Foundation of Education Essay Example for Free

Foundation of Education Essay With the massive information explosion of the 21st century, the world has never moved so fast. As Patrick A Hyek (2012), Global Technology Sector Leader, Ernst Young, pointed out on technology and its impact to the world, â€Å"Ten to twenty years from now, we may look back on the present as the dawn of the Smart Era: a time when rapid and continuous innovation changed almost everything about the way we live†. The world is going virtually borderless. As of present, we can do almost everything online from shopping to banking, video conferencing in real time with people across continents as well as finding answers to almost everything we could possibly think of from online search engines. As far as education is concerned, the famous Khan Academy (www. khanacademy. org) has proved subject-based cognitive knowledge traditionally learnt in schools can be just as effectively obtained at one’s fingertips in the comfort of one’s own home. On the other hand, the unlimited flow of information has its drawbacks which cause many concerns for educators (Ornstein, A, Levine, D Gutek, G, 2010). How could we protect our children from inappropriate contents such as pornography, destructive information or violence accessible online? In addition to the overwhelming amount of information in the 21st century, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) (2012) addressed in their report that our new generation also face the crisis of depleting natural resources and global climate changes of the 21st century. As the world’s resources are depleting, people are pressured to compete against one another to survive. The reality is that there are serious problems in todays societies. Every day we hear tragic news about people killing each other, breaking the law, misconducting, corruption as well as natural disaster. As an educator, we are asking ourselves what role schools should play to prepare our next generation for these challenges posed by this information age. I believe that there has not been a more appropriate time than now to incorporate values in education as to elicit the human quality of our children in addition to the provision of academic knowledge. Since we cannot control technology and what comes with it, we should instead equip our children with the right values and inner strength which help them make the right call as to what is right and wrong in any given situation. This can be achieved by embedding human values such as respect for difference, moral, honesty, empathy and love for mankind into the school’s curriculum at all levels. As a result, our next generation will not only be knowledgeable but of a high human quality who will do the right things by themselves and others. For example, moral students would not imitate aggressive behaviour they saw on the internet or elsewhere because they consciously knew such behaviour was wrong. Moreover, it would be dangerous for schools to use subject-based curriculum which only focus on academic excellence in such a fast paced unlimited information age in which we live in today. Without moral and ethics, regardless of their intelligence, our children could grow up to be self-destructive, violent or harmful to themselves and society. Examples of destructive behaviour include that of terrorists who wrongly used their knowledge to harm other people. Teaching and Learning One of the current educational issues being discussed today concerning teaching and learning is what skills we need to teach our children for the 21st century. While many educators (Dominik Petko, 2012) worldwide have placed an emphasis on teaching information and communication technology, literacy skills that will allow students to make sense of the technology today, John Wilson (2008), former executive director of the National Education Association in Washington, DC, argued that for a world which is vastly transformed by technology, it is unpredictable what technology is coming next. Instead of focusing on the current technology which is likely to be replaced, educators should focus on developing transferable skills such as critical thinking and problem solving so that students can analyze information, apply knowledge to new situations as well as comprehend new ideas. These skills will make them capable to learn and adapt to any new technology to come. What is critical thinking? How could we teach critical thinking skills to our children? Critical Thinking as defined by Michael Scriven Richard Paul (1996), the National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking is â€Å"the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action†. In essence, critical thinking is a disciplined manner of thought that a person uses to assess the validity of something, e. . statements, news stories, arguments, research, etc. (Beyer, B K, 1995). Experts (Angelo, T A, 1995, Cooper, J L, 1995, McDade, S A, 1995) asserted that critical thinking is best conveyed through constructivist learning approach such as Classroom Assessment Techniques (CAT), Cooperative Learning Strategies, Case study and discussion as well as Reciprocal Peer Questioning. An example of a Classroom Assessment Techniques is to ask students to answer questions such as What was the most important thing you learned in todays class? or â€Å"What question related to this session remains uppermost in your mind? (Angelo, T A, 1995). McDade (1995) suggested that teachers can facilitate students’ development of critical thinking through case study and discussion. A teacher may lead the class by presenting a case to the class without a conclusion. Using prepared questions, the teacher then leads students through a discussion, allowing students to construct a conclusion for the case. Reciprocal Peer Questioning is another teaching technique which fosters critical thinking (King, A, 1995). An example of Reciprocal Peer Questioning is by asking students a list of question such as, What are the strengths and weaknesses of a taught issue? † Students are asked to write questions about the lecture material. In small groups, the students ask each other the questions. Then, the whole class discusses some of the questions from each small group. Dr. Gwen Dewar (2009) suggests that critical thinking can be developed not only in school but at home where parents encourage students to questions and evaluate any everyday ife situations. In conclusion, in order for our children to cope well with the information technology age, we need to prepare our children to weed through the information and not just passively accept it (Oliver Utermohlen, 2005). They need to develop and effectively apply critical thinking skills to their academic studies, to the complex problems that they will face and to the critical choices they will be forced to make as a result of the information explosion and other rapid technological changes.

