New Tack in Teacher Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

New Tack in Teacher Education - Essay Example Once a would-be teacher passed this set of criteria in the old days, a normal school, or a university offering the regular 4-year teacher education courses, proceeded to use these basic attributes as building blocks toward making the student teacher attain proficiency in the subjects considered as fountainheads of knowledge on teacher preparations: psychology, sociology and general education. In the traditional approach, that was all there was to teacher education. The assumption was that tutelage in psychology and sociology would sufficiently prepare student teachers for the tasks of reaching out to young people from diverse social classes with different beliefs, behaviors and mental constructs. General education, for its part, is the euphemism for the nitty-gritty, and more taxing part, of teaching - preparing lesson plans, checking test papers, evaluating pupils' performance, what to do with a difficult and rowdy class, handling slow learners. Under this assumption, teacher education hardly counted as a field of specialized study and as object of academic research. Teacher educators were not even asked to participate in research into their work (Korthagen, F., Loughran, J. & Russell, T., 2006). Only lately did policy makers, lawmakers and academic researchers begin to question the old notions of an effective teacher education program when confronted by repeated year-to-year reports of poor academic performance across the school systems. Something must be wrong in teacher preparations indeed when respectable publications like the US News and World Report play up stories like: as of 2000, 75 million American adults or 2 out of 3 Americans can't read adequately. It looks worse in less developed countries, such as one in Asia where it was reported that only one of five elementary graduates showed a passable competency in the five basic subjects of science, mathematics, English and writing. Bullough & Gitlin (2001), as cited in Korthagen, et al. (2006), confirmed that the traditional approach to teacher education was among the features of the educational system that needed an overhaul when the two academic researchers were asked to develop a new teacher education program from the old one. The research duo noted that the old TEP model they worked on was "disjointed, fragmented and confusing." The theory-to-practice view, the research team added, suffers from many limitations and inadequacies and is thus counterproductive. Another instructive indictment: the standard TEP model is irrelevant to the reality of everyday practice in schools. From these observations, the search for new ways of preparing teachers emerged. One of the persistent concepts that developed operates on the principle that knowledge (theory) should relate to experience and emotion (practice). This means that immersion in theory, on which traditional TEPs are focused, is not altogether bad so long as an equal emphasis is placed on practice. In other words, the more ideal approach is for theory and practice to go hand in hand so that when student teachers go out to practice their profession they know how to handle the problems of everyday teaching through theory-guided actions. This new tack in teacher education is reflected in TEPs that set aside rote recall in favor of understanding and application, giving due

UNREACHED PEOPLE GROUP PROJECT Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

UNREACHED PEOPLE GROUP PROJECT - Research Paper Example This prospect regards Christianity as everywhere presents and although we may not realize it, studies have indicated that this prospect is arguably not concise.(Adney, 2009) There are groups and communities that are unreached by Christianity and do not know anything concerning the same. They have adopted their own religion due to lack of knowledge of other alternative formative religion. Unreached people comprise of communities that have little or no access to the gospel. There are various reason that impede the spread of Christianity’ one is because some nations endorse laws that curtail Christian faith. Another impeding factor is geographical and cultural barrier. All men in nature desire to know and it is unfitting that man should be content with knowledge that is unsuited to him, yet after the acquisition of this knowledge in sense things must change in a way that is contrary to the original beliefs. The message of Christianity should in this regard be contextualized in the particular culture in order for it to be meaningful to them. (Crossman & Hoke, 1995) Using conservative estimates, unreached people compromise 70% of the global population. One eminent group in this category is the Chinese accounting for 150 million unreached Chinese in 900 groups. A particular group that has null knowledge about Christianity and is in dire need to hear of the gospel and salvation is the Hui from china. Although there are a meager number of scattered of believers, this group is most likely the largest group globally that has no record of the presence of a Christian fellowship group. Below is a map showing the location of the Hui communities in china. (Boling, 2012) The Hui are an official minority scattered all over china. Their populace is densely concentrated in some provinces such as the Ningxia also known as the â€Å"hometown of the Huis† which habits about 20% of the Hui population, Qinghai, and Gansu. They are about 10

