The differences between primary school in England and Saudi Arabia Essay

The differences between primary school in England and Saudi Arabia - Essay Example The extent to which the models and theories of education build experience for children has elicited interests among the researchers. The systems of education in Saudi Arabia and England offer different levels of experience because educators in both countries adopt different models of educational transmission. Experience constitutes the aspects of intellect and consciousness, which children acquire when they undergo learning processes. They constitute a combination of thought processes, emotion, will, perception and imagination (Rowe, Herrera, Hughes, & Cawley, 2012). The models used by teachers to transmit knowledge to primary school children largely determine the extent to which learners acquire desirable experiences in education. Superior experience refers to the ability of one education system having a higher potential to enhance children’s learning than the other system. Models of educating children are characterised by diverse features and are applicable in different contexts. Factors that lead to superior experience include the educations system of a country, the content of the curriculum, and learners’ autonomy; further details concerning these factors are discussed in the analysis part. Models that promote superior experience enhance development of children across all spectrum of life including economic, social, and political aspects (Bloxham & Boyd, 2012). Superior experience is achieved through educators and curriculum developers focusing on all dimensions of Bloom’s taxonomic units when developing and executing the curriculum. Bloom’s taxonomy consists of cognitive domain, affective domain and psychomotor domain. Additionally, superior experience results from having courses developed by educators who understand the reality of primary classrooms (Schneider, 2013). Experienced educators have the potential for reviewing and updating courses regularly to ensure activities,

Psychological Perspectives of Understanding Essay Example for Free

Psychological Perspectives of Understanding Essay Introduction This booklet will introduce you to the main psychological perspectives to the understanding of a child’s behaviour development. Each perspective will be described in as much detail as possible, and the theorist that are linked to them. The main perspectives are; * Psychodynamic * Freud * Behaviourist * Skinner * Cognitive * Piget * Humanist * Rogers, Maslow, Cooley and mead * Social learning The psychodynamic perspective This perspective is very much based on the early work of Sigmund Freud. It is believed that behaviour is made from a child’s subconscious feelings, which all come from life experiences. It is viewed as a child’s problem as an outward and visible symptom of invisible conflicts. All the conflicts may come from trauma, loss, or from a strained/troubled relationship with parents or carers. Children do not have any inner resources that help them understand their feelings completely so they may be shown in inappropriate and difficult behaviour. Sigmund Freud said that â€Å"when a child’s too painful or too difficult feelings are left untalked about, they leak out in difficult and challenging behaviour or in neurotic symptoms.† The source of a painful feeling is buried under a defensive mechanism that is very hard to find in a child; because of this most children do not understand why they are behaving this way. A psychodynamic assessments are always carried out by psychiatrist as they use techniques that are designed to provide an insight into their past. To do this they use the response of the child to make inferences about sub-conscious motives for behaviour. Once they have understood the child’s behaviour the psychologists will start an intervention which will help the child express their feelings instead of it coming through their behaviour. These can be done through the following;  * Build a supportive relationship with a significant adult * Help the child to talk about what they are feeling in an secure environment * Express painful feeling through drama, storytelling, play or cartoons The behaviourist perspective This perspective is based from the work Skinner. It was said â€Å"Law of Effect† is the behaviour that leads to strengthened behaviour which is ignored or unsatisfying which is all weakened. Behaviourists claim that all behaviour of children are learned and can be changed by systems, such as rewards or punishment. There are two types of rewards behaviourists use, these are informal and formal. * Informal – acknowledgement or praise * Formal – clear targets for example stickers, tokens or points which all then lead to bigger rewards. The behaviourists also claimed that the behaviour requires a scientific approach which is completely based on objectivity and experimentation. The methods they were use were considered to be unscientific, so instead it was all placed on observations on their behaviour rather than a searches for the cause of the behaviour through the child’s past. Behavioural assessments in schools involve observation and recording of a child’s behaviour. When they are observing it is all taken down on an observation checklist, which includes the following titles; * Antecedent * Behaviour * Consequences All this is then used to form a baseline for a post-intervention can be assessed. The Cognitive perspective This perspective shows how a child’s develops understanding what is around them. This refers to different mental activities such as; * Listening * Speaking * Learning * Understanding All the theories of cognitive development concentrate on developments of  their intellectual skills. All the skills that we have are the ones that have been learnt through cognitive development. If none of the children have cognitive skills then they wouldn’t be able to put past experiences or plan future events, cognitive development is very much concerned with how the mental processes work and develop. There were two psychologists who studied cognitive development, there name was Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky. Jean Piaget was a psychologist who looked at a child’s developing their reasoning skills. Piaget carried out detailed observations of them and as his work started taking shape on how our understanding a child’s intellectual skills and as a result of this he has made changes in education. Piaget understood that cognitive developments occurred in stages, his research concentrated on how children learn and start to gain an understanding of their stage of development to be able to learn new concepts. He identified a four-stage process of cognitive development all the way through childhood. He stated that every child would go through each stage but not at the same time, but he also said that some children would sometimes never reach the later stages. The four stages are; * Sensorimotor stage (0-2 years) * Children at very young ages start to learn by their own activity and movement. Everything babies touch or see they put into their mouths or hold them tight and they examine them closely. A child develops an understanding through something called schema. Schema is a mental construction which contains all the information a child has about a particular aspect of the world. * Pre-operational stage (2-7 years) * At this stage children start to show evidence of thinking but it’s not logical thinking, they are not able to perform mental operations. Children will start to use symbolic behaviour such as pretend play, language and drawings. * Concrete operations stage (7-11 years) * At this stage children are able to understand any ideas in a much more logical way but they sometimes still find it hard to understand concepts. * Formal operational stage (age 12 to adult) * At this stage children are able to think in a way which is more abstract and logical way, they can use reasoning skills; they are applying a general principle to a particular situation. Children are more flexible in the way they think. There are two people who have been highly interested in cognitive styles of therapy. Aaron Beck and Albert Ellis, Aaron Beck has used methods of cognitive behavioural therapy to treat many people who have or are suicidal, depressed or may have personality disorders. Whereas Albert Ellis looked at the different ways to change their behaviour my using methods of Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy, he used this to show his patients that their feelings were results of different habits by conditioning rather than being realistic. Therapists that use this approach use training and role-play techniques to modify their behaviour. The humanist perspective This perspective makes positive aspects of development and growth, this emphasises a person’s unique experiences to a personal thoughts. There are four psychologists that are specialised in this perspective, these four are; * Carl Rogers * Rogers developed the concept on self-esteem. According to him everyone has an idea of what someone’s ideal self should be. He believed that if your image of your self is the same as your ideal self then you have good self-esteem. Rogers said that the development of self-esteem all depends on positive regard from others, the effect of a child’s self-esteem will come from their parents’ unconditional love and affection. Children will start to cope with different situations as they get older, for example a sense of achievement or failure in either sports or their educational skills. Rogers also considered cultural factors, gender and physical attributes to come to his conclusion. * Abraham Maslow * Maslow’s theory is based on individuals that are being motivated through seeking to develop through five levels of need. The most basic needs are physiological which are survival instinct, which is then followed by safety needs, belonging and loving needs, self-esteem needs and at the very top is personals achievements and growth. * Cooley * Cooley proposed â€Å"looking glass† theory, which means that the behaviour from children to others acts like a looking glass which gives us a reflection of ourselves. It raises people’s self-esteem. * Mead * Mead had the view that everyone has two aspects â€Å"I† and â€Å"me†. This means that â€Å"I† is the social responses of individual and â€Å"me† being the responses and attitudes of others. It was important of the communication with others for the development of self-esteem. The Social learning perspective Social psychology looks at aspects of development such as behaviour such as being in a group, leadership, non-verbal behaviour and aggression. The social perspective looks at the environment, interactions with others that have influenced the child’s behaviour and attitudes. Bandura theory emphasises on the environment and the social steps of learning. His view is that it would be part of a child’s self development, is what they have observed and imitated from people around them.