The Life and Sensibility of Jane Austen :: Biography Biographies Essays

The Life and Sensibility of Jane Austen        Ã‚   Jane Austen has often been considered a woman who led a narrow, inhibited life and who rarely traveled. These assertions are far from the truth. Jane Austen traveled more than most women of her time and was quite involved in the lives of her brothers, so much that it often interfered with her writing. Like most writers, Jane drew on her experiences and her dreams for the future and incorporated them into her writing. Her characters reflect the people around her; the main characters reflect parts of herself. In Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, and Mansfield Park, Elinor Dashwood, Elizabeth Bennet, and Fanny Price all reflect aspects of Jane Austen and dreams she had that were never fulfilled.    Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775, the sixth of seven children, to a rector and his wife. Jane was raised among books and began reading and writing at an early age. Her brother Henry said "her reading started very early," and it was difficult to say "at what age she was not intimately acquainted with the merits and defects of the best essays and novels in the English language" (Tomalin 67). Her earliest works date to age twelve, although she most likely wrote pieces before then. Her family often read Shakespeare together in the evenings. Her mother enjoyed writing verse and often wrote poetry to celebrate happy occasions. Jane grew up with an appreciation for writing and literature.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The biographies about Jane Austen describe the facts of her life in a step-by-step manner. They tend to be repetitive since she did not leave behind a rich fabric of day-to-day life. Yet Jane Austen is known not because of the factual details of her life; she is not remembered two hundred years after her death because she had six siblings and was a wonderful aunt to her nieces and nephews. Rather, Jane Austen is remembered because of what she wrote, her "ouvre." Only through reading her literature does one get a taste of the real Jane Austen, the Jane Austen who dreamed and made plans for the future that failed to materialize. Therefore, I have attempted to describe the life of Jane Austen by interpreting her novels and picking three main characters who I feel most closely serve as her alter ego. A writer writes from his or her own experiences; only by analyzing Jane Austen's characters do we get an understanding of the true author.

General management assignment Essay

INTRODUCTION (kfc ) Micro environment factors which the organisation controls . eg employees product ,price ,place and promotion, it can be considered to be the local environment where business operates and owners are aware of the impacts that they are faced with. Macro environment factors are the ones which the organisation does not control and may affect the business . eg political , economic, social, legal and technological factors. the environment are always changing so the companies must always adapt. Market environtment the act outside marketing management ability to build and maintain a succefull relationship with customers ,the environment always change and both customers and marketers wonder what the future will bring MAIN BODY THE EXTERNAL FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE THE ORGANISATION MICRO ENVIRONMENT EXTERNAL FACTORS CUSTOMERS All businesses need customers ,they should be well balanced around customers .The company`s marketing plan should aim to attract customers through products that meets their needs and wants and good customers service EMPLOYEE Employing staff with good skills and experience is essential. Employees bring an influence on your business via ongoing training and promotion opportunities ,this process begins at recruitment stage .Training and development play a critical role in achieving a competitive edge MEDIA Media can be printed ,televised or inline ,positive media can make the organisation or its product and negative media can break the organisation . an organisation needs to manage the media so that the media can help promote positive things about them and reduce negative event on their reputation. SUPPLIER Supplier provides the business with the goods they need to carry out their business activities. A suppliers behaviour will impact the business it suppliers If a supplier provides poor service this could increase timescales and product quality,and increase in raw material THE FACTORS INFLUENCING THE COMPETITIVE POSITION OF THE ORGANISATION MACRO ENVIRONMENT FACTORS POLITIC This deals with the government policies and procedures which is worked out through legislation and consist of all legal factors such as Governmemt view on culture and religion. Taxation policy on tax rates and incentives. Political factor cans can create advantages and opportunities for organisation. ECONOMIC KFC organisation is affected with national and global economic factors like cost of labour, interest and inflation rates ,economic growth rates business cycle rates and unemployment rates. due to recession the income of the kfc has dropped down and most of the employees were jobless and the rest employees were employees few hours also the company had to cut down their costs SOCIAL It is the cultural and demographic aspects of the external macro environment. the pontential of the employees who come from different back grounds and work together in the kfc , and customer trends and aspects which the kfc has to consider as per their needs and wants of the customer such as changes in lifestyles and change in customers needs and wants. TECHNOLOGY This is driven internationally which reduce s the minimum of production levels and some of the technological factors are recent technological developments. Communication technology has now become the most important aspect in kfc as when the customers are mostly delighted and satisfied with the service including the latest technology that is available in the Kfc.  the latest technological method that are used to serve customers faster are such as digital screens ,wireless head phone for the staff cooking utensils. LEGAL The kfc has to maintain rule and regulations related to the hygiene factors such as employee training regarding the food and safety, personal hygiene ,Clean work environment and proper use of the utensils .this also deals with the legal environment in which the company operates. ASPECTS OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL SCANNING Strength ,Weaknesses. Opportunities and threats .Managers will have to start analyzing the internal environment by looking into ineffciencies inside the organisation and will also look outside to the external environment and things taking place independent of the organisation. environmental scans allow managers to use the knowledge gained during the scanning process to decide what strategic steps the organisation needs to take to create a competitive advantage. CONCLUTION Training and development ,managers help with day to day running of the organisation.the must be responsible in creating an energetic and valuable work environment and customer service .Ensuraing quality products and cleanliness is delivered to all customers at good speed and with a smile . QUESTION 2 2.1 READ THE CASE study one from chapter three of your prescribed textbook 2.1.1 Answer question 1to 3 from the case study 1. Do you think there is a business opportunity for a cigar bar in Mamelodi ? There is no business opportunity in Mamelodi because there are three cigar bars in opened and the target market is so young. 2. Is the window of opportunity still open for cigar bars ? Window of opportunities is not opened ,because already they have three cigar Bars which their their target market is young. 3. How must Sanyana go about exploiting this opportunity to get started ? Sanyana must go to an area that is has no cigar bars and busy market 2.2 You have been appointed as a functional manager .You are in charge of marketing department .You need to revise the current marketing strategy. Answer the following questions in light of your new appointment and job task: How can you apply planning, organising , leading and control to manage this department? Managing a department is skill that requires good planning and development and enables the manager to devise strategies, make decisions and implement action. Planning is the process of determining in advance what cost regardless of whether it is a long term priorities. Selecting, Motivating, training and appraising staff. Establishing Strustures and systems through which activities are arranged. Making decisions embodying decisions in instructions an serving as the leader of the department interrelating the various parts of the work . What skills you need to use and develop in order to manage this department? People skill – people tend to work with those whom they like or find pleasant to be around ,or atleast have good personalities when dealing with clients. . Technological skill – In the world that we are living in marketing professionals must have the technological skills to take advantage of these mediums .Marketing through social networking allows the communication of media campaigns and marketing promotions in realtimeto consumers . Project management skill – Marketing must display the skill set to conduct agile project management where marketing campaigns take advantage of the micro opportunities. . Marketing Research skill – This can help determine how previous products in the market have been presented to consumers and how a new productcan best be attack the market . Is decision making essential for future planning ?explain why Decision need  to made wisely under modifying circumstances with different amount of knowledge about alternatives and consequences.  In extention the decision making is often a group process. Consequently the manager must apply principles of democratic decision making since those involved in the decision making process will feel an interest in the result of the process. You need to evaluate employees in the department. how can â€Å"control† assist you with performance appraisal Employees are going to be appraised on all areas that they are responsible for by means of scoring system on how they are doing with their present duties fair , good or very good .that appraisal can be a great tool to monitor and control performance on their duties.