Rights To Equal Pay Sociology Essay

Rights To Equal Pay Sociology Essay It used to be very common for employers to pay men more than women even when they do exactly the same job. Before the 1950s, most Canadians accepted that men should be paid more than women for doing the same work because men were supposed to be responsible for supporting their families and women were not. Men were the breadwinners and women were responsible for running the home. But times changed. After the Second World War, many countries agreed that it was very important to create an international agreement that people, regardless of what country they live in, should be protected from discrimination and should have the same basic human rights. The United Nations created the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, and Canada was one of the many countries that signed it. One of the rights in the Declaration was: Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work. During the 1950s, the federal government and the provinces passed equal pay laws to create this right in Canada. The federal government passed An Act to Promote Equal Pay for Female Employees in 1956. This law also applied in the Northwest Territories. Most of these laws prohibited employers from paying women less than men for doing the same work, and most were part of employment or labour standards legislation. Because of the large number of AmRameshn women taking jobs in the war industries during World War II, the National War Labor Board urged employers in 1942 to voluntarily make adjustments which equalize wage or salary rates paid to females with the rates paid to males for comparable quality and quantity of work on the same or similar operations. Until the early 1960s, newspapers published separate job listings for men and women. Jobs were categorized according to sex, with the higher level jobs listed almost exclusively under Help Wanted-Male. In some cases the ads ran identical jobs under male and female listings-but with separate pay scales. Separate, of course, meant unequal: between 1950 and 1960, women with full time jobs earned on average between 59-64 cents for every dollar their male counterparts earned in the same job. It wasnt until the passage of the Equal Pay Act on June 10, 1963 (effective June 11, 1964) that it became illegal to pay women lower rates for the same job strictly on the basis of their sex. Demonstrable differences in seniority, merit, the quality or quantity of work, or other considerations might merit different pay, but gender could no longer be viewed as a drawback on ones resumà ©. Unfortunately, this right was not very helpful. It was very hard for women to use this right to make sure that they actually got paid as much as men for doing essentially the same work. Sometimes, the difference in pay was not in wages, but in benefits or bonuses, and employers could hide a difference in pay by calling it a benefit or a bonus. Sometimes, the work performed by a female employee was not completely the same as the work performed by a male employee. For example, often male jobs had different job titles than female jobs. Employers could argue that the difference in job title meant that the work was not the same. Or the male job might have slightly different duties. Any small difference in the work could allow an employer to pay men and women very differently. By the 1970s, people were talking about a different idea of equal pay. Women were still earning a lot less than men. More and more single mothers were trying to support their children on their own, and more and more women and mothers were living in poverty. In response to these problems, some people said that the problem was not so much that women and men were being paid differently for doing similar work, but that men and women do not do similar work at all. They work in entirely different occupations. For example, more women than men work in nursing, more men than women work as mechanics. They said that problem is that womens work is just not considered as valuable as mens work simply because it is done by women and that leads to low pay. Cases: Two landmark court cases served to strengthen and further define the Equal Pay Act: Schultz v. Wheaton Glass Co. (1970), U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit Ruled that jobs need to be substantially equal but not identical to fall under the protection of the Equal Pay Act. An employer cannot, for example, change the job titles of women workers in order to pay them less than men. Corning Glass Works v. Brennan (1974), U.S. Supreme Court Ruled that employers cannot justify paying women lower wages because that is what they traditionally received under the going market rate. A wage differential occurring simply because men would not work at the low rates paid women was unacceptable. The blatant discrimination apparent in these court cases seems archaic today, as does the practice of sex-segregated job listings. The workplace has changed radically in the decades since the passage of the Equal Pay Act. The right to equal pay for work of equal value is a response to this concern. It prevents employers from paying work done by men differently than work done by women, even when the work is dissimilar, if the work is of equal value to the employer. This right is much more complicated than the right to equal pay for the same or substantially similar work because it requires a way of figuring out when dissimilar jobs have the same value to the employer. Others, like Ontario and Quebec, have enacted special laws, called pay equity laws that require all employers to take positive steps to make sure that they pay male and female employees equally for work of equal value, even if no one makes a complaint. Still other jurisdictions, like Saskatchewan and Manitoba, have pay equity or equal laws or policies that apply