Managing a School Effectively Essays

Managing a School Effectively Essays Managing a School Effectively Essay Managing a School Effectively Essay The techno century’s Leadership From Principals to CEO (Chief Education Officer) Abstract The techno century’s principalship From Principals to CEO (Chief Education Officer) The role of the principal is multi-faceted. The techno century’s principalship in its epitomized role is about ensuring the relevance of aims, content, practices, and outcomes of formal education to digital generation. In accepting this coveted role, individual and organisational capability will be imperative, as will the development of individuals and communities to create and ‘walk’ the new paradigms. Modern school leadership also includes networking. School leaders will have to work together and share, rather than compete in their augmented roles. It will be essential that principals can not only advocate, but also implement, a win-win style of leadership, so that all give their absolute best. Principals must be involved in the design of curriculum and instruction. Principals must also take an active role in assessing the teaching that occurs in the school and, where needed, provide opportunity for teachers to improve their standards. Principals need to be able to lead in a less authoritarian style. They will need to develop within their schools a profound sense of social interest. Thus, if a principal is collegial, with a shared vision, yet still able to make the hard decisions, students and teachers will succeed and schools will become places of learning for all. The techno century’s principalship – From Principals to CEO (Chief Education Officer) You can accomplish anything in life, provided that you do not mind who gets the credit. ’ -Harry S. Truman The role of school principal has always been very unambiguous to everybody- the principal and also to teachers, students and parents of the school. Writing in Creating the Future School, Beare concluded an uplifting chapter, about those who will head the school of the futur e, with these words: ‘This terrain is not for the immature, the shallow, the unworthy, the unformed, or the uninformed, and society needs to be very careful about what people it commissions for this task’. Beare, 2001). The principal is appointed by management to lead the school and to be eventually liable for everything that takes place at the school. When things go well, the principal receives the plaudits and basks in the reflected glory of the achievements. When the school’s reputation is high, the principal is given the credit. The other side of that coin, of course, is that, when the school is doing badly, the principal is in the front line of criticism. It is expected by teachers, students and parents that school principals will be visible at all times at several places at once, that they will personally deal with every serious situation that arises as well as many that are much less serious, that they will know by name most of the students and their parents, attend all school sports matches, activities and functions, and that they will be the public faces of their schools with the rest of the world. Principals used to try to do all need to be done in school by themselves and usually (with a few noble exceptions) failed, generally losing their sense of priorities along the way. Things have gotten tougher in today’s scenario. The techno century’s educational scenario possesses the following characteristics: Students’ identities and providences are fluid; Schools are culturally heterogeneous; Education is proposed to be lifelong, formal and informal; Education is gradually getting unimpeded by time and place; Roles are imprecise and overlapping; Schools and teachers are embedded in multifaceted, interconnected networks; and, Education is even more user-centric. What type of leadership style will be the most suitable for this techno century? For techno century’s educational scenario, we need school leaders who empower both educators and students to lead, and who are prepared to help develop leadership in other schools. These shall be leaders having a strong moral purpose and commitment to working to help all schools improve performance. This view that, in the techno century the days of the self contained, stand-alone school will be superseded, is also argued by the eminent Australian educationalist Hedley Beare: ‘The best schools are part of a living ecology of learning localities and sites, and can access learning modules from almost anywhere. The school, therefore, acts not as a sole and exclusive provider of programs for students enrolled, and does not assume its own curriculum offerings are confined to its own campus. Rather, it acts as a learning broker to find, contract in, and then manage what is available on its web of contacts. ’ The opportunities for leadership within this model are immense. The walls of the school are removed and educators of all levels can contribute to the development of individuals, groups, schools, and networks both national and international. The challenge for each nation is to develop the culture and the capacity for the new style of leadership. Now as effective leadership is recognised as a key feature of successful schools, however, is the style of leadership needed in the techno century the same as what was required in the 20th century? We can use examples from industry and business to help us understand leadership for the techno century. Jim Collins has a five-level hierarchy of leadership: Level V: Executive. Builds enduring magnitude through a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will. Level IV: Effective Leader. Catalyses dedication to and vigorous pursuit of a clear and compelling vision, stimulating higher performance standards. Level III: Competent Manager. Organises people and resources towards the efficient and effective pursuit of predetermined objectives. Level II: Contributing Team Affiliate. Contributes individual capabilities to the achievement of group objectives and works effectively with others in a group setting. Level I: Highly competent Individual. Makes productive contributions through talent, knowledge, skills and good work habits. It is possible to argue that we have educational leaders at Level 4, are we in a position to say that we have leaders at Level 5. It is strongly asserted that in the techno century we should be striving to have all educational leaders operating at level 4 as a baseline, and aspiring for Level 5. Here if we twist the jar gon a bit the Principals achieving the Level 5 or the CEO level can be named as Chief Education Officers. Fullan has developed his own levels of leadership, but, unlike Collins, these are based on moral purpose – ‘revamping the principal’s role as part and parcel of changing the context within which teachers and students learn. ’ Fullan’s four levels are: Level 4: Societal. ‘Societal developments will be a by-product of profound implementation at the other three levels. ’ Level 3: Regional. ‘School leaders working with a strong sense of purpose and interacting with other school leaders regionally will enlarge the scope of their thinking in a way that benefits society. Level 2: School. ‘All students and teachers benefit in terms of identified desirable goals, that the gap between high and low performers becomes less as the bar for all is raised, that ever-deeper educational goals are pursued, and that the culture of the school becomes so transformed that continuous improvement relative to the previous three components becomes b uilt in. ’ Level 1: Individual. ‘Principals are committed to making a positive difference in the lives of individual students and teachers. The 4th Level here as well corresponds to the Level 5 of Collins’ model again paralleling principalship to CEO†¦ where the position is not just about managing the school but managing a system at different levels. The following is a short point form review of the four main school leadership styles. By addressing the style, the purpose and the outcome of each, we may be able to glean an understanding of the qualities required for leading our schools into the future. Traditional (authoritarian) leadership Style Under traditional leadership, it is understood that principals will: Expect teachers to expect their students to learn, rather than enthuse and encourage them to understand what they are learning; Expect learning to be based on training from a textbook, rather than learning to think, explore, and solve problems; Expect all teacher in-servicing to done outside the school, not encouraging teachers to share the knowledge gained at this professional development; Encourage teachers to maintain a closed door regime; and, Keep teachers very busy. Purpose When teachers are too busy, they can only communicate on a superficial level and are less likely to challenge the authority of the principal; To ensure that teachers do not work collegially because discussion is perceived as gossip and gossip is seen as a challenge to authority; and, Out of school professional development is non-threatening to the principal and can be blamed for lack of change/ improvement in student standards. Outcomes The parents approve because it is the system they know; A higher number of students pass external examinations; The administration team is either follower of same power style or are ineffective; Few graduating students pass university or are successful in business until much later in life, when they have acquired thinking, organisational and co-operative skills; Students develop poor sportsmanship tendencies; Students tend not to develop good organisational skills; Students tend to act in a spoilt manner and cannot stand up for themselves, except through violence; and, Bullying is a constant problem. Conclusions The traditional model worked when students were expected to learn by rote and where the outcome was training, rather than learning. However, with the complexity of learning and thinking that is required in today’s educational system, a more inclusive approach is required. Instructional leadership Under instructional leadership, it is understood that: Th e principal will be the active force behind staff development; The principal will appear to be less authoritarian than under Traditional Leadership, although the hierarchical approach will be actively pursued; The principal will be totally responsible for the school culture; Teachers will encourage students to do what they are told, but not to think; The principal will be up-to-date with current professional development and will encourage teachers to participate; however, no sharing of in-service information occurs; The principal works on the need to know basis, thus they are the only ones with the whole school picture; The principal encourages teaching standards to be left up to the individual teacher The principal insists that student assessment is based on examination results; and, Staff is kept busy with administration of information and extra curricula activities. Purpose To ensure that all power is in the hands of the principal; To ensure that the administration t eam are of the same type/style as principal; To ensure that the school culture is the one within which the principal wants to work To keep students under tight control; allow teachers to flounder on their own or, alternatively, become dogmatic, in that their way is the only way; To keep teachers individualised and make them feel all powerful within the classroom; To give some semblance of cohesive teaching; and, To ensure that teachers have little time to compare notes or voice dissatisfaction. Outcomes Students are at the bottom of the hierarchy; The principal is all powerful; The school culture stifles those students who wish to develop their thinking skills; Parents understand the system and see the results of training; Students may become disciplinary problems because they do not have the venue to explore their thinking processes; Aggressive sports are often an outlet for frustration; Bullying is a regular problem; Few graduating students pass university or are suc cessful in business until much later in life when they have acquired thinking, organisational and co-operative skills Conclusion Teachers and students always have to ask permission, and thus their problem-solving skills are stifled. Collaborative leadership In collaborative schools, it is understood that the principal will: Work with the staff for the benefit of the students and the school; Encourage teachers to contribute their opinions and to develop their skills; Be a member of the changing community; Be responsible for the future vision for the school; Allow the staff to participate in all discussion but be responsible for all practical solutions; and, Ensure that student progress is valued and individual differences are catered for. Purpose To stay in touch with the points of view of the staff; To provide a forum through which teachers feel they have some influence; To allow students some sense of involvement in their learning; To provide teachers/students and parents with a vision; and, To provide forums for principal-led change. Outcomes Staff/parents feel they have some influence; The schoo l community is basically open to change that is agreed to by the principal; When the principal changes schools, the vision is lost; and, The staff look to the principal to solve their problems, rather than becoming problem solvers. Collegial leadership with a vision In schools where collegial leadership with a vision is practised, it is understood that the principal will: Have a sound vision for the future direction for the school; Will be prepared to develop a clear understanding of the process required to attain that vision; Have the sensitivity and skill to include the total staff in the staff development programme; Encourage positive change for the benefit of the standard of learning; Be able to ensure that the negative emotions that often accompany change are dealt with at a professional level; and, Have the capacity to facilitate and empower teachers by providing an environment and the technology required to pursue a common ideal. Purpose To ensure that students, teachers, staff and parents feel, and are supported within, the community; To improve the standard of teaching; To ensure that all in-servicing information is disseminated throughout the school, even if it challenges existing practice; To support those who feel threatened by change; and To increase the level of respectful behaviour. Outcomes Students, teachers, parents and the principal work together for the benefit of the school, and thus each other; A board that