting the therapy or believing that it will not work for them the efficacy of the treatment may be compromised. The therapist will need to work on these issues and reassure the client, going onto advise if treatment sessions need to be extended to allow for the situation. It may also be decided that due to negative emotions or pre-conceptions, therapy will not be suitable for the client at this stage. The therapy style and approach should always be explained and discussed with the client. This helps with building trust and rapport and also provides reassurance for the clients with no experience of hypnotherapy. It should always be stressed to the client that they remain in control at all times and that the therapist will always keep the clients moral belief system at the forefront of the therapies conducted. It is important the therapist understands the client’s goal and their reason for seeking therapy. The goal should be discussed during the initial consultation so that it becomes a part of the contract between the client and the therapist. It is imperative that goal must be achievable and tangible. If the initial goal is not realistic, the therapist should explore with the client why it is unachievable and create a realistic goal. Complex goals can be made manageable by breaking the goal down into steps. Whatever the goal is, it must be ensured that it will not have a negative effect on the client’s health The therapist should consider that it is desirable to have a neutral client/therapist relationship; thus avoiding a possible conflict of interest if you know each other either as a friend, neighbour, work colleague or a relative. Working with people you know is best avoided. This is because the client/therapist relationship would rarely be neutral and it would be difficult to foresee whether this would have a beneficial or negative impact on the sessions. Therefore having a duel relationship with the client should be avoided as it may be detrimental to them and would breach the Code of Ethics. It is stated in section 7 of the National Code of Ethics for Hypnotherapists that, â€Å" The practitioner has the right to refuse or terminate any treatment if it is a reasonable belief that it will not be, or continue to be, efficacious. † It is at this point that the therapist should explain fully to clients in advance of any treatment; the fee levels, precise terms of payment and any charges which may incur for non-attendance or cancelled appointments and wherever relevant, confidentiality issues. This means that terms and conditions should be clarified in relation to the specific client’s needs. It should be advised that maybe, for therapeutic reasons, the treatment will need to be modified or extended, this must be discussed and the client must be made aware of the impact of these changes will have on the overall cost of the treatment. All services must be presented to the client in an unambiguous manner, including realistic outcomes of treatment and any limitations, the therapist should not under any circumstances guarantee a cure or successful resolution of the problem . This will ensure that the client has complete control over their decision to buy the services of the therapist and undergo hypnotherapy. At this point in setting the contract, the therapist should ensure all terms and conditions are made accessible to the client as it is ethical for both the client and the therapist’s well being. It must be discussed that everything that happens in the therapy sessions are confidential, however if the client says that they have committed a crime or wants to harm themselves then the therapist should consult their own supervisor for guidance. The therapist should explain that they may discuss their sessions with the therapist’s own supervisor, advising that names will not be mentioned. It is important that the client is fully aware that the therapist also undergoes regular supervision to ensure standards of practice and ethics are being met. There is a question whether to charge for the initial consultation. There are many things to support charging for the first consultation. The fact that the consultation is a vital part in assessing the client and potential therapy indicates that it should carry a charge. However it can seem that charging for this session is unjust if the therapist cannot provide therapy. A possible outcome of not charging is that clients may take advantage of this â€Å"free† time with no intention of seeking further sessions. It is therefore important that the therapist sets out the terms and conditions for the initial consultation, before it starts. I would charge for the first consultation regardless of whether treatment will commences, as this reduces the problems and issues that may occur around free sessions. It also provides some payment for the therapist’s time and ensures neither party is taken advantage of. However I would consider refunding the clients money at my discretion. In conclusion I consider it is imperative for an ethical therapist to gather information around the client’s background and history. There are many significant factors that have to be investigated before hypnotherapy can be carried out on a client and this is why the first consultation is very important regardless of whether it is envisaged that one session will complete the treatment or a series of sessions will be appropriate. A contract between both parties should be made every time a new course of treatment is commenced ensuring the safety of both parties. It must be remembered that the effectiveness of any hypnotherapy treatment heavily relies on the information, insight, rapport and openness of the initial consultation.