Islamic Concept Of Charity And Social Security Religion Essay

Islamic Concept Of Charity And Social Security Religion Essay This paper deals with the Islamic concept of charity and the formation of moral economy. Charity in Islam has different forms (zakat, sadqah and donation). It forms the social security system for the vulnerable class. It purifies the legally earned money and determines the close connection of the worship of the God. The crux of the charity is to form a moral economy which regulates the behaviour of Muslims in economic and social affairs. The moral economy is based on the fairness, sense of responsibility and purity in worship welfare and social security of the people. 1. Introduction The contemporary debate of the charity has been long in the literature (Melvin 2009, Ferrari and Khan 2010, Shirazi 1996, Scott 1987 and Waldron 1986). Specifically, the religious zeal and zest revolves around the notion of charity (Iwobi 2009). Islamic concept of charity is not exception for that debate of social welfare and the security (Scott 1987). It emphasizes on the moral values and the contribution to the neglected segment o f the society. However, Islamic concept of charity and social security has never been debated in the light of the moral economy. This paper is intended to give a comparative view about the different notions of the Islamic charity (zakat, sadqah and donation). The concept of charity, in general, is not new because every religion of the world preached that charity. However, the focus of this paper is to highlight the forms of charity in Islam, their differences and their impact on the multiculturalism and the formation of the moral economy. The definition of charity in Islamic tradition differs and it is context specific. However, its aim and goals remain the same. The Quran states: And be steadfast in your prayer and pay charity; whatever good you send forth for your future, you shall find it with Allah, for Allah is well aware of what you do (Al-Quran: Al-Baqara 2:110). Similarly, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: No wealth (of a servant of Allah) is decreased because of charity (Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith No. 2247). Charity is the fifth pillar of Islam and its reward will be given in the after world. The charity is not reciprocity for this world, but the world after. The Quran declare the five basic concept of the zakat. These concepts included: infaq (spending benevolently), ihsan (kindness), zakah (purification), sadqah (charitable deed) and khayrat (good deeds). However, Islam does not force anyone to give charity. It is obligatory in the form of zakat and voluntary in the shape of sadqah (charity) and donation. 2. Basic concepts of charity in Islam Islamic charity has three basic concepts: zakat, sadaqah and donation. 2.1 Zakat (alms giving) The zakat (Ø ²Ãƒâ„¢Ã†â€™ÃƒËœÃƒËœÃ‚ ©Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ½) is extracted from the word zaka to be pure that denotes purification. The Quran highlights to the purification of wealth and states: Of their wealth take alms to purify and sanctify them (Al-Quran, Al-Tawbah 9:103). The zakat is obligation on a Muslim. It is moral duty of a Muslim to pay zakat at the rate of 2.5% per year. A Muslim cannot deny the zakat. The Quran lists recipients of Zakat: Zakat is for the poor and the needy and those who are employed to administer and collect it, and for those whose hearts are to be won over, and for the freeing of human beings from bondage, and for those who are overburdened with debts and for every struggle in Gods cause, and for the wayfarers: this is a duty ordained by God, and God is the All-Knowing, the Wise. (Al-Quran 9:60). The zakat is given individually to the relatives, neighbors and vulnerable communities. It is also administered collectively: Muslim charity organization, some of the Muslim states regulates the departments which are responsible of the charity (for instance Ministry of Religious Affairs, Zakat and Ushr in Pakistan) and Muslim associations. Nevertheless, zakat is mandatory to every Muslim (who can pay), but it is willful to pay individually or collectively. 2.2 Sadaqah (charity) The word sadaqah (Ø µÃƒËœÃ‚ ¯Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ÃƒËœÃ‚ ©Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ½) is derived from the Arabic root sadaqah which means to be truthful and hence sadaqah implies engaging in any virtuous and moral act in order to earn happiness of God. The sadaqah has certain principals which a Muslim must follow. One, sadaqah is given in the name of God. Second, the money or the donation should be from the legal sources. Islam discourages the illegitimate (stolen or unethically gained) money or resources. Third, surplus money (beyond the need of a person) is the money of God and Muslims are custodian of it. Therefore, they should spend and return the money to the needy, poor and spend on the ways of God. The Quran outlines the charity: Those who (in charity) spend of their goods by night and by day, in secret and in public, have their reward with their Lord: on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve. (Al-Quran, Al-Baqarah 2:274). The Quran further highlights: And spend something (in charity) out of the substance which We have bestowed on you, before Death should come to any of you and he should say, O my Lord! Why didst Thou not give me respite for a little while? I should then have given (largely) in charity, and I should have been one of the doers of good. But to no soul will Allah grant respite when the time appointed (for it) has come; and Allah is well acquainted with (all) that ye do. (Al-Quran, Al-Munafiqun 63: 10-11). Further, the Quran states: And they feed, for the love of Allah, the indigent, the orphan, and the captive. We feed you for the sake of Allah alone: no reward do we desire from you, nor thanks. (Al-Quran, Al Insà ¢n 76:8-9). In another statement, the Quran states: For those who give in Charity, men and women, and loan to Allah a Beautiful Loan, it shall be increased manifold (to their credit), and they shall have (besides) a liberal reward (Al-Quran, Al Hadà ®d 57:18). Sadaqah is important for a number of purposes. It reduces the sins and increases the virtue of a Muslim. It compensates for shortcoming in any negligence in the payment of zakat. For instance, if a person forgets to pay zakat in the past or was guilty to pay the zakat, the sadaqah reduces the burden of the past. Sadaqah give a sense of protection not only the giver but also to the receiver of falling victim of disaster. God pleasure is received through the sadaqah. It is pleasure of the giver of the charity. The person feels happiness and fulfills his/ her obligation to the betterment of the humanity. Model of Islamic Charity Sadqah and donation: Volunteer charity No specification of rate or time Depends upon the capacity of an individual capacity Zakat: Obligatory charity Wealth: (income, earnings and savings) at the rate of 2.5% per anum Agriculture product: Crops (around 10%). Islamic Tresury (Fund): Bait-ul-Mal Spending: Needy, poor (orphans, widows), employees to administer and collect zakat, for those whose hearts are to be won over, captive (prisoners), in debts and scholars, and for the wayfarers. Social Security: Marginalized persons, communities Fig 1.1 Fig 1.1 indicates that Islamic notion of charity is mainly based on the zakat, sadaqah and donation. These donations are collected at the Islamic funds. The fund is used to look after the marginalized community. This welfare is a form of social security. Everything related to the Islamic charity is based on the moral economy. The notion of moral economy is main crux of the charity. 2.3 Donation Third term which is often used is the donation. The donation refers to give money, gift or compensate the person, organization who is in need. A donation is typical a charity and it serves the purpose of humanity. Different words are used for the donation: khairat (Ø ®Ãƒâ€ºÃ…’Ø ± Ø Ø ª) or attya (Ø ¹ÃƒËœÃ‚ ·Ãƒâ€ºÃ…’Û ). These words denote the charity collectively and individually. Islam appreciates the donation to the cause of the humanity. It is normally given at the time of disaster, emergency, people in need, to save a human being, construct an educational institution and to feed the hungry people. 3. Difference between zakat, sadaqah and donation Zakat, sadaqah and donations are different kinds of charities in Islamic ideology. Zakat is the obligatory annual alms-giving which is determined on the basis of the value of ones own wealth. It is calculated 2.5% as per Islamic traditions in an year. The zakat is calculated at the beginning of the Islamic month Ramadan. According to the Islamic scholars, the zakat must be collected from the Muslims. This principal does not apply to the non- Muslims living in a Muslim state. It is mandatory and has strict verdict to pay the zakat, however, without any penalty for it. Zakat is responsibility of the only person who owns wealth. It is liable on the individual and the family. However, the sadaqah is a charity that is given beside the zakat contribution over the surplus wealth. It is volunteer act and without any percentage. Sadaqah is not specified as only monetary terms (feeding the poor and the needy), but also given support to the orphans, widows in the form of advising or counseling. It also includes the volunteer activities for the befit of the community at larger: teaching to the poor, giving sense of good faith and advising them to excel on the right path, the path of God. Similarly, some of the Islamic scholars believe that to form charity organization, construct educational institutions (mosque, school, college, universities) and construction of well (to clean water supply to the community) are the different forms of sadaqah. It can be given on the name of any relative (parents or children), if a person wishes to do so. Nevertheless, the sadaqah is volunteer act of the person and depend upon the capacity and surplus wealth of the person. On the other hand, the donation is neither time specific nor it is mandatory or obligatory. It is volunteer activity of a person. It significantly differs from the zakat, but close to the sadaqah. Nevertheless, these three types of the charity contribute to the welfare of the humanity altogether. 4. Comparative view of charity: Development of moral economy Islamic notion of charity (in its different forms) generates a moral economy. This is the economy which is based on the good faith and welfare of the humanity. In line with Bollig (1998) and Thompsons (1971, 1993) notion of moral economy. Islamic charity gives the following notion of charity. 4.1 Islamic charity: Moral injection Benthall (1999) highlights the Quranic injection of charity. According to Benthall the Islamic system of almsgiving (zakat) is more organized than other societies. For him, the zakat is closely associated with the prayers and the worship of God, therefore, the Muslim are morally obliged to pay the zakat to the poor, to the needy as per Islamic conception. He argued that Zakat can be distributed in poor, needy, orphans, widows, divorcees, prisoners and their families, unemployed and homeless people, students, those who cannot afford to marry. It is also for the disasters victims and those in need of free medicine or dignified funerals of a person who need it (Benthall 1999:31). Therefore, the Islamic charity is a moral injection to work for the betterment of the humanity. 4.2 Zakat: Powerful instrument to poverty eradication Zakat denotes growth, extension and purification and it is a donation on wealth and agriculture product. The zakat is collected as per nature of the wealth. It is collected to fulfill the tire needs of the marginalized segment of the society. The zakat is fundamental creed of Islam: It obligatory act of worship (Mohammad 1991). According to Mohammad (1996), the zakat is a system that has potential to eradicate poverty and inequalities (1991:1119). The zakat system is well organized system for the development of a country but it can be more organized for poverty eradication and for the maintenance of a society like Pakistan (Mohammad 1991). Similarly, a survey was conducted in 1990/91 of the household Integrated Economic Survey in Pakistan and findings revealed that the zakat and usher were the significant to contribute the lives of the people (Shirazi 1996). According to the survey, 39000 zakat committees were working with 250 thousand volunteers (Shirazi 1996:166). The zakat contribution on 1981/1982 from 845.85 million Pakistani rupees to 4655.9 million in 1993/94 (Shirazi 1996:170). The money was spending to substance allowance for poor (708.622 million), rehabilitation (245.669 million Pakistani rupees) and 1738234 people benefited from the zakat contribution (Shirazi 1996:185). However, the latest figures on the issue are not available. The development of the Islamic charity and its faire distribution could lead to alleviate and then eradicate poverty in the Muslim countries. However, the institution either do not exist or unable to deliver the services effectively. At some places, this institution was suppressed due to the fear of the dominance and power politics. Nevertheless, the Islamic charity has potential to contribute to the welfare of the humanity. 4.3 Charity: Road towards the social justice According to Bremer (2004:1) the development of any society local resources are necessary. Islamic societies developed over a range of charity organizations to in order to address the needs of the needy and poor. These organizations are zakat boards, wakf (endowment) and diverse local structures reflecting the richness of Islamic culture from Dakar to Davao (Ibid). For her, a strong civil society is now widely recognized as an important pillar supporting democratic institutions in the West (Bremer 2004:2). The strength of the civil society leads towards the development of the democratic institutions. According to her, foreign aid and a government is not enough for development in Muslim societies. Bremer outlines that in recent years USAID has funded the creation of an NGO service center that provides technical assistance and training to civil society organizations, and has granted financial support directly to NGOs ranging from business associations to community development groups (B remer 2004:3). For her, this development contribution can be significantly increased with the assistance of Islamic charity in Muslim societies. Ultimately, this charity leads towards the establishment of the social justice system (Bremer 2004). The whole notion of charity revolves around the notion of social justice in the Muslim world. The charity is the strong instrument to bring in the social justice. It helps the marginalized population within the society and tries to bridge the gap between the poor and the rich. 4.4 Charity: Funding for free education According to Blanchard (2007) religious school work as a charity organization in Muslim countries. They are source of providing education to the vulnerable groups, especially to the madrasas (religious schools). Madrasas offer a free education, room, and board to their students, and thus they appeal to impoverished families and individuals. On the whole these religious schools are supported by private donations from Muslim believers through a process of alms-giving known in Arabic as zakat. The practice of zakatone of the five pillars of the Islamic faithprescribed that a fixed proportion of ones income be given to specified charitable causes, and traditionally a portion of zakat has endowed religious education (2007:4). Blanchard (2007) provides information that in Pakistan Madrasas are being observed by the government regarding their finance sources after 9/11 attack in the United States. He reveals that the madrasas are contributing to provide the education to the poorest. He found that madrasas are registered in Pakistan and their financial assistance is observed by the Government of Pakistan since August 2006 (Blanchard 2007:5). Nonetheless, the charity could fill the gap of the education. 4.5 Charity: Belief and health seeking behaviour A study highlights the importance of the sadaqah in health seeking behaviour in Pakistan (see Midway, Tabasco, Hani, and Khan 2010). This study revealed those patients who strongly belief and practice sadaqah (charity) feel better and believe that they can recover their health after giving charity to the poor. According to this research, almost 85% of the respondent thought and gave charity. The study reveals that the sadaqah is usually giving in the form of money (85.2%) clothes (49.2%) and sacrificing an animal (65.5%). Almost 92% of the respondents relate the belief and practice of sadaqah giving in the hope of recovery from illness. Nevertheless, charity gives internal strength to the patients and they believe that they can have better health recovery after giving the charity. 4.6 Islamic charity is universal or specific notion of welfare: There are two views about the Islamic charity. One, it is localized notion of welfare and limited to the only Muslims and the Muslim societies. The Muslims are contributors as well as consumer of the charity. This perspective is under criticism among a large segment of the Muslim scholars (see Benthall 1999). However, the second point of view is that Islamic charity is universal and every human being without border, creed and dogma can benefit from the charity. However, the charity contribution is applied only on Muslims. The Muslim contributes to the charity and gives equal importance to the whole human being in order to disburse the charity (Benthall 1999). However, they do not impose on the non- Muslims. Nevertheless, only Muslims are contributor of the Islamic charity. However, it is equally important to give the charity to the non-Muslims. There is no specification of creed or dogma in the Islamic charity (except zakat). The zakat is limited to the Muslim societies. The donation are without any religious affiliation or association. 5. Discussion There is wide spread opportunity to get resources in order to feed the marginalized segment of the society, as per the notion of Islamic charity, then why the Muslim countries are dependent upon foreign aid is a question which is often raised. In fact, there are two major reasons of the dependency of the Muslim societies on the foreign aid and remain in the vicious cycle of poverty and under development. 5.1 Collapse of the charity institution: Change in the charity institutions Muslim countries depend upon the foreign aid because they were unable to maintain their institutions. Such institutions were collapsed during the colonization or soon after (Bremer 2004). In the eyes of the colonial masters, the Muslim charity institutions were the symbol of Muslim legacy and they were a source of the rise of the Muslim power. Therefore, it was necessary to abolish such institution from the Muslims societies (Bremer 2004). Especially, the zakat institution was under strong scrutiny during the colonial era because it was believed that this institution supports the freedom struggle. The colonial powers developed the institution of welfare instead of the zakat institution. However, this welfare institution, developed by the colonial powers, was perceived as not ones own. It was considered as a symbol to get money, but without any legacy (Bremer 2004). It was just perceived as the symbol of the colony and soon after become the source to collect the money by hook or by crook. People wanted to get benefited from the social welfare but not were ready to pay it back. Therefore, it was not much institutionalized as the zakat was spread during the Muslim era in the Middle East and in the Muslim countries before the 19th century. However, the Islamic charity institutions are believed as part of the worship of the God. Therefore, there were rare cases of the unfairness or corruption. They have strong check and balance to maintain the charity among the Muslim charity organizations. Nonetheless, the change in the charity institution brought mistrust and unfairness in the charity. Many of the Muslims societies became the prey of it and remain in the vicious cycle of poverty and under development. 5.2 Collapse of morality: Change to develop a new morality based on materialism Islam appreciates the giving hands (charity giver) and discourages the charity recipient. According to Islam, giving hand is better than the receiving hand. However, current scenario does not reflect the basic ideology of the charity of Islam. Despite of the fact that the zakat remain as an institution among the Muslim societies at individual level. However, it was not developed at the state level after the colonial era. It was perceived that state is in the hands of someone else (colonial masters or their local representatives) and there was not any institutionalized method of the zakat collection and its distribution. This mistrust or non-confidence led to collapse the real notion of the moral economy among the Muslims. In Islamic morality, there are two sets of rights and obligation for a Muslim: the rights to worship God and the right to serve the humanity. In Islam, the right of God may be put aside by the God, if He wants to do so. However, the right to serve the humanity cannot be neglected until unless the fellow human beings do not forgive it. It is exclusive related with the people and their rights. They (people, especially poor and the needy) have to forgive their rights to the fellow Muslims. So the Islamic moral values exclusive emphasize on the welfare and social security of the humanity and the marginalized group of the society. However, the collapse of the Islamic morality of charity is dominated phenomenon in the current era. It does contradict on the basic philosophy of the Islam that spends everything to the humanity which is surplus. However, the materialism and greed for wealth is dominant in the current culture of the Muslim societies. It is depicted in the life style and in the emerging value system. Consequently, it is affecting the basic notion of the Islamic charity and changing the moral economy of the Muslim in the contemporary era. 7. Conclusion Islamic concept of charity is much associated with the Muslim societies. It forms a moral economy and moral value systems (give charity and worship to the God). It also strengthens the notion of close social networking of the Muslims. However, it does not neglect the humanity at large. It gives a due share to provide the help to the people of the world. The charity is given to the needy, poor, scholars, charity organizations and welfare of the society at large. However, criticism to retain the Muslim charity among Muslim is not exclusive from the discussion of the charity. Dominant point of view, however, is in favour of the humanity rather than the welfare of the any specific community. Islamic charity begins from the individual level. It creates the space for the state. However, it does not exclusive involve the state to regulate the charity. The charity in Islam is equally important to the worship of God. Islam emphasize the worship of God (right to obey the God) and the service for the humanity (the rights of the poor and the needy). The charity is the right of the fellow human beings who are in need and it cannot be neglected as per Islamic moral economy. The Islamic charity is grounded in the concept of the moral economy.