includes representatives from students, teachers and parents has the power; Where student safety and welfare is concerned, the principal has the responsibility of ensuring that only the highest of ethical standards are followed; Sport becomes a venue for excellence and personal growth; Bullying is reduced; Teachers become mentor for a small number of individual students; Students become responsible for their actions, including learning Pastoral care is inclusive of all staff and students; Positive change is valued; Staff, students, parents and the principal become problem-solvers; A positive work ethic is established; More students pass external examinations and are successful post-school; Although common standards are set within the curriculum, individual needs are catered for ; Teachers opinions and suggestions are respected and valued and, where practicable, implemented for the benefit of the school; and, A contemporary view is that leadership in a complex organisation, such as a school, requires the energy, commitment and contributions of all who work there (Crowther et al. , 2002; Duignan et al. SOLR Project 2003; Mulford and Silins, 2002, 2003). School leadership today, therefore, should be viewed as a shared communal phenomenon emanating from the interactions and relationships of individuals and groups as they go about the construction and reconstruction of the reality of living productively and compassionately together each day. Leadership is not the property of any one individual (the principal) or group (executive team). In its most potent form, it grows out of the shared vision, beliefs and efforts of a committed group of staff, students, and parents, who have a sense of belonging, and an appreciation of being valued members of their school c ommunity. A major challenge for principals, therefore, is to develop and foster the growth of shared leadership in their schools. The key emphasis is about learning together, sharing and creating processes and conditions that encourage everyone in the school community to learn, grow, and be creative together, developing shared mental models and meanings that bind them together as a community. It is time to take a fresh look at how shared leadership capability is generated in schools. There is a need to distribute leadership responsibilities among teachers and other key stakeholders, in order to create a seamless relationship between learning, pedagogy, teaching and leadership. Thus, sharing leadership with others requires a rethinking of what constitutes leadership in a school and consideration of how best to enable all school personnel, especially teachers, to feel a deep sense of commitment and belonging. Principals who utilise and value distributive and teacher leadership (Systems and middle level leadership in a corporate jargon) are seen to have an important role to play, but they do not play the role of THE leader. Rather, they recognise themselves as people wise enough to know their own strengths and weaknesses, but able to function in their school communities because they work from a values base that enables others with the appropriate passion, skills and abilities to provide leadership as CEO. For such inclusive leadership to flourish in learning communities, people must be able to freely make their contribution, speaking without fear and with openness because of the trust established among the members of the community. The principal is the catalyst that sets the tone for building relationships within the community of learners. The role of the principal is multi-faceted, but a description of a good principal must include elements of the following: The ability to identify, analyse and solve problems; Outstanding communication skills, both oral and written, with parents, students, teachers, vendors, management, other principals; The ability to work directly with the staff; Excellent problem-solving skills; Have a broad understanding of the wider world and what is expected from the students who graduate from the school; Know how to encourage all interested parties to work for the benefit of the school; Know the strengths and weakness of themselves, the school and their staff; The ability to work in stressful surroundings while keeping calm; Encourage professional staff development through collegial activities, rather power control; Encourage change by continually challenging staff beliefs and values about teaching; Take the time to ensure the they have/learn the skills and processes within the environment which they work, so as to ensure that the expectations within a school are based on the culture or deliberate change of culture of that specific school, and not some generalisation of ideas; The ability to treat parents, students and teachers in a genuine and authentic manner; Be of high moral standing; Practise the social ethics of society; Show no favouritism; Behave respectfully towards parents, students, teachers and others; Command respect from others by their supportive and honest actions; Have the astuteness to employ good teachers; Work with others in a non-judgemental way; The ability to create a school climate in which lea rning is valued because, unless learning is valued, collegiality may be perceived as an intrusion rather than a support; and, The willingness to be a creative risk taker, who can reflect and act on a given situation; The ability to keep staff moving towards the school vision; The ability to maintain a clear, positive and consistent vision for the school, as well as a clear understanding of the process required to attain that vision; Be aware of the expectations of the community for the graduating students. In the future it will be essential that principals can not only advocate, but also implement, a win-win style of leadership, so that all parties are prepared to give their absolute best (a parallel to positive human resource engineering and employee motivation). Principals must be involved in the design of curriculum and instruction (organizational planning and implementation). Principals must also take an active role in assessing the teaching that occurs in the school and, where needed, provide opportunity for teachers to improve their standards (TQM or Total Quality Management). By developing this win-win CEO style of leadership: Teachers/staff will become flexible, resilient and sufficiently secure in their own self and accomplishments to aim for self-actualised behaviour for the benefit of he students and school; Staff will develop behaviours that support mutual trust with each other and with students; Staff will feel empowered and confident to co-operate with colleagues, in b oth the curriculum and social development of the school; and, Personal accountability is based on competency, not authority. This results in a shared vision for the school and staff working towards that mission by the setting of mutual goals and action (Company Goals). With a good structure of distributed leadership in place, a principal can consider the balance between different responsibilities and between the time that can be allocated within school and outside (Time and Resource Management). In modern school leadership, also includes networking with other schools. It is now widely recognised that school improvement is accelerated through active participation in networks with other schools (Relationship Management and Marketing). At some point, principals today may also act as consultants to other schools, either within their partnership or elsewhere. They may act as ‘school improvement partners’, holding one or more other principals to account through the ‘single conversation’. If future educational policy is to be informed by educational values and rooted in successful innovative practice, then we may need to begin to redefine our understanding of leadership, so that it includes the ability to work, with confidence, beyond the school. Such leadership will have all the existing knowledge, skills and qualities but will also need the following characteristics: The ability to create powerful and multi-layered networks; Recognition of the importance of creating knowledge from practice, theory and research; The capacity to influence and persuade in the broader context; Personal resilience based in hope and optimism; and, Willingness to take risks Principals turned CEO will need to be able to lead in a less authoritarian style manner than the one being practised in many schools today. They will need to develop within their schools a profound sense of social interest within the teachers and, by implication, the students. School leaders will have to work together and share, rather than compete in their augmented roles. David Miliband has articulated the following vision: ‘the best must lead the rest, whether in relation to the advance of transformational leadership, the spread of best practice, the modernisation of the school workforce, or the development of partnerships with the wider community. ’ The evolution of educational social scenario is now so fast that the same leaders live through the transition and actively have to manage it. In essence, the role of the Principal turned CEO can be viewed as encompassing five functions: 1. Visioning by which the developmental work of the school is linked to an inspiring image of a preferred future. In this way, the linkages between an innovation and the notion of creating our own future can be made obvious. 2. Identity generation or Brand management through which cultural meaning is created. Two important purposes are served. First, communities are enabled to view their schools as distinctive (or ‘differentiated’) and to regard themselves as instrumental in the creation of a distinctive culture and system of meaning. Second, a benchmark is set whereby members of both the school and the broader community determine whether the envisaged future is consistent with their values. If not, they can consider ways to change it. 3. Alignment of organisational elements in which the implementation of school-based innovations is approached holistically. Where the rationale for an innovation is aligned with the school’s vision, where a school-wide approach to pedagogy has been generated, where school infrastructures (encompassing time, space, curricula and technologies) have been modified to facilitate implementation, and where the professional community has a shared understanding of, and commitment to, the essential features of the innovation in question, a strong basis exists for successful implementation. 4. Distribution of power and leadership whereby teachers (and community members) are encouraged to view themselves as critically important in shaping the school s direction and values and in exercising influence beyond the school. 5. External alliances and networking through which schools collaborate with other schools and with elements of the broader community, while keeping for themselves the activities that reflect their distinctive competencies. Examples are consortia, in which schools pool their resources to gain a benefit that they could not acquire alone; joint ventures, in which several schools pursue an opportunity that requires a special capacity from each one of them; and value-chain partnerships, in which organisations in different industries say education and tourism with different but complementary skills link their capabilities to create value for ultimate users. Taken together, these five functions provide a sound basis for Principals turned CEOs aspiring to lead their schools in the years ahead and are captured in Barth’s words (2001): ‘The most powerful reason for principals to be learners as well as leaders comes from the extraordinary influence of modelling behaviour. In many schools, the more important you are, the further you are removed from learning. But when the leader is learner, when the principal’s learning is continuous, sustained, and visible and exciting, a crucial and very different message is telegraphed to the community: this school is a community of learners; learning is its most important characteristic; the principal is a first-class citizen of the community of learners, the head learner. ’ It is essential that all members of a school community can express themselves without fear of retribution; that all students can learn from their mistakes in a supportive environment; and that the school climate is both challenging and respectful. Thus, if a CEO is collegial, with a shared vision, yet still able to make the hard decisions, students and teachers will succeed and schools will become places of learning for all. Collaboratively, school leaders will redefine themselves as learning organisations offering individuals liberation and empowerment to maximise their full potential as innovative, intelligent workers (Fenwick, 1995). They will need to grow ‘a culture in which individual development is a priority, outmoded and erroneous ways of thinking are actively identified and corrected, and the purpose and vision of the organization are clearly understood and supported by all its members’ (Cullen, 1999). All schools require a CEO who can organise and co-ordinate the work life of a school, as well as shape the school environment for the benefit of students. A positive and affirming attitude within a school improves student’s levels of achievement and the attitudes they have towards that achievement. It is impossible to isolate the skills or leadership style that best suits each school from the environment that empowers its teachers. Each CEO’s leadership style is unique and no one style appears to be totally effective. However, if we accept that the role of the CEO is to lead the school, and the role of the school is to educate its students, then it may be said that the role of the CEO is to lead that school into providing the best education for its students. It is often expected that the principal would have anagerial expertise well it is sort of an imperative now they have to adorn the roles and responsibilities of a CEO well in corporate jargon and will be not just be ‘people developers’ but also successful visionaries, and management gurus. Thus, the techno century principalship in its richest role is abou t ensuring the relevance of aims, content, practices, and outcomes of school education which is gradually evolving in a corporate structure for future generations. In accepting this coveted role, the principal will need to be capable in guiding new education agendas and developing new generations of community. Individual and organisational capability will be imperative, as will the development of individuals and communities to create and ‘walk’ these new paradigms of CEOship.

