Argument Essay

The following passage comes from â€Å"The Common Life,† a 1994 essay by the American writer Scott Russell Sanders. Read the passage carefully and then write an essay that defends, challenges, or qualifies Sanders’ ideas about the relationship between the individual and society in the United States. Use specific evidence to support your position. A woman who recently moved from Los Angeles to Bloomington [Indiana] told me that she would not be able to stay here long, because she was already beginning to recognize people in the grocery stores, on the sidewalks, in the library. Being surrounded by familiar faces made her nervous, after years in a city where she could range about anonymously. Every traveler knows the sense of liberation that comes from journeying to a place where nobody expects anything of you. Everyone who has gone to college knows the exhilaration of slipping away from the watchful eyes of Mom and Dad. We all need seasons of withdrawal from responsibility. But if we make a career of being unaccountable, we have lost something essential to our humanity, and we may well become a burden or a threat to those around us. A community can support a number of people who are just passing through, or who care about no one’s needs but their own; the greater the proportion of such people, however, the more vulnerabl e the community, until eventually it breaks down†¦.Taking part in the common life means dwelling in a web of relationships, the many threads tugging at you while also holding you upright. PITFALL ONE: not understanding the task or the directions Make sure that you read the passage correctly and understand your task. Don’t get caught up in tangential issues. Figure out what Sanders’s central thesis is. This student had trouble understanding the issue: For example, when people get caught doing something wrong and they don’t want to admit to their mistakes, they sometimes think of a lie, which is a defense mechanism people use when in trouble. Who hasn’t lied at some time  in their lives? The guilt will haunt the lady in the passage who moved to Bloomington, tearing up everything in her life from inside then out. The example about the woman from Bloomington is not the central issue in this prompt—it is an example Sanders is giving to make his point. An EXAMPLE WILL NOT BE THE CLAIM, it will illustrate the claim. So, to determine the claim think about what point the example supports. PITFALL TWO: merely paraphrasing the passage If your whole essay consists of explaining what Sanders is saying in this passage, you will not score above a five out of nine. Resist the temptation to tell what the entire passage is saying. The readers know what the passage says. {This mistake seems especially common when the argument prompt is longer.} Refer to the claim of the passage in as few words as possible. Unlike the rhetorical analysis, you do not need to quote long sections of the passage—this eats up time and accomplishes very little. Your job here is to figure out and clarify what the central issue is and then to defend, challenge, or qualify that issue. In this passage, Sanders writes about the relationship between the individual and society. He talks about a lady that moved from Los Angeles to Bloomington, Indiana. She says she would not be able to stay long because she was already beginning to recognize people. Sanders writes that the lady gets nervous when she is recognized. She liked not being known and not having to get involved in that society. Sanders says that a couple of people like this help society run, but if there were too many, society would collapse. Society depends on some people to interact so that it can keep going. {If this were only the introduction, and the student followed up with an assertion that defended, challenged, or qualified Sanders’s assertion, this paragraph would be acceptable, although it’s not necessary to paraphrase this much. But when a paraphrase is your whole essay, you’re looking at a low score.} PITFALL THREE: not taking a definite stand This is one of the most common errors students make. You must have a definite opinion and state that opinion unequivocally, even if you are qualifying. And even if you don’t really have that opinion in real life. Sanders describes the relationship between the individual and society as a contrast. The individual is nervous around a too-familiar society. A society feels threatened by a great number of individuals that are unfamiliar. In a big city, most people become accustomed to unknown people because of the large population. However, in a small town where everybody knows everybody else, a newcomer might be seen as a threat to their way of life. In a small community, most people have their familiar routines. For the traveler, though, it is still a new opportunity for the community. The unknown traveler may be thought of as an alteration to their everyday routine. The essay above discusses the workings of a small town and a big city and makes some interesting observations about the contrast. The writer, however, never takes a definite stand on whether or not it is healthy to remove oneself completely from society. On the other hand, this writer takes a definite stand and backs it up with appropriate evidence: Sanders says that â€Å"we all need seasons of withdrawal from responsibility.† There are times when people need to forget about what others expect from them and do only what they feel is needed. (concession) While Sanders’s statements are true, people cannot live a responsibility-dodging life forever. He feels that if people are to do so, â€Å"We will have lost something essential to our humanity.† If everyone were to give up their responsibilities and do only what was best for themselves, then society would not function. Organizations would fall apart because people would no longer be able to work together. Eventually our entire government would break down and the nation would erupt into total chaos. The more careless people a community has, â€Å"the more vulnerable† the community becomes. Thus, people must learn to take responsibility for themselves rather than dodge  it. (assertion) PITFALL FOUR: using inappropriate or weak evidence to support your position The strength of your essay is in direct correlation to the strength of your evidence. Weak or inappropriate evidence will produce a weak paper and a low score. The readers are looking for writers who can write logically and reasonably, who can evaluate and analyze someone else’s argument, and who can find the best evidence to convince someone of their position. This student’s evidence has to do with crime rates: A small town culture is often seen as boring and old-fashioned, but it is just as important to our nation as any of the modern big cities. In New York City people have that opportunity to wander the city anonymously. Perhaps that is the reason why crime rates are so much higher in larger cities. People are far less likely to behave badly if people they know are watching them. This constant concern of others judging you is perhaps more beneficial than some may have you believe. It can get quite nerve-wracking to always be under watch, but those that watch you also come to your aid in times of need. For example, when you go out of town you can ask your ever-watchful neighbors to keep an eye on your house for peace of mind. If everyone went around with a total disregard for others, society would break down and the world would become a terrible almost primal place. This student effectively supports his position by reasoning that knowing someone is watching you may deter crime. He concedes (another way to reason logically) that it is bothersome to â€Å"always be under watch,† but those who watch you also watch over you. PITFALL FIVE: writing aN analysis of the passage instead of aN ARGUMENT Your job is not to analyze the way Sanders writes. Your job is to write an argument. Read the prompt. Sanders’s use of diction reveals his negative attitude toward wanderers†¦. Sanders uses a word with negative connotations when describing the twisting threads†¦. Sanders was accurate when he said  the many threads tug, yet hold one another upright. His metaphor identified individual lives as threads. The metaphor makes the reader reflect to a special blanket or person that brought them comfort, evoking emotional reactions.