Theme of Power in Harold Pinters The Homecoming :: Harold Pinter Homecoming Essays

The Theme of Power in The Homecoming Author: Sarah Marchant In Harold Pinter's "The Homecoming" one of the important themes is power. Many of the characters try to exert power. Many of the characters try to exert power over others through various means such as sexuality and intelligence. The use of violence within the household is believed by the men to be the most important tool of power. However, when Ruth, the only woman in the play, enters, she appears to defeat the men's power, but not with violence. Her sexuality and apparent intelligence become part of the way in which she takes control of the house. Power itself is the ability to take control and exert authority over others. Violence is a physical form of this. It usually takes the form of a display of force and this could be an unjust or even unlawful action. There could be a use of violent language or an element of threatened violence. However, the degree of power this holds is determined by the reaction of those threatened, or whether or not anything comes of the threat. Teddy introduces his wife, Ruth, into his childhood home that is a scene of tense threats and reports of violence - both sexual and physical. As soon as the play begins there is conflict between Lenny and his father, Max. Having been insulted by Lenny, Max threatens him with his stick, saying "Don't you talk to me like that. I'm warning you". However, nothing comes of this threat. The only element of power that can be inferred comes from the way in which Lenny makes no response. Perhaps he has previous experience of Max's anger, or it could be that both parties know that there is no point in pursuing the matter. The power that is expected to come with a threat is non-existent in this household as the threats are well-worn and always empty. Max demands that Teddy and Ruth leave his house, yet by the end of the play, he is sobbing and yearning for attention from Ruth. The insults and derogatory terms used within the family are not so much an element of power as a way of life. As there is no real mother figure within the household, the men have lapsed into a way of life in which they can show no affection to each other. Instead they insult each other in ways usually reserved for women: "bitch" and "slag".

Modern Technology Has Made Our Lives More Complicated

Hardy’s Mayor of Casterbridge is a novel that revolves around the concealment and divulging of secrets. Henchard, Susan, Newson and Lucetta all keep secrets, which are revealed throughout the course of the novel. Although Susan is a minor character, she plays a major role in the novel through the concealment of her secret. She hides her daughter Elizabeth Jane’s true identity from Henchard, thus allowing him to think she is his daughter. She also keeps the information about her prior relationship with Henchard from Elizabeth Jane, as well as the fact that she had a half-sister that died. The lack of information strangles the relationship between Henchard and Elizabeth Jane. Although Susan keeps these secrets to protect her daughter, her lack of candor results in the consequences she fears most – her daughter’s emotional upheaval. While Susan herself does not reveal the secret, it is disclosed through a letter before the planned time, thus causing Elizabeth Jane’s alienation from Henchard. The reader is oblivious to Susan’s secret until it is revealed in her letter to Henchard. Susan chooses to keep Elizabeth Jane’s identity a secret because she is afraid of disappointing Henchard. A quiet, unassuming woman, Susan is scared of disappointing others and how they will react when she upsets them. She believes that in order to restore order between her and Henchard she must conceal the truth about Elizabeth Jane. It is hard enough for her to reunite with Henchard and when she is alone in the ring with him, she admits meekly, â€Å"I am quite in your hands, Michael†¦if you tell me to leave again to-morrow morning, and never come near you more, I am content to go† (63). Susan’s speech is reflective of her timid and submissive personality. In addition, when Henchard asks Susan if she forgives him, â€Å"she murmured something; but seemed to find it difficult to frame her answer† (64). Susan is unable to show her true feelings because she is afraid of Henchard’s reaction. Thus she finds it necessary to keep Elizabeth Jane’s birth a secret because she is scared of upsetting Henchard. At the same time that she conceals the identity of Elizabeth Jane’s father from Henchard, she hides her connection with Henchard from Elizabeth Jane. Although many times â€Å"she had been upon the point of telling her daughter Elizabeth-Jane the true story of her life† in the end she â€Å"had restrained† (20). Susan’s choice to leave her daughter in the dark allows Elizabeth Jane to enjoy an innocent childhood, and she is blissfully unaware of her mother’s troubles. Susan is afraid of disrupting Elizabeth Jane’s equilibrium and cannot bring herself to tell the truth. â€Å"The risk of endangering a child's strong affection by disturbing ideas which had grown with her growth was to Mrs. Henchard too fearful a thing to contemplate† (20). The words â€Å"endangering† and â€Å"disturbing† highlight Susan’s main goal in hiding her secret from Elizabeth Jane and reflect her entire purpose in life. Because Susan is meek and easily controlled, she is afraid to cause a reaction that she cannot control. She is â€Å"fearful† of anything beyond the ordinary, including unexpected reactions. This character trait is evident when she first meets Henchard and is surprised by his appearance as mayor. â€Å"I don't think I can ever meet Mr. Henchard,† she says in shock. â€Å"He is not how I thought he would be—he overpowers me! I don't wish to see him any more† (29). The sentiments she expresses in this statement illustrate her fear of the unknown, and her easily manipulated nature. Susan uses the word â€Å"overpowers† to demonstrate the lack of control she feels in her life and her tendency to be dominated by a superior. In Elizabeth Jane’s case, as in her relationship with Henchard, she prefers secrecy over openness because of her fear of upsetting others. Susan’s secrets are unexpectedly disclosed to both parties, when she is no longer alive to view the reaction. Their revelation results in the opposite effect, harming both Henchard and Elizabeth Jane. Susan’s greatest desire is to shield her daughter from trouble, but her fear of dealing with the truth ends up bringing on what she dreads most. Susan is overly concerned with appearances and manners, and she fusses about what others will think and say. Susan’s letter exhibits her tendency to avoid disappointing and shocking others. Even in her writing one can sense her fright at revealing the news to her husband. She begins her letter by prefacing â€Å"I hope you will understand why† (108). Later on she begs, â€Å"Don’t curse me, Mike. † Although she is only writing and not speaking, she finds it hard to let out her secret, explaining â€Å"I can hardly write it. † However, despite all of Susan’s reservations and hesitations, and intentions to protect her daughter, she ends up harming her. Her worst fears are confirmed when Henchard begins to treat Elizabeth Jane coldly and Elizabeth Jane â€Å"lived on, a dumb, deep-feeling, great-eyed creature† (115). Instead of showering her with warmth and love, Henchard sharply reprimands her when she uses incorrect grammar. â€Å"Are you only fit to carry wash to a pig trough,† (114) he yells, degrading Elizabeth Jane and humiliating her. Susan’s secret keeping leaves Elizabeth Jane worse off. Her lack of confidence ends up bringing on what she fears most. Hardy uses secrets in The Mayor of Casterbridge to highlight Susan’s character flaw and demonstrate that the situations people fear most are those they ultimately bring upon themselves. While Susan acts out of a desire to help Elizabeth Jane and Henchard, she ends up harming both of them. The concealment of information from her daughter and husband is what destroys their relationship. Susan’s greatest concern is what people will think about her daughter and her top priority is conforming to societal standards. However, her meek personality and constant worrying eventually cause her worst fears to come true. Susan’s saga of secret-keeping serves as a warning to readers†¦ concealing the truth will come back to haunt you.