Ethical Issues of the Holy War essays

Ethical Issues of the Holy War essays The issue of a jihad, or holy war is a term brought from the bible to give bearing to the conquest of the land of one by the request of God. If and what relevance does this term have to the world as we know it today? The ongoing conflict in the Middle East is a prime example that it is still an issue and probably always will be. This ethical problem deeply affects three of the most prominent influences on the way each culture in the world operates. First is the political aspect. The Israeli possession of Palestine, treatment of the Palestinian people, and the habitation of the West Bank all make us vulnerable when taking either side. Meaning we put ourselves in a situation where we automatically make an enemy. This brings the second point into perspective. How should we act in warfare? Should we be participants or just object and watch, because how do we know if God is on the same side we are and what the consequences of the actions will be. The third point is that with the above in mind, how does this affect our view on the character of a God who can judge a group and be fair to each of us individually. There are two basic ethical decisions when deciding upon where to stand on the view of a holy war. Is it right or is it wrong? The view that holy war is moral and right comes from the term Graded Absolutism. This states that killing is clearly against God's law, but God exempted Israel from breaking these to satisfy higher laws (Geisler 27, 115-118). The other is Unqualified Absolutism. This states just the opposite, that it is wrong no matter what, and that God's law against killing is a moral absolute that must not be broken. (Geisler 27). What were the reasons for the rise of a holy war? From my reading I have found four distinct events that led to the start of each war. First, each followed an outcry against a nation that practiced extreme, widespread violence and cruelty. Also, each was preceded by extensive exposure to...

Child Abuse and Role of the Family Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Child Abuse and Role of the Family - Essay Example This paper discusses child abuse and role of the family in a concise and comprehensive way. As summarized by the World Health Organization (2002, online), "Child abuse or maltreatment constitutes all forms of physical and/or emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, neglect or negligent treatment or commercial or other exploitation, resulting in actual or potential harm to the child's health, survival, development, or dignity in the context of a relationship of responsibility, trust, or power." Child physical abuse involves a parent or caretaker intentionally inflicting physical pain on the child and can range, for example, from shaking, dragging, or spanking a child to the extremes of kicking, punching, or beating. Child sexual abuse involves a caretaker using a child for sexual gratification and can range from non-contact abuse (proposition, exhibition) to the extremes of actual penetration, to commercial sexual exploitation. Child emotional abuse involves inflicting psychological pain on the child (Child Trauma Academy, 2003). This includes, for example, yelling at, ridiculing, degrading, or humiliating a child; communicating that the child is flawed or unlovable; threatening a child or a child's loved one; exposure to domestic violence. Child neglect involves a caretaker's failure to provide for the child's basic needs. This includes physical neglect (adequate shelter, food, clothing), medical neglect (adequate health care), cognitive or educational neglect (intellectual stimulation, involvement in child's schooling), supervision neglect (monitoring the child's whereabouts, involvement in child's activities), and emotional neglect (providing emotional responsiveness, support, and affection). Prenatal neglect and abuse (failure to obtain proper care and/or substance abuse during pregnancy) constitutes yet another category of maltreatment (McLoyd, 1998). The consequences of child maltreatment are considerable, not only for the child, but also for society. Some consequences for the child are greater for one type of maltreatment than another. For example, child neglect is most strongly associated with the child having a lower IQ and lower educational achievement; child physical abuse with the child engaging in violence as a teen and adult; and, child emotional abuse with subsequent psychopathology. However, all forms of maltreatment are associated with adverse effects for children and the adults they become (Small, Luster, 1994). Child physical and emotional abuse and neglect all increase the likelihood that the child will subsequently: * - Be cognitively impaired (e.g., lower IQ and cognitive development; lower grades and

Gendered Eating Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Gendered Eating - Coursework Example The gender of the person behind the real food preparation matters in cooking and food preferences. Recently, I noted that even in communities that regard woman’s real place as the kitchen, men will still prefer being served by a man in a restaurant. This, to me means that the man in the hotel is preferred than the woman, while, at home, a woman has the responsibility of preparing food for the family. Further, this can also be interpreted to mean that professionally, men are the considered to be better cooks while women are more involved with the behind the curtains preparations and writings. In line with the cooking responsibility bestowed on the women from traditions, their experience in the field is significant, their involvement in instructional cooking ascertains their legitimate position. However, the men are considered to be better in arts than women are. This makes them more visible and relevant when it comes to the real activity of cooking. Therefore, cooking art is dominated by men while the women occupy an even more important position of teachers and instructors. Regardless of who appears with the food on your table, multiple players have been

