Current evidence based approaches for children’s behaviour Essay

Identify and explain current evidence based approaches to understanding children and young people’s behaviour Evidence-based practice (EBP) is the integration of best research evidence with practice expertise and the values of service users and carers. Firstly, when looking at best practice strategies in our setting it is evident that a number of theorists have had much impact on how we interact and engage children in their learning and development. Theorists focused on cognitive development such as Piaget and Vygotsky stressed the importance of the social environment in helping children realise their potential. Whilst behaviourists like Skinner believed that children learn/develop through consequences and reinforcements after an initial behaviour. Other theorists, like Freud and Maslow, examined the influence of personality and motivation as factors that influence our behaviour. Bandura further highlighted the value of social interactions. These studies and research have helped shape and model much of how we operate in the support we give children in their development and learning. EBP in infant, toddler, and early childhood psychology has the potential to improve the health of an increasingly diverse community by focusing on the needs of the youngest, most vulnerable members of society and the families charged with their care and nurturance. Although infant and early childhood psychology may seem like a narrow and specific area, evidence-based practice with young children and their families is vitally important, considering the broad implications for future long and short-term developmental outcomes There are many specific reasons for school psychologists’ current interest in infants, toddlers, and young children. For example, Premature and low birth weight (LBW) infants, especially very low birth weight (< 1500 grams), present unique challenges for early intervention since LBW is often a precursor for a myriad of developmental, medical, sensory, and learning difficulties. We use observations and next steps within my setting as evidence based approach to understanding a child’s behaviour. Using evidence seen such as – a child gets unsettled with transitions during the daily routine – how can we use  this evidence to best plan for the child. I.e. – in future give advance warning to any changes in the routine and offer support and comfort at times they find difficult thus the child growing in confidence. As a practitioner we apply knowledge to a situation that has been previously researched which allows us to make a well informed decision about future actions. Every day practise can be influenced by what we have learnt or found out from research, media, and colleagues. Professional practise is keeping up to date with these findings and using them to deliver best practise (using evidence and findings). Within my setting we also understand and respect the importance of all agencies communicating and sharing information and evidence to see the ‘whole child’ using this evidence to shape our practise and how we plan between each other for the best of the child.

Dissertation Research Design

Sample Dissertation Methodology: Quantitative Survey Strategy1 Research Methodology1.1 IntroductionThis research project has been one of the most thought-provoking and challenging feature of the master’s course. It provides a chance to endorse, simplify, pursue and even explore new facets of one’s research topic. The research approach adopted is an important aspect to increase the rationality of the research according to Cresswell (2007). The research ‘onion’ is a methodology that was developed by Saunders et al (2003).According to the research ‘onion’, as shown in figure 4.1, the entire process is in the form of an onion comprising of various layers. The research philosophy, research approaches, research strategies, time horizons and the data collection method form the different layers of the onion depicting each of the research process. The process involves peeling each layer at a time to reach the centre which is the actual question of the r esearch. For this research philosophy of interpretivism was chosen along with deductive approach and mainly using quantitative techniques for data collection and analysis (Saunders et al., 2009). The chapter details the research process adopted and continues with an explanation of the data collection and data analysis methods employed by the researcher including a justification for the approach and method. The sampling method used by the researcher is discussed and justified and the chapter continues with a commentary of the limitation of the study design. Finally the issues of observer influence are covered as in the ethical approach to the research and a summary of the chapter is presented1.2 The Research Philosophy Research philosophy forms the outermost layer of the research ‘onion’. There are three views based on the way knowledge is developed and corroborated. Individuals or groups rely upon their individual experiences, memories and expectations to derive logic from situations occurring in the society. This logic gets revised over a period of time with new experiences which in turns leads to different interpretations. Therefore it is essential to determine and understand the factors that impact, govern and affect the interpretations of individuals. According to Denzin and Lincoln (2003) interpretivists believe in multiple realities. Hatch and Cuncliffe (2006) have described how interpretivists try to draw meaning from realities and further creat new ones to analyse the different point of views and to validate them against academic literatures. Since the aim is to interpret the thinking of ‘social actors’ and gaining insights using their pointo of views, it cannot be generalised (Saunders et al. 2007). Remenyi et al. (1998) described an interpretivist as one who tries to ascertain the details of the situation with the underlying motive to unearth the working logic behind the situation. Eriksson and Kovalainen (2008) point out a flaw which researchers need to take care of while adopting the interpretivism. They say that because of the closeness of the researcher and the researched, there is a likelihood of a bias in the interpretation. The solution is self-reflection This research attempts to ascertain a relationship, if any, between knowledge management framework in an organisation and the behaviour resulting from the knowledge management practices. This approach adopted by the researcher requires to ‘get close’ to the participants and try and throw light on their acumen of the reality. Thus it can be said that the researcher adopts a interpretivism philosophy.The Research ApproachThe next layer of the research ‘onion’ is the research approach. The design of the research project determines the choice of research approach adopted. If the research involves developing a theory and hypothesis (or hypotheses) and design a research strategy to test the hypotheses then the approach classifies as a deductive approach. On the other hand the inductive approach involves data collection and developing a theory based on the analysis of the data. In an inductive approach a theory follows the data collection where as it is vice versa in case of a deductive approach. According to Saunders et al (2003), researchers in the 20th century criticised the deductive approach stating that deductive approach help establish cause-effect links between specific variable without taking in to account the human interpretation. Saunders et al. (2000) suggest that researcher should be independent of what is being observed, which the deductive approach dictates. Robson (1993) suggests that the deductive approach is a theory testing practice which arises from an established theory or generalisation, and tries to validate the theory in context to specific instances. According to Jashapara (2004) Knowledge Management, the central topic of the research, has been around since ancient Greece and Rome and it further mentions that knowledge management is growing at an exponential growth with a lot of literature available. As Creswell (1994) suggests that a deductive approach would be a better approach in such a scenario. Since the data collection for this research involves online surveys by professionals, time is a valuable commodity. In a deductive approach, data collection is less time consuming and works on a ‘one take’ basis, which is also beneficial for the participant of the survey. Following a deductive approach ensures a highly structured methodology (Giles and Johnson, 1997) and can also be basis for future research adopting an inductive approach.1.3 Research StrategyThe research strategy provides a rough picture about how the research question (s) will be answered. It also specifies the sources for data collection and hindrance s faced throughout the research like data access limitations, time constraints, economical and ethical issues. Saunders et al. (2003) explain that the strategy is concerned with the overall approach you adopt while the tactics involves the details like data collection methods (questionnaire, interviews published data) and analysis methods. There are several strategies that can be employed and they can be classified based on the approach, deductive or inductive, adopted. This research adopts deductive approach. Survey strategy is well suited for this approach. A large amount of data was required to determine the relationship, if any, between the constructs defined in the literature review. According to Saunders et al (2003) and Collins and Hussey (2003) surveys allows data collection and can be addressed to a sizeable audience in a very cost-effective way. Surveys are mostly done in the form of questionnaire, as questionnaire provides standardised data making it easy for comparison. One drawback is the time spent to construct and test a questionnaire. In a survey there is a huge dependence on the participants to answer the questionnaire causing unnecessary delays. There is also a limitation on the number of questions that can be included in the questionnaire. This limitation is from the respondents’ perspective if the researcher wants a high quality of response from the participants. Owing to the nature and amount of size required, statistical analysis of data, time available for the research and for economic reasons the survey strategy has been adopted for this research. Choice of research method According to Saunders et al. (2003) the research methods are in accord with the methods and used for data collection and analysis. Quantitative research is associated with numeric data collection and analysis while, ‘qualitative’ methods are inclined towards non-numeric or data that is gained from inference. However a combined approach can also be adopted as suggested by Tashakori and Teddlie’s (2003). The main advantage is that the researcher can get a different perspective while attempting to answer the research questions and also make more reliable interpretations, ’triangulation’ (Saunders et al. 2009). For this research data was collected via online questionnaire and was statically analysed and represented using graphs. Number crunching methods are generally used in business and management studies. This method is primarily contributed to quantitative analysis. To answer the research question data was also collected from theories and case studies and analysed qualitatively. To present the analysis in a structured manner and articulate the inferences from the theories and statistical analysis could only be done by means of words (Saunders et al., 2009). By making use of qualitative methods the data could be categorized under â€Å"knowledge management environment†, â€Å"organisational knowledge behaviour† and â€Å"Individual knowledge behaviour† and with the aid of narrative an attempt to establish relationships, if any, between them (Saunders et al., 2009, p.516).1.4 Time HorizonsSaunders et al. (2009) suggest that a research can be depicted in a snap look ali ke or can have a diary like perspective. A ‘snapshot’ horizon is termed as a cross sectional whereas the diary perspective is termed as longitudinal. Further Saunders et al (2003) suggest that the time perspective to research (cross-sectional or longitudinal) is independent of the research strategy. Longitudinal research is adopted when change or development that occurs over a period of time is to be studied. Adam and Schvaneveldt (1991) suggest that in longitudinal studies is very useful in studying human behaviours and development. Longitudinal studies do have a limitation when time is a constraint. In cross-sectional research, a certain phenomenon is studied at a particular point in time. This research tries to explore the relationship between organisational environment and its effect on organisational behaviours in the context of Knowledge Management. It is aimed to find the relation at the present time so a cross-sectional study is adopted. According to Easterby-Smith et al. ( 2002) surveys are preferred in cross-sectional studies. However Robson (2002) g=further says that qualitative methods can also be adopted in cross-sectional studies by considering interviews carried out in a short span of time. 1.5 Secondary Data Collection According to Saunders et al. ( 2003) secondary data includes both quantitative and qualitative data. Secondary data is usually used in the form of case studies or survey-based research in management and business research. Saunders et al. (2003) have classified secondary data under documentary data, complied data and survey-based data as shown in figure 3.1 For this research the primary data collection was using online questionnaires. However documentary secondary data was also unsed in conjunction to the primary data. The purpose of making use of secondary data was to explore the existing literature and explore the various facets of knowledge management. Documentary secondary data like books, journals articles were used in this research to define the three constructs explained in chapter 2. Also secondary data was used to explore the literature to define the research question. Books by noted authors and academic journals such as Emerald journals, swetswise e-journals, ebsco host were refereed for the purpose of data collection. The reliability and validity of secondary data relates to the methods by which the data was collected and the source of the data. A quick assessment of the source can ensure validity and reliability of the data. Dochartaigh (2002) suggests the testing of reliability and validity refers to testing the authority and reputation of the source. Articles and papers found in Emerald and Ebscohost are likely to be more reliable and trustworthy which can be inferred from the continued existence of such organisations. Dochartaigh (2002) furthers the point of assessment by looking out for copyright statement.1.6 Research SampleSaunders et al. (2003) differentiated sampling techniques as probability sampling and non-probability sampling based on their generalizability. Probability sampling meant that the research question could be answered and generalized across the target population, based on the responses from the sample size. Time was a constraint owing to the business of the participants who belonged to Knowledge intensive industry, selecting a sampling method was a challenge. According to Easterby-Smith et al. (2002), sampling methods must reduce the amount of data to be collected by focusing on the target population rather than a random sample population. Snowball sampling was selected to ensure that maximum participants could be reached. The research was carried within 7 organisations across 5 countries. The researcher could not personally know so many professional from IT and other knowledge intensive industry, so a few managers was contacted who subsequently forwarded the questionnaire to others with in their respective organisation resulting in to a homogeneous sample (Babbie, 2008). Manager also had to be contacted since all participants could not be addressed directly due company policies restricting external emails. Since the questionnaire was target at the users of knowledge management tools and practices with in the organisation, the researcher requested the managers to forward the questionnaire across the organisation independent of the managerial status. Sample selection was continued till 20 responses from each organisation were received. 140 samples have been considered for this study.1.7 Primary Data collectionQuestionnaire is a form of data collection in which all the respondents are asked the same set of questions in a pre-set order (deVaus, 2002). Robson (2002) suggested that questionnaires are not effective in a descriptive research as it is requires many open ended questions to be answered. All the participants should interpret the questionnaire in the same manner; the data collected can be reliable. If the questionnaire is worded correctly, less effort is required to administer the questionnaire (Jankowicz, 2000). Questionnaire can be classified as shown in the Figure below. The dif ferentiation is based on the level of interaction between the researcher and the respondents. The research has an international orientation to it. The respondents are based in 5 countries and it was not feasible for the researcher to meet each respondent. So a self-administered questionnaire was the most appropriate option. Time and monetary constraint further helped to narrow down the survey to an online questionnaire where the questionnaire was forwarded to the emails. Email offers a better reliability as the respondents would access their own emails and respond to the questionnaire (Witmer et al., 1999). In this case the questionnaire was sent to the managers who further forwarded the emails to their colleagues. In this scenario online questionnaire was a more feasible option because it is easy to forward emails, unauthorised access to emails would be difficult and the responses would go directly to the researcher without them being disclosed or discussed with. The questionnaire has been divided into two parts. The first part consists of information regarding demographics such as organisation location, age, tenure in the organisation and job role. The second part consists of questions related to organization’s knowledge management practices, knowledge behaviour and use of the knowledge. The data required for the research required responses from managerial and non-managerial employees working in a knowledge intensive environment. It was required to create an accurate cause – effect relationship of the KM practices with respect the organisational environment and behaviour of employees. This required honest responses about the KM practices. Appendix shows the questions that were asked to define the relationship amongst the construct defined in the literature review. Likert scale has been used to score each question and score will be given from strongly disagree(1) to strongly agree(5) to. In the questionnaire 1 question has been framed using negation and in a reverse order. Podsakoff et al. (2003) suggest that this should be done to ensure that respondent pay attention while reading the question. All questionnaires were returned within 72 hours. Considering the incentives and time constraints for the respondents the questionnaire was designed so that it does not take more than 8-10 minutes to be answered.1.8 Dota Analysis methodsQualitative and quantitative data has been used in this research. Qualitative data has been used to study the literature about knowledge manangement and define the constructs that for the basis of the research question. Quantitiative data was collected primarily with the help of questionnaire.1 .9 Methodological ReviewSaunders et al. (2003) emphasis on two aspects of data collection: validity and reliability. The validity and reliability of secondary data has been explained in SECTION. Saunders et al. (2007) suggest that in case of a questionnaire pilot testing should be done to ensure the validity of the question and the reliability of the data subsequently collected. The questionnaire used for the survey has been tested on a group, to test the comprehensibility of the content and the logic of the questions. Bell (1999) suggests that a trail run should never be compromised even if time is a constraint. While testing the questionnaire the respondent were asked regarding the time taken to complete, ambiguity of the questions, if any questions caused a uncomfortable feeling or awkward state of mind and the last was the structure. Validating the questionnaire ensures that the response for each question and the motive for the question are the relevant (Saunders et al. 2000). Reliability of the questionnaire depends on the consistency of the response to the same questions. To ensure this the questionnaire must be answered twice by the respondent at differing time (Easterby-Smith, et al. 2002). This may be difficult due time constraints but should be done. Mitchell (1996) suggests that the responses of the questions should be checked for consistency within the subgroup. In this research the questionnaire has been divided in to 4 sections. During the pilot testing the responses where checked for consistency with in each section to ensure the reliability. The results can be generalised to an extent due to the sample size and inferences are gathered based on the statistical analysis. Steps have been taken to ensure the anonymous nature of the questionnaire so that the responses are honest and unbiased.