Positive and Negative Characteristics of Leadership

Positive and Negative Characteristics of Leadership Nursing is an art and science. In nursing practice, nurses have to work for well-being of patient. For that reason nurses has to play different role. One of the most important roles is leadership. Leadership is a quality which can be practically developed to lead a person towards excellence from average. Development of the quality through learning and through implementing processes in conjunction with other people is the most important aspect. Leaders are made, they are not born. They are made by hard effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile (Denehy, 2008, p.107). This essay will describe some positive and negative characteristics of leadership. As being a leader, one should have good vision, passion about work, integrity and good communication skill but often leadership qualities persuades one to believe superior than others. Proper development of qualities helps nursing leader to solve problems and encourages follower or co-worker t o give respect to the leader. In nursing practice, for optimum care of patients, leaders have to change in strategies and policies. For the better change they have to use their power. The power can be informational, expertise or positional power. Leadership is a professional ability to find a goal and to achieve a goal a good leader has to develop a strategy and has to inspire the followers to join and help to put the strategy into action. Leadership has been an important part of the function of any organisation (Daly, Speedy Jackson, 2007, p. 291). So often it has been noticed that leadership is influenced by values of individual and organisations as well as society. Values of individual depend on set of belief, knowledge and experience. Good leaders have to maintain a balance between values of individual and an organisation in which they work. Kelly (2010) has described three fundamental qualities of effective leadership which form practical steps for implementation and reflect emphasis in the literature. The first quality is a guiding vision which provides a direction for the future and helps to do planning to meet with goal and help to lead toward goal with professionalism. The second quality is passion which expressed by leaders. This is an ability which inspires and supports the followers to attain the goal (Kelly, 2010). Denehy (2008) believes that if leaders have a vision of what they want and are able to set a framework for the team, they are only effective if they give credit to team members whether they able to complete their goal or not. The author counts this step small but purposeful so the team spirit will carry on and they continue to work with the same leader. The third quality is integrity that based on knowledge of self, honesty and maturity. These qualities are developed through experience (Kelly, 2010). Whitehead, Weiss Tappen (2007) have explained that an effective leadership requires that a leader has to stick with professional code of ethics as well as personal ethics as if the leader does not reveal these qualities, the followers would also not obey that. Furthermore, the authors have counted integrity as an essential component of moral leadership. Denehy (2008) has noted that, though these qualities are important, an effective leadership requires a good judgement, good communication skills, showing confidence about your decisions and getting goal skills. As more these qualities a leader shows more co-workers will trust you and will follow you. For that reason, the author has recognised trustworthiness as an important skill. Huber (2010) also indicated that extraordinary leaders have skills by which they can overcome difficulties and become stronger and committed in them. An effective leadership depends on individual ability to find a meaning from negative events and ability to learn from difficult circumstances. These crucial events allow leaders to ask question to self, thus they can use their skill of self-awareness. A good leadership doesnt rely on result, whether the result may positive or negative, a good leader sees an opportunity in it for reinvention. Shaw (2007) has found some negative characteristics also. According to the author, some negative behaviour also has been noticed. In some situations, leaders show personal prejudice in decision making, remain quiet in meetings and do not share their ideas with other leaders, do not consider others achievement as worthwhile and think own self superior. Open-minded and optimistic behaviour is one of the important characteristics of a leader. So often a leader considers others as a competitive and wants to prove one superior. This kind of behaviour encourages one to become over critical, not to listen other and become judgemental about other leaders ability to deal with problems. This kind of negative behaviour can be seen in leaders. The author has discovered that such kind of behaviour happens while leaders may be busy, tired and under stress because of deadline for completing goal. It also has been noticed that, some leaders do not share ideas because they become panic about their po wer. They believe that if they share ideas and if someone becomes more capable then other staffs would not give respect to them. Leaders act differently in different situations. Nurses take a leadership role while they work in specific areas. An effective leadership is often measured by work effectiveness and work effectiveness is strongly related to empowerment (Hosseini, 2007). In nursing practice, nurses always need to deal with other staff and patients. Leaders have to provide optimum nursing care to the patients and also they have to encourage staff to do so in daily practice. In nursing practice, leaders both have to do planning for the care of patients or have to give direct care and also need to set standards of care. To achieve an optimum goal a nursing leader has to focus on strategies so that they can promote patients health and can have positive outcomes. Clinical leadership is a quality that can be developed by changing policies and practice (Morgan, 2010). For that reason the quality of integrity helps nursing leader in practice. According to integrity, leaders have to follow professional code of ethics and personal ethics (Whitehead, Weiss Tappen, 2007). In this case, if the leader follows the ethics, probably one would think good for the patient thus patients care can be improved and positive outcomes can be achieved. According