Human Resources Perspective Essay

Introduction For small and large businesses alike, the human resources or personnel function can be helpful for much more than simply processing payroll or handling the open enrollment season once a year. Human resources plays an essential role in developing a company’s strategy as well as handling the employee activities of an organization. Human resources can also provide human capital value to the organization, such as Utiliscan. Without this, a company is at potential risk for lost profits. Budget control is another primary function of human resources. This prevents excessive spending, through developing methods for keeping the workforce associated cost within perspective of the company’s goals. This also includes negotiating rates for benefits and health care coverage in conjunction with setting competitive and realistic wages. Throughout the remainder of this paper, we will discuss the results of Utiliscan’s employee survey and what steps Paul could have taken toward improving Utiliscan as the Human Resource Director. Survey Results Are In Upon completion of every survey, it is important to post the results for all employees and management to see. The results should be consolidated with a task assigned and a well-developed plan of action. This is an opportunity to develop the corps values of the company leadership, as well, build growth within the company. Take the time to prioritize company goals, to include expectations of the employer and employees. Tackle the big and the ugly up front by making a statement. After all, your goal is to make the company successful and show growth through opportunity. Result #1: 56% of Utiliscan felt their benefits were below average or poor. Task: Identify comparable benefits packages to meet the company needs as  well the employee Action: Studying the labor market, employment trends and salary analysis based on job functions will assist Paul with Utiliscan, as it is a small business, creating budget constraints. . As the human resources director, Paul should negotiate better rates. His responsibility is to find health coverage and offer package incentives to his employees. A good example of this, high quality insurance that includes low premiums for his employees with high percentage rates of protection. American Blue Cross Blue Shield provides medical, dental, and hearing protection at reasonable rates for companies. Aside from medical requirements, Paul should address salary, wages and retirement benefits packages with his employees. Fidelity is an example of a investment firm that allows parole deductions for employees to save money and earn market based profits and well stock option growth. Many companies in modern America now provide a 401k match plan. 5% to 6% match is a good comparable rate to start with. Result #2: 55% felt safe, with little danger of occupational hazards associated with their physical environment. There were comments, presumably from the 45% who did not feel safe, that some of the utility plants where they worked on installations were not as safe as they should be. Task: Identify safety hazards within and around the work environment. Action: Conduct training and development of employees and supervisors. Needs assessments for the organization’s current workforce to determine the type of skills training and employee development are necessary to improve skill sets. This includes qualifications, licensing and documentation of certifications. A company such as Utiliscan must ensure their employees meet specifications to insure quality productions levels, at the same time improving overall safety of the organization. Many companies identify hazards within the workplace and address them through education of their employees. It is much less expensive than the cost to hire additional staff or more qualified candidates. In addition, it’s a strategy that also can reduce turnover and improve employee retention. Result #3: 74% felt there was little relationship between their performance and their pay. There were numerous comments that performance reviews hadn’t been done on time or hadn’t been done at all. Other comments indicated arbitrary treatment and favoritism of some employees. Task: Identify the root cause for lack of performance appraisals and employee development programs. Build and mentorship program  to better support Utiliscan’s employee foundation. Action: Through Performance Improvement, Training and Development Paul can develop performance management tools. This will enable Paul and his managers to measure the performance of their employees and provide feedba ck. This is a developmental tool to improve the employee skills and expertise. If performance appraisals are not completed then the potential for employees whose performance to fall below the employer’s expectations can continue. This leads to waste through payroll activities and low-performance employees. Performance appraisals should be conducted monthly or quarterly with a final annual appraisal to determine potential for promotion or retain ability. Result #4: 89% felt there were few if any opportunities to improve their skills and 87% responded there were no promotion opportunities. Task: Develop a mentorship program and identify key developmental positions that will be forecasted. Action: Paul can focus his efforts toward performance management systems. Constructing a plan that measures performance, employees develop specified skill sets in order to become more qualified for potential promotion opportunities. At the same time, Paul can begin succession planning. This enables the company to identify key potential candidates to fill key developmental positon. This is done through identifying employees with the promise and requisite capabilities to eventually transition into leadership roles with the compa ny. This is an important function as it can guarantee the organization’s stability and future success. Result # 5: 78% of the employees were satisfied with their working conditions and they enjoyed freedom and flexibility to perform their jobs without strict supervision. 70% felt their workloads were adequate – not too heavy, not too light Task: Despite the overall content attitude toward working conditions and enjoyment of the employees daily work routines, there is always ways to improve the overall employee’s satisfaction. Identify a way to seek employee’s thoughts and ideas of how to make the work place a better environment. Action: Over all employee satisfaction can better the work place and improve the quality of life within the company. Happy employees work harder and produce more. This leads to more money for the company to grow. Paul should place a suggestion box to assist in identifying key components that his employees are requesting to make their work experience better. Some of their ideas may  lead to greater levels of quality, production, and even profits. Another option is to continue with carefully designed employee surveys, focus groups and an exit interview strategy to determine key components of employee dissatisfaction and addresses those issues to motivate employees. Corporate Image The employer who maintains steadfast principles, embraces change, accepts and breeds the company’s philosophy and business principles will win every time. Businesses want to be known as the company to work for or â€Å"Employer of Choice†. This is the company that receives recognition for the way they take care of their employees and care for them. These are the companies that employees find balance. Paul working in human resources can develop the tools to identify balance through recruiting the most qualified applicants, selecting the most suitable candidates and retaining the most talented employees. References: Sharon Armstrong and Barbara Mitchell (2008). The Essential HR Handbook: A Quick and Handy Resource for Any Manager or HR Professional Web Link: http://www.hrmasia.com/case-studies/ Mathis, R.L., & Jackson, J.H. (2014). Human Resource Management 14th Ed. Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.

Internal Control Essay

The LBJ Company is currently making a decision to go public or not and with that The LBJ Company will also need to become knowledgeable about their internal controls within their systems, specifically in regards to Accounting and also Human Resources and how it will affect them and their employees and of course how they conduct business. There have been some positive and negative issues arise in regards to their internal controls. However, the LBJ Company needs to be acknowledged for what they are doing right, but will also need to address the issues that are negatively affecting them and their business and will continue to negatively affect them if they decide to go public, which will drive down the cost of their shares etc. This case study will review these items as well as make recommendations for what the LBJ Company can do to tighten up their internal controls. Part 1: Internal Controls Requirements Inform the President of any new internal control requirements if the company decides to go public. Internal controls are mechanisms, policies, and procedures used to minimize and monitor operational risks. In order to deter employees from committing a dishonest or fraudulent act the controls must be thorough and comprehensive. However, internal controls by themselves are not enough. They will be effective only if they are reinforced through culture, policies and procedures, information systems, training, and supervision of staff. * The primary objectives of internal controls are to: Internal controls help to provide reliable data by ensuring that information is recorded in a consistent way that will allow for useful financial reports * They also help prevent fraud and loss by safeguarding assets and essential records. * Internal controls promote operational efficiency by reducing unnecessary duplication of effort and guarding against misallocation of resources. * They encourage adherence to management policies and funding source requirements. Internal controls can be broke down into two categories- accounting and administrative controls, which is exactly what the issues are with the LBJ Company. (Internal Controls Checklist) According to the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002, all publicly traded U.S. corporations are required to maintain an adequate system of internal control at all times. As LJB Company President, he or she should be aware that a controlled environment must be present at all times, and â€Å"that unethical activity will not be tolerated.† The LBJ Company must identify and analyze the various factors that could create risk for the business and how the team can manage those risks. The overall internal control system needs to show and communicate all appropriate information within the organization, to ensure that the communicated information has reached the organization. According to the textbook, â€Å"It is very important to have testing and auditing of controls to build a long lasting organization. (Kimmel, 2009) Part 2: What the Company is Doing Right? Advise the President of what the company is doing right (they are doing some things well) and also recommend to the President whether or not they should buy the indelible ink machine. When you advise the President, please be sure to reference the applicable internal control principle that applies. The company has been doing well by creating a balanced environment for employees, due to the long-term employees that are currently there is an excellent thing for LBJ Company. From what is being shown, the managers and employees have a great balance, which keeps good control and promotes a team oriented environment within the company. Another good thing is that the accountant is in charge of the checks and also stores them into safe in his office, but the manager should have the only key to the safe to increase the monitoring of the checks and would also create a checks and balance system. Plus if the accountant is not there for whatever reason and an employee needs their check, the manager can handle that and not violate any employment laws by not giving an employee their check in a timely manner. The President of LJB Company, has also done a good thing for wanting the employees to be aware of any new regulations required of the company if they decide to go public. It is incredibly important the President have different individuals serve as an Accountant, Treasurer and Controller which will help streamline many of their processes. This way, the Accountant will not be responsible for all financial dealings and again this will create checks and balances which are required to go public. Part 3: Advise the President of what the company is doing wrong (they are definitely doing some things poorly). Please be sure to include the internal control principle that is being violated along with a recommendation for improvement. (20 points) This situation for LBJ Company has shown that it is in clear violation of the internal control principle and is running significant risks by not including more oversight and checks and balances. First of all, that they have one accountant who plays the role of both Treasurer and Controller is an area of great risk. The Controller and Treasurer are meant to play opposite roles in which they provide oversight and checks and balances to the other. The two positions should be filled by separate employees, and this change should be implemented as soon as possible. In the current setup, the one accountant has too much power over the processes. Another issue is the cash drawer principle also leaves the company vulnerable to fraud and manipulation of funds. For example, even if a company employee were to act independently, an employee could easily remove a substantial amount of unauthorized funds, and it would be difficult, if not impossible, to find who did it as any of the company employees could have been culpable. An example of the problems that arise from the anonymity that company employees have within the organization, is clearly exemplified in the case of the worker who was fired for viewing pornography on the company computer. Not only does this introduce risks of damaging corporate reputation, and download viruses, but it also highlights how the lack of individual user accounts and accountability makes it so that one employee can hide their malicious actions with anonymity. Below are some recommendations for the LBJ Company. Recommendat ions: 1) To introduce a culture of corporate responsibility, the CEO should begin to implement individual user accounts for its computers, as well as a formal cash withdrawal system, that requires that company employees register themselves with another person or a computer system. 2) The role of the one accountant who acts as Treasurer and Controller must be separated into two so as not to violate the internal control principle, and in order to minimize the likelihood of fraud. 3) The checks should not just be left at the accountant’s office, but in a safe where only two people have access such as the accountant and the manager. That way more than one person is responsible. 4) The accountant taking checks home over the weekend is a security issue as well as introduces more opportunity for fraud. This practice must be stopped and more safeguards put in place. This also is an issue regarding personal identifying information on the checks of the employees and if the checks become lost or stolen, then that information is available to the public now. 5) The accountant also being involved in the interview process for new employees is disturbing because of the level of control he has over critical aspects in the company’s day to day business. If he were to hire an accomplice, he could easily use that individual and his position in order to manipulate accounts and withdraw significant funds from the company before he is ever caught. 6) The HR Departments should also run more thorough background checks as part of their hiring processes. (Bell, 2010) Conclusion Now that the LBJ Company has received the recommendations to fix the issues with their internal controls, they will no doubt be able to go public and be successful. The LBJ Company should also re-evaluate their processes every so often to make sure that these new systems for their internal controls are successful. They should re-evaluate every so often in case they need to make changes as well.