Comparing & Contrasting: Cambodians & Filipinos Essay

Within the Asian country lie many cultures, beliefs, religions and much more. For example, the Cambodians and the Filipinos. Cambodia is located in southeastern Asia, bordering the gulf of Thailand, between Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos. The Philippines is located in Southeastern Asia, archipelago between the Philippine Sea and the South China Sea, east of Vietnam. Both countries have many differences and similarities. In the Cambodian culture there are many beliefs. A lot of Cambodians believe in superstition, an irrational belief arising from ignorance or fear. One of the major superstitions of the Cambodian culture is Spirits of our ancestors. Folk tales explain and describe how and why a spirit cant hurt you but they can discipline you, for example the flying head. The flying head only disciplines people when they are afraid and alone in the woods. Also when two people split a pole means that they would go their different ways and split their friendship. In the Filipino culture there are also many beliefs. Superstition and ghosts are also a main belief in the Philippines. One of the known folktale ghost story is called the Aswang. The name translates to â€Å"To be detached from one part of the body. This creature flies around at night sucking blood and attacking animals and people. It is said that during the horizon, the Aswang takes on the appearance of a dog, whose front legs are longer than the back legs. Most of the Cambodians believe in the religion Buddhism. They would take daily walks to the temple to light incenses, bring food for their deceased family member or monks. May 15th is a major holiday in the Cambodian culture, the day when their holy god they worship in the name of Buddha was born, the day he was enlightened, and the day he died. The way Cambodians greet a Buddha or monk is that they would put their palms together and bow for their respect. Cambodian New Year is also a major Cambodian holiday. Its a celebration or more like a festival with food stands to clothing. Most of the Filipinos take their belief for their religion to the extreme.  The main religion in the Philippines is Catholic, Christian or other forms of religion. People would hang themselves on a cross just like Jesus did just because they believe in their religion strongly. They would usually attend church on Sundays, they would sing, and listen to the pastor read from the bible. The two countries also do have some similarities. One example for a similarity is that both cultures sometimes eat with their hands. Another example is that they both have similar superstition beliefs and folktales, just different stories. When you arrive at either a Filipino or Cambodian house you would have to take off your shoes. Finally both cultures take respect seriously, you have to bow to your elders and bless them or they bless you. Within the Asian country lie many cultures, beliefs, religions and much more. Cambodians are very superstitious and believe in mostly Buddhism. Filipinos are also very superstitious but have different folktales and most Filipinos are Christian, Catholic, or some other type of religion. Both countries also have a lot of similarities in their cultures; they both respect their elders and take respect seriously. Works Cited Sampson, Andrew. Online interview. 15 Feb. 2008.

The Resurgence of Empire in East Asia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Resurgence of Empire in East Asia - Essay Example The Tang and Song Dynasties brought significant changes to China. The Tang Dynasty was significantly a period of stability and progress. The regime maintained and supported a service system through drafting officials by standardized examinations along with recommendations to the office. China’s culture also flourished during the Tang era, as it is regarded as the greatest age for Chinese poetry (Ebrey 35). The Song Dynasty, on the other hand, introduced banknotes as a form of trade to China (Ebrey 78). No other empire, all round the world, had done this. Banknotes improved the trade and commerce of China, which made the country, even up to today, be regarded as the best traders all round the world. A notable change, during the Tang Dynasty, was the development of the woodblock printing. Woodblock printing refers to a technique of printing images, texts or patterns (Ebrey 37). Woodblock printing was used widely in East Asia, and the Tang Dynasty could take credit for introducing this technique. In reality, woodblock printing boosted the Chinese art as the art could now be printed for people to view. Social living, during the Song Dynasty, was vibrant in that social elites gathered to trade and view precious artworks, the citizens intermingled at private clubs and public festivals, and towns had lively entertainment joints. The Song Dynasty improved the socializing of the Chinese citizens (Ebrey 78). The Tang Dynasty set out to resolve internal problems within the government that had constantly overwhelmed past dynasties. The Tang Dynasty, building upon the Sui legal code, provided a new legal code, which succeeding Chinese regimes would base theirs upon, as well as neighboring empires such as Vietnam, Korea, and Japan. The visual arts of the Song regime were heightened by new developments like advances in portrait painting and landscape (Ebrey 80). The gentry’s elite, with the help of the