The Effect of “Publish or Perish” Motto on Academics Essay Example for Free

The Effect of â€Å"Publish or Perish† Motto on Academics Essay Retailing, warehousing and producing knowledge are the core missions of the academic scholars in the universities. Universities warehouse† knowledge through libraries; they disseminate or retail knowledge via their teaching function; and they produce or â€Å"manufacture† knowledge through research (Hunt, 2000). In order to accomplish these missions, namely to enhance the production and dissemination quantum of the knowledge, governmental institutions and university administrations use incentive and reward systems (Bloom et al. , 1988). These systems present in most universities acknowledge publications and citations as the evidence of scholarly achievement and necessity for promotion, grant, and tenure (Darko, 2003). However, incentive and reward systems in academia were considered to lead a publish or perish syndrome by keeping the academic staff under pressure (Bloom et al. , 1988). On the one hand, these systems lead to a an increase in the quantity of books and papers (Bloom et al. , 1988); on the other hand, the quality of the generated knowledge may decrease since the academics aim to reach maximum number of publications (Nyilasy et al., 2007). As it is seen, these systems have both advantageous and disadvantageous. In this context, the objective of this paper is to analyze whether the incentive and reward systems have institutionalized a restrictive approach to knowledge development or they enhance and encourage the producing of the knowledge. On the other hand, it will be tried to compare the Turkey’s current academic environment with the other countries in the context of ethical academic behaviours. THE OBJECTIVE OF ACADEMICS  Marketing as a university discipline has several responsibilities such as; to society, for providing objective knowledge and technically competent, socially responsible, liberally educated graduates; To students, for providing an education that will enable them to get on the â€Å"socioeconomic ladder† and prepare them for their roles as competent, responsible marketers and citizens; to marketing practice, for providing a continuing supply of competent, responsible entrants to the marketing profession and for providing new knowledge about both the micro and macro dimensions of marketing; and to the academy, for upholding its mission of retailing,  warehousing and producing knowledge, its contract with society of objective knowledge for academic freedom, and its core values of reason, evidence, openness and civility (Hunt, 2002, p. 306). In parallel with this view, Irele (1993, p. 74) claimed that â€Å"A university has three functions to perform which are to conserve knowledge; to advance knowledge; and to disseminate knowledge. It falls short of the full realization of its aim unless, having provided for the conservation and advancement of knowledge, it makes provision for its dissemination as well†. It can be revealed from these statements that, production and dissemination of the knowledge are two of the core missions of universities. Knowledge produced by academic researchers tends to be distributed to the discipline through research books, journals, academic conferences, training and development courses ((Bloom et al. , 1988; McKenzie et al. , 2002; Nyilasy et al. , 2007). However, according to the American Marketing Association (as of now AMA) Task Force on the development of marketing, academic researchers do not produce and disseminate enough publications (Bloom et al., 1988). Furthermore, there is a dissemination problem that academicians are not successful in disseminating the knowledge they generate (Nyilasy et al. , 2007). In order to overcome these problems and increase the production and dissemination of knowledge, and also to become more competitive, university management boards apply incentive and reward systems (Bloom et al. , 1988). INCENTIVE AND REWARDS SYSTEMS At first sight, the incentive and reward systems may be seen well functioning that it leads to increase on knowledge generation and motivate the researchers. However there are several disadvantages and side effects of these systems and in the literature the outcomes of these systems have been criticized by several authors under the â€Å"publish or perish† mantra (List at al. , 2007;Bloom et al. , 1988; Nyilasy et al. , 2007; Brennan Ankers, 2004; Darko, 2003; Remus, 1977; Gad-el-hak, 2004). One of the best explanation of publish or perish doctrine made by P. Van Den Berghe (1970, p. 87) as â€Å"Publishing has become a compulsion. The average academic author does not write because he has something to say, because he hopes to contribute to knowledge, or because he has fun doing it; rather, he writes and publishes in order to improve his vita. This document is frequently the only thing about him which his colleagues will ever read; it is the passport to academic success; and, beyond the routine acquisition of a Ph. D. , published titles are the main ornament of a vita. On the other hand, there are some alternative views such as Blunt (1973) claimed that equating not publishing with perishing is an over dramatization of the present condition. In fact, in this context incentive and rewards refers to â€Å"tenure† and â€Å"promotion†. Namely, in order to get a tenure or promotion to the more senior academic positions it is essential to publish books, academic paper and be cited (Blunt, 1973). In addition, Remus (1977) claimed that publication is one of the most essential criterion for gaining tenure and promotion in a highly competitive academic environment which Remus defined this environment as a treacherous dog-eat-dog world metaphorically. Since AMA (1988) claimed that publications in the marketing field is not enough and there need to overcome the impediments in order to increase the quantity of the publications. The AMA assessed several suggestions to motivate the researchers; the researchers must be provided large scale funding source and faculty release time for their research; the average revision time of the journals must be decreased as much as possible, thus further expenditures of time and effort of both reviewers and authors will be prevented; special workshops and consortia must be supported related to the need of the researchers. To sum up, this system is very effective and advantageous in order to motivate the researchers and achieve a maximum number of publications. However, there are also some disadvantageous and side effects of this system. In the next section the negative effects of this system will be criticized. SIDE EFFECTS OF INCENTIVE AND REWARD SYSTEMS As discussed in the preceding sections, the system puts the researcher under the pressure of publishing more and more books, journals and conference papers. The strong and undesirable incentives motivate especially the young academics through knowledge development (Blunt, 1973). However, it is extremely short-term in orientation and the system discourages risk-taking in the development of new ideas, discourages investment in long-term projects on significant issues, and instead encourages minor improvements in establishing ideas (Bloom et al. , 1988). On the other hand, the young academicians have started to publish books without getting enough wisdom in a particular field (Gad-el-hak, 2004). When the researcher’s age and experience increase, they provide fewer contributions to the journals. The AMA stated the possible reason for this situation as following; (1) A sense that the rewards for research and publication have been less than expected or are simply insufficient to justify additional effort. (2) A cumulative frustration with the competitive review processes of the major journals of the field. (3) An increased need or desire for outside income during the middle years of ones career. (4) An increased capability to undertake activities that hold higher personal value (e. g. , teaching, consulting, administrative positions) than does research and writing(Bloom et al. , 1988, p. 4). Another important issue affected by the system is the quality concern. Publish or perish philosophy makes the researchers give more importance to the quantity of the publications rather than quality (Lofthouse, 1974). In order to get a tenure or promotion, most researchers focus on publishing as much as they can, even sometimes they use â€Å"cut-and-paste† to reach their goals. Furthermore, to fulfil the increasing demand for publishing papers, everyday more and more journals enter the academic market. Thus, there have been the journals stratified into several quality categories which fits different quality papers (Gad-el-hak, 2004). However, since journals are peer reviewed they can preserve their quality in balance (Bloom et al. , 1988). The quality concern is emerged in book publishing as well and probably more noteworthy that there is no need to be reviewed which makes it easier to publish a book than a journal article accepted (Gad-el-hak, 2004). Gad-el-Hak (2004) provided some extreme examples related to the quantity of publications. The first one is a dean of major school of engineering listed 52 papers that he wrote just in a year which equals to publishing a paper every week. In the second example, a professor was introduces at a meeting as the author of 80 books in his 20 year career which is equal to a book every three months. Citation documents the ? ow of information and the links within and among disciplines or other units of analysis (Goldman Grinstein, 2010). The number of citations is a dominant criterion for promotion, salary increases and funding. It also will determine to what extent the individual researcher is seen as a thought leader. On the other hand, it is an indicator of quality, innovativeness and contribution of the publication to the science. Therefore, the researchers try to maximize the number of times they are cited (Verniers, 2010). However, except the articles published in top journals which represent the core of a discipline, most articles receive few or no citation (Van Dalen Klamer, 2005). Also some researchers use make citation unethically. For example, authors generally do not actually consult some of the references they cite, some authors add references at the completion of a research because they support the researcher’s arguments or findings authors often reference well known authors in order to add credibility and prestige, and that misquotations of what is actually written in the references are prevalent (Goldman Grinstein, 2010, p.1389) As Hunt (2000) claimed another mission of academics is the retailing the knowledge in terms of teaching. However, since the â€Å"publish or perish† motto force the academics to focus on publications, especially the young academicians give less emphasis to the teaching function (Blunt, 1973). On the other hand, this motto also affects the relationship level between the practitioners and academicians. Brennan and Ankers (2004, p.  511) claimed that â€Å"It seems clear that although academics would like to get closer to practitioners, they are inhibited by institutional factors, such as academic reward systems and the â€Å"publish or perish† culture†. Since the Publish or perish culture suppresses the academics, they are tempted to perform unethical behaviours such as copying research, faking data and statistics, intentionally leaving out erroneous findings (Van Dalen Klamer, 2005). (List et al., 2007) made a research on this topic and proved that some researchers have falsified the research data; also they became co-authors of the papers without contributing. In addition, Remus (1977) very clearly identified the publication tricks as following; Joint Author Trick, colleagues write papers independently, and they add his / her colleagues name to the paper. Thus, in average both get more point. Experimental Trip trick, in some cases the academics force the students to participate in experiments. Thus, they can set up experiments in a very short time and free of charge. Graduate Student Gap, Graduate students perform great effort to show him qualified, so the academics may use them for library research, analyze and write up the data, or to find new creative research topics. Senior Author Trick, sometimes the junior academics use the name of senior, well-known authors in their studies without their contribution to publish their articles in top journals and books in quality publishers. Kitchen Sink Trick, since the data gathering phase is time consuming, they may use the same data more than once for different articles. In order to overcome the side effects of the publish or perish concept, Gad-el-Hak (2004) offered some suggestions such as; resumes submitted to promotion and tenure committees should be limited to listing only 5–10 the most significant publications; co-authors should contribute meaningfully to a publication and no name should be added merely because he or she is a member of a research group, or worse, the head of the group; journals should publish their impact factor and it should be an important consideration when libraries decide which journals to drop; Completed book manuscripts should go through peer review before publication. PUBLISH OR PERISH SYSTEM IN TURKEY In this section, as an academic member in a university, I will express my observations about the functioning of publish or perish system by comparing with the outside of Turkey. There is an incentive and rewards system in Turkey as well. For example, In order to apply for an Associate Professor position, academicians have to get at least 6 points by publishing books, articles, conference papers and being cited (UAK, 2012). In addition, The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) makes payment for the articles published in top journals in order to motivate academics. However the side effects in terms unethical academic consequences of the system is very similar to the other countries. Probably, one of the most important factors is they are assigned many courses to teach and also they are charged with administrative work load. The most common unethical behaviours in Turkey are plagiarism refers to stealing from other authors’ publications without citation and permission, duplication which is publishing the same or similar papers in different journals or conferences, Fabrication which is making up unreal results and publish, and Salamization  refers to slicing up one research in more or less identical papers (Ruacan, 2008). As indicated in the AMA task force report (1988), most of the senior academicians slow up researching and publishing, instead they mostly focus on consulting to the private sector companies, administrative functions, organizing conferences in their most productive period in Turkey as well. On the other hand in order to increase the quantity of their publications some academics search for the journals, mostly in third world countries such as African journals, that they can easily publish their unqualified articles. Furthermore, some of the academics make a deal with publishing companies to publish their book. Actually, the aim is not selling the book and making profit. In most cases the only reason is just getting point to get a promotion or tenure. In addition, authors in Turkey use joint author trick which was stated by Remus (1977) to gain more point. For instance, there are three colleagues and each of them prepared a paper. If they publish them as single authored in an international journal, each will get 3 points independently. However, if they write the other two colleagues’ names as co-authors each will get 5. 4 point which is approximately twice of the former choice (UAK, 2012). CONCLUSION To sum up, producing and disseminating of the knowledge is one of the most crucial missions for the universities. To accomplish this duty, the administrative directors of the universities and Institutes of Higher Education use some incentive and reward systems. However, in some cases these strategies put the academic staff under the pressure which is called as the â€Å"Publish or Perish† motto. Thus, in order to survive in the academic world, the members sometimes look for some unethical ways such as plagiarism, salamization, duplication, fabrication, joint author, publishing unqualified books, and so on. While the quantity of the publications increases, their quality may decrease. In my opinion, being academic members must be encouraged by increasing the salary of the member, providing extra opportunities, to increase the attraction of being a faculty member. Thus, the more qualified people will demand to be an academician and the cumulative quality of the universities and academics will increase and probably there will be a decrease in the rate of unethical academic behaviour. On the other hand, some reformations must be made to prevent the unstandardized proceedings, patronages, and unfairness: In this way, the motivation and quality of the junior academic personnel will increase and they would be more productive. REFERENCES Berghe, P. (1970). Academic Gamesmanship, London: Abelard-Schuman Bloom, P. , Hirschman, E. , Mcaleer, L. , Group, T. M., Weitz, B. , Wilkie, W. , Dame, N. , et al. (1988). Developing , Disseminating , and Utilizing Marketing Knowledge, Journal of Marketing Vol. 52(October), pp. 1–25. Brennan, R. , and P. Ankers, (2004). In Search of Relevance: Is There an Academic-Practitioner Divide in Business-to-Business Marketing? Marketing Intelligence and Planning, Vol: 22(5), pp. 511–519. Darko, C. O. (2003). Scholarly Publ? sh? ng In Africa: A Case Study Of The Pol? cies And Practices Of African Un? versity Presses, Inpublished PhD Dissertation, Graduate School of the University of Stirling Gad-el-Hak, M. (2004). Publish or Perish An Ailing Enterprise ,Phisics Today,pp. 61-62 Goldman, A. , Grinstein, A. (2010). Stages in the Development of Market Orientation Publication Activity: A Longitudinal Assessment. European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 44 (9/10), pp. 1384–1409. Hunt, S. D. (2000). Marketing is , Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science Vol: 20,(4), pp. 301-311. Hunt, S. D. (2002). Marketing as a Profession: On Closing Stakeholder Gaps. European Journal of Marketing, Vol: 36(3),pp. 305–312. Irele, A. (1993), The challenge of university Publishing in Africa, with special reference to Nigeria. In Altbach PG (ed) readings on Publishing in Africa and the Third World. Buffalo: Bellagio. List, J. , Bailey, C. , Euzent, P. , Martin, T. (2007). Academic economists behaving badly? A survey on three areas of unethical behavior. Economic Inquiry, 39(1), 162–170. doi:10. 1111/j. 1465-7295. 2001. tb00058. x Lofthouse, S. (1974). Thoughts on â€Å" Publish Or Perish†, Higher Education Vol: 3 pp. 59 80. McKenzie, C. J. , Wright, S. , Ball, D. F. Baron, P. J. (2002) The publications of marketing faculty – who are we really talking to? European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 36 (November), pp. 1196–1208. Nyilasy, G. , Reid, L. , Rodgers, S. , Wang, Y. , Rettie, R. , Alpert, F. , Matthes, J. , et al. (2007). The academician–practitioner gap in advertising, International Journal of Advertising, Vol: 26(4) pp. 425-447. Peter Blunt,(1976), Publish or perish or neither: What is happening in academia, Vestes, vol. 19 (1), pp. 62-64. Remus, Wi?. (1977). Strategies for a Publish or Perish World or Why Journals Are Unreadable, Interfaces, Vol. 8 (1), pp. 64-69. Ruacan, S. (2008). Bilimsel Arast? rma ve Yay? nlarda Etik Ilkeler. Hacettepe Universitesi. Onkoloji Enstitusu. http://www. ulakbim. gov. tr/dokumanlar/sempozyum1/sruacan 2. pdf. (accesed 12. 12. 2012). UAK (2012), Criteria for Associate Professor Application, http://www. uak. gov. tr/temelalan /tablo11. pdf (Accessed 12. 12. 2012). Van Dalen, Hendrik P. and Arjo Klamer (2005), â€Å"Is There Such a Thing Called Scientific Waste? † Tinbergen discussion paper, Erasmus University Rotterdam. Verniers, I (2010), Essays on Marketing and Scientific Innovations, Unpublished PhD Dissertation, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University.