Chemistry of Hazardous Chemicals Week V multiple choice questions and Essay

Chemistry of Hazardous Chemicals Week V multiple choice questions and 2 questions - Essay Example The second method is the oxidation-reduction process. Most of the compounds decomposed by this method react explosively to thermal decomposition. For this reason, DOT does not allow carriers to transport them. A good example of these compounds is the ammonium dichromate (NH4)2Cr2O7(s), which decompose to chromium (III) oxide Cr2O3 (s), nitrogen (N2 (g)) and water (H2O (l)) on heating as illustrated in equation 2. Sulfur and finely divided metals are flammable; hence ignite readily at normal burning temperatures. In this regard, they can quickly expose ammonium nitrate to fire if not segregated. However, exposing bulk ammonium nitrate to fire may result in an explosive thermal decomposition of this compound to various products, including the toxic nitrogen dioxide (Meyer, 2010). As such, OSHA requires the segregation as mentioned earlier to prevent explosion of ammonium nitrate and life-threatening gases like nitrogen dioxide. This precaution is meant to ensure that ammonium nitrate does not leak into areas that it might be confined in case of fire. As seen from recent research (Meyer, 2010), exposing bulk ammonium nitrate to fire scenes results into its thermal decomposition at explosive rates, from which it might also produce the toxic nitrogen dioxide gas. Water is the primary solvent used to dissolve solutes. Additionally, metallic oxidizers are readily soluble in water. For this reason, their chemical reactivity is eliminated through diluting them in water. In doing this, the oxidation-reduction reaction of oxidizers is slowed down. As result, water as a solvent turns out as an excellent extinguisher of an oxidizer-supported fire. The compromised container will cause leakages of trichloro-s-triazinetrione or calcium hypochlorite stored in it. Being a strong oxidizing agent, it may cause thermal explosion. The primary rationale to support this argument is that the water left behind after the firefighters efforts to

Sexual Harrasment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Sexual Harrasment - Essay Example Furthermore, legal authorities stipulate some issues that an organization must encompass in its training programs such as training on sexual harassment, ethics and safety, among others. In this paper, the issue of sexual harassment will be addressed, taking into account its importance to the success of a business. Some of the most important issues that should appear in the training programs and organizations’ policy are a commitment to prevent and eradicate the sexual harassment in the organization. It is imperative that training program address both hostile environment sexual harassment and quid pro quo sexual harassment. An explicit definition of sexual harassment should be provided in order to ensure that all employees understand the dos and don’ts Quid pro quo sexual harassment entails implied or expressed sexual advances and demands in exchange for varying benefits such as pay increase and promotion, or to evade some detriment, which may include demotion and termination, among others. On the other hand, hostile environment sexual harassment constitutes sexual comments or advances by a supervisor or co-worker, which creates a humiliating, hostile, threatening, offensive and intimidating work environment, or results in a situation that can adversely affect a worker’s p sychological wellbeing. Organizations should always strive to eradicate or prevent sexual harassment from happening. It is important that training programs incorporate fundamental ways of eliminating any incidents of sexual harassment in work places. This may involve educating workers on their rights, and ways of reporting preventing as well as reporting harassment. Managers and employees should receive training on ways of identifying and stopping sexual harassment, harassment prevention law, and their personal liability under the law. Furthermore, all employees

Organisations and Behaviour Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Organisations and Behaviour - Assignment Example 12 Works Cited 13 Name of the Student Name of the Professor Name of the Course Date 1.1 Comparison of the organizational structure of John Lewis Partnership Company and Bradford College The governance structure in this Partnership business was established by the founder of the organization, John Spedan Lewis. It was formed by staying in compliance with the Company’s constitution. The organizational structure of John Lewis Partnership Company provides the management with the independence and opportunity to become entrepreneurial as well as competitive while carrying out business operations for the achievement of long term success. The owners or the partners of the company are given the ownership responsibilities of the corporation by means of active involvement within the businesses. In contrary, the organizational structure of Bradford College is framed in such manner that the responsibilities are allocated equally to all the staff members. The organization allocates the dutie s, responsibilities and the managing power to the employees in order to ensure coordination and completion of tasks without any redundancy. The Director is the head of the organization. The Director allocates responsibilities to various departments including Finance, marketing and Businesses and Service Departments. The organizational structure of the institution helps in increasing its performance as well. Comparison of the Organizational Culture of John Lewis Partnership Company and Bradford College The organizational culture of John Lewis Partnership Company circulates around the employee ownership which is highly distinct and successful. The business owners of the corporation have themselves explained that their perspectives regarding the benefits from this type of partnership business is highly competitive in the retail environment. As the employees are given the decision making authority and the right to a share of profit, it encourages them to perform well and drive the sales as well as the customer service up high. The employee ownership has a motivational impact on their performances. The partners run the business by means of a self-governing framework consisting of a set of committees who communicates the opinions of the partners back to the Partnership Board, Partnership Council and Chairman. In contrast to this, the organizational culture of the college is based on 7 E’s which are Employability, Equality & Diversification, Enrichment, Enterprise, Environment, Excellence and Engagement of the Employers. The vision of the institution is to provide knowledge and skills to the students in order to help them in achieving their desired career and improving their standard of living. The employers provide the students with wide knowledge and skills related to high levels of numeracy, literacy and Information Technology literacy. It is a place where diversification and equality is encouraged and at the same time,