only to public sector employers and employees. This reflects a belief that public sector employers are better able than private sector employers (especially small private sector employers) to take on the complicated task of figuring out what work in the organization is equal in value. But what has not changed radically, however, is womens pay. The wage gap has narrowed, but it is still significant. Women earned 59% of the wages men earned in 1963; in 2012 they earned 80.9% of mens wages-an improvement of about half a penny per dollar earned every year. Why is there still such a disparity? Articles supporting this clause: Article 39(d) in the Constitution of India 1949: 39.Certain principles of policy to be followed by the State: The State shall, in particular, direct its policy towards securing (a) that the citizens, men and women equally, have the right to an adequate means to livelihood; (b) that the ownership and control of the material resources of the community are so distributed as best to subserve the common good; (c) that the operation of the economic system does not result in the concentration of wealth and means of production to the common detriment; (d) that there is equal pay for equal work for both men and women; (e) that the health and strength of workers, men and women, and the tender age of children are not abused and that citizens are not forced by economic necessity to enter avocations unsuited to their age or strength; (f) that children are given opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity and that childhood and youth are protected against exploitation and against moral and material abandonment Article 15 in The Constitution Of India 1949: 15. Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth (1) The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them (2) No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them, be subject to any disability, liability, restriction or condition with regard to (a) access to shops, public restaurants, hotels and palaces of public entertainment; or (b) the use of wells, tanks, bathing ghats, roads and places of public resort maintained wholly or partly out of State funds or dedicated to the use of the general public (3) Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any special provision for women and children (4) Nothing in this article or in clause ( 2 ) of Article 29 shall prevent the State from making any special provision for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes Issues: The issues regarding not equally paying men and women for equal work are- It is a human rights issue- If the work of a woman is valued less simply because she is a woman, her individual dignity is injured. It is an economic development issue- To promote equal treatment is equivalent to promote the nations productive potential. It is a human resources issue- Increasing salaries of undervalued workers can be more profitable as it increases morale and productivity, as well as reduces turnover and attracts talent. Concept of Equal Pay: 1. Equal pay for equal work This implies that men and women receive equal pay for the same or similar work. 2.Equal pay for work of equal value This implies that men and women receive equal pay for different jobs Discrimination based on sex: 1. Stereotypes and prejudices with regard to womens work; 2. Occupational segregation by gender; 3. Traditional undervaluing of womens job; 4. Traditional job evaluation methods designed on the basis of requirements of male-dominated jobs; 5.Weaker bargaining power on the part of female workers. When is unequal pay justified: Suppose there are two employees working for the same organization-Ramesh and Suresh. 1-If Ramesh had more experience or a higher educational degree than Suresh, their employer would not have to give them equal wages. Their jobs would not be considered substantially equal because they have different levels of education or experience. 2-Their employer could pay Suresh a higher wage if Ramesh works in Gomti Nagar, North Carolina and Suresh works in New York City. Employee must generally work in the same establishment for them to be considered to have substantially equal jobs. 3-If Ramesh supervises other employees but Suresh does not, their employer could pay Ramesh at a higher rate of pay. Ramesh has significantly more responsibility than Suresh does and therefore their jobs can not be considered substantially equal. 4-If Suresh must travel from job site to job site everyday, while Rameshs job allows her to work in the home office everyday, their jobs differ substantially and Suresh may receive a higher salary. Gender Pay Gap in Numbers: In most countries, womens wages for work of equal value represent on average between 70-90% of mens. In 2010, the OECD reported a gender wage gap in the medium full-time earnings of 17.6% across its members. In the EU, women earn on average 17.5% less than men during their lifetimes. In 2009 in the US, the womens to mens earnings ratio for 25-34 yr olds was 89% and for 45-54 yr olds was 74%. In case you thought the gender gap is restricted to the lower levels of workers, a survey done by the World Economic Forum (WEF) last year showed that there is a yawning gender gap in the corporate sector too. The average annual income of a woman is $1,185, less than a third of a mans $3,698 in corporate India. Articles Published Regarding Such Discrimination: Traditionally, women have not enjoyed equal access to basic human rights, protections, resources, and services. Unfortunately, gender inequality is still present in every society and remains as a huge barrier for the world. There are also two terms which explain different types of discrimination and give us courage to further push for womens rights. First, sexism is a form of discrimination and stereotyping that oppresses women. Second, patriarchy is a system where