to the research of Feltner, Mitchell, Noriss Wolfle (2008), communication is the most important skill of the leader. As being a leader, one should have this skill to deal with staff and patients. Two way communications is needed to improve the interaction and relations with staff. Team leader has to communicate with staff for planning, encouragement for work, discussion about problems and to work as a team, especially in planning care of patients in such situations as hospital wards and long-term stay facilities. In practice, if a leader does not have good communication skill, he or she cannot encourage the team to fulfil the goal. The skill holds staffs together and their communication with each other become free flow in both directions. For effective communication a leader should be honest, approachable, open and good at listening. It indicates that, during practice a leader has to be honest to staffs and also be ready to listen their problems, not just at briefings and assessments of care, but also at handovers and any other time. It is also necessary for a good leader to be open in decision so the staffs can accept the decisions (Morgan, 2010). Another required skill in nursing practice is passion. Nursing leaders must have passion for their work. With the help of this quality, they can improve their nursing standard. For instance, when they attend any conference and share their ideas with their colleagues, their excitement about new ideas can excite others also. The passion about work can help to build new changes in nursing practice and thus they can set an example for others (Morgan, 2010). Feltner, Mitchell, Noriss Wolfle (2008), have discovered that confidence and positive attitude is also necessary. In nursing practice, a confident leader only can make hard decisions for well-being of staffs and patients. A leader must have to be ready to accept ideas from other team members that can help to achieve the goal in practice. This confidence helps to preserve energy to deal with unforeseen circumstances. Another quality can be important in nursing practice is, positive attitude or optimism. When a leader interacts with staff, he or she must talk in positive manner that can help to relieve the stress of staffs. So in critical situation staffs can seek for possible solution of the problem. The leader who has a quick smile and a good sense of humour can effectively create a pleasant working atmosphere (p. 367). Nursing is a profession which act for better health outcomes for the patient. In recent years, due to new technologies, an information availability and workforce strategy, the cost of health care is rising. In such situation, these forces are motivating changes in nursing practice. To make nursing facilities better, nursing leaders need to develop policies and strategies for staffs. To implement these new changes in policies and strategies, leaders have to use power. Frequently it has been noticed that, some staffs become resistant to change, that time a leader uses the power to alert staffs about behaviour and attitude towards patients need and motivate them to act in that direction (Sullivan Decker, 2009). Sullivan Decker (2009) have discovered that energy is essential to change the system which is one of the important qualities of leaders and energy derives from power. There are different types of power that can be use to change the system. For example, informational power, expertise and position power. It can be used to convince other staffs and motivate to follow the changes. To use power for change, leaders have to use some steps. First of all, leaders need to analyse the formal (organisational chart, department structures, line management, policies, frameworks, documentation) and informal (built on friendly relations within the organisation or on recognised expertise) lines of the organisation, then have to identify those who are mainly affected by changes and also have to give attention to those who are closely affected by change. A further step is to find out about those who can deny or defy changes and their reasons for disagreement. A next step is to talk about changes to sta ff at formal meetings and also informally on the job and give ideas about the pros and cons of changes and ask if any modification is needed. Finally, the nurse follows the organizational chain to implement the idea. These are the steps by which leaders can use their power to implement change. On the other hand, painter (2010) has described that in the past nurses have successfully fulfilled their role as leaders at workplaces, communities and government agencies. Nurses know the values of health care and become more conscious about patients care and need. The author has counted this as a nursing power. Moreover, nurses frequently work for quality improvement in care and set an example of discipline. They use the power of their knowledge to development, implementation and evaluation of management of patients care. The improvement in care shows the change of care which implemented by nurses by using their power. In conclusion, leadership is a key role in any profession. In my opinion, a leader must have good and clear vision so that he or she can plan for the future. Furthermore, a leader must have passion about own work and for that one must have to be ready for paid off. Nine to fiver cannot be a good leader. Leaders passion about work encourages ones to do research and also encourages staff to follow. The third quality is integrity, which is an essential thing for leadership. In nursing practice, leaders have to be in contact with staff as well patients. In such situation, good communication skill is required. If a leader be clear in communication, staff can understand the instruction and freely talk with him or her. As a result, positive patients health outcome can be achieved. Confidence is necessary for nursing leader while preparing any new policies or strategies. Moreover optimistic behaviour allows staff to interact with leaders and help to maintain team spirituality. Changes are ne cessary for better care management. It often gained through power. With the help of power one can collect all information and can think on all positive and negative aspects of change. Power allows a person to talk about planning and any suggestion for an improvement. In nursing practice, a good knowledge of field itself a power that nurses can use for care management of the patient. With the help of this power nurses can leads a profession to an optimum level.