The case of christ Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The case of christ - Essay Example From this movement has come the Christian apologetics who, according to The Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry, are a group of people that â€Å"use logic and evidence to defend Christianity and promote the truth of the Bible†(Slick, 2011). Perhaps one of the most influential books from the Christian Apologetics movement is The Case for Christ which proposes a myriad of evidence that supports the existence of Jesus Christ as the Son of God. Lee Stobel and Jane Vogel, authors of the Student Version of The Case for Christ, provide a summary of who Jesus Christ was. At the very core of the argument is that Jesus was the Messiah and the Son of God (Strobel and Vogel, 23). His role on Earth was to save the sinners which was accomplished by sacrificing himself and dying on the cross for everyone’s sins. One of the important aspects of this that the authors take on is the fact that Jesus did not explicitly state that he was God: â€Å"Some of Jesus’ statements a s they are recorded in the Bible don’t seem to be clear claims that Jesus is God†(Strobel and Vogel, 23). However, Strobel provides several scriptures that support the claim that Jesus believed he was God and through conversations with disciples, followers, and others stated as much. Some of the evidence included Matthew 16: 15-17 where Jesus asks Peter who he (Peter) thinks Jesus is and Peter replies â€Å"You’re the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the Living God†(Strobel and Vogel, 23). Strobel present very convincing evidence that Jesus was in fact the Messiah by way of presenting Isaiah 53 which is in essence a prophecy of who the Messiah would be. Strobel claims that Jesus matched the prophecy and that many of these aspects could not be manipulated by Jesus in order to make them match such as birthplace, family, the betrayal by Judas Iscariot, and the guards that gambled over Jesus’ clothes when he was dying on the cross(Strobel and Vogel, 44-4 6). Since Isaiah 53 was written hundreds of years before Jesus was born, the argument that Jesus was indeed the Messiah is extremely convincing. The next step in presenting the case for Christ is to delve into the reliability of the Gospels which are the books of the Bible that detail Jesus Christ and his life. Strobel presents evidence that indicates that these books are quite reliable. The biggest piece of evidence is the differences between Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Although many people would say these contradictions make the books less reliable, Strobel disagrees stating that â€Å"the idea is that if the writers were lying, they’d make sure to get their stories straight—and they’d agree in every detail. What seems to be a contradiction is often the same event viewed from different perspectives†(Strobel and Vogel, 54). Additionally, Strobel brings up an interesting point about the timeline of Christ’s death and the teachings of Paul. Accor ding to Strobel, the timeline suggests that Paul came to learn about Christ dying on the cross for the world’s sins and his resurrection within 2-5 years of it occurring. Strobel makes the argument that the fact Christianity was already teaching this aspect about Christ suggests that â€Å"that’s far too fast for legend to have developed and wiped out a core of historical truth†(Strobel and Vogel, 60). This is compelling evidence since it is widely thought that the time

Capital Punishment Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Capital Punishment - Term Paper Example The arguments of Pojman, which supports capital punishment, were based on three premises from anecdotal evidence. First, the deterrent effect of an object is increased with the increased degree of fear it can cause to a person. Second, people fear death more than any humane punishment, and third, death penalty is a humane punishment. From these premises, the author concludes that the death penalty is a more effective mechanism to deter people from committing homicide compared to long imprisonment (277). The argument presented was potentially sound since it was supported by coherent reasoning. However, while the first premise is logical, the last two premises have a potential conflict since not all criminals are fearful of death and generally, capital punishment is inhumane. Nevertheless, the author’s conclusion still follows his premises since there is a high chance that potential criminals will avoid committing first degree crime if they are aware that the sentence that await s them is death compared to long imprisonment. However, it is argued that capital punishment is not an appropriate sentence to major offenders. There is also a strong contention against the principle that the death penalty has a greater deterrence compared to long imprisonment. ... However, it is argued that life as it is, has an intrinsic value. This makes it unjust and immoral to permit the gambling of the lives of murderers. For the anecdotal argument, one of the premises of the proponent states that the death penalty is a humane punishment. This premise is a weak assumption since it is contended that the moral values of society do not perceive death penalty as acceptable. Thus, killing a person is inhumane. Due to the weak premises of the proponent, it cannot be concluded justly that capital punishment, in contrast to long term imprisonment, has a greater deterrence among potential criminals. A study of Donohue and Wolfers on the homicide rates in US revealed that there is no statistical evidence to prove that the death penalty has a substantial deterrent effect on homicide commission. The findings of the time series analysis showed that as the death penalty execution rose up from 1920s to 1930s, homicide rates also increased while both of the execution and homicide rates went down from 1940s to 1950s (796). Moreover, Donohue and Wolfers also conducted a comparative study between Canada and US to determine if execution rates can significantly reduce homicide rates. The findings showed that both US and Canada showed similar changes in homicide rates amidst country specific legislations that directly affected their execution rates. For instance, when Canada did not conduct executions in 1962, its homicide rates were still close to the US. In a similar way, when US suspended its death penalty policy in 1972, both the execution and homicide rates of US and Canada rose altogether (799). This study supports the argument that capital punishment does not significantly influence homicide rates,

Religion in school Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Religion in school - Essay Example This has led to wide spread ignorance in terms of one own religion as well as the religion of the worlds. In the global village of today where we reside, it is important to know the basics of the main religions in the world in order to be able to relate to the people of a different faith. The disappearance of religious studies in schools has led to deterioration of moral and ethics in the general society. By being taught ones own religion as well as the different religions of the world in school; the children tend to develop awareness, patience and tolerance amongst themselves and towards people of different race, ethnicity and religion. However due to the deterioration of morality caused in the society because of lack of religious education the children are now depicting lower tolerance towards different groups and races in their school. This has resulted in a substantial increase in the race hate crimes and racial, as well as ethnicity basses harassment in schools. â€Å"The number of reported xenophobic, anti-Semitic, and homophobic crimes has increased considerably between 1997 and 2003. The most common hate crimes against immigrants are threats, harassment, slander, ethnic agitation, and assault.† (Bunar, 2007) The other problem that is caused by lack of religious education is the increase in the violence and the number of shootings in the schools. The trend for high school shootings by children against their teachings and peers has shown an alarming increasing trend since the shootings of 1996. One of the most prominent ones was the high school shooting in Cleveland in the Succes Tech Academy. In this shooting â€Å"14-year-old Asa Coon wounded two teachers and two students before killing himself. One of the teachers, Michael Grassie, had already realized that Coon needed special attention. Coon had been singled out as a troubled youth after being disciplined for fighting.† (Raymond, 2007) In order to

Thai Restaurant in Brighton, UK Literature review

Thai Restaurant in Brighton, UK - Literature review Example This part of the study focuses on the available reading materials pertinent to the information needed. 2.1 Overview Obesity rate in the United Kingdom has been rising along with the number of restaurants especially in the fast food industry. As of 2011, UK’s Department of Health (2011) revealed the results of a survey for England known as the Health Survey for England (HSE), which showed 25% of all adults are obese, while 10% of children are also obese. Since the beginning of the 20th century, people tended to eat out. Fast food restaurants served meals that increased the level of cholesterol, sugar, and salt in consumers. This was observed to have resulted in the high obesity rate, heart disease, and high blood pressure for people living in UK. Crawford, et.al. (2010) said these are the effects of mass production and consumption of unhealthy food. Thus, it would be a good idea to have a Thai restaurant capable of serving the right menu to promote a way to overcome obesity via healthy and delicious recipes. One relevant literature describes diet and nutrition, and then compares healthy diet models. |This can be a source of knowledge about how to start, promote, and develop a healthy food market in the United Kingdom. ... Dietary patterns affect neurotransmitters responsible for the alteration of moods and actions in the human body. In addition, experts pointed out that any shortage or excess in diet will lead to neurotransmitters causing changes in human growth, emotionally, as well as physically, according to Wiseman (2002). From this understanding of the relation of neurotransmitters with diet, majority of nutritionists came up with dietary patterns or models that may enable human body to control neurotransmitters effectively. Medeiros and Wildman (2012) defined the duty of neurotransmitters to be the brain chemicals that flow and communicate information throughout the body and brain. 2.2 Diet and Nutrition Debruyne et al. (2008) and Insel et al (2011) pointed out that the terms ‘nutrition’ and ‘diet’ exist synonymously. In particular, food is most essential in the human diet for survival. To understand nutrition and diet, Smolin and Grosvenos (2005) identified two groups, namely, macronutrients and micronutrients, wherein the first group includes carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, while the later includes all the vitamins and minerals. Mcguire and Beerman (2009) support the fact that both groups play an essential role in the physical and emotional growth of the human body. Macronutrients enable the body to acquire energy for the production of tissues and cells. Although excess fats in the body can be harmful, the body cannot live without fats. Dr. Meyers, Jeffrey P.(2005) described the many important roles of fats in the body. They protect cell membranes by keeping them flexible, enriched with white blood cells that fight foreign substance and prevent the development of diseases. Without fats, nerves and blood vessels cannot grow normally.

Playing Wii Games to Playing Real Games Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Playing Wii Games to Playing Real Games - Essay Example The paper explains the importance and role of the games in our life. Sports like hockey, soccer, rugby and boxing require a lot of physical stress and stamina. These sports are considered healthy as well as tough. They help humans in maintaining a healthy body. The efforts required for these activities fulfill the criteria of exercise needed to keep a healthy body. These exercises increase one’s heart rate, glucose breakdown, and stamina. The movements, power and strategy involved in these activities put one’s mind and muscles to work which in turn shapes the body in to an ideal body. Wii gaming system was released in 2006 by Nintendo. â€Å"Wii is actually an exergame. That is, it’s a video game that requires players to use actual physical movements to manipulate the action. Employing a wireless handheld controller with acceleration sensors and an infrared camera built into the console, the Wii senses players’ Motions and translates them into on-screen movement. For instance, in Wii Tennis you swing the controller like a racket; for Wii Golf, the controller is your club†. ... These sports are considered healthy as well as tough. They help humans in maintaining a healthy body. The efforts required for these activities fulfill the criteria of exercise needed to keep a healthy body. These exercises increase one’s heart rate, glucose breakdown, and stamina. The movements, power and strategy involved in these activities put one’s mind and muscles to work which in turn shapes the body in to an ideal body. Wii gaming system was released in 2006 by Nintendo. â€Å"Wii is actually an exergame. That is, it’s a video game that requires players to use actual physical movements to manipulate the action. Employing a wireless handheld controller (about the size of a TV remote, ironically) with acceleration sensors and an infrared camera built into the console, the Wii senses players’ Motions and translates them into on-screen movement. For instance, in Wii Tennis you swing the controller like a racket; for Wii Golf, the controller is your cl ub† (Anders). Wii has released almost all the popular real world sports games such as boxing, tennis, golf and baseball so its range of games encompass many of the real sports. As mentioned earlier in order to play these games, one needs to mimic the exact movements in front of the screen as used in playing real sports. The player’s actions in real time resemble very closely to actions performed in playing real sports. Playing Wii games helps burn calories just like in playing real sports. Moreover, players even perspire while playing Wii games. â€Å"In fact, in addition to burning the most calories, boxing was the only Wii game tested that would be considered intense enough to maintain or improve cardiorespiratory endurance as defined by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM)† (Anders). The