Expectations versus Reality in Richs Living in Sin :: Rich Living in Sin

Expectations versus Reality in Rich's Living in Sin Relationships end for a variety of reasons, the most common being that people enter relationships with certain expectations which, when unmet, start and fuel the domino effect which eventually leads to the end of the relationship. How one perceives a relationship is altered by various conditions such as age, experience, and personal background. Differentiating between what is real and what is imagined in a relationship is also tailored by these experiences in life. In her poem "Living In Sin," Adrienne Rich examines how one woman's perceptions of her physical environment, her motive for entering the relationship, and the tone of the relationship are altered when she differentiates between the relationship she expected and the relationship as it actually is. In her idealistic relationship, the speaker's physical environment is free of daily domestic responsibilities. There is no need to dust or wash the windows because, as she expects in her fantasy life, the studio will "keep itself." There are definitely no leaky or noisy faucets in need of repair. And in the dream relationship, there are no creeping insects, just a "picturesque" mouse found attractive by a cat. In actuality, however, the speaker's physical environment needs cleaning; she battles dust on the furniture and grime on the windows. A noisy, leaky faucet in the studio needs repair. She also spots an insect in the kitchen that acts as the representative from the "village" behind the moldings. Her dream world is infested, probably with roaches. The narrator's motive in the relationship was initially the romantic desire to live with the man she loves, but eventually her motive is simply to bear the routine and break the now boring nature of the actual relationship. She wanted in the beginning to escape from restrictive religious beliefs and live with her musician boyfriend in his studio. As the title suggests, the narrator believed the relationship was a sinful one. Living with her boyfriend implies a daring departure from behavior normally expected of her, either by herself, her parents, or society. Still, the light of each day reveals just how dull and routine her life has become. The stairs shake each morning at five o'clock with the arrival of the milkman; each day she has to make the bed, dust the furniture, and look out dirty windows while listening to the leaky faucet. Expectations versus Reality in Rich's Living in Sin :: Rich Living in Sin Expectations versus Reality in Rich's Living in Sin Relationships end for a variety of reasons, the most common being that people enter relationships with certain expectations which, when unmet, start and fuel the domino effect which eventually leads to the end of the relationship. How one perceives a relationship is altered by various conditions such as age, experience, and personal background. Differentiating between what is real and what is imagined in a relationship is also tailored by these experiences in life. In her poem "Living In Sin," Adrienne Rich examines how one woman's perceptions of her physical environment, her motive for entering the relationship, and the tone of the relationship are altered when she differentiates between the relationship she expected and the relationship as it actually is. In her idealistic relationship, the speaker's physical environment is free of daily domestic responsibilities. There is no need to dust or wash the windows because, as she expects in her fantasy life, the studio will "keep itself." There are definitely no leaky or noisy faucets in need of repair. And in the dream relationship, there are no creeping insects, just a "picturesque" mouse found attractive by a cat. In actuality, however, the speaker's physical environment needs cleaning; she battles dust on the furniture and grime on the windows. A noisy, leaky faucet in the studio needs repair. She also spots an insect in the kitchen that acts as the representative from the "village" behind the moldings. Her dream world is infested, probably with roaches. The narrator's motive in the relationship was initially the romantic desire to live with the man she loves, but eventually her motive is simply to bear the routine and break the now boring nature of the actual relationship. She wanted in the beginning to escape from restrictive religious beliefs and live with her musician boyfriend in his studio. As the title suggests, the narrator believed the relationship was a sinful one. Living with her boyfriend implies a daring departure from behavior normally expected of her, either by herself, her parents, or society. Still, the light of each day reveals just how dull and routine her life has become. The stairs shake each morning at five o'clock with the arrival of the milkman; each day she has to make the bed, dust the furniture, and look out dirty windows while listening to the leaky faucet.