Teaching Through Effective Speaking †Education Essay

Teaching Through Effective Speaking – Education Essay Free Online Research Papers Teaching Through Effective Speaking Education Essay As a nurse, there are many opportunities to teach patients and their families through effective speaking. How well I teach patients about wound care and management can have a direct impact on their quality of health. Wound care has many different aspects. My responsibility is to teach and demonstrate the proper procedures to help the patient improve their quality of life. This involves teaching and speaking in small groups, which usually includes not only the patient but also members of their families. It is very important to make sure that the patient thoroughly understands the subject and can demonstrate the desired procedure back to me. Through my various teaching experiences, I have come to understand the importance of visual and vocal aspects in speech, active listening, and speech content. Visual and Vocal Aspects of Speech It is important to remember that how material regarding wound care is presented can be just as important as the material being presented. The physical delivery and verbal delivery help the patient to learn and understand the importance of wound care and management. Concrete Experience In my teaching experiences, I am teaching the patient and at least one member of their family. My job is to show the importance of performing the desired procedure properly to help improved the patient’s quality of life. I must show through my words and actions that I am knowledgeable and confident in the material and skills I want the patient to learn and perform. When teaching, I prefer to sit at the same level as my patient and their family. It is also easier for me to demonstrate a technique and have the patient or family member demonstrate it back to me. Posture can make a big difference in teaching. I maintain a posture that is professional and shows confidence in what I am teaching. I stand or sit upright, but not too straight. I do not slouch or slump. I also use gestures to help emphasis key points and to demonstrate important techniques. I keep my gestures professional and do not make gestures that may be considered playful or derogatory. Eye contact is a key element to use when trying to teach someone. It helps me to judge if they understand the material, I am teaching. It is also important for me to keep my facial expressions neutral and friendly. The patient and their family need to understand the importance of the material being presented to them. Positive reinforcement can help to build confidence about material being learned. It is also necessary for me to place verbal emphasis on key points. Not only the tone of my voice is important, but the rate and volume also have a great impact on helping patients learn. I make sure that I speak at an even rate and slow down to help emphasis key points. I make sure that I am not speaking to fast. A consistent rate helps to hold the attention of the patient. To emphasis key points, I also either speak a little louder or repeat the point several times. This helps the patient know that these are key issues to remember. I will also have the patient or their families explain the key points back to me. That way I can make sure they see things the way I am trying to explain them. It also helps to reinforce that they understand the concept and will be able to perform the procedure on their own. A positive attitude helps the learning process flow more smoothly. This along with positive reinforcement helps the patient to gain more confidence in handling their health problems. Reflective Observations Teaching can be an anxious time due to the environment and the fact that a major health even has recently occurred. Patients and their families seem to respond better when I am sitting at eye level with them and proceed slowly. This gives the patient and their families a chance to let the material I am teaching sink in. It also helps them to feel more comfortable about asking questions. If I slump in a chair, I can give off the impression that I am not interested in the patient or the material I am trying to teach. . It is also important that I do not cross my arms. This can be perceived as a negative attitude. I need to make the patient and their families realize that I care about their outcomes and that the material I am teaching is very important. When I make eye contact, it shows that I am genuinely interested in teaching and helping the patient succeed. By maintaining eye contact, it seems to put the person at ease and makes them more likely to ask questions about things they do not understand. It is important to ask the patient and their family questions about material already taught. This helps to build their confidence and helps them to be more eager to learn. Having family members involved helps because sometimes they think of questions the patient has not thought of or vise versa. My posture and gestures can directly influence how well a patient or family member learns. If I slouch or slump, my patients may see me as being sloppy, unfocused, or uninterested. If I seem uninterested, the patient or family member has a harder time understanding the concept. They may also not take the material seriously and feel that it is not important. I cannot be too serious or too laid back, either of these can cause anxiety for the patient. This makes a person less likely to understand the material being presented to them about wound care. It is also important to provide a lot of positive reinforcement to help the patient and family members develop confidence in their learning experience. If I only focus on the negative, learning can be greatly restricted. I have noticed that patients and family members tend to notice key points that are repeated frequently or emphasized in a louder voice. Key points need to be presented in a manner that the patient or family member can easily understand. When the patient or family member repeats a key point in a later conversation, it reinforces that the teaching has been effective. It also helps build confidence in knowledge learned by the family member and the patient. I have observed that if I talk too fast my patients have more troubled comprehending the material being taught. I think this is because my words become mumbled and the patient looses interest. Abstract Conceptualization The eyes are said to be a key to the soul, therefore they are a very important part of teaching through effective speech. According to Ritts Stein (2006), â€Å"eye contact helps regulate the flow of communication, signals interest in others, and increases the speaker’s credibility† (p. 1). This also helps to â€Å"open the flow of communication and convey interest, concern, warmth, and credibility† (Ritts Stein, p.1). The eyes help to show that a speaker has confidence in what they are teaching. Eye contact also helps me to connect with the patient and their families. When I maintain eye contact with the patient, they are more likely to ask questions and be involved in the material I am teaching them. According to Blair (1995), â€Å"the two most important aspects of the voice for a public speaker are projection and variation† (p. 6). By varying the tone and pitch of my voice, I can easily emphasize key points. This helps the patient and their families to see the most important points of the lesson. When teaching the lessons, I speak slowly and vary the tone of my voice. This keeps the patient and their families from becoming bored with the content. It also gives those being taught the opportunity to ask questions and to become more comfortable with the material being taught. Being able to establish an open atmosphere for learning with help the patients learn more effectively. Active Experimentation Each time I get the opportunity to teach a patient, I draw from my experiences to make the lesson easier to understand. When I first began teaching, I would read from note cards. I have learned that by maintaining eye contact and drawing from my own knowledge the patient is more relaxed and eager to learn. By sitting at eye level and teaching slowly, I give the patient the chance to ask questions openly. I provide positive verbal reinforcement to help provide confidence to patients as they learn various procedures. This way, I am providing consistency in my teaching. Positive reinforcement can be as simple as a smile or a compliment when a key point is learned. I am always looking for ways to provide positive reinforcement in order to facilitate a better and more positive learning experience. Recently when teaching a patient about wound care, I used variances in my voice to get across the key points I wanted the patient to learn. When I asked the patient to repeat back the instructions given to him, he was able to do them correctly. He later stated that the key points were easy for him to identify them, because my voice changed and he figured these must be important factors. I have even used some of these techniques when singing with my church choir. I sing louder when wanting the congregation to understand how important a particular passage is to me. I also tend to sing slightly slower during moving passages to keep my words crisp and clear. My posture is straight, which shows that I am very interested in what I am singing. I keep my facial expressions appropriate for what material I am singing. If the material is upbeat, I tend to have a smile on my face. If the material is more somber, I am more reserved. I also maintain eye contact with the congregation. This shows that I am very interested in what I am singing and that I want them to understand the meaning of the song. In communicating with my children, I have learned that by making eye contact they pay better attention to what I am saying. I also use voice variances with them to reinforce key points I want to make. I also speak clearly so that my children have no trouble understanding what I am trying to tell them. My sixteen-year-old son has mentioned several times to other people that he never has trouble understanding the important points in our conversation due to eye contact and the tone of my voice. Active Listening In my teaching, I have found that it is very important not only to teach effectively, but also to listen effectively. Active listening involves gathering and evaluating information. I must be attentive in listening to questions my patients have, listening to remarks they make during the teaching process, and listening for remarks between patients and their families. I need to listen carefully when a patient is repeating back instructions on wound care and management to me. If I do not correct an error or fail to hear it, this can lead to potential complications with wound healing. Concrete Experience In teaching proper wound care techniques, I am usually teaching a patient and at least one member of their family. When I am teaching, I allow the patient and any family members to discuss the information I am providing to them. I am attentive to comments, gestures, and posture of not only the patient but also their family. I listen to the questions my patients and their families have to ask and remain nonjudgmental. I nod my head and make statements to show my patient and their families that I understand what they are telling me. I genuinely listen to what my patient has to say. I repeat back phrases to provide clarification not only for the patient, but also for myself. . Reflective Observations I was very nervous the first several times I taught wound care and management. I start by giving a short introduction to wound care and provided any handouts available to the patient. I then given the patient some time to review any written material I have given them. Next I give the patient time to ask any questions or voice concerns they may have. I make sure to clarify anything I do not understand before answering the questions. It is important for me to understand what the patient is trying to ask and to remain attentive to them. By restating back information to the patient when they ask questions shows the patient that I am actively listening to their issues. I devised a checklist to make sure that material being repeated back to me is correct. This way I can confidently move on to the next section or task. This has made me more comfortable with listening intently to what my patient and their families are saying. Active listening is a part of my teaching. I listen for hesitancy in verbalizing key points and work to help reinforce those concepts. It is also very important to listen for any motivational barriers that could keep my patient from learning about wound care. In learning about wound care confidence seems to be a factor to learning. By providing positive reinforcement, I can help the patient and their families gain confidence in the material they are trying to learn. Abstract Conceptualization I have learned that for my teaching to be effective, actively listening must be included. In active listening, we are genuinely interested in understanding what the other person is thinking and/or feeling, and we are active in checking out our understanding before we respond. We restate or paraphrase our understanding of their message and reflect it back to the sender for verification. This verification or feedback process is what distinguishes active listening and makes it effective. They are often distracted, half listening, half thinking about something else. According to Youra (2004), paying attention to external distractions is critical for the speaker†¦try to address promptly any distractions your audience may fact† (p. 41). External distractions can include noise, temperature, and lighting. There are also internal distractions such as hunger or fatigue. I also use a checklist to make sure that no part of the wound care teaching is missed, since all areas are of equa l importance. This simple checklist helps me to keep focused and to make sure that I am providing the patient and their family with all the needed information for a positive outcome Active Experimentation Personally, effective listening has been the hardest part for me to learn about teaching. I make a conscious effort to listen attentively to all conversations and questions that occur during the session. I try to have an environment that is conducive to learning and to make sure that distractions can be minimalized. I try to make sure to schedule my teaching after a patient has eaten and when they are less likely to be tired. It is important for me to not only focus on things that may distract my patient, but also things that may distract me. My short introduction helps the patient to relax and start to focus on the task at hand. My checklist really helps me to remain focused and provides me with the ability to actively listen without distraction. The checklist keeps me aware of where I am in the teaching and allows me the freedom to let the patient ask questions and converse with family. This not only makes them more comfortable with me, but also more comfortable with the wound care teaching. I practice active listening skills in other areas of my work as well. When I go in to assess a patient for the first time, I listen to their complaints and concerns. I give that patient my total attention; this helps me to meet their needs and expectations. I work on a medical/surgical unit that can become very hectic at times. It is important to always make the extra effort to listen to patients and their families. When orienting a new patient to our floor about the layout of the rooms, bed controls, and call bell system I have a mental checklist I go through to make sure nothing is missed. I then actively listen to the patient repeat back to me the information regarding our floor that I have just provided to them. I also use active listening when dealing with my teenagers. They know that I am listening to all they have to say by repeating statements back to them for clarification, maintaining eye contact, nodding my head, and verbally expressing my attention. I can say short phrases such as I understand, I see what you mean, I hear what you are saying, or simply uh-huh. I have found that when I give them my total undivided attention they are happier and more receptive to constructive criticism. Concrete Experience Information presented regarding wound care can be very complex and overwhelming for patients and their families. I may only have a day or two to make sure my patient and their family understand the importance of proper wound care. I have to make sure my speech content is precise and to the point. My patients not only have to be able to verbalize comprehension of concepts, but also have to be able to demonstrate correct techniques for caring for the wound. To prevent confusion or misunderstanding, I must present information in a clear, organized, focused manner. I have a checklist that I follow to make sure that all relevant information is presented. This keeps me focused and organized. I also give the patient and their family a copy of this checklist to take home with them. This helps them to be successful in performing the wound care on their own. Prior to the teaching session, I also make sure that I know the education level of my patient. This way I can gear my wound care teaching to them. I teach in a manner that is easy for them to understand, yet make sure that they learn all the information they need to care for their wound. Some patients have had wound care teaching before and for some this is brand new. I make sure that my wound care teaching is performed according to hospital and physician specifications. Patients and their families must be very proficient in understanding the disease process and why the wound occurred, caring for the wound, performing dressing changed, recognizing complications, and knowing when to contact their physician. At the end of my teaching session, I perform a short question and answer session with my patient. This gives me the chance to make sure that they have understood the concept and practicality of information that has been presented to them. They are also required to perform a dressing change. This gives me the opportunity to make sure they are able to care for their wound upon discharge. My patient feedback has been positive. Patients say they feel very comfortable with the material learned and will be able to care for their wound at home. Patients relate that having the material related and intertwined with their everyday lives makes the job of wound care easily for them to accept. It is very rewarding to receive a note several weeks later from the patient that they are doing well and their wound is healing well. It is very important for me to stay focused and consistent in the information and procedures I am teaching. There is a wide variety of information that needs to be taught in wound care teaching and management. This includes why the patient has the wound, what risk factors were involved in creating the wound, specific wound care information, things the patient and family can do to improve wound healing, complications that can occur, reactions to complications that can occur, and what is the follow-up plan. Many of these steps involve the patient verbalizing knowledge, while there is also a need for demonstration of skills. One example is that a patient and their family can verbalize wound complications. These complications include a rash around the wound area, necrotic tissue, bleeding, and fever, drainage from wound, redness, or swelling around wound site. As an instructor, it is of the utmost importance for me to make sure they can list all potential complication. Reflective Observations When I first began teaching wound care, I was very overwhelmed by the responsibility. Wound care teaching can have a direct impact on the quality of life. It can mean the loss of a body part, continued hospitalization, or even death. I was not sure at first if I could handle the pressure involved with this type of teaching. I took several courses related to teaching wound care and observed several nurses teaching wound care prior to performing teaching on my own. This made me more comfortable in teaching wound care to patients. I have noticed that if a patient feels anxious, it is very hard for them to comprehend the material I am trying to teach. Many patient are very concerned about how their wound and its care will affect their everyday life. By helping them to understand that wound care could be integrated into their everyday lives, it made teaching much easier. It has also been important to help the patient stay organized and focused during dressing changed. The checklist I provide to them seems to help them remain on track during the procedure. It helps to keep them calm and confident in the procedure they are performing. Abstract Conceptualization When teaching patients and their families, I try to teach in a manner that can relate the content to everyday life. Patients and their families want to know how the material I am teaching them is going to affect their everyday life. They also want to know how to integrate the changes they need to make into their current lifestyle. Sometimes I have to make sure that the patient is understanding that a major lifestyle change has to occur, while others times only minor change is needed. Lieb (1991) writes that adults are relevancy-oriented and must see a reason for learning something. If a patient can see how the outcome will improve their quality of life, they are more likely to take the teaching seriously. I also have to make sure that I am teaching the content on a level that can be easily understood. A teacher has the ability to enhance the material being taught or to make it harder to understand. I am constantly reviewing the hospital policies for changes in wound care. This way the patient can receive the most update information available. Attending in-services on wound care is another way that I stay on top of new techniques. These new techniques can make wound care easier and more effective. Patients seem to be less anxious when the know that wound care techniques are always be refined and improved. I have learned that it is very important to minimalized anxiety in order for content to be appropriately learned. I work hard to create a good rapport with my patients. By established a good rapport, it helps the patient to trust in the my ability to teach wound care. According to Blair (1995), â€Å"you should plan exactly how you wish to appear†¦and establish that relationship. You may be presenting yourself as their friend, as an expert, perhaps even judge, but whatever role you choose you must establish it at the very beginning† (p. 4). My patients need to view me as an authority on wound care and also as their confidant. They need to be able to come to me with questions or concerns and know that I will deal with whatever issues they bring to me. Lieb (1991), â€Å"the best way to motivate adult learners is simply to enhance their reasons to learn† (p. 2). I make sure that my patients understand the consequences of not learning and following the wound care instructions. I can stand and teach about wound care all day long, but unless my patient is grasping the concepts and key points, I am wasting time. Active Experimentation I have been teaching wound care for over 8 years now, first as a dialysis technician, and now as a registered nurse. The more times I teach and more classes I learn, the more proficient I become at teaching wound care. There have been many things I have changed over the years to be more effective as a teacher. When I first began teaching wound care, I relied just on my personal experiences to teach. Now I use a checklist and materials provided by the hospital for wound care. I use this checklist technique not only for wound care, but for other professional teaching as well. The checklist helps to make sure that information is presented in a clear, accurate, concise techniques. It can also be used by the patient to help build confidence. This checklist can be easily updated when new techniques or concepts are introduced for wound care. Preparation is also a major factor in good teaching. I make sure that I have all the material I need before entering a patient’s room. This helps to cut down on distractions. I have also learned to judge if my patient is actually ready to learn about wound care. If the patient is tired, hungry, or in pain they will have a very hard time learning any material I attempt to teach them. Organization goes along hand in hand with preparation. If I am disorganized, they patient may become distracted or feel that I do not really know about wound care. By helping my patient decrease anxiety, I am actually helping them to comprehend and retain what I am teaching them. I use preparation and organization frequently in both my professional and personal lives. I have three teenage boys and remaining organized is an important part of keeping our household running smoothly. The smallest amount of disorganization can lead to major upheaval. My family has chore lists that help to keep our household organized and running smoothly. I also use preparation and organization to make basic assessment flow smoothly. By having all the tools I need and following a systematic plan, an assessment can be completed quickly and thoroughly. Conclusion The experience of teaching has been extremely valuable to me not only in my professional life, but in my personal one as well. It is very rewarding to watch a person grasp a new concept that can greatly improve their quality of life. I have learned how to make my patients and their families feel comfortable and less anxious about wound care. I am now much better at organizing and prioritizing my thoughts and actions. By becoming a better active listener, I have been able succeed in my professional endeavors and have improved my personal relationships as well. References Blair, Gerard. Presentation skills for emergent managers. 1995. University of Edinburgh. 20 Nov. 2006 . Lieb, Stephen. Principles of adult learning. 1991. Honolulu Community College. 20 Nov. 2006 . Ritts, V. Stein, J.R. Six ways to improve your nonverbal communication. 2001. Honolulu Community College. 20 Nov. 2006 . Youra, Paula. A speaker’s guidebook. 2004. Bedford St. Martin’s. 10 Dec. 2006. . 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Quick Look Essays - Buddhist Ethics, Buddhist Vegetarianism