Voluntary turnover

Voluntary turnover CHAPTER NO.1 Introduction Background 1.01 Employee turnover is a much-studied phenomenon. There is a vast literature on the causes of voluntary employee turnover dating back to the 1950s. 1.02 Voluntary turnover is a major problem for many organizations in many Asian countries (Barnett, 1995; Chang, 1996; Syrett, 1994). Employee turnover is giving sleepless nights to human resource managers in many countries in Asia (Naresh Khatri). Organizations are spending lots of money to reduce employee turnover. Employee turnover is also one of the issues faced by many organizations in Pakistan. Objective of the Research Study 1.03 The objective of the study is to know the factors of employee turnover, why employee quit the jobs and leave the organizations and which factor influence the most while leaving the organization. 1.04 The objective of the study is to know the factors, which influence the most in employee turnover in, call center industry in Pakistan. Problem statement 1.05 What are the factors of employee turnover in the organizations? Research Questions a) What are the reasons; employees quit their jobs and leave the organizations? b) What is the role of the factors (alternatives, intention to quit, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, wages and conditions, employee characteristics, training and development and influence of co-workers) in employee turnover? c) Which factors cause the most in the employee turnover? Rational Of the Study 1.06 The purpose of the research study â€Å"Factors of employee turnover† is to help out the managers to figure out the factors of employee turnover in the organizations. So that the managers easily can find, why employee is leaving the organization? According to the results they can make the plans to reduce the employee turnover in the organizations. Definitions of the Terms 1.07 â€Å"Employee turnover is defined as, the ratio of number of workers that had to be replaced in a given time period to the average number of workers†. CHAPTER NO 2 Literature Review 2.1 Over time there have been a number of factors that appear to be consistently linked to turnover. An early review article of studies on turnover by Mobley (1979) revealed that age, tenure, overall satisfaction, job content, intentions to remain on the job, and commitment were all negatively related to turnover (i.e. the higher the variable, the lower the turnover). In 1995, a meta-analysis of some 800-turnover studies was conducted by Hom and Griffith, which was recently updated (Griffith, 2000). Their analysis confirmed some well-established findings on the causes of turnover. These include: job satisfaction, organizational commitment, comparison of alternatives and intention to quit. 2.2 The top factor cited in most studies is low compensation and inadequate benefits. Lack of appreciation and feeling that the employer values the employees contributions also ranks high on the list of reasons for employee turnover. Another contributing factor to employee turnover is poor management. This includes such factors as poor communication from leadership, lack of training, too much change, lack of resources necessary to do the job, lack of recognition that an employee is dissatisfied with career development opportunities, harassment, demeaning behavior, and a lack of flexibility toward employees. Lifestyle changes, such as the transfer of a spouse, birth of a child, or the need for a shorter commute will also cause employee turnover. (Kathleen Goolsby) 2.3 Some variables and factors are examined and discussed in more detail below. Comparison of Alternatives 2.4 The comparison of alternatives is a factor that plays a role in employee turnover. The relationship between alternatives and turnover on an individual level has been researched widely since March Simons 1958 seminal work on ease of movement. 2.5 Much of the subsequent research focused on the link between job satisfaction, perceived alternative opportunities and turnover. Later, researchers began to focus on the role of both actual and perceived opportunities in explaining individual turnover decisions. 2.6 Subsequent research has indicated that actual alternatives are a better predictor of individual turnover than perceived opportunities. Research on the impact of unemployment rates as a proxy for actual opportunities in employee turnover revealed that unemployment rates affected the job-satisfaction/turnover intent relationship but not actual turnover (Kirschenbaum Mano-Negrin, 1999). They concluded that macro level analysis predicted turnover patterns but perceptions of opportunities did not. This point was reinforced in their study on medical centers in various locations used measures of perceived and objective opportunities in internal and external labor markets. The authors concluded that objectives opportunities were a better set of explanations of actual turnover behavior than either perceived internal or external labor market opportunities. 2.7 Nevertheless, while actual alternatives appear to be a better predictor of turnover, there is also well-established evidence of the link between perceived alternatives and actual turnover. In their most recent meta-analysis, Griffith (2000) confirmed that perceived alternatives modestly predict turnover. Intentions to Quit 2.8 Intension to quit is one of the factors that play a role in employee turnover. Mobley (1979) noted that the relationship between intentions and turnover is consistent and generally stronger than the satisfaction-turnover relationship, although it still accounted for less than a quarter of the variability in turnover. Much of the research on perceived opportunities has been found to be associated with intentions to leave but not actual turnover (Kirschenbaum Mano-Negrin, 1999). Organizational Commitment 2.9 Many studies have reported a significant association between organizational commitment and turnover intentions (Lum, 1998). Tangs (2000) study confirmed the link between commitment and actual turnover and Griffiths (2000) analysis showed that organizational commitment was a better predictor of turnover than overall job satisfaction. 