Gender Bias: Sociology of Gender and Sexuality Essay

As individuals we have the choice to do whatever we want, but why is it that we have to be careful of what we do because of the fear of being judged. This world is divided in two, the men and the women; you’re simply one or the other. Society as a whole has always made women inferior to men in every way possible, we live in a world where if you’re a women you must learn to live second best, you will never be as good as a man in your profession, or you will never be as smart as a man. These are but a few examples of which women must learn to live with in today’s world for it is they way that we all are taught from the moment we are born women have their role, while men have their role. Gender bias is everywhere, you more than likely see it every day but you are so used to it that you don’t catch it. So why do we have this gender bias? Are we ever going to accept that both men and women are two of the same and that we are equal? Sociologists explain the gender bias that occurs in workplaces, why men get paid more for the exact same job that the women is doing, or how we generalize occupations just because some jobs are masculine while others are feminine. Also how it affects media, and why homosexuality is okay for females but is looked down on for males. So how would you feel if you finally landed your dream career after all the hard work and struggles you went through college, just to find out that your going to be getting paid less then the person next to you even though you are doing the exact same job and you both have the exact same qualifications. The reality of it is that this does occur. The gender pay gap in the United States has received a lot of attention (Nadler 1). Women across the world are being victims of gender discrimination. Their future career’s are in jeopardy because as a society we tend to act as if they aren’t good enough, the possibility for their advancement at work is very slim for we tend to pick a male over a female. There have been many studies as to why males are favorited over females. â€Å"Such studies examine gender stereo-type driven bias at a macro or individual level† (Nadler 1). Too many of us gender stereo type subconsciously for we are taught from a young age what roles a man is to do and what role a women is supposed to do, so we are so used to it, that we don’t realize that we are doing it, it becomes almost second nature. From the moment we are in elementary school we learn about our roles. Boys are supposed to be the workers, the ones who provide and make the most money, we’re supposed to be tough and play football and do other masculine activities while the girls start following the role of playing house, being a mom and playing cooking games like baking or other activities that women portray. So what if a boy wants to play house and the girl wants to play football, at first this would be an issue for in our society that’s not normal. Women are implanted with this idea that they need to pick a career inferior to that of a males, the idea is that the men bring in the most income into a household. So with that in mind it’s the same thing with this gender pay gap, women are practically getting told no, this is a job for a man, so we will not promote you. Even though about 47% of the workforce consists of women, according to the catalyst only 3% of the fortune companies have had a woman as their chief executive officer. Studies show these opportunities of top position jobs are by passed right on by the women, for the men believe that their relationship or children would affect the way they work, so the women wouldn’t get this promotion because of a mere assumption that her future would affect her work. Although the gender pay gap and the gender bias has been decreasing in the past thirty years there is still a difference in salary of men and women in similar careers (Nadler 2). As time goes on it seems that society as a whole is beginning to accept that women can go out of their designated role and do what men do, the social norm has always been women stay home and cook and be a mother but now with newer generations you see women taking on the roles of the man, making the most income in the household, and for some males this is very difficult to grasp for they were raised their entire life with the idea that they were the ones supposed to be supporting the family, they were supposed to be the providers. Sometimes even the men take the role of the female, the increase in male nurses in the past decade has increased drastically, in the old days you wouldn’t catch a man being a nurse, but today it is becoming more acceptable to venture off into these female role careers. â€Å"Over the past three decades, research has examined changes in men’s and women’s family roles† (Maume 1). For instance if a male was to pick a career say for example, taking care of children he would more than likely suffer gender discrimination and not get hired for watching over children has always been t he role of a women (Stockdale 3). We have come a long way from when women had to stay at home and cook and do house chores, but we still have a little bit more to go before we begin seeing an equal opportunity for women. Hyun Sung Lim states, â€Å"homosexuality has long been considered pathological, at least in western countries† (1). In the 19th century through most of the 20th century homosexuality was considered a neurotic disorder. Up until 1973 the APA considered it an illness causing a major controversy across the country. People weren’t happy being told they had an illness because they liked the same gender of sex; it was something they simply could not control. Now we know that some people can be born being attracted to the same sex, they weren’t forced into it, it just came naturally as it comes naturally for us to like the opposite sex. â€Å"According to data from different countries, between 5% and 11% of the young population can identify themselves as homosexuals† (Gerouki 1). So why is that people don’t like homosexuals? Today in modern America we see a huge gender bias towards homosexuals. Society is very hostile and not accepting towards gays, but the only problem is that it’s only towards male homosexuals. â€Å"Part of the reason why males are targets is because of HIV, because of the potential risks of spreading an epidemic they tend to get the most negative attention† (Druten 1). Female’s kissing each other has transformed into more of a fantasy to some in todays age, where if it were the other way around two men kissing each other a sense of un-comfort arises, and it becomes socially unacceptable. Over the years we have made this norm where we made it acceptable for women to be comfortable and public about their relationship with another female, while for men we’ve forced them into being secretive and even a great sense of fear has been presented to them. They have to be careful of how they show their affection in public in fear that someone may harm them because they don’t accept their sexuality, in their eyes they’re wrong. â€Å"Violence against homosexuals is recognized as a social problem† (Lim 1). Research studies show that males have a much higher negative attitude towards male homosexuality then females (Lim 2). A study was conducted in South Korea where they asked 124 college student who were all heterosexual, they were asked a series of questions about how they felt about homosexuals, and 96 of the 124 students classified into the homophobic range. In our society there is a gender bias towards homosexuals because of this homophobia, this fear one has to be around or socialize with homosexuals. Some homosexuals are targeted when they apply for jobs if they are clearly visibly gay they will more than likely not get the job for some people are scared because of their sexuality, they want nothing to do with them. We are becoming more accepting of homosexuals for example, now we have 9 states in the United States that allow marriage of the same sex and about 11 countries that too allow it, it seems that society is slowly accepting homosexuality into its norm. Being able to marry the same sex comes with a price, in Vancouver a study was done for pricing of apartment rentals. Discrimination for those with partners of the same sex was higher than those of the opposite sex, 24% less likely to receive positive response from inquiries to be exact (Lauster and Easterbrook 402). Vancouver having a very high rate of homosexuals still experiences gender bias. Homosexuals where being charged more for their just because of their sexuality. Also they were not treated as well as a heterosexual couple. Even though it is clear that it is okay to be homosexual, most of society refuses to accept it, and their kids see this form of gender bias so then they learn it and so on the cycle continues. Homosexuals are slowly getting the chance to live their life out happy without having to worry about being outcasts in today’s society. So in the end we live in a world where we discriminate one another because of our gender or our sexuality. Women are under appreciated in the work field because of their gender, when in reality they are just as capable of doing what the men do. They have to struggle to get recognized. They have to work twice as hard to prove themselves everyday, to get seen as equal. If a woman exceeds in her work more than a male than there is absolutely no reason why she shouldn’t make up hire in management, gender should not be a factor of to how far you can go in your career. Homosexuals are harassed for the mere fact that they are attracted to the same sex, when in reality they are humans just like the rest of us. No harm is being done yet society finds something wrong with them. Research provides the evidence that this gender bias is slowly diminishing and hopefully with time it will eventually cease exist, a world where equality is equal for all. II Personal I remember being in middle school and always seeing that one homosexual kid who everyone made fun of. Back then I didn’t know better, I mean middle school is all about trying to fit in and be popular, had I gone out of my way to be friends with this kid, that would have affected me just as much as him. You act the way you act because that’s the way everyone around you is acting and if you don’t than suddenly you’re the one outside the group, the outcast you could say. Reflecting back on everything that I said and did makes me feel this sort of disgust and shame. Doing all this research I kept thinking to myself how does one judge another by their gender or their sexuality, how can one do that, but then when it comes down to it, how does one not judge? It’s human nature to judge one another, when you judge someone else your simply judging yourself. I also remember in high school being on the soccer team, and there was this one girl who was a lot more masculine than the rest of the girls so she practiced with us. We were that group of kids that made her life hell, we would make sure she knew that she was not part of the circle, that she was different, but thinking back I didn’t do it to be mean, I simply did it because every one else was doing it so it felt normal you could say. This paper made me realize that unless you actually stop and think about it sometimes you wont even realize that you’re being gender bias or discriminating someone by his or her appearance. This research on gender bias and sexuality didn’t just open my eyes to what really occurs in this world. I feel like most of us go on living our life without even thinking what goes on out there. Unless it involves us in a certain way we wouldn’t really know of the inequality that still occurs to this day. We as a whole judge others because they are different than us, they become outcasts merely because they don’t have the same views as us or they look different then the rest. I can now say this will always be in the back of my head. I don’t want to discriminate anyone because of their gender so by remembering how easily it is to over see one self-being gender bias, I will hopefully be able to avoid any future occurrences with this problem. We are becoming more accepting as time progresses, maybe some day in the future their will be no gender bias for we will see that we are all one of the same. References David J. Maume. Gender Differences in Restricting Work Efforts Because of Family Responsibilities. Journal of Marriage and Family , Vol. 68, No. 4 (Nov. , 2006), pp. 859-869 Gerouki, M. (2010). The boy who was drawing princesses: primary teachers’ accounts of children’s non-conforming behaviours. Sex Education, 10(4), 335- 348. Hans Van Druten, Frits Van Griensven and Jan Hendriks. The Journal of Sex Research , Vol. 29, No. 4 (Nov. , 1992), pp. 477-499 Hyun Sung, L. , & Johnson, M. (2001). Korean social work student’s attitudes toward homosexuals. Journal Of Social Work Education, 37(3), 545-554. Nadler, J. T. , & Stockdale, M. S. (2012). Workplace Gender Bias: Not Just Between Strangers. North American Journal Of Psychology, 14(2), 281-291. Nathanael Lauster and Adam Easterbrook. No Room for New Families? A Field Experiment Measuring Rental Discrimination against Same-Sex Couples and Single Parents. Social Problems , Vol. 58, No. 3 (August 2011), pp. 389-409