Quick Look Essays - Buddhist Ethics, Buddhist Vegetarianism Quick Look Buddha taught that in order to live a life that is free from pain and suffering people must eliminate any attachments to worldly goods. Only then will they gain a kind of peace and happiness. They must rid themselves of greed, hatred, and ignorance. They strive to cultivate four attitudes, loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity. The basic moral code prohibits killing, stealing, harmful language, sexual misbehavior, and the use of intoxicants. Morality, wisdom, and samadhi, or concentration form the cornerstone of Buddhist faith. By observing these, lust, hatred, and delusion may be overcome. This is known as Nirvana. It is a realistic goal only for members of the monastic community. The most devoted followers of the Buddha were organized into the monastic sangha. They were identified by their shaved heads and robes made of unsewn orange cloth. Many early monks wandered from place to place, settling down only during the rainy season when traveling was difficult. The Buddhist have lasted because they have the ability to adapt to changing conditions and to a variety of cultures. Monks are expected to live a life of poverty, meditation, and study. They must avoid all sexual activity. They devote themselves to work, study, and prayer. They all dress in special robes. Monks play an important part in preserving and spreading Buddhism.

Free Essays on John Singer Sargent

Perhaps one of the most well-known painters of the 19th and early 20th centuries, John Singer Sargent specialized in portraiture of the more influential and well off men and women of the era. Presidents Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt, oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller, novelists Robert Louis Stevenson and Henry James, actress Ellen Terry and art patron Isabella Stewart Gardner all sruck their best poses for him. Raised in Europe by an American emigrant family, Sargent attended art schools in Paris. Extremely gifted, he soon received lessons from the old masters, the contemporary Impressionists and the Spanish painters Velzquez and Goya, producing a spectacular array of exciting and masterful paintings while only in his 20s. At the 1884 Paris Salon, however, his portrait of the 23-year-old American Virginie Gautreau, shown with bare shoulders, overflowing bosom and haughty manner, scandalized the Paris establishment. The picture, which became known as Madame X, crippled Sargent's hopes of establishing himself as a portrait painter in Paris. In 1886 he moved to London, and in just a few years became the most admired and sought-after portrait painter in Britain and the United States. But Sargent was much more than a portrait painter. He was also a terrific landscape and figure artist, producing more than 1,000 dazzling oils and watercolors. For example, his Valdemosa, Majorca which is a watercolor of Brush and Thistles shown on a hillside. Although the paniting is very impressionistic, the lighter colors of the leaves really bring the brush forward towards the onlooker’s eye. He tends to fill the entire space on the paper with his dark backgrounds contrasted against his lighter foregrounds. He uses a great mixture of warm colors to show where the sunlit sky shines towards the brush. I have always been one whom enjoys impressionist pieces of work, but Sargent’s paintings have always stood out to me from the rest. ... Free Essays on John Singer Sargent Free Essays on John Singer Sargent Perhaps one of the most well-known painters of the 19th and early 20th centuries, John Singer Sargent specialized in portraiture of the more influential and well off men and women of the era. Presidents Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt, oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller, novelists Robert Louis Stevenson and Henry James, actress Ellen Terry and art patron Isabella Stewart Gardner all sruck their best poses for him. Raised in Europe by an American emigrant family, Sargent attended art schools in Paris. Extremely gifted, he soon received lessons from the old masters, the contemporary Impressionists and the Spanish painters Velzquez and Goya, producing a spectacular array of exciting and masterful paintings while only in his 20s. At the 1884 Paris Salon, however, his portrait of the 23-year-old American Virginie Gautreau, shown with bare shoulders, overflowing bosom and haughty manner, scandalized the Paris establishment. The picture, which became known as Madame X, crippled Sargent's hopes of establishing himself as a portrait painter in Paris. In 1886 he moved to London, and in just a few years became the most admired and sought-after portrait painter in Britain and the United States. But Sargent was much more than a portrait painter. He was also a terrific landscape and figure artist, producing more than 1,000 dazzling oils and watercolors. For example, his Valdemosa, Majorca which is a watercolor of Brush and Thistles shown on a hillside. Although the paniting is very impressionistic, the lighter colors of the leaves really bring the brush forward towards the onlooker’s eye. He tends to fill the entire space on the paper with his dark backgrounds contrasted against his lighter foregrounds. He uses a great mixture of warm colors to show where the sunlit sky shines towards the brush. I have always been one whom enjoys impressionist pieces of work, but Sargent’s paintings have always stood out to me from the rest. ...

Strategies of General Motors and Toyota Motor Corporation Case Study

Strategies of General Motors and Toyota Motor Corporation - Case Study Example Strategies are usually tailored to take advantage of the various opportunities in the firm's environment while harnessing its strengths and competencies. Currently, General Motors Corporation (GM) leads the automotive industry with total revenue of US$192.60 billion during 2005. This is amidst the US$2.6 billion loses incurred during the same year which is due to the weak demand in North America. Following GM is Ford Motor Corporation (US$178.10 billion), Daimler Chrysler AG (US$177.37billion), and Toyota Motor Corporation (US$162.92 billion). Even though smaller in terms of revenue, it is notable that Toyota recorded the largest net income at US$10.61 billion during 2005 (Yahoo Finance 2006). It is apparent that there is an intense competition between the four largest players in the industry. Toyota was able to dislodge the Ford during 2003 and is widely regarded to as having the aspirations to become the future industry leader next to GM. From here, we can see a struggle between the companies as they are both challenged to devise winning strategies. For GM, the challenge is to craft and implement an effective strategy to maintain its position in the global market, while for Toyota a strategy to battle head-on with GM and increasing its market share. The company has a wide array of product line under the brands Chevrolet, Pontiac, GMC, Oldsmobile, Buick, Cadillac, Saturn, and HUMMER. The company's marketing arm is supported by retail dealers and distributors in the United States, Canada, and Mexico as well as dealers overseas. GM is recognized as the largest vehicle manufacturer selling 8.5 billion cars in 2001 while its sales in 2002 account for 15% of the trucks and vehicles sold globally (Yahoo Finance 2006). Traditionally, GM's approach to marketing its products is targeting a specific market segment for a specific brand so that the company's products do not compete with each other. These were profitable for the automotive firm as the brand's shared components and common corporate management gave way to substantial economies of scale while the distinctions between the brands created an "orderly upgrade path." Before 1995, the company has a full range of products ranging from Chevrolet which is offered to an entry-level buyer who is more concerned on a more practical and economical vehicle to the upscale Cadillac which is targeted to the elite market as it is regarded as the "standard of luxury (General Motors 2006)." Nevertheless, this strategy did not persist as the GM started to implement a gradual blurring of its divisions during 1995. This strategy leads to cannibalization in the market share of GM as each division competes with each other (General Motors 2006). During 2004, the company has announced a new strategy for its product lines which is apart from the traditional marketing and positioning it employs. This shift in brand strategy is targeted at â€Å"building sales, cutting costs, and bolstering brand identity (Garsten 2005).†Ã‚  Ã‚  