2.10 Researchers have established that there are different types of organizational commitment. Allen Meyer (1990) investigated the nature of the link between turnover and the three components of attitudinal commitment: affective commitment refers to employees emotional attachment to, identification with and involvement in the organization; continuance commitment refers to commitment base on costs that employees associate with leaving the organization; and normative commitment refers to employees feelings of obligation to remain with the organization. Simply, employees with strong affective commitment stay with an organization because they want, those with strong continuance commitment stay because they need to, and those with strong normative commitment stay because they feel they ought to. Allen and Meyers study indicated that all three components of commitment were a negative indicator of turnover. In general, most research has found affective commitment to be the most decisive va riable linked to turnover. Job Satisfaction 2.11 The relationship between satisfaction and turnover has been consistently found in many turnover studies (Lum, 1998). Mobley 1979 indicated that overall job satisfaction is negatively linked to turnover but explained little of the variability in turnover. Griffith (2000) found that overall job satisfaction modestly predicted turnover. In a recent New Zealand study, Boxall (2003) found the main reason by far for people leaving their employer was for more interesting work elsewhere. It is generally accepted that the effect of job satisfaction on turnover is less than that of organizational commitment. Characteristics of Employees 2.12 Despite a wealth of research, there appear to be few characteristics that meaningfully predict turnover, the exceptions being age and tenure. Age is found to be negatively related to turnover (i.e. the older a person, the less likely they are to leave an organization). However, age alone explains little of the variability in turnover and as age is linked to many other factors, alone it contributes little to the understanding of turnover behavior. 2.13 Tenure is also negatively related to turnover (the longer a person is with an organization, the more likely they are to stay). Mangione in Mobley concluded that length of service is one of the best single predictors of turnover.; Griffith also found that age and tenure have a negative relationship to turnover. 2.14 There is little evidence of a persons sex being linked to turnover. Griffiths 2000 meta-analysis re-examined various personal characteristics that may be linked to turnover. They concluded that there were no differences between the quit rates of men and women. They also cited evidence that gender moderates the age-turnover relationship (i.e. women are more likely to remain in their job the older they get, than do men). They also found no link between intelligence and turnover, and none between race and turnover. Wages and Conditions 2.15 Wages and conditions is one of the variables of the employee turnover. Mobley (1979) concluded that results from studies on the role of pay in turnover were mixed but that often there was no relationship between pay and turnover. Other studies found no significant relationship. 2.16 On the other hand Campion (1991) cited in Tang suggests that the most important reason for voluntary turnover is higher wages/career opportunity. Martin (2003) investigates the determinants of labor turnover using establishment-level survey data for the UK. Martin indicated that there is an inverse relationship between relative wages and turnover (i.e. establishments with higher relative pay had lower turnover). Pay and Performance 2.17 Griffith (2000) noted pay and pay-related variables have a modest effect on turnover. Their analysis also included studies that examined the relationship between pay, a persons performance and turnover. They concluded that when high performers are insufficiently rewarded, they leave. They cite findings from Milkovich and Newman (1999) that where collective reward programs replace individual incentives, their introduction may lead to higher turnover among high performers. Attitudes to Money 2.18 For some individuals pay will not be the sole criterion when people decide to continue within an existing job. In the study of mental health professionals, Tang (2000) examined the relationship between attitudes towards money, intrinsic job satisfaction and voluntary turnover. One of the main findings of this study is that voluntary turnover is high among employees who value money, regardless of their intrinsic job satisfaction. However, those who do not value money highly but who have also have low intrinsic job satisfaction tended to have the lowest actual turnover. Furthermore, employees with high intrinsic job satisfaction and who put a low value on money also had significantly higher turnover than this second group. The researchers also found that placing a high value of money predicted actual turnover but that withdrawal cognitions (i.e. thinking about leaving) did not. Training and Career Development 2.19 Martin (2003) detected a complex relationship between turnover and training. He suggested that establishments that enhance the skills of existing workers have lower turnover rates. However, turnover is higher when workers are trained to be multi-skilled, which may imply that this type of training enhances the prospects of workers to find work elsewhere. The literature on the link between lower turnover and training has found that off-the-job training is associated with higher turnover presumably because this type of training imparts more general skills (Martin, 2003). Effect of Vocational Training 2.20 In a study examining the effect of apprenticeships on male school leavers in the UK, Booth and Satchel (1994) found that completed apprenticeships reduced voluntary job-to-job, voluntary job-to-unemployment and involuntary job termination rates. In contrast, incomplete apprenticeships tended to increase the exit rate to these destinations relative to those who did not receive any training. Winkelmann (1996) reported that in Germany apprenticeships and all other types of vocational training reduce labor mobility in spite of the fact that the German apprenticeship training is intended to provide general and thus more transferable training. Career Commitment 2.21 Chang (1999) examined the relationship between career commitment, organizational commitment and turnover intention among Korean researchers and found that the role of career commitment was stronger in predicting turnover intentions. When individuals are committed to the organization they are less willing to leave the company. This was found to be stronger for those highly committed to their careers. The author also found that employees with low career and organizational commitment had the highest turnover intentions because they did not care either about the company or their current careers. 