Japanese city Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Japanese city - Research Proposal Example Kobe has once been considered the most earthquake safe part of the country until 1995 when the great Hanshin Earthquake devastated the city. Kobe is known for its delicious cakes and coffee, "row of historic houses and precious cultural assets and various other delights" (asiatravelling.net). It also boasts of a rich natural heritage as relics are displayed in the museums. In fact, one of the great places in Kobe is the Kobe Archaeological Center which sorts, stores and exhibits artifacts from excavations of remains in the city (Kobe Convention and Visitors Association). Kobe is known as an "international city" with a diverse population of foreign residents. It is highly industrializes, with a variety of industries such as production of parts to manufacture of finished products, the leading edge R&D and the growing information technology (Overview of Kobe). Being a port city, some of its industries are port-related such as steel production, ship-building, foodstuffs, shipping and warehousing. Blessed with abundant natural resources such as the bodies of water, Kobe government has moved from the traditional method of fishing to modern aquaculture (Overview of Kobe). One of the most bankable and easiest jobs for me in Kobe is an English teacher. There are numerous opportunities for teaching jobs in Kobe, in elementary, middle school and high school. With formal education in English and a TESL certification, one can easily teach the English language in Kobe and there are various institutions such as "public schools, conversation schools, language and research institutes and corporate English training centers in Kobe" (NaukriHub). As Japanese seek to learn the English language, there is a vast opportunity for English teachers in Japan. 3. Being an "international city", there are various facilities and amenities by and for the foreign communities such as "international schools with foreign language-based curriculum, places of worship for a vast number of religions, businesses geared to foreign visitors and both short-term and long-term residents, as well as multitude of dining establishments representing almost all of the world's cuisine. (Overview of Kobe). "It is the base for many multi-cultural friendship organizations and has a great many facilities for such activities and for assisting non-Japanese residents of the city and the surrounding areas and there are also a number of places to study the Japanese language and culture" (Overview of Kobe). The city also boasts of a large number of parks where people can meet, with 16.61 sq.m of parkland per person. 4. There are a large number of beautiful places to visit in Kobe. Its parks are truly calming to the souls and satisfying to the eyes. Among these famous parks are Fruit and Flower Park which also houses hotels and hot springs with an admission fee of 500 yen, the Kobe City Suma Rikyu Park which is a blue expanse of water and of course the Sorakuen garden which is a Japanese style garden with important cultural properties. Kobe is blessed with beautiful bodies of water, therefore cruising is one of the precious activities one can have while staying there. At the Harborland/Meriken

Abyssinian crisis 1935-1936 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Abyssinian crisis 1935-1936 - Essay Example Benito Mussolini, the fascist ruler of Italy, had a vision for Italian Empire, similar to the Roman Empire, to rule over the Mediterranean and to also take revenge of the Italian defeat at the Battle of Adwa which happened in Ethiopia on March 1, 1896. Mussolini pledged the Italian people "a place in the sun," as England and France who both had large empires at the time had colonial possessions. Ethiopia was a main candidate of this expansionist ambition for several reasons. Following the rush for Africa by the European imperialists it was one of the few remaining independent African nations, and it would serve to merge the Italian-held Eritrea to the north-west and Italian Somaliland to the east. It was thought to be militarily vulnerable, and abundant in resources.Britain's interest lay around Lake Tana and the headwaters of the Abay (Blue Nile). Italy's main interest was in linking Eritrea with Italian Somaliland. France's interest was the territory to be crossed by the railroad f rom Addis Ababa to Djibouti in French Somaliland.France and other Europeans were not much concerned at the thought of an Italian conquest of part of Abyssinia, given that their own interests were secured. Thus Italy eventually came out as a victor in the Abyssinian War with the major booty with other countries having their trivial share in the pursuit.The Italo-Ethiopian Treaty of 1928 that drew up the boundaries between Italian Somaliland and Ethiopia stated the border was 21 leagues parallel to the Benadir coast. The Italians re-interpreted this to mean 21 nautical leagues, rather than 21 standard leagues, which then gave them greater territory. Acting on this, they built a fort at the Walwal oasis in the Ogaden desert in 1930. In 1934 Ethiopian territorial troops, along with the Anglo-Ethiopian boundary commission, disputed Italy's invasion. The British members of the commission soon withdrew to avoid an international incident. The tensions resulted in a clash that left 150 Ethiopian and 50 Italians dead. The issue was the Abyssinia Crisis tabled at the League of Nations. The League of Nations absolved both the warring parties in September 1935. Italy then started to build its forces on the borders of Ethiopia in Eritrea and Italian Somaliland. With an eminent attack, the Emperor Haile Selassie ordered a general mobilization. His new recruits consisted of around 500,000 men, many of whom were armed with primeval weapons such as spears and bows. Others were equipped with more new weapons, including rifles, but many of these were from the late 19th century and as such were often obsolete (Pankhurst, 605-608)1. Abyssinian Crisis 1935-1936: An Introduction The Second Italo-Abyssinian War was a brief war between the Kingdom of Italy and Ethiopia in the early 1930s. It resulted in the occupation of Ethiopia into Italian East Africa. It resulted in the Abyssinia Crisis at the League of Nations, which is often seen as a manifestation of the incompetence of the organization. In 1935, Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia while addressing the League of Nations attacked the Italian invasion. On October 3, 1935, Marshal Emilio De Bono moved into Ethiopia from Eritrea without declaration of War. He had 100,000 Italian soldiers and 25,000 Eritrean soldiers under his command. A smaller force, under the command of General Rodolfo Graziani, moved into Ethiopia from Italian Somaliland. By October 6, Adwa fell to De Bono's forces. By October 15, De Bono's forces moved on to capture the capital of Axum. The occupying Italians plundered the Obelisk of Axum after annexing the city. On October 7 although the League of Nations declared Italy as the aggressor however was unable with effective sanctions. The British and French drafted the Hoare-Laval Plan; it highly favored the Italians, and was

Critique of Quantitative Methods Journal Paper Essay - 1

Critique of Quantitative Methods Journal Paper - Essay Example d in this regard that motivation is one of the key factors, which facilitates people to perform better for attaining their respective desired targets. Besides, modern organisations, in order to withstand in this competitive business world, are viewed to remain continuously engaged in making substantial changes in their policies, which lead towards raising the issue of distress amid the employees. In this respect, the article mainly drawn the framework of ‘transactional stress theory’ in order to evaluate the effectiveness of ‘affect-based model’ of ‘developmental job experience’ (DJE) through which both positive as well as negative outcomes of an individual could be measured (Dong & et. al., 2014). Correspondingly, the essay will critically interpret and evaluate the provided quantitative article, which is mainly concerned about determining the significance of an ‘affect-based model’ of ‘developmental job experience’ as well as the buffering effects of emotional intelligence. DJE refers to the experiences that an individual needs to carry for meeting the demands of the changing working assignment. This will certain provide them a significant opportunity of learning and enriching their inhaled competency of leadership in respect of knowledge, decision making skills, insightfulness and most vitally interpersonal capability (McCauley & Brutus, 2008). This particular approach i.e. DJE has been used by certain renowned organisations including IBM and NASA among others with the aim of developing on-the-job learning procedure of their respective employees. Based on this notion, it can be asserted that the approach aids in advancing the potential skills of the employees, which eventually result in making them high productive. In order to develop overall organisational competency, enhancing the employees’ skills and reducing the unwanted costs are quite important for any organisation in order to gain long-term success. It is often observed that most