Law of contract- Exclusion causes and privity Case Study

Law of contract- Exclusion causes and privity - Case Study Example Failure to meet such obligations, they will be liable for any damage. Such liability is strictly for the parties involved in a contract in exclusion to any third parties. The privity doctrine therefore stipulates that only the parties in a given contract can sue or be sued regarding the contract. This gives two different principles that can be derived from the doctrine. One is that any person or entity who is not a party in the contract does not have rights to enforce the contract and also that such a person is not bound by a contract in which he is not a party. It confers no rights or obligations to any except those engaged in a contract through agreement (Treitel, 1995). Economic development and growth in international trade has led to globalization in trade and given rise to legal conventions. In most business contracts most single contractors make arrangement with third parties who benefit from such contracts the growth of such contracts has increased calling for law reforms in many countries. With the growth of economies, the doctrine of privity, which prohibits conferment of contracts benefit to third parties raises a number of complexity to contracts which are made with the intention to benefit a third party. It frustrates such contracting parties while a third party who may have arranged with the contracting party in a contract suffers losses and ends up inconvenienced. In the case of the contract in question there are two parties in the contract, namely; Ace Steamers Ltd and Beth. In this contract, Beth entered into a contract with AC Steamers Ltd and bought two tickets, one for her daughter Carol and one for herself. Applying the doctrine of privity in this case, though Carol is bought for the ticket, she is not a party in the given contract and can not sue AC Steamers Ltd for any breach. She is also not liable for any damage that may be done by Beth. In this case we realize that Beth's intention was to benefit Carol and we clearly see some of the difficulties raised by the doctrine of privity. The case of Dunlop Pneumatic tyre Co Ltd versus Selfridge and Company is a classic example where Dunlop Pneumatic tires Co Ltd sold tyres to Selfridge and Co Ltd on condition that they would sell the tires below the greed price. Selfridge went on and sold to a third party based on the same conditions but the third party went on and sold the tyres below the price agreed and Dunlop Pneumatic sued them for a breach and the case was ruled that there was no contract between the third buyer and Dunlop Pneumatic Co Ltd. In the case in question Carol has no right of action against the Ac Steamers Co Ltd. However Beth being a party in the contract can sue for damages that herself has incurred. There are a few exceptions to the doctrine of privity which comprise means of circumventing the doctrine of privity. Under insurance contracts the doctrine of privity excepted in insurance policies for the advantage of third parties such that a policy is effected by the assured for his life, and also expressed as benefit of his dependants such that she can sue in the particular insurance company as long as it's assigned in writing. The doctrine of privity also faces exception in matters of family development and marriage settlements, where a contract is an arrangement on marriage

Education and Freedom Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Education and Freedom - Essay Example De-monopolizing public educational institutions would ensure that standards are raised, students and teachers are better motivated, greater innovation would be allowed, costs would be brought down and specific needs of children would be met (Ayse, 2012). Public education is not consistent with responsibility and freedom. Public education in fact wears away personal freedom and that is why it should be replaced with market solutions, competition, and parental choice. Since parents are charged with their children’s education, then it means families would be best suited in a free market to decide which educational institutions are best suited for their children. Education being an economic commodity should be bought in the marketplace dictated by valuation and preferences of consumers. Thus in an education market that is free, students and parents would be at liberty to make a decision on the basis of perceived benefits and costs of each available option. Essentially, education procurement does not vary from acquiring any other private commodity. Schools that are market-based have got incentives that provide quality education at a price that is competitive. Thus the separation of education and state would reinstate academic inte grity, intellectual freedom as well as individual accomplishment. The free market can best furnish the public with high quality education services. The finest school choice plan therefore is the one based on free market (Harry, 2013). Colleges should prepare people to be good citizens. The purpose of education has been debated world over by teachers, scholars, statesmen and several considerate men and women. There has always been one predictable answer; knowledge acquisition. Even more complete is the utterance made by the Archbishop of York that â€Å"the true purpose of education is to produce citizens.† This statement sounds true not only the day it was uttered but also today. However in the modern day society, it’s a main

The Struggles and the Victories of Modern France Essay Example for Free

The Struggles and the Victories of Modern France Essay Introduction Modern France has been a product of the historical struggles between the then prevailing Catholic Church and monarchy and the rising influence of intellectuals and revolutionaries. Pierre Birnbaums The Idea of France traces the roots of the modern French state and how the current status quo had been influenced by the ideological, political and social struggles that have shaken the country. Essentially, Birnbaum argued that France as we know it today was a product of one of the most important periods in the history of France- the Enlightenment and the French Revolution of 1789. Hence, much of what democracy in France today can be attributed to that period and the succeeding years of struggle to reach its current political stability. The Idea of France France according to Birnbaum has seen its soul as residing in a privileged relationship with reason (Birnbaum, xiii). This hallmarks the principles of enlightenment where reason was the primary tool in governing human activity particularly in the affairs of the state, the individuals and the society. Hence, it was a call to end the prevailing rule of the Church and the monarchy that was the remnants of the Middle Ages which is seen by the revolutionists as irrational and superstitious. Therefore, from the side of the revolution activists, the emergence of the power residing in the people emerged through the National Assembly or the Third Estate which received criticisms and oppositions from the traditionalists composed of the monarchy and the Church. From the oppositions and the struggle for supremacy in the government, Birnbaum argued that these antagonistic forces had served as the birthmark of the contemporary French democracy particularly its emphasis on plurality. While Modern France was built in over 200 years after the Enlightenment period, this era according to Birnbaum marked the time when the future of modern France was first hallmarked. In doing so, Birnbaum traced the origins and the development of the political antagonists and protagonists in order to support and defend the current status quo in an era when monarchy and the belief in the divine power was the norm. The division of France also stemmed from philosophers- those defending the reign of the Catholic Church and the monarchy and those who had been advocating a reform in the current system as advocated by the likes of Tocqueville. Hence, Birnbaum described the Third Republic as fraught with divisiveness reaching its peak in the Bloody Week of June 1871 and the conservatives gaining the upper hand. However, this victory was temporary and the ensuing Liberation and the Fourth Republic was established. At this time, France has already shifted to a parliamentary form of government existing in a coalition. At this time, the changes that were advocated during the French Revolution has been on process and the divisiveness still existed. It was only in the Fifth Republic that the political factions waned and the Republic and the Catholic Church evolved- they no longer exhibited the hatred that once fuelled their ideologies but rather have reformed their principles to change the anti-clericism. In doing so, the French government was able to provide for a pluralistic government as well as a cultural pluralism in the society of France. Analysis   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The primary strength of Birnbaums book is its ability to depict the contradictory forces in French history as both protagonists of democracy: it objectively portrayed the Catholic Church and the monarchy was essential elements in the reformation of a modern France. In doing so, Birnbaum avoids the overtly one-sided depiction of French history as nothing more than a struggle between proponents and opponents of democracy. Each had been ancillary to the other. Needless to say, the French Revolution occurred due to these two forces. Second, Birnbaum treated the 200 years and more as a history not only of politics but also of philosophies and of the people. For one, Birnbaum showed the historical context of the Modern France through a careful and thorough analysis of the cultural struggles in the country at the time. Moreover, it included an analysis of how France was able to overcome the multiculturalism at the time in order to give way to a more tolerant and a brand of French culturalism that is unique. Consequently, upon reading the book, one would appreciate the uniqueness of the French society and its struggles particularly in ushering the Enlightenment period. Hence, Birnbaum also showed readers and scholars from all over the world that the role France has played in modern democracies and current governmental structures are important. Third, while most history books would have delved into too much detail hence, focusing more on facts than on the importance of those facts, Birnbaum was able to capture the readers attention by focusing on the latter: the importance of events can only be appreciated if it can be related to what is relevant at the time and in modern times. Consequently, the only weakness of the book has been its inability to thoroughly relate the world events at the time and how it influenced the Frenchs history as well as how France had influenced other societies. While this is not central to the books theme, it would have given the readers the idea how revolutionary and how important the events in French history had been at a time when most governments are governed by the Church. Conclusion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Guided by reason and a vision that looks at the society and the people as the primary guiding force for the changes in the society, The Idea of France rested on the argument that historical forces are all protagonists in shaping what French society and government is today. The actors primarily the Republicans and the Catholic Church and the monarchy including the opposing intellectuals and the people versus the nobility- all of these had been instrumental in creating the France that we know today. Modern democracies such as that of France springs from a multitude of events- in the case of The Idea of France it had been the increasing dismay of the people on the status quo governed by the Church and the monarchy. Essentially, The Idea of France by Birnbaum aptly captured the struggles and the victories of France in paving the way for a more democratic form of government particularly in establishing a government by the people and for the people. Concurrently, the struggle of France had endured years before it finally established the Modern France that we know today. Essentially, it is during the period of the Enlightenment and the succeeding years after it that the idea of modern France had been crafted and cemented. Work Cited Birnbaum, Pierre. The Idea of France. Hill and Wang. 352 pages. 2001.