The Disappeared Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Disappeared - Essay Example The author employs comparison when Anders tries to compare his home country (Sweden) with America. Such comparison creates suspense as the reader becomes intrigued and reads on in an attempt to figure out the origin and cause of the pungent smell. Baxter employs dialogue to amplify the suspense as the reader tries to figure out the cause of the smell. Anders and the cab driver engage in dialogue as he [Anders] attempts to understand the environment. Baxter portrays Anders as naà ¯ve and the cab driver as the resident used to the environment. The cab driver explains to Anders that the pungent smell represents Detroit. Baxter employs a metaphor by linking the smell to Detroit. In addition, it is evident that Anders is in a dilemma between understanding what the driver said and his thoughts that the smell came from a fire. The reader is forced to read on to establish why Detroit is associated with such a smell and how Anders will cope maneuvering the city with such

Similarity and Relationship Satisfaction Research Proposal

Similarity and Relationship Satisfaction - Research Proposal Example These results reveal that majority of people view marriage as bondage that hinder their liberty or put extra responsibilities on them. Although marriage is meant to share responsibilities, ideas, happiness and grieves, and rear offspring, people view marriage quite the other way. This anti-marriage phenomenon seems to have erupted as a lack of understanding, a lack that demonstrates absence of similarity essential to sustain marriage relationship. While identification of the factors influencing marital satisfaction is of theoretical interest to social psychologists and potential practical value to clinical psychologists working with married couples, research in this area provided only minimal information about the specific characteristics of stable and/or happy marital relationships and has provided no coherent theory of marital satisfaction. Social psychological theories of love and marriage are, in general, based on the principle of similarity, i.e., that we tend to associate with others who reward us and not associate with those who don't (Walster and Walster, 1978). The theory of Complementarity proposed by Winch (1952) was based on Murray's theory of needs. The theory postulated that within a field of eligible (which necessitates a certain level of similarity) an individual will seek out the person who can offer maximum need-gratification. Specifically, Winch suggests that the need patterns of A will complementary, rather than similar to the need patterns of B. By complementary he means that the needs of A will be different in kind from those in B (Type I Complementarity) or they will be different in intensity (Type II Complementarity) from the needs that are met for B. in one of the first studies, (Winch, Ktsanes & Ktsanes, 1954) findings suggested that for a sample of married couples, individuals tend to select mates whose needs are complementary rather that similar to their own. Subsequently, Winch (1954) attempted to explore additional evidence of complementary needs while also taking into account the contradictory viewpoint of similarity of needs. By examining the correlations between husbands and wives, results showed husband-wife correlations were lower on average that the correlations of randomly paired dyads. Since these findings failed to support the idea of similarity, Winch argued that they supported Complementarity theory. There have been several studies that have tried to replicate Winch's findings, but most research has failed to do so. For example, Bowerman & Day (1956) attempted to replicate Winch's findings of need Complementarity of married couples. Sixty college couples who were engaged or going steadily filled out the Edwards Personal Preference Scale. Results suggest a pattern of similarity rather than complementary. Another study also attempted to address Winch's theory of complementary needs by examining data from standardized psychological tests, to determine whether married couples are characterized by Complementarity of needs, as well as to determine whether there is a positive relationship between the degree of Complementarity and marital happiness (Blazer, 1963). Fifty married couples who were emotionally well-adjusted (i.e. neither partner had history of mental illness) completed the Wallace Marital Happiness Scale and Edwards Personal Preference Scale. Results do not support the complementary nee

Faculty of Business Environment and Society Assignment

Faculty of Business Environment and Society - Assignment Example In any sector, with the increasing competitiveness of the market and changing nature of customers’ demand, change has become crucial up to a larger extent (Kramar & Syed, 2012). It will also be crucial to mention that a change in any business sector is initiated with the assistance of a systematic process that is planned and executed in an efficient manner altogether. However, it is often seen that changes are welcomed in organsaitions in a collective manner, which further affects the potential effectiveness of the proposed change. There might be various reasons that develop reluctance in employees with regard to the initiation of change within the organisations (Briscoe, Schuler & Tarique, 2012). To get a conceptual understanding in this context, this particular discussion will mainly focus on analysing some recent changes in the workplace of Tesco along with comprehending the causes for their reluctance to change. The discussion will also emphasise depicting a set of recommendations to the company so that it can mitigate the resistant factors amid the employees that results in the reluctance to change. Tesco Plc is recognised as one of the leading players in the international retail sector in terms of its operational experiences as well as scale of operations worldwide. One of the major driving factors that have ensured unparalleled operational success for the company over the years is its effective approach towards dealing with the external environment (Tesco, 2014). Notably, change, as depicted above, is one of the most important aspects associated with the operations of any particular business. It is quite a stable approach in business and it rarely changes over the period. Contextually, Tesco is also aware of the constant changing nature of the external environment, which further encourages it to change its business functions accordingly

Management and Leadership Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Management and Leadership Paper - Essay Example The founder of Wal-Mart was Sam Walton. He opened up the first Wal-Mart store in Rogers, Arkansas in 1962. The goal of the Mr. Walton when he opened up the first retail store was to save people money to help them live a better life (Walmartstores, 2009). The company took off very fast and by 1969 the firm became a publicly traded company. The company’s trading symbol on Wall Street is WMT. Today the corporation enjoys a great level of success. The company is the market leader in the retail industry due to the fact that the service and prices the entity offers are superior to the competition. In fiscal year 2009 Wal-Mart generated $401 billion in global revenues while serving nearly 200 million customers per week (Walmartstores, 2009). Leadership and effective management are two critical success factors that enabled the company to achieve high levels of success. Management and leadership are two completely different business concepts. Leadership can be defined as a special case of interpersonal influence that gets an individual or group to do what the leader wants (Schermerhorn & Hunt & Osborn, 2003, p.286). Management is the act of performing the four managerial functions which are planning, leading, organizing and controlling. In order for a person to become an effective leader the group has to trust the individual. Leadership is not a trait that is limited to the managerial staff. Anybody within an organization can display leadership. It is very common for leadership to manifest itself within a team setting. In such a setting leadership provides the vision to achieve the end state goal (Kumle & Kelly, 2009). I have personally worked in teams in which I became the leader of the team in order to ensure that the team completed the project at hand. Depending on the circumstance a manager has to decide whether to act as a manager or as a

Journal4 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Journal4 - Assignment Example In addition, the study enables the creation of understanding of the various differences between the genders. Under physical appearance girls appear smaller compared to boys while both of them exhibit difficulty when dealing with small objects. They struggle to handle small objects showing the poor motor control. However, girls exhibit fine motor skills. Social characteristics during the phase are marked by rapid change in friendships with one or two friends. The best friends tend to be of the same sex. However, the play groups tend to be small with poor or no organization. When dealing with the children understanding the change in behavior plays a role in defining the tastes and preferences. Children of age’s two to six tend to express their emotions freely and always exhibit jealousy while seeking approval from parents and those surrounding him. From the study, several issues are highlighted that affect the development of children and encourage negative development. However, parenting style is an issue of grave concern because children can feel the parent’s stress which in turn affects their development. The cognitive development of children is vital but must occur in a supportive environment to facilitate intellectual

Faculty of Business Environment and Society Assignment

Faculty of Business Environment and Society - Assignment Example In any sector, with the increasing competitiveness of the market and changing nature of customers’ demand, change has become crucial up to a larger extent (Kramar & Syed, 2012). It will also be crucial to mention that a change in any business sector is initiated with the assistance of a systematic process that is planned and executed in an efficient manner altogether. However, it is often seen that changes are welcomed in organsaitions in a collective manner, which further affects the potential effectiveness of the proposed change. There might be various reasons that develop reluctance in employees with regard to the initiation of change within the organisations (Briscoe, Schuler & Tarique, 2012). To get a conceptual understanding in this context, this particular discussion will mainly focus on analysing some recent changes in the workplace of Tesco along with comprehending the causes for their reluctance to change. The discussion will also emphasise depicting a set of recommendations to the company so that it can mitigate the resistant factors amid the employees that results in the reluctance to change. Tesco Plc is recognised as one of the leading players in the international retail sector in terms of its operational experiences as well as scale of operations worldwide. One of the major driving factors that have ensured unparalleled operational success for the company over the years is its effective approach towards dealing with the external environment (Tesco, 2014). Notably, change, as depicted above, is one of the most important aspects associated with the operations of any particular business. It is quite a stable approach in business and it rarely changes over the period. Contextually, Tesco is also aware of the constant changing nature of the external environment, which further encourages it to change its business functions accordingly

Journal4 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Journal4 - Assignment Example In addition, the study enables the creation of understanding of the various differences between the genders. Under physical appearance girls appear smaller compared to boys while both of them exhibit difficulty when dealing with small objects. They struggle to handle small objects showing the poor motor control. However, girls exhibit fine motor skills. Social characteristics during the phase are marked by rapid change in friendships with one or two friends. The best friends tend to be of the same sex. However, the play groups tend to be small with poor or no organization. When dealing with the children understanding the change in behavior plays a role in defining the tastes and preferences. Children of age’s two to six tend to express their emotions freely and always exhibit jealousy while seeking approval from parents and those surrounding him. From the study, several issues are highlighted that affect the development of children and encourage negative development. However, parenting style is an issue of grave concern because children can feel the parent’s stress which in turn affects their development. The cognitive development of children is vital but must occur in a supportive environment to facilitate intellectual

Peaceful and Happy Personality, Positive Lifestyle Essay Example for Free

Peaceful and Happy Personality, Positive Lifestyle Essay They promote the utmost understanding of the present rather than dealing with the past. Since they give importance to the dealings of their spontaneous actions, they let go of their subconscious dealing with the environment. In having this kind of belief, Zen Buddhists kind of meditation promotes focusing on the inner strength of the present to give them a more valuable interpretation of their own experiences. It emphasizes dharma practices for them to awaken their spiritual factor thriving in them. To attain further discovery of their self, they must submit themselves in the understanding of their present state of being. Zen Buddhism discourages the strong association of their life to written texts and oral tradition of answering metaphysical matter. They promote this kind of belief for them to be able to address the limitations of their actions and for them to attest their discipline and hold to their own teachings. Many had been practicing this kind of religion because of its simplicity but complex understanding of the complex flow of their life. Since they do not hold many teachings on the philosophical written documents, many said that this kind of practice is against the law of words and against the theoretical framework of many religions existing today. This kind of belief of Zen Buddhism lead to their diverse understanding of their situation thus giving them a perspective of life and its attached meaning to their personal events and perspective to the kind of perception that they have. Taking the beliefs of Zen Buddhism, it is important to see it as an â€Å"influence† to the environment, positively or negatively, in which a person belongs. Therefore, through the collective efforts of the Buddhists, as they have made an impression to the people, they have gained this special discipline that allows them to live in a simple way without to many needs and frustrations in life. It advocates the pursuit a non-greed life in human pursuits in a non-violent way. (De Silva, 1992) They like being quiet and avoid noises for it distracts the meditation of the soul. So, this values practice helps them to reach their goal of a peaceful and a suffering-less life. Since they give importance to their peaceful way of life, they believed that through this, they can have a good personality especially in interacting with other members of the society. Although some of them chose to stay far away from people to avoid distractions, many of them still wants to influence other people by showing them how to be a real Zen Buddhist. And because of this, they become happier in dealing with their everyday experience. By looking at them in the society, they tend to have more stable emotional attachments because of the training that they have in their religion. If we will merge the idea of Zen Buddhism and their teachings, we can notice their emotion in their dealings with everyday’s scenario. Since they have the meditation and focus on the present situation of their life, in effect, they developed system of interaction that promotes same way of living with the teachings of their religion. In this way, Zen Buddhist keeps their focus on conscious thinking with regards to their experiences. In addition to that, Zen Buddhists have different meanings on their personal choices and perception to any problem that they may encounter. At this point, Zen Buddhists attained a certain level of acceptance and happiness to deal with their life and to give positive meanings to their endeavors and suffering. This attitude in life constitutes not only our perception but also our actions in dealing with other people and into different situation. Through their teaching of not only what is good and bad but on how to live your life to be able to be good, we can see the varying result. Buddhists are calmer and quieter in dealing even with the most pressure driven situation in life. They do not resort to any kind of violence in solving conflicts that arisen, but rather chose to a peaceful negotiation and trust to the capabilities of a human soul. This is one of their practices in relation to karma, or the fruit of their actions. Believing that if they do good, something good will happen to them.