Rango Essay Example for Free

Rango Essay It’s not always easy to relate the story of a talking lizard to the history of the world. Or at least, that’s they want the watchers to think. The truth is that there are many different themes that tie into the world’s past. Rango (the talking lizard) can represent some of the world’s most influential leaders; the mayor, who is a talking turtle, corresponds to the corrupted government of countries. In a way, many of the themes in this movie relate to one another. Human identity, religion, government, hero worship, and human adaptation, is only the beginning of what this film uncovers about the world, and the human species itself. The biggest and most occurring questions asked in Rango are the ones that follow; who am I, or who are you? Throughout the whole movie, Rango tried to figure out who he is. The movie opens up with Rango acting out a scene, but then stops and realizes that his play is missing something; his character needs to be more defined and is in need of conflict. After falling off the car, and having his home shattered, he finds conflict, but still has no clue of who he really is. Talking to the armadillo, he comes across the fact that because no one knows him, he can be anyone he wants to be. In the duration of the movie, Rango evaluates who he is, and who he can be. In this way, I can relate Rango to Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, the famous philosopher. One main point of Nietzsche’s writings’ was the will to power. Originally Schopenhauer’s created the idea of utilitarianism, which is the notion of an aimless will, claiming that many human’s main motivation is simply to be happy. Nietzsche rejected that idea when he stated that happiness is not the main goal, but a result of successfully fulfilling one’s main goals, and overcoming challenging obstacles-in the long term, fulfillment of the will. Rango’s character is too raw and undeveloped in the beginning, when he gets to the town of Dirt and creates this strong, law abiding, Sheriff persona, he comes to believe that this is who he actually is. When Rattlesnake Jake, proves that Rango is a liar and forces Rango to leave town, the armadillo and him have another encounter. In that encounter, the armadillo points out that it is the deeds that make the man. After hearing this, Rango returns to Dirt, fully aware of whom he is. Another way humans define themselves, is through religion. Though religion is a touchy subject for some people, it is expressed and shown numerous times throughout the movie. The first time Rango meets Roadkill (the armadillo), is when Rango must help the armadillo up because he got smashed by a car. When Rango, questions the reason for Roadkill’s suicide mission, the old armadillo answers that it is because the Spirit of the West is waiting for him on the other side. That is not the last time the Spirit of the West is mentioned. The acting deity is referred to at the ritual for water that happens every Wednesday and noon. Right before, completing the ritual, the villagers send a prayer to the Spirit of the West, ending in ‘amen’. The villagers of Dirt go into a sort of trance, when they hear that 12 O’clock bell chime. Each resident grabs a bottle and gets in the line. Once they reach the end of their ritual, they are all standing in front of a water spigot, praying for water to once again overwhelm the town. After saying a short prayer to the Spirit of the West, the mayor holds up the valve handle, in the shape of a cross inside a circle. The mayor holds up the handle, much like a priest would hold up the consecrated host, signaling the ritualistic and religious behavior of old and current civilization. The mayor plays a very important role in the film as well as the analogy. The mayor represents the corrupt government leaders of the world. In the film, the water of Dirt basically runs out. The people are barely scraping by without water, and desperately need their problem to be fixed. They mayor was there, in the town of Dirt, long before it became a barren wasteland, so he knows how much a true city can thrive. The once great leader became corrupted by the notion of power and influence he had over the towns people by controlling what they needed the most; water. The mayor wanted to have everything under his control, every piece of land, every piece of business and so on. The town, was one day thriving, living the great American life, and then the next, businesses were shutting down, land was drying up, and the drought was more serious than ever. While the mayor and his comrades laughed about getting all the water to themselves, the villagers lived in hardship. That situation reminds me of Jean-Claude Duvalier, president of Hati from 1971-86. Jean-Claude resumed the position of president after his predecessor and father, passed. The United States put a lot of pressure on Jean-Claude to restore the great land of Hati, from the dictatorial regime of his father. In the beginning, he was successful. He introduced reforms, replaced cabinet members, and released political prisoners. Though all was not as it seemed, and his reign did not differ much from his father’s. While his people were living in poverty, he continued to live a luxurious lifestyle with his wife. In fact, his wedding along cost $3 million US dollars. Many people wondered for ages, how all this was possible, and eventually, the truth came out. As it turns out, Jean-Claude had been in several drug trades as well as selling body parts of dead Haitians. After his dark secrets were revealed, he fled to France, and for the next two decades, served a self-imposed exile. This year, on the 16th of January, he was spotted in Hati. The following day, he was arrested for the possible charges of embezzlement, and corruption. Currently, Duvalier is expected to be held in trial before a judge in Port-au-Prince. Yet, the situation makes you think, that in the same way the townspeople looked to the mayor for guidance and resurrection, the Haitian inhabitants, looked to Duvalier for savior from the awful dictatorship before him. What the mayor and Duvalier both have in common, is the aspect of the hero, saving the land. The biggest thing I found Rango to have in common with the world is human adaptation. It was obvious in the beginning of the film, that Rango did not belong in Dirt. After figuring that out for himself, he took on the task of adapting to his surroundings. He studied the ways they walked, talked, and held themselves in their everyday life. The villagers very bluntly showed that they did not take well to strangers, and are against the idea of anyone being different. The residents showed that it is easier to survive, if you do not stand out. Rango derived from the town’s behavior that, he would be much more likely to survive, if he behaved like one of them. Our human ancestors ran into many of the same problems Rango did. They had to adapt to their environment, in order to survive. Rango had nothing when he began his journey, as did our ancestors. With nothing more than rock tools (spears, knives, etc. ) they trekked out of Africa and towards the middle east and then westward. Our beginning ancestors not only had to adapt to their environment, but they had to shift their eating habits, to whatever was available to them. Similar to the way the people of Dirt drank cactus juice because of the lack of water availability. There are no limitations when it comes to relating history to the things we see around us. After all, without history, there would not be a present. The film Rango takes themes you see in everyday world history and places them into terms and situations that any age group may understand. Mainly the characters in the film can represent various figure’s in real life; Human identity, religion, government, hero worship, and human adaptation in the past have all influence how the world is now.