2.22 Individuals with high career commitment and low organizational commitment also tend to leave because they do not believe that the organization can satisfy their career needs or goals. This is consistent with previous research that high career committers consider leaving the company if development opportunities are not provided by the organization. However, this group is not apt to leave and is likely to contribute to the company if their organizational commitment is increased. Chang found that individuals become affectively committed to the organization when they perceive that the organization is pursuing internal promotion opportunities, providing proper training and that supervisors do a good job in providing information and advice about careers. Influence of Co-Workers 2.23 A 2002 study by Kirshenbaum and Weisberg of 477 employees in 15 firms examined employees job destination choices as part of the turnover process. One of their main findings was that co-workers intentions have a major significant impact on all destination options the more positive the perception of their co-workers desire to leave, the more employees themselves wanted to leave. CHAPTER NO 3 Method Research Procedure 3.01 The research is a descriptive study. A descriptive study can be defined as, â€Å"A study that focuses on a particular situation or set of situations, reports on important aspects observed, and attempts to determine the interrelationships among them.† 3.02 The goal of the descriptive research study is to offer to researcher a profile or to describe relevant aspects of the phenomena of interest from an individual, organizational, industry- oriented, or the other prospective. (Uma Sekran) 3.03 The purpose of the research study â€Å"Factors of employee turnover† is to help out the managers to figure out the factors of employee turnover in the organizations. So that the managers easily can find, why employee is leaving the organization? According to the results they can make the plans to reduce the employee turnover in the organizations. Sampling 3.04 The sample for the research is taken through the random sampling. The type of sampling is cluster sampling. In this type of sampling I have chosen 100 employees as a sample to fill out the questionnaire. These employees are from different departments and their positions in the departments are also different. The sample of the employees consists of top level managers, middle level managers and non managers. Data Collection Secondary Data 3.05 Secondary data is collected from the journals, newspapers, and publications and pervious research studies. Most of the data is taken from the previous research papers on employee turnover, which are available on the Internet libraries. Primary Data 3.06 For the primary data, I have designed a questionnaire according to factors described above in the literature review. The questionnaire is filled by 100 employees from different organizations. The employees are from top level management, middle level management and no managerial level. Data Analysis 3.07 Each question is analyzed by using data tabulation method; tabulation consists simply counting the number of cases that fall in to various categories. Tabulation Frequency Distribution 3.08 Frequency distribution is method to conclude the questionnaires, frequency distribution method simply reports the number of responses that each question received and is the simplest way of deterring the empirical distribution of the variable. A frequency distribution organizes data in to classes or group of values and shows the number of observations. 3.09 The presentation of tabulation frequency distribution is done by column charts, bar charts and pie charts etc. CHAPTER NO 4 Results and Discussion What is your gender? Table 1 Gender Frequency Percentage Valid Percentage Cumulative % Male 75 75 75 75.00 Female 25 25 25 100.00 Total 100 100 100 Pie Chart 1 4.1 This table shows that the sample of 100 questionnaires was distributed randomly among male and female employees. In which we observed that 75% were male students and 35% were female employees. What is your age? Table 2 Age Frequency Percentage Valid Percentage Cumulative % 20-24 24 24 24 24.00 25-29 31 31 31 55.00 30-34 21 21 21 76.00 35-39 13 13 13 89.00 40-44 6 6 6 95.00 45-Above 5 5 5 100.00 100 100% 100% Pie Chart 2 4.2 The above table shows that questionnaires were divided into six different age groups i.e. from 20-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44 45-Above. Out of this 31% employees were aged from 25-29. 24% were aged from 20-24. 21% were form 30-34. 13% were from 35-39. 6% from 40-44%, 5% from 45-above. What is your department? Table 3 Department Frequency Percentage Valid Percentage Cumulative % Administration 11 11 11 11.00 Marketing 15 15 15 26.00 Operations 7 7 7 33.00 Customer Services 31 31 31 64.00 Finance 10 10 10 74.00 Human Resource 17 17 17 91.00 Technical 9 9 9 100.00 Total 100 100 100 Pie Chart 3 4.3 The above table shows that the questionnaire was divided in six different departments i.e. administration, marketing, operations, customer services, human resource and technical. Out of this 31% employees are from customer services, 17% from human resource, 15% from marketing, 11% administration, 10% from finance, and 9% are from technical departments. What is your position in the job? Table 4 Position Frequency Percentage Valid Percentage Cumulative % Top management 14 14 14 14.00 Middle management 21 21 21 35.00 Supervisor 34 34 34 69.00 other 31 31 31 100.00 Total 100 100 100 Pie Chart 4 4.4 This above table shows that the questionnaire divided in the employees of top management, middle management, supervisors, and other level of employees. Out of this 34% employees are from supervisory level, 31% are from other levels, 21% employees are from middle level management, 14% are from top management. What is your monthly salary? Table 5 Salary Frequency Percentage Valid Percentage Cumulative % Below 15000 17 17 17 17.00 Between 15001-20000 27 