Consequences of Outsourcing Human Resources

Consequences of Outsourcing Human Resources This essay will attempt to highlight the issues pertaining to the effects of outsourcing human resource management. The essay will be structured as follows: An Overview on Outsourcing of HRM The Rationale of Outsourcing The advantages of Outsourcing The disadvantages of Outsourcing An analysis on effect of Outsourcing An Overview on Outsourcing of HRM-The HRO The Outsourcing is the new management mantra which came into existence during the turbulent times of 90s, where it was seen as an effective tool for cost cutting. Outsourcing basically means hiring of the relevant business function from a third party. This phenomenon made rapid advancement and very soon engulfed nearly all area of the business. The function of Human Resource management has also been affected by it. Although in HRM outsourcing is a relatively newer term but the economic crisis of global meltdown has helped it to a stage where more and more organisations and businesses are opting for it. Following are main findings of the survey carried out by CIPD (2009) in the UK- HR outsourcing (HRO) is used by 29% of the survey respondents. Most organisations are increasing their use of HRO. Over the last five years, 20% reported significant increases in HRO activity, and 44% reported a slight increase in HRO activity. Only 11% have reduced their reliance on HRO. Only 44% of those organisations that outsource other business functions also outsource HR. HR outsourcing is used predominantly in private sector organisations, with 69% of those outsourcing HR working in this sector. HRO is pursued by 25% of public sector organisations in this sample. The private service industry dominates the use of HRO, with 50% currently undertaking HRO activities. Twenty-four per cent of HRO activity is in manufacturing, 22% in public services, and 4% in voluntary and charitable organisations The top drivers for HRO include access to skills and knowledge (71%), quality (64%) and cost reduction (61%). Organisations stressing clear objectives and targets in these areas are also more likely to have achieved them. The top three wholly outsourced areas include legal activity (69%), payroll (66%) and pensions (64%). The areas partially outsourced the most include training (49%) and recruitment and selection (47%). HRO is not relieving pressure for the internal HR team, with 43% confirming HRO failure in this case. Source- CIPD survey 2009 Introduction to HRO HRO is often confused with the two more associated terms -HR shared services and HR expert leasing. To begin, it is necessary to distinguish HRO from HR shared services and HR expert leasing. The main reason for this confusion is the complexity involved in Shared Services and HR expert leasing. HR shared services are also known as co-sourcing (Shen et al. 2003). The shared service has two forms. First, there is a shared service set up by large organizations to provide assistance and services not only to their own departments or subsidiaries, but also to external client organizations as an outsourcing business. Second, the other type of shared service refers to those set up, again by large and often multinational or multi-establishment organizations, aimed at restructuring their service provision through recentralization and of a creation of an internal market system. This is very popular in large enterprises, such as Motorola, Fuji, HSBC, IBM and Nokia. HR expert Leasing refers to the concept used by some professional employer organizations of leasing HR experts to clients (Laabs 1996) due to the fact that when the option of leasing employees is used, HR is more likely to be kept in-house, thus HR expert leasing should not be regarded as HRO. Similarly the shared services which are designed at providing services to internal and external clients cannot be in strict sense be regarded as HRO. Thus we see that in both the cases, i.e. HR expert leasing and the Shared services, there is no significance of the third party, which as per the definition of HRO is an prerequisite for them to be classified as Outsourcing. Hence we see that there is a clear demarcation between all the three services being used to provide HR support to the organisation. The commencement of Outsourcing in HR functions commenced primarily with the field of Recruitment. The Business organisations felt the need for recruitment as an independent function which could be transferred to third party for a measure of cost cutting and bettered shared service. Soon the functions such as Pay roll management, benefits and legal advice, were also outsourced. If we analyse the key decision for whether the particular function is outsource or not is based on the fact that whether the function is a core function or not? The rationale behind the Outsourcing The five competitive forces (Charles R Greer; Stuart A Youngblood; David A Gray, 1999) that can be called as the driving force for the companies to outsource some or all of their HR activities are: downsizing, rapid growth or decline, globalization, increased competition, and restructuring. Downsizing: The inevitable restructuring of entire industries has recast HR departments as formulators and implementers of downsizing. The pressure of reducing costs has now made HR themselves as targets of downsizing due to the overwhelming demands for reduced costs for HR services. Rapid Growth or Decline: Again the Costs as a major factor, the retrenched firms, or those in decline, face incredible pressures to reduce costs, while high-growth firms face similar pressures to monitor costs. HR outsourcing presents the option of cost reduction Globalization: Due to this, the companies now staff comprising of host country or third party nationals, this required harmonizing pay and benefit packages in accordance with the local laws demands specialized expertise. Larger vendors that focus on compensation and benefits offer these specialized services and deliver expertise built on experience and concentration in particular regions of the world. Increased Competition: Increased competition, both on domestic and international front, emphasizes the value-added role of products and services. Firms that subscribe to the balanced scorecard approach to measure effectiveness look not only at financial measures of firm success, but also at customer and employee measures of service quality. As per General Electrics CEO Jack Welch- He pays attention to only three measures of firm effectiveness-cash flow, customer satisfaction, and employee satisfaction. If HR departments are to be responsive to both internal and external customers, they  must look for ways to improve the quality and responsiveness of their services. Proponents argue that outsourcing offers HR an option to satisfy competing demands for improved service and responsiveness at a reasonable cost. Structuring: Firms that redeploy HR generalists to serve key divisions or business units of the organization can transform HR into a service role. Such a transformation serves as a source of competitive advantage for the firm. These new, service-quality cultures are not easy to build and sustain, particularly among established, traditional, or entrenched HR departments. Strategically, HR outsourcing decisions can potentially be part of a larger pattern of responses designed to deliver hard-to-imitate, hard-to-substitute, value-added services that enhance the value and quality of the firms products and services. After having seen the driving force behind the HRO we will now try to analyse various models of HRO as conceptualised by the resource-based view (RBV) (e.g. Barney 1991; Ulrich 1996); that suggests that the resources of a firm are rare and valuable and cannot easily be substitutable, are more likely to achieve sustained competitive advantage. According to the RBV, a firm should only outsource those resources which are replaceable or imitable not its core functions. This concept is in line with the core and periphery concept (Atkinson 1984), which can be applied to evaluate what HR activities are more likely to be outsourced. According to Atkinson, the core is defined as a numerically stable core group which will conduct the organizations key, firm-specific activities (Atkinson 1984: 29). The core can be redeployed easily between activities and tasks and has functional flexibility. All other function which support the core are known as the periphery, this provides the organization wit h an advantage to vary the numbers with fluctuation in labour demand (known as numerical flexibility). Ulrich (1998) suggested that core activities creates unique value to employees, customers and investors and are transformational in nature. Non-core activities are easily duplicated and replicated and are of transactional nature. Thus we find that HR core activities include top-level strategy, HR policies, employee relations, and line management responsibilities (e.g. appraisal and discipline) and the peripheral activities include specialist activities (e.g. recruitment and outplacement), routine personnel administration (e.g. payroll and pensions), relocation, and professional HR advice (e.g. legal advice related to employment regulations) {Finn (1999) and Lepak and Snell (1998)}. Thus according to the core and periphery theory, while the administrative and transactional functions (periphery) can be outsourced, it is in the interest of the firm to keep the strategic parts of HR (c ore) remain in-house. However, in practise, the core and periphery concept is difficult to distinguish as some HR activities appear to be purely administrative, but actually are not. For instance, recruitment is often seen as suitable for outsourcing, but its a key function that should stay in-house. To ascertain these arguments, we next shall analyse the advantages and the disadvantages of Outsourcing of HR functions. The advantages of Outsourcing As mentioned above one of the major benefits of HR outsourcing is Cost Saving but is not the only advantages of the Outsourcing. It provides a wide array of advantages specially to the small and rapidly growing businesses with limited resources, to achieve the same level of efficiency and service consistency in their HR functions as larger companies, without having to invest in large amounts of capital. The advantages of outsourcing can be enumerated as follows:- Cost Savings. Companies can realise substantial cost savings by outsourcing HR activities and functions. Torode (2000: 2) reported a success story about cost reduction about Trident Inc. reducing its HR administrative burden by 65 per cent and uncovering US$40,000 in overpayments for insurance premiums by using Employease Inc.s web-based human-resources application. The same is also supported by Gilley et al. (2004) that outsourcing training and payroll could lower administrative and overhead costs of training staff. Greater Focus on Core Business Activities. Due to globalisation companies face aggressive competition both locally and from abroad and thus can incur a tremendous amount in terms of lost business and loss of competitive advantage by spending more than required time and resources in non-core or administrative functions. Outsourcing enables companies to focus on their core competencies and to direct their full attention towards market dynamics and business strategy. Greater Participation by HR in Value-Adding Activities. Outsourcing certain HR administrative tasks enables the HR department to free themselves of time-consuming administrative tasks and direct their attention towards helping to improve their companys business performance thus fulfilling there roles as that of a strategic partner. Greater Efficiency. Due to the vertical specialisation and intense competition the outsourcing providers can usually perform the task more efficiently than the internal HR department. This is also due to the fact that service provider has a specialised team and since provides wide array of services to various outsourcer, hence at times can have more resources as well as experience to deal with any situation. This is specially true for medium and small firm which have a smaller HR department. Greater Flexibility of a Decentralized Structure. The business environment is very volatile, presenting newer challenges to companies. Outsourcing provides flexibility by removing those responsibilities and constraints that make it difficult to react effectively to changing conditions and issues. A leaner, more focused company engaged in fewer activities, is better able to react to environmental changes. Risk Reduction. Risk reduction is a major benefit of HR outsourcing. As the outsourced tasks are the outsourcing providers core competency, they are unlikely to make lesser mistakes as compared with the clients internal HR staff. Furthermore in case of eventuality of mistakes, the service provider can be held accountable for losses to its client thus lowering the level of risk. More so ever the firms can enjoy the benefits of the HR functions without having to invest heavily in those HR functions, at the same time also keeping the option to change the outsourcing supplier if required. More Objective Process. Outsourcing provides a certain degree of objectivity to the functions of HR department as service providers are not affected by political, cultural and bureaucratic conflicts intrinsic to the firm, which prevents the department from being fully productive and aligned with the strategic goals of the organisation. Outsourcing HR functions brings the objectivity of a third party into the process. Disadvantages of Outsourcing Cost-Savings Not Always Achieved. Laabs (1996) argued that HRO in fact leads to increasing costs because it may be less expensive to administer HR functions in-house, the same is also supported by Friel (2003),who argues that one major reason for higher costs of HR outsourcing is that HRO is still in its infancy. For example, software products must be tailored to organizations requirements, pushing up development costs. The following are examples showing increasing costs as a result of HRO. BP Amocos international contract with Exult increased costs by one third in 2001 (Broad 2002). BT admitted that costs were on the rise in its contract for HR service provision with Accenture HR Services in 2002 (Broad 2002). The September 2002 audit revealed that Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in the United States paid up US$2.6 million to VA sytems well above the original estimate of US$1.2 million.