Strategies for Developing Inclusion in Education

Strategies for Developing Inclusion in Education The question of inclusive education whereby mainstreaming, is both complex and contentious. There are many informed opinions and solutions from researchers, politicians and teachers surrounding debates on inclusion. What is apparent is that there is no overarching strategy that will provide all the answers; inclusion is individual, multifarious and wide ranging. It is shaped by social, political, legislative and contextual factors. This paper will first reflect on the concept of inclusion in education and then discuss the implications for teachers and schools. The following issues will be considered; legislation, rights, ethos, behaviour management and resources. THE CONCEPT OF INCLUSION Inclusion in education is recognised as one of the five National Priorities for Education in Scotland by the Standards in Scotlands Schools ect. Act 2000. It was this legislative framework, which set the legal context for inclusion, at least in principle, to what is referred to as the presumption of mainstreaming (Scottish Government, 2003, p.2). The framework focuses predominately on pupils with disabilities and special educational needs; however, inclusion in education takes a much wider context. By definition, inclusion does not primarily focus upon a group of individuals with additional support needs (ASN), but extends beyond this to include all pupils regardless of gender, race, religion, mental and physical ability and social class (Booth and Ainscow, 1998). Similarly, Wilson (2000, p.229) states that in the absence of any rhetoric or ideology, limiting the definition of an inclusive school to one that rejects or excludes no pupils in a particular catchment area on grounds of a bility or disablement or colour or religion or anything else would be restrictive and naive. On both accounts, the concept of inclusion is not constrained to a group of young people with ASN but affects all pupils. It is therefore apparent that inclusion is not about the integration or accommodation of pupils into mainstream education. Nor is it centrally concerned with the inclusion of pupils with ASN. Inclusion is more than this; inclusion seeks to address the individual needs of each pupil to enable all learners to achieve their fullest potential and experience a positive education (HMIE, 2008; Slee, 2001, p.116). ETHOS CULTURE Arguably, inclusionists state that the inclusive school must have a certain ethos and a certain set of ideals, from which certain practices naturally follow (Wilson, 2000, p.229). This broader philosophy of education is addressed by schools, within statements of vision to promote schools as inclusive institutions (HMIE, 2002, p.3). In this statement, an inclusive school is about the strategic action of creating an ethos and set of values based on equity, entitlement, school community, participation, integration and respect for diversity. Table 1 outlines this inclusive approach to education (HMIE, 2002, p.4). Table 1. An inclusive approach to education involves: Creating an ethos of achievement for all pupils within a climate of high expectation; Valuing a broad range of talents, abilities and achievements; Promoting success and self-esteem by taking action to remove barriers to learning; Countering conscious and unconscious discrimination that may prevent individuals, or pupils from any particular groups, from thriving in the school; and Actively promoting understanding and a positive appreciation of the diversity of individuals and groups within society. Although the statements of vision are a credible approach to inclusive education, it is notably palpable statements of aspiration. It is a cultural ethos rather than a strategic approach to inclusion and does not tangibly seek to address how this is achieved in schools. The statements express elements that are mistaken and limited. Such as: (1) There is no mention of teaching practice or teaching strategies. Without doubt, this is a fundamental part of an inclusive school. (2) Barriers to learning are inevitable; parts of the curriculum are not accessible to those without the ability or skill set to access them (being part of the school orchestra requires musical ability). (3) Promoting an ethos of educational success and high expectations may enable some lower achieving pupils to feel excluded and worthless from the education system (Barber, 1996; Hamill 2008; Mackenzie 2008 and Wilson, 2000). With the presence of a summative examination system, how can lower ability pupils feel suc cessful and credible? Is this approach to education encouraging some pupils to feel excluded from school and the education system? To value our self-worth and success based on a criterion of academic achievement does not support an inclusive school. Most pupils will not achieve top grades and will never score very highly on any scale. Barber (1996) suggests that underachievement is routed as a cause of disaffection and exclusion from school, which has been heightened by a climate of high expectations in schools, fuelled by league tables and social pressure. Barber (1996) proposes that underachievement leads to a vicious circle of disaffection and exclusion, which enables pupils to feel marginalised and detached from the education system. In a climate of high expectations and educational success how can lower ability pupils feel included? To overcome this challenge, it is important that institutions educate pupils to value themselves rather than their public merits (Wilson, 2000). Teachers and schools will be faced with the challenge of instilling an ethos of high self-esteem and self-confidence in pupils to discourage disaffection and exclusion. This will go beyond subject knowledge; it will develop personal skills and attributes which will provide young people with life-long skills. This philosophy has been embedded in the Curriculum for Excellence four capacities; to develop young people that are successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors (CfE) (LTS, n.d., and Scottish Government 2010a; 2010b). The Scottish Government proposes that educating young people based on these principles will develop a stronger society for all. This new development will affect the teaching profession as a whole; as teachers develop new skills and teaching strategies to enforce the CfE four c apacities. The onset of the new CfE will exert another challenge for teachers. LEGISLATION RIGHTS Rustemier (2002) claims that although the term inclusion is widely used and signifies a genuine desire to better the experience of all learners, the definition is still misinterpreted or misled, which has resulted in the existence of segregated schooling for some individuals. Inclusion has come to mean almost everything but the elimination of exclusion claims Rustemier (2002) (CSIE, n.d.). This argument is represented in the Standards in Scotlands Schools ect. Act; set-up to support inclusion in education. Even though inclusion in education has a legal standing in the Standards in Scotlands Schools ect. Act; in exceptional circumstances the legal framework still enables the exclusion of certain individuals from mainstream schools, if the following criteria apply: The mainstream school would not be suited to the ability or aptitude of the child; Where there would be a negative effect on the child; If the placement would result in unreasonable public expenditure being incurred which would not ordinarily be incurred If it still possible by law to exclude certain individuals from mainstream schools, then the concept of inclusion in education is fallacious and therefore, does not support inclusion of all pupils. Based on this argument, Rustemier (2002) confirms that the underlying issue in the development of inclusive education is the continuing legislative support of segregated schooling. Accordingly, the Standards in Scotlands Schools ect. Act, supports segregated schooling to prevail in Scotland. The Centre for Studies in Inclusive Education (CSIE) condones all forms of exclusion; maintaining barriers to some students participation in the cultures, curricula and communities of local schools is unacceptableà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦and aviolation of basic human rights to education without discrimination (CSIE, n.d.). Similarly, Rustemier (2002) states that such action is internationally recognised as discriminatory and damaging to young people and society and breaches all four principles underpinning the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child 1989 (CSIE, n.d.). To overcome the legal constraints surrounding the inclusion of all pupils in mainstreams schools, Wertheimer (1997, p. 4) promotes a UK legislative reform to: i) end compulsory segregation and gradually restructure all mainstream schools so they are accessible in terms of premises, curriculum and facilities, and ii) to plan the phased closure of all special schools. Based on this argument, would the closure of all special schools be serving the best interests of the child? A study by Bunch and Valeo (2004) researched the attitudes of elementary and secondary students towards peers with disabilities attending an inclusive schooling system. The findings reported that students with disabilities were able to develop friendships, learn from their peers, that a small amount of abuse occurs, however it is comparatively minimal and that encouragement and support from their peers is common. The majority of responses from students were in favour of inclusion and rejected the idea that students should be segregated for any reason. The study, however small, provided evidence that an all inclusive education system had positive effects on social development, acceptance of difference, and social integration. The study by Bunch and Valeo (2004) supports the argument of the closure of all special schools. This philosophy of inclusive education was shared by Mittler (2000); the concept of inclusion in education has the potential to transform schools to enable them to be come places which fully support social and educational opportunities for all pupils. In contrast, Cigman (2007) supports the argument of segregated schooling, whereby, special schools promote the best interests of the child; they provide specialist education, which can deliver a more individualised education to better meet the needs of the child. Cigman (2007) proposes that mainstream schools can be a humiliating experience for young people with ASN à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ mainstream schools do not provide a non-humiliating educational experience for some children (Cigman, 2007, p.779). Segregation from mainstream classes and their peers through inclusive support strategies, such as special units can account for feelings of humiliation and alienation, which can be fostered under the flag of inclusion Bishop and Swain (2000, p.24). Contrary to this argument, Oliver (1995) suggests that support strategies, such as special units are an essential means of successfully implementing inclusion in mainstream schools. During my time at school, the use of some inclusive support strategies, such as the support for learning base and the use of classroom assistants, highlighted the issue of segregation and differentiation for some pupils with ASN. The removal of pupils from class and from their peers to attend sessions in the support for learning base and the use of classroom assistants in mainstream classes drew attention to the pupils with ASN. This highlighted the matter to the rest of the class. As a result, some pupils felt alienated and detached from their peers and found their ASN carried a stigma attached to the label. Subsequently, such means of inclusion ignited more serious issues, such as bullying and low-self esteem. What is apparent from the opinions of researchers, politicians and teachers is that few would reject the concept of inclusion in education; however, translating this into practice will serve a greater challenge for teachers and schools. One such challenge schools and teachers is the requirement to address better the needs of the pupils who are alienated or disaffected from school, or by the commitment to educating pupils with special needs in more inclusive ways (HMIE, 2002, p.4). BEHAVIOUR MANAGEMENT In a study by Dyson, Farrell, Polat, Hutcheson and Gallannaugh (2004), teachers professed that the biggest challenge to inclusion was dealing with pupils who presented social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD). Some teachers reported a sense of frustration and isolation when