Aggression & Nature/Innate Factors

  There is no simple or single entity which we can call aggression† (Stainton Rogers et al. 1995, p. 169). What does this statement mean and what are the implications for Psychological theories which attempt to explain aggression?  Aggression is part of every person's personality. For each individual at some point of our lives, we tend to be aggressive towards another person or towards the situation. There is no simple or single entity which we can call aggression† (Stainton Rogers et al. 1995, p. 169). There are several psychological theories which explains aggression these can be a result of nature, environmental factors and social factors.  Nature/Innate Factors:  Sigmund Freud is the father of psychoanalysis. In his early theory, Freud asserts that human behaviors are motivated by sexual and instinctive drives known as the libido, which is energy derived from the Eros, or life instinct .Thus, the repression of such libidinal urges is displayed as aggression (A lexandra K. Smith, 1999 http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro99/web3/Smith.html) In the Oedipus complex, a boy is fixated on his mother and competes with his father for maternal attention.The opposite, the attraction of a girl to her father and rivalry with her mother, is sometimes called the Electra complex. (changingminds.org)Freud came to the conclusion that humans have not one but two primary instincts. He called the life-favoring instinct Eros, one of the Greek words for â€Å"love,† and the death instinct Thanatos, the Greek word for â€Å"death.† (Beyond the Pleasure Principle. New York: Norton, 1960).Another theory about aggression is Konrad Lorenz's instinctual aggression.Lorenz examined herring gulls and other territorial birds. They defend their territory( their food & breeding source ) by aggression using fixed action patterns, elicited by sign stimuli.The build up of internal forces did not seem to play a role in the theory. Aggression is an instinct , serving territoriality, elicited by biologically relevant signs, is automatic, and difficult to inhibit out with certain biologically based sign inhibitors (www.psy.gla.ac.uk, p. 2).Environmental Factors:Identification with the aggressor which is defined as   version of introjection that focuses on the adoption, not of general or positive traits, but of negative or feared traits. If you are afraid of someone, you can partially conquer that fear by becoming more like them (Dr. C. George Boeree, 1997 http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/freud.html). To cite an example is the Stockholm Syndrome.A woman named Patty Hearst was capture by a small group of self -proclaimed revolutionaries called the Symbionese Liberation Army. She was kept in closets, mistreated and even raped. Yet she decided to join her captors , making little propaganda videos for them and even waving a machine gun around during a bank robbery.When she was later tried, psychologists strongly suggested she was a victim, n ot a criminal. She was nevertheless convicted of bank robbery and sentenced to 7 years in prison. Her sentence was commuted by President Carter after 2 years ( (Dr. C. George Boeree, 1997 http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/freud.html).  Citing this example we can relate that aggression is caused by the environmental factor that the aggressor created.The most well known drive theory of aggression is the frustration-aggression hypothesis proposed by a group of researchers at Yale led by John Dollard. He and his colleagues define frustration as â€Å"an interference with the occurrence of an instigated goal-response at its proper time in the behavioral sequence.†(Dollard, et. al. 1939, p.7)In this theory, frustration and aggression are linked in a cause and effect relationship. Frustration is the cause of aggression and aggression is the result of frustration.( Alexandra K. Smith,1999). The prison cell setting can be an example of this theory since inmates who are extremely frust rated can be more aggressive or commit more crimes.  Social Factors:Social learning theory focuses on the learning that occurs within a social context. It considers that people learn from one another, including such concepts as observational learning, imitation, and modeling. Among others Albert Bandura is considered the leading proponent of this theory (Ormrod, J.E. (1999).General principles of social learning theory follows:1. People can learn by observing the behavior is of others and the outcomes of those behaviors.2. Learning can occur without a change in behavior. Behaviorists say that learning has to be represented by a permanent change in behavior, in contrast social learning theorists say that because people can learn through observation alone, their learning may not necessarily be shown in their performance. Learning may or may not result in a behavior change.3. Cognition plays a role in learning. Over the last 30 years social learning theory has become increasingly cogn itive in its interpretation of human learning. Awareness and expectations of future reinforcements or punishments can have a major effect on the behaviors that people exhibit4. Social learning theory can be considered a bridge or a transition between behaviorist learning theories and cognitive learning theories.(Ormrod, J.E. (1999).  The conclusion of this school of thought on aggression has been summed up: â€Å"Human aggression is a learned conduct that, like other forms of social behavior, is under stimulus, reinforcement, and cognitive control.†Ã‚   Bandura, Albert. The Social Learning Theory of Aggression. In R. A. Falk and S. S. Kim, (Eds.), The War System: An Interdisciplinary Approach. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1980, p.146.   How the environment reinforces and punishes modeling:People are often reinforced for modeling the behavior of others. Bandura suggested that the environment also reinforces modeling. This is in several possible ways:1. The observer is rein forced by the model. For example a student who changes dress to fit in with a certain group of students has a strong likelihood of being accepted and thus reinforced by that group.2. The observer is reinforced by a third person. The observer might be modeling the actions of someone else, for example, an outstanding class leader or student. The teacher notices this and compliments and praises the observer for modeling such behavior thus reinforcing that behavior.3. The imitated behavior itself leads to reinforcing consequences. Many behaviors that we learn from others produce satisfying or reinforcing results. For example, a student in my multimedia class could observe how the extra work a classmate does is fun. This student in turn would do the same extra work and also receive enjoyment.4. Consequences of the model’s behavior affect the observers behavior vicariously. This is known as vicarious reinforcement. This is where in the model is reinforced for a response and then th e observer shows an increase in that same response.Bandura illustrated this by having students watch a film of a model hitting a inflated clown doll. One group of children saw the model being praised for such action. Without being reinforced, the group of children began to also hit the doll .Contemporary social learning perspective of reinforcement and punishment:1. Contemporary theory proposes that both reinforcement and punishment have indirect effects on learning. They are not the sole or main cause.2. Reinforcement and punishment influence the extent to which an individual exhibits a behavior that has been learned.3. The expectation of reinforcement influences cognitive processes that promote learning. Therefore attention pays a critical role in learning. And attention is influenced by the expectation of reinforcement. An example would be, where the teacher tells a group of students that what they will study next is not on the test. Students will not pay attention, because they do not expect to know the information for a test.Cognitive factors in social learning:Social learning theory has cognitive factors as well as behaviorist factors (actually operant factors).1. Learning without performance: Bandura makes a distinction between learning through observation and the actual imitation of what has been learned.2.Cognitive processing during learning: Social learning theorists contend that attention is a critical factor in learning.3. Expectations: As a result of being reinforced, people form expectations about the consequences that future behaviors are likely to bring. They expect certain behaviors to bring reinforcements and others to bring punishment. The learner needs to be aware however, of the response reinforcements and response punishment. Reinforcement increases a response only when the learner is aware of that connection.4. Reciprocal causation: Bandura proposed that behavior can influence both the environment and the person. In fact each of these th ree variables, the person, the behavior, and the environment can have an influence on each other.5. Modeling: There are different types of models. There is the live model, and actual person demonstrating the behavior. There can also be a symbolic model, which can be a person or action portrayed in some other medium, , such as television, videotape, computer programs. Ormrod, J.E. (1999).Given the three concepts on how aggression can be associated with, I have considered that we cannot conclude that one factor is the strongest among the three. Our lives are interrelated one way or another, our innate drives, environment, and social learning can be associated on how we respond to situations that can unleash aggression.References:Books:Beyond the Pleasure Principle. New York: Norton, 1960.Ormrod, J.E. ,1999.R. A. Falk and S. S. Kim, (Eds.), The War System: An Interdisciplinary Approach. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1980, p.146.Stainton Rogers et al. 1995 p. 169Journal Articles:Dr. C. G eorge Boeree, 1997 http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/freud.htmlAlexandra K. Smith, 1999 http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro99/web3/Smith.html