males are dominant. It is so common in many societies and also within families. Consequently, some violence against women is seen mostly in these types of communities and families. Recent acts of violence pertaining to womens rights are: violence within family, rape, sexual abuse, torture, etc. Some of the other issues commonly asked to be recognized as part of womens rights are: bodily integrity and autonomy, the right to vote (universal suffrage), hold public office, work, fair salary or equal pay, own property and to enter into legal contracts, education, serve in the military, to have marital, parental and religious rights. Efforts done and progress all over the world: In India, the Constitution recognized the principle of Equal Pay for Equal Work for both men and women, and Right to Work through Article 39(d) and 41. As far back as 1976 the Equal Remuneration Act came into effect and yet unequal pay dogs working women in India. From small businesses to large organisations to the unorganized sector, women are paid lesser wages than men for the same work. There have been major international efforts focused at eradicating these inequalities. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is the main international human rights treaty for women adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1979. In The Convention CEDAW, it is often described as an international bill of rights for women. The detailed document defines what constitutes discrimination against women and sets up an agenda for international action to end such discrimination. In 2010, more than four decades after the US had enacted a law in 1963 to end wage discrimination on the basis of sex, President Barack Obama had to bring in yet another legislation to give women the right to seek remedy against wage discrimination since, in the US women earn only 77 cents per dollar earned by men. In 1963 women were paid 59 cents per every dollar earned by men. Obviously, the progress from 59 cents to 77 cents has been a slow crawl to say the least. Advantages of implementing such a clause: More effective use of skills. Positive impact on female workers. Better human resource management throughout the organization. Better working relationships among employees. Positive effects on the reputation and attractiveness of the business. Success Stories Due To This Clause: To prohibit discrimination on account of sex in the payment of wages by employers engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce. [S. 1409] (Avalon Project, 2006) Prior to the Equal Pay Act, men and women were not treated fairly within regards to wages. It was not unheard of for a man to make twice the salary for doing the same job a woman was capable of doing. With the passing of the Equal Pay Act, women are now a driving force in some of the biggest and most successful companies in the world. Anne Mulcahy, the CEO of the Xerox Corporation, led her company to over $15 million in revenue for 2005 with a 13% profit increase since 2004. Xerox ranks number 4 in the list of Fortune 500 computer and office equipment companies, surpassing powerhouses such as Apple, Pitney Bowes, and Gateway, companies all with men at the helm. (Fortune 500, 2006) Without the enactment of the Equal Pay Act, Anne Mulcahy may never have gotten the chance to advance to her current position. Talent Tree, a staffing company based out of Houston, Texas, is run by a woman by the name of Brenda Harris. Brenda began as CEO of Talent Tree in 2004 after working for the company for 21 years, beginning as a Staffing Manager. Since Brenda has been at the helm of Talent Tree, the company has seen its first profit in several years and was able to afford a company paid trip to Mexico to reward the branches of Talent Tree who contributed to the success of the company in 2005. Brenda has brought back a sense of family and teamwork to Talent Tree with strong but fair leadership, and because of her, the company is on the road to a success it has not seen in some time. (Talent Tree Names New President, 2004) Brenda has also made Talent Tree an excellent company to work for where diversity is strong and women are treated as equal to men, with compensation decided based on skill and experience, not based on gender, race, or any other minority factor. Although the Equal Pay Act of 1963 has allowed women such as Brenda Harris and Anne Mulcahy to become successful in what has been known as a mans world, there is still discrimination against women and many other minorities when it comes to wages. The Equal Pay Act has, in recent years, been the influence for other similar laws such as The Fair Pay Act (S. 840) and the Paycheck Fairness Act (S. 841) to help combat this discrimination. The Paycheck Fairness Act holds penalties for violations of compensation laws. Unfortunately, some employers do not take these laws seriously as the penalties are not that severe. Changing the penalties to have a more detrimental affect on employers who violate compensation laws will hopefully help to decrease the violations. (Federal Legislation, n.d.). Conclusion: Laws are meant to protect society from unjust and unfair behavior, and the passing of such clauses as Equal Pay for Equal Work for Both Men and Women has done an outstanding job of protecting women and other minorities from being treated unfairly in the workplace with regard to wages and other compensation. Women are just as capable as men of making successful contributions to companies and therefore have every right to receive equal compensation. This law ensures that compensation is fair and equal to everyone. Although there have been a number of violations over the years, the violations are few and far between and will only decrease as more and more companies are realizing that it takes talent and skill, not gender, to be a success. POWER TO WOMEN, POWER TO ALL OF US!