dealing with SEBD (Hamill, 2008). Research surrounding this group of young people who present disruptive behaviour becomes far more contentious in the context of inclusion. In a report by HMIE (2002, p.34), it was apparent that the needs of those displaying SEBD and who often act in a disruptive manner (Hamill, 2008, p.68), present difficult challenges to schools and local authorities in promoting schools as inclusive institutions (Mackenzie, 2008, p.762). The problem is both severe and wide-spread. During 2009/10 there were 30,211 exclusions from local authority schools in Scotland, a decrease of 11 per cent from 2008/09 (Scottish Government, 2010c). Conversely, measuring school exclusions is problematic; some schools or local authorities can influence parents to move their child to another school, which has led to an avoidance of registering the move as a formal exclusion (Mackenzie (2008, p.762). The issue of exclusion, hence disruptive behaviour may be much greater than the figures reveal. A study by Hayden (2000) suggests that children with ASN are six times more likely than other children to be excluded. Those excluded are likely to suffer from SEBD. The label attached to pupils with SEBD can influence the way they are perceived and treated by schools, teachers and peers (Hamill, 2008). For many schools, the most obvious solution is exclusion, which compounds feelings of alienation and marginalisation, thus worsening the situation (Mackenzie, 2008, p.762). It is apparent that the use of exclusion to resolve disruptive behaviour does not endorse an inclusive school ethos. Nor does it comply with the right of social inclusion. How does exclusion support the best interests or needs of the child when they feel alienated or marginalised already? Or does it serve the best interests of the other children in the classroom suffering the negative effects of disruptive behaviour? As previously discussed, inclusion in education is regarded as a human rights issue, whereby to exclude a child from mainstream education would be an infringement of their right to social inclusion (Rustemier, 2002; CSIE, n.d.). This issue becomes convoluted when it is applied to the rights of those affected by social inclusion. Based on this argument there appears to be a conflict of human rights. On one-side, the excluded pupil has no right of social inclusion. Whereas, on the other side, pupils who experience constant disruption to their lessons and the teachers time is taken up to resolve such issues, are prevented from the right to receive an education that strives to develop their full potential. When behavioural difficulties disrupt the education of others, whose rights are protected or infringed? Dyson et al. (2004, p.101) found that the impact of children with behavioural difficulties on the learning of others, disrupted lessons and increased the amount of time and effort taken up by teachers to manage pupils with SEBD. Consequently, this diverts teacher time and energy away from the majority of the class and those in most need. Studies by Hamill and Boyd (2000; 2003, as cited in Hamill, 2008, p. 67), found evidence that the group of learners most affected by behavioural difficulties were those who experienced learning difficulties and who found themselves in the bottom sets with the most disruptive pupils. This impacted negatively on the inclusion of other vulnerable learners. Class setting based on ability levels can intensify this issue. Pupils most affected are those with learning difficulties, who most often find themselves in the bottom sets with the most disruptive pupils (Hamill, 2008, p.67).The negative effects of class setting can intensify disaffection from school which often results in disruptive behaviour (Hamill, 2008; Barber, 1996). Mackenzie (2008, p.767) alludes that the practice of setting further excludes disadvantaged children by lowering attainment and motivation, especially in female children of low-waged and unemployed parents (Paterson, 1992). With lessons disrupted by behaviour and teachers time being taken up to resolve such issues, it would seem likely, therefore, to have a negative impact on the attainment of others, however, Dyson et al. (2004, p.101) found no correlation between the inclusion of pupils with SEBD and the attainment and achievement of pupils without ASN. Inclusion was also found to have a positive effect on the wider achievement of all pupils, such as social skills and understanding (Dyson et al. 2004, p.101). In particular, pupils with ASN were found to improve academically, personally and socially. RESOURCING FUNDING There is no doubt that effective inclusion is dependent upon the adequate provision of resources (Hamill, 2008, p. 60). With the onset of educational funding cuts, the availability of resources will be a major obstacle to the successful implementation of inclusion in schools. In a study by Dyson, at al. (2004, p.101), teachers professed that the challenges surrounding inclusion were intensified by a lack of support and resources from external sources. Similarly, in a study by Hamill and Boyd (2000; 2003) teachers held the opinion that inclusion lacked adequate funding and was a politically motivated initiative aimed at increasing financial efficiency rather than meeting the individual needs of the learner. Whether this opinion holds any value, resourcing is a complex issue which goes beyond the constraints of simply providing materials and equipment. Providing adequate resources helps to develop a teachers professional development. Funding can provide the financial support to develop systems both internally and externally, such as specialist teachers. To manage the successful implementation of inclusion in schools, teachers have to be given the opportunity to undertake continuing professional development (CPD) to develop the right skills and knowledge to cater for the diverse range of ASN. There can be no doubt that the level of funding provided to support inclusion in mainstream schools reflects the quality of teaching and progress made by the individual (Hamill, 2008). Those with least teaching experience or professional development, specifically beginning teachers will be most disadvantaged with the impending cuts and limited resources. New teachers with limited teaching experience will be most affected if reductions in teacher CPD progress. Essential skills needed to manage the challenges surrounding inclusion will be affected. Reports of increasing the class contact time of probationer teachers to 0.9FTE (from the current 0.7FTE) will exert extra pressure on beginning teachers (Buie, 2010), which is likely to impact the quality of teaching, as preparation time is restricted. With educational funding cuts to be expected where will inclusion in education be left? Who will be disadvantaged or marginalised from the education system? How will teachers professionalism be affected? The outcome to these questions can only be speculated until the inevitable funding cuts occur. CONCLUSION In review of the wide-spread research in inclusive education, the concept of inclusion is not a marginal add-on to education; it is fundamental to the formation and success of our education system. Inclusion does not exclusively focus on pupils with ASN but affects all learners. An inclusive school will promote an ethos and culture based on equity, entitlement, school community, participation, integration and respect for diversity. Inclusive teaching practice should aim to cater for the individual needs of all learners to enable them to reach their fullest potential. One of the on-going challenges surrounding inclusion is meeting the needs of all learners. With teacher time constraints and resources pushed to a maximum and disruptive behaviour an ongoing issue; it raises the question; will teachers and schools be able to support the needs of all learners? In times of austerity; inevitable budget cuts will put pressure on attaining inclusion in schools. Impending funding cuts to teachers CPD and an increase in probationary hours may risk the quality of teaching and most worryingly the health and safety of teachers? As a beginning teacher, the responsibilities of catering for the needs of all learners will be a challenge, especially when faced with other issues, such as disruptive behaviour, limited resources and an increase in probationary contact time. To manage the challenges surrounding inclusion, I will have to rely on guidance and support provided from colleagues, my professional development and limited school resources. WORD COUNT: 3,229 REFERENCE LIST: Barber, M. (1996) The Learning Game. London: Indigo. Bishop, A. and Swain, J. (2000) The Bread, The Jam and Some Coffee in The Morning: Perceptions of a Nurture Group, Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties, 5 (3), pp. 18-24 Booth, T. and Ainscow, M. (1998) From them to Us An International Study of Inclusion in Education. London: Routledge. Chapter 1. Buie, E. (2010) Fears for teacher jobs as Glasgow threatens to break ranks on budget. Retrieved 15 November, 2010 from TES: http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6064294 Bunch, G. and Valeo, A. (2004) Student attitudes toward peers with disabilities in inclusive and special education schools. Disability Society. Vol. 19. No. 1. pp.61-76. Centre for Studies on Inclusive Education (n.d) Inclusion Why? Retrieved 15 November, 2010 from the CSIR: http://www.csie.org.uk/inclusion/why.shtml Cigman, R. (2007) A Question of Universality: Inclusive Education and the Principle of Respect, Journal of Philosophy of Education, 41 (4), pp. 775-793. Dyson, A., Farrell, P., Polat, F., and Hutcheson, G., and Gallannaugh, F. (2004) Inclusion and Pupil Achievement. Research Report RR578. ISBN 1 84478 319 7. Hamill, P. (2008) Challenging behaviour understanding and responding. A teachers guide from Primary to Secondary. Hodder Gibson. Hamill, P. and Boyd, B. (2000) Striving for inclusion. Glasgow: University of Strathclyde. Hamill, P. and Boyd, B. (2003) Inclusion: Principle into practice. Glasgow: University of Strathclyde. Hayden, C. (2000). Exclusion from school in England: the generation and maintenance of social exclusion. In: Walraven G, Parsons C, van Veen D and Day C (eds) (2000) Combating Social Exclusion through Education: Laissez-faire, Authoritarianism or Third Way? (pp. 69-82) Leuven: Garant Publishers EERA. HMIE (2002) Count Us In Achieving inclusion in Scottish schools. A report by HM Inspectorate of Education. ISBN 0 7 0 5 3 1 0 1 8 3. HMIE (2008) Inclusion Reference Manual. Internet Version 1: for SMG. Mackenzie, J. (2008) Disaffection from schooling. (pp. 763-782) In Bryce, T., G., K., and Humes, W., M. Scottish education, beyond devolution. (third edition). Edinburgh University Press. Mittler, P. (2000) Working towards inclusive education: social contexts. London: David Fulton. Learning Teaching Scotland (n.d.) Understanding the Curriculum for Excellence. Retrieved 15 November, 2010 from LTS: http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/understandingthecurriculum/index.asp Oliver, M. (1995) Does special education have a role to play in the 21st century? in Thomas, G. and Vaughan, M. Inclusive Education Readings and Reflections. (pp. 111-117) Maidenhead: Open University Press. Paterson, L. (1992) social class in education. In S. Brown and S. Riddell (eds) (1992) Class, race and gender in school. A new agenda for policy and practice in Scottish education. Edinburgh Scottish Council for Research in Education. Rustemier, S. (2002) Social and Educational Justice The Human Rights Framework for Inclusion. Bristol: CSIE. Scottish Government (2003) National Priorities in Education Performance Report 2003. ISBN 0755908961. Edinburgh, Scottish Government. Scottish Government (2010a) Curriculum for Excellence Building the Curriculum 1 the Contribution of Curriculum Areas a Guide to Developing Professional Practice. ISBN: 978-0-7559-9630-8. Edinburgh, Scottish Government. Scottish Government (2010b) Curriculum for Excellence Building the Curriculum 3 A Framework for Learning and Teaching ISBN: 978-0-7559-5711-8. Edinburgh, Scottish Government. Scottish Government (2010c) School inclusion: additional support needs. High level summary of statistics. Retrieved 15 November, 2010 from the Scottish Government: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/School-Education/TrendSpecialEducation Slee, Roger (2001) Inclusion in Practice: Does practice make perfect? Educational Review, Vol. 53, No. 2, pp. 113-123. Wilson, John (2000) Doing justice to inclusion. European Journal of Special Needs Education, Vol. 15, No. 3, pp. 297-304.