Problem of Police Brutality Essays

Problem of Police Brutality Essays Problem of Police Brutality Essay Problem of Police Brutality Essay 1.3 Problem Statement Traditional and new forms of media take unique approaches towards the representation of African American males to audiences in the United States. The resultant impact of the variations in the representation of African American males has been the development of perceptions about African American menbyopposite sides of the divide based onhard-linepositions about police brutality. The challenge, therefore, lies in the depiction of character and behavioural traits of the African American male with regard to the actions of the police during brutal confrontations between law enforcement and African American males. The advent of incidences of violence such as was the recent Dallas shootings is particularly blamed on the attitudes and emotive stances that hardliner positions on the debate surrounding police brutality in the United States is concerned. The media plays a crucial roleofinforming the public and particularly in agenda setting. To that extent, the angle that the media pursues rega rding reportage on incidences of confrontation between African American men and the police proves key to understanding the perceptions of the public about African American men. Moreover, the medias role in agenda setting is central to the shaping of themind-setof the public as regards the conduct and character of African American males(McCombs M. , 2002). The current state of escalating hatred and anger over police brutality brewing feelings of racial discrimination brings forth a new problem that can only be described as the New Jim Crow. To that extent, the suffering of African American men in the hands of police is to a great extent attributable to the depiction of African American men by the media. Traditional and modern forms of media present African Americans in a certain context that advances negative stereotype of aggression and violence(Hammond Yung, 1993). Notably, African American men, by default, have become targets of rogue police officers who exercise brutal force whe n engaged in confrontation with African American suspects leading to violence. 1.4 Research Aims and Objectives On a broader perspective, the goals of the study are fourfold. First, the research seeks to develop knowledge and inquiry into whether disparities exist in the medias portrayal of African American males involved in criminal activities or otherwise. In that regard, the study evaluates traditional and modern forms of media by comparing and contrasting the depictions of African American males during news coverage of incidences of police brutality. The advent of new media that brings together aspects of social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram among others presents a point of comparison with news coverage by traditional forms of media such as Television News and Newspapers. The second fundamental objective that the study is concerned with revolves around the determination of whether discrepancies exist between traditional and new forms of media regarding the nature of reporting on the character and behaviour of African American males during incidences of police brutality. Fu rther, the third objective of the study is to evaluate the impact of the medias portrayal of African American males on the perceptions of the public with respect to the general conduct and character traits of African American males. Finally, the study aims to present recommendations necessary for adoption by the media in shaping perceptions of African American males. The specific objectives of the study are as under; To compare and contrast reporting by traditional and modern forms of media with respect to cases of police brutality and specifically the angle of representation of African American males in news reports. To evaluate news reports in traditional and new media forms for similarities and differences inportrayalof African American males when reporting on incidences of police brutality. To investigate the impact of portrayals of African American males in both new and traditional forms of media on the perception of the American public about African American males. To develop a list of recommendations that can be adopted by the media in general as regards the portrayal of African American males and by extension shape the perceptions of the American public about African American males. 1.5 Research Questions The study seeks to answer the question on why police brutality is predominantly associated with aconfrontationbetween the police and male suspects of African American heritage. Moreover, the study seeks to answer the question on whether or not the media has a role to play as concerns the portrayal of African American males during news reporting. It is worth of note that the media has a significant role to play in shaping the perceptions of the public and setting the agenda as regards issues of importance to the general public(Carroll McCombs, 2003). In that regard, what images of African Americans are carried by new media and traditional media and what is the impact of such images on the perceptions of the American publics as pertains to the character and conduct of African American males. Consequently, the research seeks to answer the questionofwhether or not differences exist between new and traditional media forms in the manner with which news coverage on police brutality cases a re presented to the American public. More importantly, the study seeks to answer the question on how perceptions created by the media about African American males has had an impact on the lives of such individuals. The specific research questions are as under; What are the differences between new and traditional forms of media in news reporting pertaining to the conduct and characteristics of African American males involved in instances of police brutality? Are there significant implications of the perceptions created by the media about African American men on how African American men are treated by the police? What are the far reaching implications of the stereotypes created by the media about African American men in their social lives? What are the factors that determine the angle or approach taken by either traditional or modern forms of media with respect to the portrayal of African American men in media? What alternative progressive options exist in media towards shaping perceptions of African American males that would lead to an end ofviolentconfrontation between police officers andAfrican Americansuspects? 1.6 Significance of the Study The study proves relevant owing to the escalating statistics of police brutality againstAfrican Americanmales in the United States. In the year 2016 alone, 123 people have been shot by police officers as of the killing ofPhilandoCastile as the latest shooting of African American males by police(Craven, 2016). The excerpt below from the Guardian paints a grim picture of the growing strained relations between White police officers andAfrican Americanmales. As such, instances of confrontations between the two will almost certainly end in the shooting of theAfrican Americanmale. Black people were killed by police at more than twice the rate of white people in 2015 Despite the higher total number of white people killed, black people were more likely to die at the hands of law enforcement when adjusting for population (per one million). PER MILLION TOTAL 7.13Black3.48Hispanic/Latino3.4Native American2.91White1.34Asian/Pacific Islander SOURCE: The Counted, 1 Jan 31 Dec 2015(Swaine, laugland, Lartey, McCarthy, 2015). The statistics indicate that African American males are nine times as likely to be killed by police officers as compared to White males of the same age bracket. With over 1000 African American men killed by police officers in the span of 2015 alone, the 123 number of Black men killed by police officers as of July 2016 brings to the fore concerns about the escalation of the trend that is seemingly a killing spree orchestrated by the authorities(Craven, 2016).Developing an understanding of the perceptions of African Americans among the wider scope of the public is necessary towards understanding the impact that such perceptions have had in contributing to the status quo. In retrospect, the media plays a fundamental role in shaping ideologies as pertains to how people think about trending issues and matters of interest to the public(McCombs M. , 2002). In that esteem, conducting the study proves relevant in that it presents knowledge on how the media can be used for the creation of posi tive stereotypes of African American males and hopefully end the spate of violence and confrontation between African American males and police officers in the United States(Anderson, Feia, Ceulemans, 2011). The results of the study prove significant as they can be used as representative recommendations that can be essential in restructuring the media towards adopting different forms through which to portray African Americans in positive light and end the negative connotations that are associated with aggressive and violent nature of African American men(Hammond Yung, 1993).

A History of the Oreo Cookie

A History of the Oreo Cookie Most of us have grown up with Oreo cookies. There are photos of us with chocolatey remnants smeared across our faces. Theyve caused great disputes as to the best way to eat them- dunking them in milk or twisting off one side and eating the middle first. Besides eating them plain, there are recipes galore on how to use Oreos in cakes, milkshakes, and additional desserts. At some festivals, you can even try deep-fried Oreos. Needless to say, Oreos have become part of the twentieth-century culture. While most of us have spent a lifetime cherishing Oreo cookies, many dont know that since their introduction in 1912, the Oreo cookie has become the best-selling cookie in the United States. Oreos Are Introduced In 1898, several baking companies merged to form the National Biscuit Company (Nabisco), the maker of Oreo cookies. By 1902, Nabisco created Barnums Animal cookies and made them famous by selling them in a little box designed like a cage with a string attached (to hang on Christmas trees). In 1912, Nabisco had a new idea for a cookie- two chocolate disks with a creme filling in between. The first Oreo cookie looked very similar to the Oreo cookie of today, with only a slight difference in the design of the chocolate disks. The current design, however, has been around since 1952. Nabisco made sure to file for a trademark on their new cookie on March 14, 1912, being granted registration number  0093009 on August 12, 1913. Changes The shape and design of the Oreo cookie didnt change much until Nabisco began selling various versions of the cookie. In 1975, Nabisco released their DOUBLE STUF Oreos. Nabisco continued to create variations: 1987 Fudge covered Oreos introduced1991 Halloween Oreos introduced1995 Christmas Oreos introduced The delicious interior filling was created by Nabiscos principal scientist,  Sam Porcello, who is often referred to as Mr. Oreo. Porcello is also responsible for creating chocolate-covered Oreos. The Mysterious Name When the cookie was first introduced in 1912, it appeared as an Oreo Biscuit, which changed in 1921 to Oreo Sandwich. There was another name change in 1937 to Oreo Creme Sandwich before the modern name was decided upon in 1974: Oreo Chocolate Sandwich Cookie. Despite the official name changes, most people have referred to the cookie simply as an Oreo. So where did the name Oreo come from? The people at Nabisco arent quite sure. Some believe that the cookies name was taken from the French word for gold, or (the main color on early Oreo packages). Others claim the name stemmed from the shape of a hill-shaped test version; thus naming the cookie in Greek for a mountain, oreo. Still, others believe the name is a combination of taking the re from cream and placing it between the two o-shapes  in chocolate- making o-re-o. And still, others believe that the cookie was named Oreo because it was short and easy to pronounce. No matter how it got named, over 362 billion Oreo cookies have been sold since it was first introduced in 1912, making it the best selling cookie of the 20th century.

Are the media programming us to fear american life are they promoting Research Paper

Are the media programming us to fear american life are they promoting a world that is cold, heartless, violent, and dangerous - Research Paper Example The growth in the mass media resulted in the development of a strong entertainment industry, which thereafter began exporting mass media content. Additionally, the globalization and the subsequent rise of the concept of internationalization have expedited the need for the American media to increase the intensity at which it exports its media content (Jeffres and Richard 41). Some of these media contents include news, music, music videos, films and books among others. Consumers of mass media content react differently to the content depending on the information they communicate. A lot of mass media content circulating throughout the world thus affects people differently; this effect relies on the type of the media content that the numerous American media content export. Unfortunately, most of these include violence and extreme danger. This grooms fear of the country especially among its foreign audience most of whom have never been to the country. This forms fear within the audience, t herefore validating the claim that the American media is programming an international audience that is fearful of the country. However, this claim is contentious and therefore depends on the various viewpoints of every researcher. Media is elitist. This implies that only those with some basic education can access and understand the mass media contents. However, the traditional media which comprises of the radio, television and newspapers among others have gained significance reputation as being less segregated and are thus of relevance to any class in the society. The advent of the internet thus referred to as the new media presented major concerns for traditional media practitioners. The new media is arguably the fastest means of communicating with the masses; additionally the media overcomes the geographical barriers some of which hinders the operations of some of the traditional media. The invention of the social media further aggravated the role and effects of the mass media sin ce these made everyone a potential mass communicator without the institutions of gate keepers evident in the traditional media. The internet has therefore amassed all the advantages and disadvantages of each of the traditional media and created yet some new of these. The media performs a number of roles key among which is agenda setting. Under this, the media decides the issues that the public discuss. Several activities take place in the society; however, through the newsworthiness of every event, the media opts to favor some of the events thus giving them more prominence than they do others. Such events and their related issues thus become discussion topics in the public domain. More often than not, strangers meet at gas and train stations and begin discussing the national politics, the latest movie or a recent football match covered in the media. Additionally, the media forms public opinion. Public opinion refers to a thought shared among the public. Through the stories and other mass media content, people form opinions based on the level of the prominence that the media accords a story. Furthermore, through the professional analysis that some media house contract, the media thus form valid opinions in most of their aaudience All these coupled with the fact that most audiences always form a personal likeness to their favorite media personality, which makes them idolize them; the media thus becomes a strong tool of shaping the manner in which an audience views