Views on the role of Nick as a narrator in the Great Gatsby have Essay

Views on the role of Nick as a narrator in the Great Gatsby have varied greatly. How do the views of Arthur Mizener and Gary J. Scrimgeour relate to your own view of Nick's function in the novel? Published in 1925, and written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, 'The Great Gatsby' is a brilliant and scathing illustration of life among the new rich during the 1920s; people who had recently amassed a great deal of wealth but had no corresponding social connections, or a sense of morality. Nick Carraway is the narrator of the novel; he rents a house on Long Island next door to Jay Gatsby, the title character. Gatsby is in love with Nick's cousin Daisy, who is married to an obnoxious man she does not really love, and he has no strong feelings towards her either. Her and his extramarital affairs are set against the background of the extravagant parties that Gatsby is famous for throwing, while Nick struggles to reconcile his attraction to a lavish lifestyle with his feeling that a moral grounding is missing. The writing style throughout 'The Great Gatsby' is terse and the book at times is depressing, with an overall message of hope and the American dream, discouraging. The story is told through the eyes of an active, biased, participant. Nick Carraway has a special place in this novel and has many functions. He is not just one character among several, it is through his eyes and ears that we form our opinions of the other characters. Nick is both within, yet outside the occurrence of events as he is friends with Gatsby and related to Daisy, but is still not involved fully in all that occurs, even though somebody else often tells him about it. Often, readers of this novel confuse Nick's stance towards those characters a... ...atsby is Nick's opinion. Gatsby's dream and the purity of his vision is the 'great' part, rather than the wealth. In one sense, the title of the novel is ironic; the title character is neither "great" nor named Gatsby. He is a criminal whose real name is James Gatz, and the life he has created for himself is an illusion. By the same token, the title of the novel refers to the theatrical skill with which Gatsby makes this illusion seem real. Fitzgerald has created a most interesting character in Nick because he is very much a fallible storyteller. When an author unsettles an accepted convention in the art of storytelling by creating a narrator like Nick, it draws attention to the story as fiction. Ironically, in doing this, he has created in Nick a figure that more closely resembles an average human being and thus has heightened the realism of the novel.