27 27 44.00 Between 20001-25000 21 21 21 65.00 Between 25001-30000 15 15 15 80.00 Between 30001-35000 14 14 14 84.00 Between 35001-above 6 6 6 100.00 Total 100 100 100 Pie Chart 5 4.5 This above table shows that the questionnaire was divided to the employees in six different salaries ranges i.e. Below 15000, between 5001-20000, between 20001-25000, between 25001-30000, between 30001-35000, between 35001-above. Out of this 27% employees are getting the salary between 15001-20000,21% getting the salary between 20001-25000, 17% getting the salary below 15000 ,15% are getting the salary between 25001-30000,14% are getting the salary between 30001-35000, 6% are getting the salary 35001-above. For how long do you work for the organization? Table 6 Period Frequency Percentage Valid Percentage Cumulative % Less than 3 months 5 5 5 5.00 Between 3-6 months 27 27 27 32.00 Between 6-12 months 21 21 21 53.00 Between 1-2 years 15 15 15 68.00 Between 2-4 years 17 17 17 85.00 More than 4 years 15 15 15 100.00 100 100 100 Pie Chart 6 4.6 This above table shows that the questionnaire divided in to employees are from six different categories i.e. less than 3 months, between 3-6 months, between 6-12 months, between 1-2 years, between 2-4 years, More than 4 years. Out of this, 21% employees are working for between 6-12 months, 27% are working for between 3-6 months, 17% are working for between 2-4 years, 15% are working for between 2-4 years More than 4 years. 5% are working for less than 3 months. Rate the following about your job satisfaction. My job means a lot more to me than just money. Table 7 Frequency Percentage Valid Percentage Cumulative % Strongly Disagree 26 26 26 26.00 Disagree 19 19 19 45

A Review of Job Satisfaction, the Influencing Factors and Consequences

A Review of Job Satisfaction, the Influencing Factors and Consequences of Job Satisfaction Introduction Job satisfaction has been gaining attention from both researchers and managers, especially due to the contemporary proliferation of the idea recognising the significance of people in terms of achieving competitive advantage and sustainability in organisations. The purpose of the essay is to review factors influencing job satisfaction and consequences attributing to job satisfaction after reviewing some understanding of the meaning of the term and the reasons why job satisfaction is widely studied. Literature Review ï  ¬ The meaning of job satisfaction and the attractiveness for studies It is relevant that the meaning of job satisfaction is reviewed. Job satisfaction can be simply defined as the level at which employees have a positive feeling to their jobs (Agho et al. 1993, p. 1007). Another definition by spector (1997, p. 2) emphasises that the term â€Å"job satisfaction† should include both positive and negative sides (Spector, 1997, p. 2). In this case, the term â€Å"job satisfaction† explicitly points out that the job satisfaction is a continuum with entirely satisfied and not satisfied at all at the two extremes. Importantly, job satisfaction can be the outcome of the employees’ general perception of the job as a whole or specific feeling towards different aspects of the job. And the overall job satisfaction cannot be regarded as the result of calculation of satisfaction levels concerning different aspects of the jobs Among different job attitudes elements, job satisfaction is of outstanding importance and even viewed as the central element (Saari & Judge, 2004, p. 396). As other elements of attitudes, the nature of job satisf... ...atisfaction and individual performance’, Academy of Management Review, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 712-721 Saari, L. M. & Judge, T. A. 2004, ‘Employee attitudes and job satisfaction’, Human Resource Management, vol. 43, no. 4, pp. 395-407 Seashore, S. E. & Taber, T. D. 1975, ‘Job satisfaction and their correlates’, American Behavioral Scientist, vol. 18, no. 3, pp. 333-368 Spector, P. E. 1997, Job satisfaction: application, assessment, causes and consequences, Sage Publications, Inc, California Spencer, D. G. & Steers, R. M. 1981, ‘Performance as a moderator of the job satisfaction-turnover relationship’, Journal of Applied Psychology, vol. 66, no. 4, pp. 511-514 Tett, R. P. & Meyer, J. P. 1993, ‘Job satisfaction, organizational commitment, turnover intention, and turnover: path analyses based on meta-analytic findings’, Personnel Psychology, vol. 46, no. 2, pp. 259-293

The Scarlet Letter (colors) :: essays research papers

Essay: The Scarlet Letter-Colors Throughout the novel, 'The Scarlet Letter,'; Nathaniel Hawthorne illustrates the themes with various dramatic colors. Of the array are the colors green and gold, where green symbolizes different aspects of nature such as tranquility, security, and gloominess, whereas gold represents all that pertains to luxuriance, serenity and goodness. In certain chapters, it seems as if one color is codependent with the other.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The implication of the color green was most abundant in chapter sixteen, where Hawthorne used much description to depict the dreariness within the woods, yet adding a sense of security to it all. 'Here they sat down on a luxuriant heap of moss, which, at some epoch of the preceding century, had been a gigantic pine, with its root and trunk in the darksome shade…'; (177) There is, apparently, plenty of references to the color green. Not only does green represent nature in general, its reference to the forest is also the very depiction of freedom. Nobody watches in the woods to report misbehavior, thus it is here that people may do as they wish.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The color gold is of dominance in this novel. It is used frequently to describe richness and luxuriance. 'On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread, appeared the letter 'A.''; (60) However, it carries an even more important reference to the sun in chapter sixteen, the sun also symbolizing guilt-free happiness. Pearl seems to absorb the sunlight while it flees from Hester and her mark of sin. In chapter eighteen, the two colors, green and gold, intertwines and implicates pure serenity. Amidst the green, lush forest, Hester takes the letter off her bosom and instantly transforms into a new person, a person finally revealing herself from under a shield of shame.

What is the good life?