Human Resource Management In Industrial Relations Management Essay

Human Resource Management In Industrial Relations Management Essay Introduction The management of industrial relations in Great Britain has changed notably in the last three decades. Industrial relations management has been significantly affected by several factors: economic climate, political change, and social environment. After world war two, British economic condition has gradually fallen down. It has been proved that it is much more complicated to manage industrial relations than before. The causes can be analyzed from many aspects: the increasing competition in product market, globalized trend, restructuring labor force, and reduced unions power. From 1979, the power of trade unions has been greatly restricted by government. Deregulation on the labor market also has been enhanced. At the same time, British economy had to face a severe international competition with high inflation and unemployment in domestic. Then, what are the changes of British industrial relations in the last three decades. What are major factors influencing British industrial relations management. We plan to find out more in the following parts. First, the nature of industrial relations management was the first issue. Then, industrial relations management in the period from 1979-1997 and period from post-1997 has been discussed respectively from two aspects: economic and political factors. Finally, the role and influence of employer, trade union and government have been embedded respectively. Human resource management in industrial relations In the 1980s and 1990s, the attitudes and strategies of industrial relations have been changed. Debates about human resource management practice in industrial relations were hot issues in management field. And individualism and collectivism in industrial relations were focused as well. First, look at the political and economic environment. From 1979 to 1997, The Conservative Government, which was elected during the time, insisted on weakening trade union power, reducing public expenditure. Except the government policies, employers faced a more competitive market. The globalization and recession made the situation worse than they had before. During this time, employers aimed to make great profits and reduce cost, instead of good industrial relations management. The types of corporation, labour market, competition in product market, organisation culture, and tradition were taken into account when employers intended to make industrial relations policies. A very important conception whic h was largely recognized in HRM was that labour is regarded as an asset or resource. Thus, employers need to explore employees potential through motivation, training, and development. Storey (1992) proposed two famous HRM versions: soft HRM and hard HRM. Soft HRM emphasis on employees needs, such as motivation, training and work-life balance while hard HRM more emphasis on economic factors. Many researchers agreed that HRM to some extent was a threat to trade union and was a new development in employee relations (Guest, 1989, Millward, 1994) Turing to industrial relations management style, there are four types of management styles which were classified by Purcell and Sisson (Purcell and Sisson 1983 cited by Kessler, 1998): traditionalists, sophisticated paternalists, sophisticated moderns, and standard moderns. Traditionalists have one belief and are anti-union with forceful management. Sophisticated paternalists spend much time in ensuring that their employees have the right approach. Sophisticated moderns management recognized the union role in certain areas. Finally, in standard modern management Trade unions are recognized and industrial relations are seen as primarily fire-fighting and assumed to be non-problematic unless event prove otherwise. (Sid Kessler, 1998, p.114) The industrial relations management may vary in different organisations or even in different groups in a company. Although the management style may vary according to the situations, one fact was that collective involvement had been shifted to indivi dual involvement. After 1997, the employee relations management further developed. The findings of WERS 2004 show that positive contracts and communication with employees will contribute to high commitment performance and economic outcomes. Moreover, Employee involvement participation is greatly focused by employers, employee voice, teamworking, and work-life balance as well. (WERS, 2004) Industrial relations management in 1979-1997 The economic environment for industrial relations from 1979 to 1997 changed greatly. Firstly, the decline of manufacturing industry was very obvious. Secondly, unemployment problem is dramatically severe. It was reported that the number of unemployment increased from 1.6 million to 3 million from 1987-1992. Although there was a small recovery after 1992, the number of unemployment still kept on 1.5millionn in mid-1997. The high unemployment reflected a severely competitive labour market. Furthermore, the structure of economy and labour force also changed. Manufacturing industry decreased; private service sectors increased; and increasing number of women was engaged in workplace; self-employment became popular; and part-time workers, and temporary workers grew fast in that period. Finally, there was a globalized competition in product market. Interaction of these economic changes influenced industrial relations in Britain. Except the economic changes, the Conservative Governments poli cies and laws had great effects on industrial relations. The government restricted trade union power and weakened joint regulation. A series of legislative program was carried out during the time. The first legislative action was to restrict the closed shop in 1980. The Conservative thus, Governments policies and trade union membership density was directly reduced by governments policies and legislations. Shifting to industrial relations management, a more important change was that employee relations specialists and line managers replaced traditional managers role: they are more likely to be responsible for employee relations issues in 1990s. If people intend to be employee relations specialists, they need to obtain professional qualifications. And such qualification requires long relevant working experience. This change may reflect a higher demand for professional knowledge such as employment law. The management of employee relations became more complicated. The conception of human resource management was widely accepted in the late 1980s. Millward et al (2000) noted that those using the title human resource manger accounted for a third of specialists in 1998.(Millward 2000, p. 225) The employee relations specialists continued to rise in the following years. Millwards findings showed that human resource managers and employee relations specialists responsibilities are similarly. They are both responsible for pay, training, grievance handling, and payroll management. Another change was the shift of employee relations managers major work. In the early 1980s, many employee relations managers spent much time on dealing with collective industrial conflict. WERSs (1998) findings revealed that employee relations mangers pay much attention to individual grievances, particularly related to legal proceedings. Moreover, workplace managers switched more attention to collect and deliver information to employees. They use information to review organisation performance and policies. Another change was happened in industrial relations system. Multi-employer agreements affected one third of the number of workplaces in 1998 that they had in the early 1980s. (Millward , 2000, p. 227) In terms of pay, multi-employer agreements to most extent have been determined by employers themselves than workplace itself. The management became more centralized in an organisation during the 1990s. Higher authorities were more likely to make decisions than workplace managers. This could indicate that industrial relations were regarded as operational issue rather than strategic ones. Trade unions had more chance to be involved in the relationship between employers and employees. Trade unions in Britain represent employees interest. But from 1979 to 1990s, trade unions power gradually declined and lost much union membership. Employees support for trade union declined and support from management reduced as well. Many factors led to the phenomenon. The decline of manufacturing industry where were traditionally organized by trade union reduced the number of union membership. And the increasing number of women workforce and temporary workforce who have less possibility of being union membership also resulted from the decline. Another change was that there was less union recognition at workplaces, particularly in private service sectors, which increased during the time. Thus, fewer employees asked for collective bargaining to improve their pay and working conditions. Moreover, the impact of trade union on pay weakened during 1980s and 1990s. During the 1980s and 1990s, when the collective representation declined, the management in industrial relations transferred to focus on communication with employees. Millwards survey showed that communication channels between senior mangers and employees have changed from joint arrangements to direct forms of communications (Millward, 2000 p.230) Managers held regular meeting with workforce and team briefings to hear their suggestion and questions. And according to Millwards point of view, this management-dominated arrangements can improve employee treatment. Industrial relations management in post-1997 After 1997, industrial relations in Britain continued to change due to the changing external environment. However, there were many employment relations retained: the degree of numerical flexibility, the incidence of varies dispute, grievance and disciplinary procedures, the incidence of industrial actions and etc. (WERS, 2004) A variety of changes could be obtained from workplace employment relations. From WERSs findings (2004), the practice of employment relations varies largely between small and large workplace and it also varies between different sectors of industry, especially between private sectors and public sectors. Private sectors shared more proportion in workplaces from1998 to 2004. The figures from WERS2004 showed that 70 percent of workplaces were operating in private sectors compared with two-thirds in 1998. Look at all workplaces, 49 percent of employees were female and 34 percent of them were in managerial positions. Women have more chance to be managers in public sectors (46 percent) than in private service sectors (30 percent). Trade union also changed considerable and it had great impacts on industrial relations management. There was a considerable decrease in the proportion of union members. In 2004, 64 percent of workplaces didnt have union members compared with 57 percent in 1998). Union density slightly declined from 22 percent to 18 percent. Public sector accounted for more proportion of union membership than that of private sectors. Union membership density had strong relationship with management attitudes. Public sectors were more likely to provide management support for union membership than private sectors. However, the relationship between public sectors and private sectors are similarly strong. Besides that, another change of trade union in British workplaces can be found from WERS 2004 report. The proportion of union recognition in workplaces continued to decline after 1997. Only 18 percent of workplaces recognized trade union in 2004. (28 percent union recognition in1998) Furthermore, compared with 1998, union representative in workplaces spent more time on representative works. And they did more representative works than their non-union colleagues. It was reported that 43 percent of union representatives spent five hours on representative work while 33 percent spent two and four hours. Union representatives pay more attention to working condition and dispute, such as pay level, working hours, holidays. About 76 percent of union representatives attempt to recruit new members in their workplaces. But a clearly change during the period was that employees had a low preference of being a union members. In the period from 1979-1997, workplace managers were more concerned about collecting and delivering information. They continued to adopted direct communication with employees after 1997. Direct communication was further widespread between managers and employees. Figures could be found from WERS2004 report. Table 1 Direct communication and information sharing, by sector of ownership. 1998 and 2004 1998 2004 Private sectors Public sectors All Private sectors Public sectors All Direct communication Meeting with entire workforce or team briefings 82 96 85 90 97 91 Systematic use of management chain 46 75 52 41 63 45 Regular newsletter 35 59 40 72 86 74 Noticeboards 36 48 38 E-mail 36 48 38 Intranet 31 48 34 Suggestion schemes 30 30 30 Employee surveys 37 66 42 Information disclosure over Investment plans 47 59 50 40 50 41 Financial position of workplace 56 82 62 51 76 55 Financial position of organisation 66 67 66 51 53 51 Staffing Plans 55 81 61 61 81 64 (Source from Workplace Employment Relations Report2004) From the table, we can see that there were different forms of direct communication in practice. Regular meetings with entire workforce or team briefings was still popular, accounting for a dominate proportion and slightly increased from 85 percent to 91 percent during the time 1998 to 2004. A new creation of these meeting was that a part of meeting time was left to employees. Employees were allowed to propose suggestions and questions during the meeting. Suggestion scheme, staff attitude surveys and problem-solving groups were adopted by many organisations in managing employment relations during the time. Moreover, In the information disclosure over part, mangers preferred to disclose information though staffing plans (64 percent) than others. Shifting to pay determination, which is a major issue in managing employee relations, the most common pay determination was still by management unilaterally. 