Transitional Fossils - Evolution Definition

Since Charles Darwin first came up with the Theory of Evolution and his idea of natural selection, evolution has been a controversial subject for many people. While supporters of the Theory point to the seemingly unending mountain of evidence for evolution, critics still deny that evolution is truly a fact. One of the most common arguments against evolution is that there are many gaps or missing links within the fossil record. These missing links would be what scientists consider to be transitional fossils. Transitional fossils are remnants of an organism that came in between a known version of a species and the current species. Allegedly, transitional fossils would be evidence for evolution because it would show intermediate forms of a species and they changed and accumulated adaptations at a slow pace. Unfortunately, since the fossil record is incomplete, there are many missing transitional fossils that could silence the critics of evolution. Without this evidence, opponents of the Theory claim that these transitional forms must not have existed and that means evolution is not correct. However, there are other ways to explain the absence of some of the transitional fossils. One explanation is found in the way fossils are made. It is very rare that a dead organism becomes a fossil. First, the organism has to die in the right area. This area must have some sort of water with sediments like mud or clay, or the organism must be preserved in tar, amber, or ice. Then even if it is in the right location, it is not guaranteed it will become fossilized. Intense heat and pressure over very long periods of time is needed to encase the organism within a sedimentary rock that will eventually become the fossil. Also, only hard parts of the body like bones and teeth are conducive to surviving this process to become a fossil. Even if a fossil of a transitional organism did happen to be made, that fossil may not survive geological changes on Earth over time. Rocks are constantly being broken, melted, and changed into different types of rocks in the rock cycle. This includes any sedimentary rocks that may have had fossils in them at one time. Also, layers of rock are laid down over top of one another. The Law of Superposition asserts that the older layers of rock are on the bottom of the pile, while the newer or younger layers of sedimentary rock that are laid down by external forces like wind and rain are closer to the top. Considering some of the transitional fossils that have yet to be found are millions of years old, it could be that they just have yet to be found. The transitional fossils could be out there still, but scientists just have not dug down deep enough to get to them. These transitional fossils may also be found in an area that has not yet been explored and excavated. There is still a possibility that someone will yet discover these missing links as more of the Earth gets explored by paleontologists and archaeologists in the field. Another possible explanation for a lack of transitional fossils would be one of the hypotheses as to how fast evolution happens. While Darwin asserted these adaptations and mutations happened and built up slowly in a process called gradualism, other scientists believe in the idea large changes that happened all at once suddenly, or punctuated equilibrium. If the correct pattern of evolution is punctuated equilibrium, then there would be no transitional organisms to leave transitional fossils. Therefore, the fabled missing link would not exist and this argument against evolution would no longer be valid.