(Friel 2003). Transportation Security Administration (TSA) of America paid NCS Pearson, US$700 million as against originally estimate of US$103 million,by the end of 2002. (Friel 2003). Greer et al. (1999) found in their study that specialized vendors were unable to achieve greater economies of scale and cost savings due to the magnitude of the internal HR operations of some large companies,. More importantly, as Greer et al. (1999) warned, outsourcing produced no cost savings when only two or three vendors dominate a specialized market. Caulkin (2002: 10) has supported Greer et al. by arguing that the argument of economies of scale and specialization is self-serving, benefiting providers, not purchasers. People Issues. This is one of the most debatable aspects of Outsourcing. An extensive study by Hackett Benchmarking Research revealed that companies consider the greatest obstacles to outsourcing to be cultural and political factors. The services being outsourced to an outside entity poses a threat to the employee trust in the system. Further more the vendor working environment and ethics might not be commiserating with the firms which would bring out contention of issues. For example (Broad 2002), when Bank of America formed an alliance with Exult which included a major outsourcing arrangement, employees were worried about the implications of the deal for their positions. It is only when they understood that it was Exult, and not Bank of America, that would make the required investments, that they became reassured and accepted the alliance Problems with the Outsourcing Provider. The providers might be faced with issue where he is forced to cover up for any mistakes for which the service provider can be held liable. Further more the organisational culture of the provider would also be a binding factor as they can be a cause low service standardsr, a lack of attention to regulatory and business requirements, or unmet objectives and timeframes by the outsourcing provider. Loss of Control. Outsourcing HR functions can lead to a loss of control by the buying company. According to recent study by Accenture, 48% of executives surveyed stated that the fear of a loss of operational control was the greatest impediment to expanding their use of outsourcing. Their can be a fundamental mismatch of hierarchy in the firm as the line manager and the service provider might not be able to synchronise their working. Consequences of outsourcing Major implication, both in terms of their (changing) roles and their experience of the HR services of Outsourcing have been felt by HR professionals, line managers, employees who receive the services, and outsourced HR staff who provide the services. In-house HR Professionals. Most noticeable impact on in-house HR professionals will be in terms of the nature of their work and their career patterns, although due to scarce literature, the extent is difficult to predict. Ulrich (1998) proposes four new roles for HR; among those he recommends sharing of HR work in varying proportions among the line management, employees, external consultants, and other groups. But he does not really discuss the rationale by which this distribution of work would be determined (Procter Currie, 1999). Nor have the implications for their career prospects been contemplated. Greer et al.s (1999) study suggests that as a consequence of outsourcing of HR activities, the user company would mandatorily have to deploy in-house HR generalists who know can manage the outsourcing relationships. However, this also poses a threat of work intensification for these HR professionals, as they might still be relied by their colleagues to provide the service because they may be used to it or are unfamiliar with the new system. For example, Shen et al.s study (2004) indicates that the job content for the NHS maintenance manager of National Health Services (NHS) trust hospital in the United Kingdom has undergone severe work intensification and radical change ever since the outsourcing of maintenance. The same can also happen to the HR managers when outsourcing HR takes place, since both functions require intimate knowledge of the organization and a relatively high level of relationship management. HR outsourcing also raises concerns about the career prospects of the HR staff. One of the significant changes to career prospect would be Availability of fewer career development options for specialists as compared to generalist. At the same time, as there would be only a limited activities being performed in-house, general HR experience would be hard to gain. This will also raise question about the type of training to be provided to HR professionals that existing training for the HR profession is generalist-oriented, while in future the service provider would need specialists. Therefore, outsourcing HR could affect the in-house HR staff in ways such as job intensification, change in job content, reduction of career development opportunity, and increased levels of stress, especially when the relationship with the service provider is strained and the quality of services unsatisfactory. More broadly, the role that HR professionals play will be dependent upon their interaction with other groups both within and outside the organization (Procter Currie, 1999). Communication can be more difficult, especially when there is geographical, as well as organizational, separation. But if the onward march of HR outsourcing is a given, then the HR professionals will need to learn how to play the game (Turnbull, 2002). Line Managers. One of the apparent rationales of Outsourcing has been to delegate the softer aspects of the HR function to the line management ie involvement in and ownership of HR decisions. For example, Vernon et al. (2000) found that in Europe it is a common practise for sharing responsibilities between the HR specialists and the line management, in regard to the policy making: About a third of senior HR specialists reported an increase in line management responsibility for HR issues over the last three years (Vernon et al.,2000, p. 7). The role of line managers in executing HR policies and shaping HR practices has long been acknowledged (e.g., Currie Procter, 2001; Marchington Parker,1990; McConville Holden, 1999; Procter Currie, 1999). This has resulted in line managers taking on additional responsibilities, thus intensifying their role. This can at times all draw away or cloud the focus of line manager from their primary role. Also in reality, some of the smaller tasks may take longer to explain via electronic devices and are easier for the line managers to do themselves. The lack of HR support on-site seemed to have caused work intensification for the line managers, since they no longer have easy access to the HR staff. Another aspect which is pertinent to mention here is the competence of line manager. Line managers in the United Kingdom have been criticized for their lack of HR skills and competence, especially on legal matters such as discipline, dismissal, redundancy, and equal opportunities (e.g., Currie Procter, 2001; Hall Torrington, 1998; Mc-Conville Holden, 1999). They have also been criticized for their lack of interest in managing human resources, as HRM tends to be low down in their operational priority. In addition, they tend to focus on the hard, rather than soft, aspects of the HRM issues. Employees Receiving HR Services. The most significant outcome of this has been on the employees as they find difficulty in divulging confidential or private information with unknown HR person over the phone or online. This can also be termed as loss of Human touch from the term Human Resources. Research carried out by Feng Lee Cook (2006) about the employees response in Consult-Corp UK also indicates the same. Number of employees felt loss of emotional aspect as they felt that staff in the services centre, provide answers by reading off the screen or the manual and the entire process is mechanical. Another consequence of the outsourcing has been the lack of clarity of ownership of problems that may occur in HR services. With no HR department, at times the employees could find a void for issues such as grievance against their line manager itself especially when the grievance concerned the line manager or if the line manager responsible for their performance appraisal. All these change s may cause some fear and resistance among the workforce. BP Amocos outsourcing of HR is a case in point (see Higginbottom, 2001). As a result, it may actually be more costly for the organization to acquire the HR services from the external provider when all the indirect costs (both financial and emotional) that may incur in-house are calculated. This is especially true for large organizations in which employees are highly professional and highly paid. Outsourced HR Staff. Traditionally, skilled and knowledge-intensive work such as HR activities has been provided by workers of status. Employers tend to have an employment relationship with these employees that is characterized by relatively high levels of trust in order to elicit greater commitment and effort from the workers (Streeck, 1987). It has been argued that the tacit knowledge possessed by these workers is vital for the organizational competitiveness (Cooke, 2002; Manwaring, 1984; Pavitt, 1991; Polanyi, 1966; Willman, 1997). Outsourcing of this type of work replaces the status approach by a (short-term) contractual relationship of tight specifications of all aspects as a predominant mechanism of control. This mode of employment relationship does not encourage workers to provide extra-functional contribution to enhance the firms competitiveness (Fox, 1974). In fact, the potential problem of gaining commitment from the nonemployee workers is well recognized by organizations a nd academics (Cooke, Hebson, Carroll, 2005). For the employees of the service provider, job security may be low and firm-specific knowledge may be lacking as a result of multiclient services and the standardization of work processes. Indeed, lack of critical expertise and a customer service focus, or failure to take the interests of their client into account when delivering their HR services, have been found to be some of the main reasons for the failure of the HR outsourcing relationships (Greer et al., 1999). Additional complications in the employment relationships may occur where the HR outsourcing decision involves the transfer of existing HR staff to the external service provider (see Table 1). For the employees concerned, the transferred HR staff are likely to be protected, at least in principle, by some sort of employment regulation of the specific country (e.g., the Transfer of Undertaking Protection of Employment [TUPE] regulations in the United Kingdom). In theory, the em ployment contract of the transferred workers is preserved intact under TUPE regulations. In reality, however, their terms and conditions and other experience of work may change significantly, albeit incrementally (Cooke et al., 2004), since the impact of TUPE has proven to be only marginal to date (Colling, 1999; Wenlock Purcell, 1990). As Domberger pointed out, the principal effect of TUPE is to ensure minimum standards are maintained in negotiated transfers. The legislation is designed merely to assure the continuity of employment (Domberger, 1998, p. 143). For example, Cooke et al.s (2004) study of outsourcing in the public sector reveals that work intensification and increased performance monitoring are common features of post-transfer working life. Outsourcing offers the new employers opportunities to improve organizational performance by creating change through reducing staff numbers; introducing new skills and working practices; and by modifying individual incentives, employ ment terms and conditions, and attitudes to the workplace Domberger, 1998). None of these changes can be prevented effectively by TUPE, although not all of these changes necessarily point to a worsening scenario to the disadvantage of the workers (Cooke et al., 2004). However, this raises a question as to the extent to which the client organization can expect their ex-employees to (continue to) demonstrate loyalty and commitment in providing their services. These employees may be resentful that they are being dumped by their former employer and/or may have taken on their new employers organizational values that are not necessarily in line with those of their former employer. These issues may be exacerbated if the new employer has also taken on staff from other client organizations, thus creating a work environment with multiple cultures, multiple identities, and competing demands for preferential treatment from client organizations (Rubery et al., 2003). These issues also present a serious challenge for the new employer. The outsourcing firm has to manage a fragmented workforce, one where employees have different employment packages. At the same time, the outsourcing firm is trying to implement a coherent HR strategy and a consistent organizational culture while delivering customized HR services to its client organizations. Conclusions The aim of this article has been to provide an overview of the various aspects of HR outsourcing with a combination of empirical evidence and academic debate. The intention has been to provide a critical review of the state of affairs in the practice of HR outsourcing and to raise issues that require further academic research and attention from organizations interested in HR outsourcing. Existing literature on HR outsourcing appears  to be rather limited in general. This is perhaps due to both research and practice in HR outsourcing being in its early stages of development. There is a longer tradition of firms outsourcing discretional aspects of HR (e.g., payroll, training, health and safety,  legal advice), areas in which they lack inhouse expertise and that are deemed noncost- effective to develop and maintain inhouse. Existing evidence suggests that HR outsourcing has increased substantially over the last decade, although some authors remain cautious about the future growth of HR outsourcing. Training and payroll appear to be the favorite aspects of HR outsourcing. In addition, recruitment, taxation, and legal compliance are often outsourced. However, employee relations, HR planning, career  management, and performance appraisal are less likely to be outsourced, as they are more likely to be seen as core competencies or activities. Even so, there are no clear patterns of the types of HR activities that are outsourced. Existing evidence also suggests that the primary motives for HR outsourcing are to reduce cost, to gain external expertise, to enhance strategic focus of the in-house HR function, and to improve service quality. Cost reduction and sell-out strategy are also important factors for making decisions. While the overwhelming objective for outsourcing appears to be cost reduction, both the transaction-cost economics model (Williamson, 1985) and the resource-based view of the firm (Barney, 1991) seem to influence firms HR outsourcing decisions. T he diverse evidence as to whether the HR outsourcing trend is set to grow or not and/or at what rate implies pragmatic decision making by firms when considering whether to outsource HR activities. Due to the limited number of empirical studies on various aspects of HR outsourcing and the fragmented and inconclusive evidence they have yielded, it is difficult to draw clear conclusions on the types of HR activities that should be outsourced and the effectiveness of HR outsourcing. In fact, evidence seems to suggest that organizations decisions in outsourcing are not always rational  (Vernon et al., 2000), nor is their process successful or the outcome effective. It is possible, however, to identify a number of research issues and practical implications that require further attention from academics and practitioners. Conclusion The resource-based view (RBV) (e.g. Barney 1991; Ulrich 1996) suggests  that a firms resources that are valuable, rare, and not easily imitable or  substitutable are more likely to achieve sustained competitive advantage. According to the RBV, a firm should focus on its core competencies and  outsource those not valuable, and imitable or substitutable resources. The  RBV is consistent with the core and periphery concept (Atkinson  1984), which can be applied to analysing what HR activities are more  likely to be outsourced. According to Atkinson, the core is defined as a  numerically stable core group which will conduct the organizations key,  firm-specific activities (Atkinson 1984: 29). The core can be redeployed  easily between activities and tasks, by means of multiskilling or through  flexible career structures, known as functional flexibility. The periphery,  however, provides the organization with the ability to increase or decrease  the organizations headcount in response to every fluctuation in demand  for labour (known as