70 percent of workplaces used this way to pay. Only 27 percent of workplace asked for collective bargaining with unions to determine pay level. Similar to the situation of 1979 to 1997, the proportion of workplaces through collective bargaining in pay determination has continued to decrease since 1997. But public sectors were more likely to use collective bargaining than private sectors. Among 83 percent of public sectors workplaces, 82 percent of workers have their pay through collective bargaining. On the other hand, in private sectors, 26 percent of worker among 14 percent of workplaces use collective bargaining. From these figures, we can know that pay system was not unmilitary anymore. Different measurements were developed. Managers were more likely to determine pay through systematic performance and appraisal management to motivate employees. Performance-related pay, profit-related bonuses, and employee share schemes were prevalent at this stage. The way manager dealing with workplace conflict was also a change during this period. It is obvious that collective conflicts gradually reduced while individual conflicts grew. Industrial actions were less used to solve workplace conflict. most of conflicts were solved through legal procedures. But there was no big conflict happened during the time. Equal opportunities were concentrated by employers since 1997. A large number of industrial relations law was approved by government to enhance the equality in workplaces. Response to the legislation, managers implemented a range of equality policies. WERSs report (2004) revealed that 73 percent of workplaces had a written policies regarding equal treatment in 2004. 9 percent increased from 1998. These policies are largely concerned about equal opportunities for different gender, race, and disability. When implementing some HRM practice such as recruiting, selection, pay rate system, managers are required to consider these policies in employee relations management. Moreover, there was other legislation introduced to improve employer-employee relations, covering work-life balance, hours of work, flexible working arrangements, employee well-being and job satisfaction etc. All these legislation pushed employers to make some differences in industrial relations management. In the late 1990s, the relationship between employers and employees was firstly defined as partnership. Therefore, partnership practice was expected to be implemented by employers. But does partnership practice really promote the managers-employees relations. Evidence was shown in table 2 below. Table 2 managers and employees perceptions of management-employee relations, 1998 and 2004 manager employee 1998 2004 1998 2004 Very good 41 47 16 19 good 47 46 40 41 Neither 8 6 27 24 Poor 3 1 12 12 Very poor 1 0 6 4 (Source from Workplace Employment Relations Survey) Compared with managers view, employees thought relationship was slightly less improved. Except that, managers hold a relatively positive attitude towards management-employee relations. 47 percent of mangers thought they had very good relations with employees while only 19 percent of employees agreed. Partnership relationship requires mutual trust, but the reality was less satisfactory. To sum up, industrial relations management showed considerable changes. Under the adopt of partnership relations between managers and employees, Less workforce want to be union members; direct commutation was widespread in workplaces; an decreasing number of workplaces recognized unions for bargaining on pay and conditions, and collective bargaining declined as well; an range of policies were implemented in workplaces to promote equal opportunities; and managers had wider responsibilities of caring their employees on flexible working conditions, work-life balance, security, job satisfaction etc. The role and influence of employers The most famous employer association in Britain is the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). Like TUC, CBI does not directly participate in collective bargaining. Its major work is to lobby to British government for employers interests. In the last three decades, employers association gradually lost their regulative power. Since 1970s, the decentralized trend was shown in private sectors. A range of operational jobs were distributed to lower departments while head office only had strong control on certain key issues. The employer power and freedom was greatly strengthened in the last few decades. There were many causes contributed to the situation. More competitive globalization in product market and governments policies in weakening union power let employers have more power in labour field. Employers focused on performance improvement, cost reduction in labour filed. Employers play an important role in employment relations management. They formulate the management policies and style. Employers also have the rights to decide whether or not recognize unions. During the period, employers have sought to manage industrial relations with HRM techniques. They became to purse employee commitment, teamworking, and work hard in improving communication with employees. In terms of pay determination, their measures have been extended. Performance-related pay, profit related pay and employee share schemes were adopted in most workplaces. As the maker and performer of these policies, employers decision and behaviors considerably influence industrial relations management. In workplaces, employers choose certain styles of employment relations management. Non-unionism prefers Soft HRM or bleak house management style while unionism prefers partnership at work. The role and influence of government Government plays a key role in industrial relations. Its attitude towards industrial relations can largely change the current situation. It is mostly related to governments role in law. Governments polices and legislation determined employers and trade unions attitudes and conduct of employment relationship. Since 1979, The Conservative Government canceled support for collective bargaining and attempted to decrease collectivism and regulation. The government published laws to regulate equal pay and opportunities at workplaces. When Labour Party took the government, they published National Minimum Wage, and were more concerned about employees rights. These actions made contributions to written equality policies in organisations and influenced pay system. On the other hand, government legislation reduced the power and ability of unions to control on industrial action, closed shop policies directly reduced trade unions membership. The role and influence of trade union In Britain, there was Trade Union Congress (TUC) and many affiliated unions. TUC dont have the rights to make industrial relations laws, their major work is to lobby to government and employers on behalf of employees interest and benefits. For many HR specialists, dealing with trade unions issues was once an important work in their jobs. However, since 1979, the Conservative Government took part the government, a series of anti-union legislation dramatically weakened union power. The cause was not only the political change and economy recession. Metcalf (1991, p.22) noted that the result was interacted by five factors: the economic climate, workforce market, government policies, the attitudes of employers, and union themselves. Studies show that larger organisations have more chance of Trade union presence. 64% union density was shown in public sectors. White-collars are more likely to be union membership. Labour partys return in 1997 has brought some changes, but the union power sti ll towards a falling trend. The Employment Relations Act 1999 aims to promote union recognition. And Labour Government spent more efforts on employees interests. In the last three decades, trade union changed a lot to attract new employees. Except proving legal advice, training for representatives has been developed. And TU try to build a partnership with employers. According to E.D.Ewings study (2005), trade unions have five major functions: a service function; a representation function; a regulatory function; a government function; a public administration function.(Ewing, 2005) A service function means trade unions plays a role of providing service and benefits to members. It takes twos forms. One is more traditional, comprising health and unemployment benefits, and even insurance. The other is more professional. Trade unions provide legal advice and representation to help workers. Trade union needs to recruit new membership for survive, the service functions are usually used as a recruitment toll as they provide a variety of service such as representation to those who has grievances at workplaces, which is much more important than collective bargaining now. Representation function has gained much concern in recent years. A representation function means that trade union is responsible for employees interest and benefits. Different from service function, representation function offer much more professional support to employees. And also trade union can take the form of collective representation to assist employees. Collective representation has two major forms: consultation and bargaining. Regulatory function is the most important role of trade unions. A regulatory function means that trade unions is responsible for making rules for union membership. The role can be achieved by two ways. One is directly performed through multi-employer collective bargaining, such as Joint Industrial Councils. Another way is indirectly performed through legislation. Because decentralized organisations increased in the past few decades, the role of trade union in collective bargaining on pay and conditions has declined. By contrast, regulatory legislation is more prevalent. Government function means that trade union are involved in cooperating with government to ensure they can perform their functions under governments legislation and policies. And public administration function is similar to government function they are all engaged in implementation and delivery of government policies. Trade unions attitude towards management has changed in recent years. Many trade unions now focus much on business. They attempt to develop flexible, motivated workforce and partnership not only equal treatment. Conclusion There have been great changes in UKs industrial relations. During the 1979-1997 periods, Britain suffered a great recession. The proportion of manufacturing industry declined. Unemployment problem is dramatically severe. The competitive labour market worsens the unemployment problem. The structure of economy and labour force also changed as well. Public service sectors grew quickly during this time. and increasing number of women, self-employment, part-time worker and temporary workers grow were engaged in workplace. Besides the economic changes, government restricted trade union power. And a series of legislation was carried out in order to control the activities of organized labour. The interaction of economic and political factors reduced the trade union membership density. In workplaces, employee relations specialists and line managers replaced traditional managers role. They become responsible for handing employee relations issues. Compared with traditional responsibilities, it was reported that employee relations mangers pay much attention to individual grievances, particularly related to legal proceedings. Employees support for trade union and support from management both declined. Finally, when the collective representation decreased, the management in industrial relations transferred to focus on communication with employees. Direct forms of communications were more prevalent at workplaces. In post-1997, Labour Party took the government; they attempted to enhance union recognition despite the gradual decline of union density. But they were increasingly concerned about employees rights, such as National Minimum Wage. Managers were more likely to determine pay level by diverse pay system: performance related pay, profit-related bonuses, and employee share schemes. Managers worked hard on improving employer-employee relations. Direct communications was widespread at the time. Managers actively listen to employees suggestion and questions. Management scheme covered more issues than before, such as work-life balance, flexible working arrangement, and equal opportunities. Due to governments support and the weaken power of trade unions, employers have more freedom and power. Employers can decide whether or not to be union members at workplaces and also can choose management style in industrial relations. Government as a law-maker plays a crucial role in industrial relations management. Trade unions represent the interests of employees, have five major functions: service function; representation function; regulatory function; government function; and public administration function.