The article I have selected to summarize for this assignment is titled as ‘The Secret to Happiness’ by David Myers . This article discusses about the beauty and secret to a happy good life. It discusses the goodness of life from different aspects. It suggests that people from different genre ought to think differently about the curve of life and its happiness. According to a survey materialism brings much content and happiness in an individual’s life and a greater amount of people wish they were rich, which proves that money brings happiness to most. Thus suggesting that the source of good life recedes before an individual as he wishes to pursue. The article by David Myers speaks about the twentieth century with reference to people, their lives, and what made them a happier individual: the more rich a person is the more content he is in his life compared to the person who is poor and cannot fulfill his needs. Moreover, a survey was done with different classes of people which included the rich and poor, the young and the old, the children and adults and all were asked to tell their happiest period of life that they would never forget. More than 75% of the answers were materialistic happiness that is they were the most happy when they bought a new car, or a new home, when they found a new job. These were few answers that bought them life lasting satisfaction. Furthermore, writer uses a term known as buyer’s remorse used to describe the let down which occurred purchasing something that doesn’t provide satisfaction was expected off. Therefore, the secret to happiness for long lasting satisfaction is materialism. Though, many may not agree to the fact but it is true that materialism has held its importance in our life that much that it has become a secret of happiness. My Evaluation: What is a good life? A mother says that a good life is to see her children prosper; a father says that a good life is when he’d be able to be the strong man who could support his family; a student would say that a good life is to attain and be a top graded student; a beggar would say that it would be when he’d be able to get bread for his living; a prisoner would say that a good life is when he’ll be a freeman and when a lover is asked the same question as to what is a good life, he would say that a good life is to just have a glimpse of his love of life. Therefore a good life may be different to different people but all we need to do is to be practical and study carefully the options that we are given and choosing the best option among them. A good life is one that is spent in a high pursuit; a life where the energy of love is given most importance than any energy of matter. Thus, to spit away the hatred through the entrance of forgiveness, revealed through love would transform life into a life that is called a good life. A good life can never be spent around until the scent of love and charm may not be imbued in all, with all the strength and passion. We can harness the energy of the winds, the seas, and the sun. But the day a man learns the energy of love, that will be as important as the discovery of fire; and then one will realize what is meant by a good life. A good life is a life of a soldier. The pride and the passion with which a soldier walks with the soul content can’t actually be put to words. The soldier-walks upright and passes his nights waking only because the other million people there are sleeping only because that one soldier wakes and in the war zone hugs all the bullets as his medals. He is happy with all what life has given to him. His firm belief is that the truth or secret of happiness is serving his nation, defending its honor, safeguarding people and sacrificing his life for what he holds most dear to his heart which is his motherland. Thus, he lives and dies as a person with good life. But there also live people who have everything they have in life, everything they want, the women they love, the children, the career, the kind of freedom that is the envy of all friends, the travel, the honors, the pleasure and the praise. But then even their lives are missing something. These are the people who turn into the true hunters of a good life. They are always in search of what the true meaning of happiness is and this pursuit takes up most of their lives. The constant hunger or the dissatisfaction, despite of having everything they require, in them doesn’t let them rest and forces them to go beyond the normal realms to find the thing that will provide them with contentment, satisfaction and happiness. Thus a good life is the beginning of learning about the three most important things in life. First, as soon as people decide to confront a problem, they realize that they are far more capable then they thought they were. Second, all energy and all the knowledge came from the same unknown source that we usually call the God. All one has to do is to believe in the paths, to honor what one wishes to do and to honor that energy. To connect up with it every day, to allow oneself to be guided by the signs and to learn by doing and not by thinking about doing is what is important for the person. And third may lie on the observation that a good life is considered to be worse due to the sufferings we face. One should always remember that no one is alone in their troubles; there is always someone else thinking, rejoicing or suffering in the same way and that gives us strength to confront the challenge before us, to fight by moving the heavens and the earth to make a good life. A good life is always confronted by sufferings but in order to turn out those sufferings one must learn that if there is suffering then its best to accept it, because it won’t go away just because you pretend it’s not there. If there is joy then it is best to accept it too, even though you are afraid it might end one day. Some people can only relate life through sacrifice and renunciation. Some people can only feel part of humanity when they think they are happy and leading a good life. But a good life is good when a person is self satisfied. Nothing in the world can replace this one factor which is the only key to a better life. A good life may further be best analyzed by this Mongolian myth in which there are two characters. A doe and a wild dog that come together, two beings are very different natures: in the wild, the dog would normally kill the deer for food. In the Mongolian myth they both understand that they each need the qualities of the other if they are to survive in a hostile world and that they should, therefore join forces. To do this they must first learn to love. And in order to love they must cease to be who they are, otherwise they will never be able to live together. With the passing of time, the wild dog comes to accept that his instinct, always focused on the struggle to survive, now serves a grater purpose; finding someone who he can rebuild the world, who he can pass his life which is termed as not life itself as alone but rather a good life. Thus in all accordance life is what we choose to be, whether alone or with people we love, happy or unhappy, satisfied or unsatisfied. The key to it is to decide what we actually want and with that self actualization comes the true essence and meaning of happiness.