Comparison of Judaism and Mormonism

The reason I mentioned Jesus is because the Mormonism faith believe in the Godhead that is God the Father, God the Son (Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit. See this is where the two religions split on their beliefs of God. As I wrote before that they both believe in God the Father but when they added on the Son and Holy Spirit Judaism would never accept that. From my researching of the two religions I came to only a few conclusions about what would happen from the facts I read if they were to get together. Mormons hold up those of Jewish decent and their religion on high. From what I read is that since Mormonism historical background starts therewith Judaism that they would accept their teachings to a certain extent. The only thing that I see the people of Mormonism having a problem with is that the people of Judaism do not believe in Jesus. I think that Mormonism probably could let someone of the Judaism faith pray for them or with them because I read in the book Mormon America they encourage many different religions but believe somewhere down the line lost some facts of the truth that Mormonism still believes an addresses. From those facts that got lost I believe that the Mormon would not accept either the belief that God is a spirit as of someone who is a believer of Judaism. The charastics that I wrote about even involves their everyday way of living. Judaism as I wrote before they believe that the name of God should not be spoken by any men, women, or child. They pray to God three times a day and four times on Saturday which is considered their Sabbath. When it comes down to the Tanakhthey try to follow the teachings of the Law that God gave to Moses. That law that Judaism follow controls every aspect of their everyday life in they must obey or it would be displeasing to God. Also by the time childhits manhood if they have an able mind must remember all five books of the Pentateuch which is the first five books Moses wrote. As for Mormonism their belief on family in that once a family on earth will be a family in the afterlife has also instituted a very strong social welfare system to help their families. In The Book of Mormon they are taught about heath living and incorporating with what they are taught they give up a lot of unhealthy thing sure as cigarettes, alcohol, and sometimes meat. But they mainly focus on eating foods like vegetables, fruits, and grain. Also children of the Mormonism faith are trained and brought up at a very young age in preaching the word of their faith Like all religious faiths, there will be some similarities and a lot more differences. Judaism and Mormonism are no different. In conducting my research I found so many things about the religions of Judaism and Mormonism interesting. I think that the way that Mormonism was founded was the most interesting thing. It is always so amazing to get the chance to not only do research on different religions but also to get to know more about them and how different they may be from what I personally believe. References Bowker John. World Religions. The great Faiths Explored & Explained. New York, NY: DK Publishing, 2006.

How to Improve Physical Fitness Essay

The first step in getting fit is commitment. It’s not only the hardest step; it’s also the most important. You have to be committed to everything you do if you don’t then you end up giving up. So you have to be committed to losing weight and if you are you will get results. People all the time have attempted to be more fit, but have lack of commitment so their result is nothing. I can’t stress this enough if you want to be fit the first step has to be commitment. Step two in becoming physically fit is finding a good workout plan that is best for you. Not everyone is the same, people are different, and so it’s only logical that they have different exercise plans too. Don’t start off doing weight that you’re not comfortable with, or even with running don’t start sprinting. Start slow and work your way up to what you’re capable of doing then keep doing it. Also knowing what you’re trying to accomplish in physical fitness has a factor in helping you come up with your work out plan. Step three in becoming physically fit is eating healthy. Eating healthier is a major when it comes to physical fitness because your body has to be able to keep up with you when you push yourself. Another issue in this world is people aren’t eating right, and they’re eating habits are bad. Coming up with a diet is a great way to organize everything so you have no issues with your eating habits and knowing what you can and can’t eat. If you eat healthier it will improve your physical fitness, because you’ll have more energy to do activities. Being active every day is healthy and can change your life. If you want to be more fit it all starts with commitment, because you have to be committed to change for you to make that change happen. Not all people are the same, it’s the truth you aren’t capable of doing things others can but that doesn’t mean you’re lower than them. Start off slow and work up to be the best that you can be, and never give up. Come up with your own work out plan that best fits you. Having your own work out plan will help you with knowing what you have to do every day. Eat healthy, come up with a diet that you can work with, quit the junk food and bad habits so you feel like a better person and have more energy. All these steps will help you to be physically fit.