School Improvement Plan: The UAE

School Improvement Plan: The UAE School planning, organization and management is directly related to human and physical resources. The foundation behind it is that schools should be capable of utilizing the entire resources in a way that help them in performing their obligations successfully. All schools need their students to succeed and prosper. But schools can simply create a lifelong change when they have emphasis on specific goals and strategies for change. School improvement planning (SIP) is a process through which schools set goals for improvement, and make decisions about how and when these goals will be attained. The definitive purpose of the process is to promote student achievement by improving the way curriculum is provided, by building an advantageous environment for learning, and by increasing the parental involvement in their childrens learning at school and in the home. In this assignment, the investigator will develop SIP focusing on the common problem affecting the private and public schools in the United Arab Emirates. An action plan will be developed to help in improving schools and consequently increasing student achievement. What is a school improvement plan? A SIP is a road map that undertakes the changes required by a school to increase student achievement, and indicates how and when these changes will be constructed. SIPsare selective: they help principals, teachers, and school councils answer the questions What will we focus on now? and What will we leave until later? They boost staff and parents to follow on student achievement and other issues, such as the school environment,that are known to impact student success. schools will able to respond to the needs of students, teachers, and parents when updated and trustworthy information are provided on student performance. Moreover, a SIP is a mechanism by which the community can hold schools responsible for student success and through which it can evaluateprogress. One of the first steps-a critical one-in establishing an improvement plan includes teachers, school councils, parents, and other community members working together to collect and examine data concerning the school and its students, therefore they can decide what needs to be enhanced in their school. As the strategy is implemented, schools keep ongathering this type of information. By comparing the novelinformation to the primarydata on which the plan was grounded, they- and the public-can assess the accomplishment of their improvement plans. Authentic change takes time. It is essentialto keep all partners involved in theSIPinformed. Gradual improvements are significant, and they should be distinguished, but they do not comprisepermanent change. Therefore,SIPs are best designed over three years: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Year 1 the planning process à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Year 2 the implementation à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Year 3 -continue the implementation. During initial discussions, or as time goes on, schools may need to expand their plan for additional years to make sure that they maintain their focus and attain their targets. Anyway,SIPs should beconsidered working documents that can beutilized tocheck their development over time andto make revisions when necessary to ensure that the plans stay on course. In developing SIP, the principal, staff, school council, parents, and other community members actthrough a diversity of activitiesconcentrated uponthreedomains of priority: curriculum delivery, school environment, and parental involvement. For all these areas, schools set up the following: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ A goal statement à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Performance targets à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Areas of focus à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Implementation strategies à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Indicators of success à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Time lines à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Responsibility for implementing strategies à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Checkpoints for status updates à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Opportunities for revisions. Appendix B contains a sample school improvement plan. All school partners must be involved in the SIP to guarantee its success. Schools represent the whole school community. The principal, who has the responsibility of school administration and delivering instructional leadership, is ultimately accountable for SIP. However,all school community should be actively engaged in all stages of the process: planning, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating progress. Purpose To identify effective strategies for developing school improvement plans that lead to enhanced student achievement and increased parental involvement in education Background According to KHDA (2009), there are 220 schools in Dubai; 189 schools were inspected between 2008 and 2009. The remaining 31 schools which use the Indian, Pakistani and Iranian curricula will be evaluated later. These 189 schools are composed of 109 private schools and 80 public schools. Among the private schools ; 49 schools follow the UK National Curriculum, 30 offering a US curriculum, 16 schools using the Ministry of Education (MoE) curriculum, 6 schools follow the International Baccalaureate (IB), 4 schools follow the French curriculum and a further 4schools provide unique curricula (German, Russian, Japanese and Philippine). All public schools in Dubai were checked, including Madares Al Ghad (MAG) schools and Model schools. The purpose of schools evacuation was to improve the delivery of education to students in Dubai and to help parents know that their children are being learned and are in safe, skillful, and caring hands. The overall findings of schools performance in Dubai were shocking as there are around 20,000 students in Dubai receives unsatisfactory quality of education, more than half the schools are presently delivering an education that is not yet of the good quality anticipated of all schools in Dubai.Additionally,9 out of 10 schools provide acceptable quality of education. None of the public schools got outstanding but 50% of them achieved good.As for the private section, 4 schools offering the UK curriculum attained outstanding, 50% of private schools achieved 50% while 75% were unsatisfactory. As for the students performance, the results were generally disappointed. Students progress in the key subjects, are not yet making sufficient progress in speaking and writing Arabic and English. In public schools, where English is taught as a second language, students English language skills are insufficient and expectations, chiefly in connection with writing and speaking, are not satisfactorily high. The students capability of using mathematics to solve problems is poor. In private schools, students skills in Arabic need improvement. Nearly 20% of students make unacceptable progress. In Islamic Studies, students progress in the public schools is better than the private schools. The majority of the students have good attitudes to learning. They are motivated, attentive and hard worker. Economic and environmental understanding is developing in most schools. Students are often unattended except in class. Different forms of bullying are noticed. The teaching and learning methods were not useful for the students as the majority of the teachers dominate the lesson discussion in the public schools and poorly performing private schools. Assessment in more 25% of all schools is unsatisfactory. Consequently, many students are not aware of their strengths and weaknesses. In schools delivering the MOE curriculum, and US curriculum, students are not prepared well for higher education or employment. Leadership and management are unsatisfactory in nearby 20% of private schools and in a similar proportion of boys public schools. Almost all schools do not have self-appraisal system to assess their own work. Finally, many schools have comprehensive connections with parents but they are unsatisfactory to some parents. What Areas Should Be Considered for Improvement? The main goal of SIP is to increase the level of student achievement. To achievegenuine change, nevertheless, the process needs to focus on specific priorities. Student performance becomes better when teachers use curriculum-delivery strategies that purposely address the studentsneeds, when the school environment is supportive, and when parents are effectively involved in the education of their children. To improve the process of planning, therefore, schools should institute one priority in each of these three components-curriculum delivery, school environment, and parental involvement. Basically, the planning process involves answering the crucial questions: What will we focus on now? and What will we leave until later? Curriculum delivery in the United Arab Emirates Curriculum is considered the foundation of the educational system. It incorporates the principles, underlying educational philosophy, goals, content and actual operation of the instructional program in the class, besides the written and other materials required to reinforce the educational system (Farah.S. Ridge.N. 2009).There are two new approaches presently being executed on a trial foundation in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)-a new standards-based curriculum in Abu Dhabi schools and a new English-medium curriculum in particular governmental schools, the Madares Al Ghad, over the UAE. Curriculum as a concept can be divided into three main components: intended curriculum, implemented curriculum and attained curriculum. The intended curriculum typically embraces the directorial documents shaped by the UAE-Ministry of Education (MOE) or other education authorities which command how much, how frequent and what should be taught in schools. The implemented curriculum is what really occur s in the class, how successfully teachers offer the material, how long they pass on a topic and what resources they need to deliver the content. Lastly, the attained curriculum is what students practically learn in the class, what skillsand values they grasp, and what content they assimilate and retain (Table 1). The focus of the MOE curriculum upon the buildup of factual knowledge rather than critical thinking limits students learning. Facts are learned in isolation and students are incapable of applying their knowledge in real life situations. This is proved evidently in the findings of the 2007 TIMSS survey, which examined students performance in the application of mathematics and science in many countries. The MOE curricula in mathematics and science give slight attention to practical investigation and the use of mathematical and scientific knowledge to solving problems (KHDA 2009). Consequently, students are not well equipped for the courses and careers they will study. Public school students have to choose either a scientific or literary arts for their last two years of school-based study. Both of these options have narrow scope, heavy content and do not prepare students for university. Curriculum Policy brief: The MOE (2008) has issued curriculum policy documents that set out standards, activities, strategies, expected outcomes and tools for teaching and assessment for student learning in all grades and subject areas. The policy documents also encompass achievement charts that assist teachers in assessingstudents achievement in respect to the expectations. Assessment strategies must focus on how the students integrate theory into practice to encourage independent thinking and enhance problem solving abilities. To set a goal for improving the delivery of the curriculum, principals, teachers, school councils, parents, and other community members participating in the SIP must understand the expectations emerged by the MOE and how well the those expectations are going to be achieved by the students. Main Findings Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau Annual Report(DSIB) will be used as groundwork for this investigation. According to DSIB(2009), the majority of the schools achieved an acceptable level in meeting the students educational needs in relation to their curriculum. Yet, in schools delivering curriculum of the MOE, and in many schools providing a USA curriculum, students are not equipped well to vie globally. Moreover,in these schools, wherethe mainstream of students are native Arabicspeakers, have limited selection of subjects and their physical, creative and analytical skills are developing. These curricula are not operated effectively to satisfy the prerequisites of students, including those with learning difficulties as well as the potentially highest achiever. Furthermore, curricular weaknesses in public schools hinder the progress of many students and limit their achievement. The ill prepared English curriculum and the reduced demands of the text books fail to sufficiently meet the requirements of students for English proficiency.The students are learning English as a second language where opportunities for using it in conversation are limited. Additionally, the curriculumprepares the students to use only a few vocabularies. The range of students reading and writing is alsoimperfect. Extended writing is rarely a feature in most public and poorly performing private schools. Students are customarilyneeded to give only short written answers to questions present in textbooks and English teaching is miserable. As a result, non-native speakers are often unable to communicate their thoughts and ideas confidently even in Grade 12. These limitationsalter thestudentspreparation for university. The curricula in mathematics and science dedicateminimal attention to implementing mathematical and scientific knowledge in investigating and solving problems of daily life. In private schools, a high number of the older students fail or do not complete courses, particularly in mathematics and science subjects a situation not helped by the lack of independent information, advice and guidance for students prior to their admission to courses. The ICT curriculum focuses barely on performing skills. In addition,it is taught in English and many students do not get it adequately. All schools physical education, art and music have low status in MOE curriculum anda plenty of the ill performing private schools. The time allocated to these subjects to beneficially effect students physical and cultural growth is not sufficient. Music and art is taught to only a few students after Grade6 and 9 respectively. These restrictions hamper thestudents opportunities to develop their capabilities for independent learning through such activities as team working. All schools provision for students with exceptional educational needs is poor overall.The governmental schools offer some support, mainly in separate classes, in Grades 1 to 3 School environment Environmental factors are the most influential on studentsachievement and success.Creating a well-fit school environment calls the involvement of, principals, teachers, school councils, parents, and other community members to make effective and relaxing placesfor learning. WHO defines a health-promoting school as one that constantly strengthens its capacity as a healthy setting for living, learning and working.The American Academy of Pediatrics (1993) defines a healthful school environment as one that protects students and staff against immediate injury or disease and promotes prevention activities and attitudes against known risk factors that might lead to future disease or disability. A schools environment is the thread that linkstremendous activities on a campus. In many situations this thread is nearly invisible; however each person experiences its effect. Positive social relations and attitudes about school are as significant to the environment as are safe and well-maintained buildings and grounds. The quality of the school-good or bad is reflected by the environment of the school. A safe, clean, and well-Kept school with a positive psychosocial setting and culture can nurture school connectedness, which in turn improves student and staff well-being as well as students educational achievement. A schools physical environment includes the school building and the surrounding grounds, such as noise, temperature, and lighting as well as physical, biological, or chemical agents. The disturbing increase in the number of asthmatic students is a unique problem that can, in part, be influenced by negative physical conditions in schools. The psychosocial school environment incorporates the attitudes, feelings, and values of students and staff. Physical and psychological safety, positive interpersonal relationships, recognition of the needs and success of the individual, and provision for learning are all part of the psychosocial environment. Other factors encompass: the economy; social, cultural, and religious influences; geography; socioeconomic status of students families; tax bases; and legal, political, and social institutions. Main Findings The quality of health care is good or outstanding in a majority both public and private schools. School nurses, doctors and social workers presentobviously in the schools to support the students and their families. Medical records are arranged properly and routine follow-up are difficult. The role of the social worker is to have positive relations with families and monitor students attendance carefully. In the majority of the public schools, however, social workers work in isolation and do not communicate properly with other staff in the school to provide a rounded view of students performance. Comparatively little healthy food is sold in school canteens in most public schools; students in these schools often eat crisps and sweets throughout the day. Safety issues including transport measures, fire safety procedures, supervision and security, affect some public and private schools. Students are frequently unsupervised except when in class. School transport is occasionally organized with few considerations for the safety of students in pedestrian areas and on board buses, where working seat belts are not always provided. In a minority of schools there are events of unsuitableusage of physical punishment in response to negative behavior. Different forms of bullying range from kicking, spitting, malicious teasing, taunting, making threats to spreading rumors, engaging in social exclusion, extortion and intimidation. Generalizations cannot be made to understand why bullying occurs; but it should be recognized in all its forms and not tolerated. A survey conducted by ADEC in 2009 involving 1728 students (grades 3 to 6). The findings revealed that young children have various concerns about bullying in the schools; more than 47% considered that students at the school are often endangered or bullied; and more than 63% favor remaining at home because it is more safer than the school. The procedures for student safety are feeble in most private schools excluding those categorized as the best performing. According to KHDA (2009) most private schools have effectual policies to handle bullying and other kinds of upsetting behavior, and students report such events as uncommon. Moreover, whilst the best performing private schools have well-defined procedures for bullying, in many others do not. Students in the schools that were identified to be lacking bullying policy have no person to tell to if there is mistreatment inside or outside the school putting them at risk. Sana, A. A., MOE psychology advisor in Dubai, states that the ministry admits bullying in schools and is trying to overcome it. Some students dont have sufficient information and competency to recognize and contend with the behavior of aggressors (Khaleej, T 2010). According to the head of KHDA, an attention should be given to new forms of bullying, such as cyber-bullying. Cyber-bullying has clearly increased in recent years and it can be more harmful and risky than other forms of bullying, (Samineh I. Undated). She cautioned of increasing incidence bullycide where children accustomed to escape to their homes to protect themselves from being intimidated at school, yet, through cyber-bullying there is no escape which give rise to many cases of bullycide ( bully associated suicides), Shaheem said (Gulf,N 2010). When the bully feels they cant express out their hostility on the school grounds, they will yell at either on the way home, on the bus or through text messages, chat rooms or Facebook. Speaking of one of the cases that came to Dubai Psychologist Dr. Singh, D., said that the plight of a small girl came to light only after her friend found her petrified at the sight of an older student and reported the incident. Her friend said that she was literally shaking at the sight of the older student, which led to an investigation that brought to light how the child was being bullied using social networking sites. Parental involvement Research found that parental involvement is one of the essential factorsleading to students success in school. Keeping the parents informed and involved in their childrens education will increase student achievement. Students attend school more frequently, finished more homework in a reliable manner, and exhibit more positive attitudes towards school. They also are more likely to complete high school. Parental involvement helps a child succeed in school and later in life. To ensure parents are informed about and involved in their childrens education, schools must foster partnerships with parents. Because parental involvement is one of the most significant factors in a childs success, it is crucial that all schools set a goal in their SIP for increasing it. Links with parents Many schools have comprehensive connections with parents but they are not continuously as effective as they want to be and some parents are unsatisfied withthe information givenabout their childs progress by the school. However,links with parents are usually good or outstanding in the best performing private schools. A small number of public schools have very good links with the local community and local businesses, which lead to enhanced outcomes for students. This is particularly true of schools in low economic status areas. The ADEC (2009) survey 1429 teachers in public schools and asked them about the number of times they met the parent personally and the degree of parents support to teachers .The result showed 6.9% have never met parents, 28.9% have met them once or twice a semester, 36.7% have met them once or twice a month, while 27.4% meet parents once a week. Regarding parents supporting the teachers teaching efforts, 55.5%feels some; while 13.5% feel never. More than 56.1% of teachers believe that only some parents make considerable effort to help their children learn; while only 5.6% do not at all. As for trust and confidence in parents as being partners in the teachers mission of educating the children, 19.3 % said no. Who Are the Partners in School Improvement Planning? Everybody involved in or interested in the operation of schools has a role to play in the SIP. District school boards and superintendents of education play vital roles in setting guidelines and in supporting and monitoring SIP. The most significantoperation, nevertheless, occurs within the school community itself. An effective SIParises when principals, teachers, school councils, parents, and other community participants work as a team to identify priorities, set goals for enhancement, apply strategies to reach those aims, and evaluate progress.Generally, principals responsibilities in SIP fall into three main categories:Communication, Leadership, Professional development. How Do We Begin? The first step of the SIP process is: Creating a SIP team; collecting and assessing data about student achievement, the school environment, and parental participation; and setting priorities for improvement through a sequence of activities. Principals play a fundamental role in these early platforms. They ease the creation of a planning team, which will be accountable for establishing priorities, and they ensure that the information needed for effective planning-such as report card marks, the results of assessments. Forming a school improvement planning team Principals should enlighten teachers, school council members, parents, and other community partners about the progressof SIP in a manner that appreciates their participation. In elementary schools, all the participants in the SIPconstitute a part ofthe planning process. Secondary schools, which usually comprise large teaching personnel, should guarantee that at least one representative from each section is part of the planning team, with the school council, parents, and other community affiliates who wish to share. In addition to expressing their preciousviewpoints and skills, teachers will alsofacilitate understanding ofinformation on students achievement as well as the expected value of and challenges implicated in a range of improvement suggestionsto other teammembers. It is imperative that the team be representative of the schools community. Principals should make hard effort to convince parents who correspond to a range of the school communitys demographic profile to play a part in the planning work out. Other communitymembers may offer worthinsights and perspectives, and their input should also be encouraged and vigorously sought out. Principals in the French-language systems will want to include leaders from the local francophone community. Finally, secondary school students should also contribute in the planning team. Principals should give confidenceto their involvement in the process, and possiblylook for those who are student leaders, motivating them to play a role. Principals in elementary schools may desire to engage interested Grade 7 and 8 with the teams work. All participants should have a positive attitude towards the process and realize that they have toact as a team. Scheduling meeting times for the planning team that are suitable to both staff and parents may be challenging. This issue can be solved by arranging parallel processes, whereby staff meets during school time whereas parents meet in the evening. The benefit of this organization is that it allows maximumparents participation. To insure consistency regarding decision makingbetween both groups, selected teachers could volunteer or be delegated to join both meetings. The SIPteam holds the role of analyzing data on student achievement in the school, the efficiency of the school environment, and parental involvement in their childrens education. Established on the results, team limbs make decisions about subjects that must be improved in priority. As figure 1 indicates, the planning work should take place between September and January of year 1. Understanding the context Before beginning a SIP, the planning team, together with parents, must be aware of and be familiar with particular types of information that school boards pass to staff and the public such as boards vision statement, national tests, and boards strategic plan, which includes short- and long-term goals for the district. In addition, members of the planning team should understand the nature and characteristics of the school and its community. Many schools create a school profile that sets out these characteristics in a simple way. Reviewing the school profile and debating each topic facilitate understanding of the school, and it places a context for the improvement strategy. A school profile could include information about the following: Student demographics Enrolment trends Languages spoken in the home The schools mission statement The schools program priorities Programs and services offered by the school (for example, guidance and library services) School facilities Class sizes Rate of student turnover or transfer Other relevant information. Schools in all systems should have other relevant information that will guide the readers of the profile obtain a realistic and full picture of their school. After acquiring an understanding of the boards targets and the schools characteristics, the planning team is prepared to start setting priorities for a SIP. Setting priorities SIPs are structured around three components: curriculum delivery, school environment, and parental involvement. The planning team must set up one priority in each of these three domains. The following activities will facilitate planning teams create these priorities: Priority for Enhancing Curriculum Delivery Collecting information The principal need to make sure that the planning team has the required data to identify which curriculum component (for instance, mathematics, science, reading, or writing) has the highest priority for improvement. Principal must also verify that the gathered information is reliable-that is, that it was collected according to the expectations and achievement outlined by the MOE. All teachers have to understand the MOEs policy obligations. The principal should therefore collect the following information for the planning team: Results of the annual assessments of students. Report card marks. Class profiles. Results of board-administered, national, and international tests. Discussing the information An open discussion, utilizing all the data collected about student achievement, allows all associates on the planning team to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses in providing the curriculum, and identifies a priority for improvement in this regard. Deciding on a priority The facilitator distributes red dot stickers to the team members. Each associate obtains a number of dots equal to one third the number of weaknesses. All team members vote, using the stickers, for the subject of curriculum weakness that they think should be called first. Members must use all their dots, but they may not use more than one dot per weakness. The weakness with the most dots becomes the priority for enhancing curriculum delivery. Priority for Improving the School Environment Collecting information The principal need to collect information that will help the planning team define a priority subject for improving the school environment, such as school layout, students behavior and health condition. Discussing the information Before the meeting starts, the facilitator should collect the responses to the parent survey, transcribe the strengths and weaknesses of the school as sensed by parents Deciding on a priority The facilitator allots red dot stickers to team members. Each person receives a number of dots equal to one third the number of weaknesses. All members vote, using the stickers, for the ranges of weakness that they suppose should be handled first. Participants must get through all their dots, but they may not use more than one dot per weakness. The weakness rank high dots becomes the priority for enhancing the school environment. Priority for Increasing Parental Involvement Collecting information To help the planning team arrive at an endorsed priority for improving parental involvement, the principal should supply them with duplicates of: the school profile, a summary of the information collected in the parent survey. Discussi