Characteristics of the leadership process

Characteristics of the leadership process Stogdills definition has three key components. First, it defines leadership as an interpersonal process in which one individual seeks to shape and direct the behaviour of others. Second, it sets leadership in a social context. In which the members of a group to be influenced are subordinates or followers. Third, it establishes a criterion for effective leadership in goal achievement, which is one practical objective of leadership theory and research. Most definitions share these processual, contextual and evaluative components. Some key charachteristics of the leadership process Leadership is a process of influencing others primarily through the use of noncorecive influence techniques. This charachteristics distinguishes a leader from a dictator. Leadership influence is goal directed to attain defined group or organisational goals There are five approaches to the study of leadership: Trait spotting: attempts to identify the personality trait and other related attributes of the effective leader in order to facilitate the selection of leaders. Style counselling :attempts to characterize different leadership behaviour patterns to identify effective and ineffective leadership styles. In order to improve the training and development of leaders. Context fitting: contingency theories which argue that the effectiveness of particular leadership behaviours is dependent on the organisational and cultural setting, which can also facilitate leadership awareness and training. New leadership perspective approaches: which identify new leaders, superleaders and transformational leaders as heroic and inspirational visionaries who give purpose and direction to others, with an emphasis on senior executives and politicians whose motivational role is said to be central to organisational strategy and effectiveness. Dispersing the role: a recent perspective which notes that leadership behaviour is not confined to those with formal leadership roles but can be observed across the organisation hierarchy, and thus one aspect of the new superleadership role is to develop self -leadership skills in others. Any study of leadership would be incomplete without an understanding of the debate between leaders Vs managers Leadership versus management We first have to deal with one crucial question: what is the difference between leadership and management? Some commentators argue that these terms are synonymous, as leadership is simply one facet of the management role. Other commentators argue that this distinction is significant. Leaders and managers play different contributions: leaders have followers, managers have subordinates. Those who make a clear distinction portray the leader as someone who develops visions and drives new initiatives, and portray the manager as someone who monitors progress towards objectives to achieve order and reliability. The leader is prophet, catalyst and mover-shaker, focused on strategy. The manager is operator, technician and problem solver, concerned with the here -and- now of goal attainment. The key distinguishing feature here is orientation to change . As Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus (1985, p.21) observe, managers do things right, while leaders do the right thing. Leadership versus Management Creating an agenda Establishes direction: Plans and budgets vision of the future, develops strategies decides actions and timetables, for change to achieve goals allocates recourses E Leadership functions Management functions Developing people Aligning people: Organizing and staffing: communicates vision and strategy, decides structure and allocates staff, influences creation of terms which develops policies, procedures and accept validity of goals Monitoring Execution Motivating and inspiring: Controlling, problem solving: energizes people to overcome obstacle, monitors results against plan and satisfies human needs takes corrective actions Outcomes Produces positive and sometimes produces orders, consistency and dramatic changes Predictability Tutorial question Discuss: Modern day organisations need leaders or managers Please discuss and give relevant examples to justify your answer. Power: what is it, and how can I get more? Leadership is about influencing the behaviour of others. One cannot be a leader without followers. One key attribute of followers is that they must be willing to obey. Leadership is a property of the relationship between leader and follower. We need to know why people are willing to let themselves be influenced by some individuals and not by others. We thus need to understand the nature of compliance. Leadership and power Power is a useful concept with which to explain the social process of interpersonal influence. Power is a critical dimension of leadership, and the two terms are often used with the same or similar meanings: a leader is someone with power, powerful individuals are leaders. We can thus define power in much the same way that we have defined leadership-as the ability of an individual to control or influence others, or to get some-one else to do something that they would perhaps not do. There are different sources of power to name a few information power, affiliation power expert power, all these power bases are interrelated. The exercise of one power base may affect a leaders ability to use another. The leader who resorts to coercive power may for example lose referent power. The leader may be able to use legitimate power to enhance both referent and expert power. A leader can operate from multiple sources of power and few leaders may be able to rely on a single power base. Please see table: Sources of power p+ are positive sources of power p- are negative sources of power POWER BASE EXPLANATION PERCEIVED AS Reward remuneration, award, compliment, symbolic p+ gestures of praise Coercion physical or psychological injury, symbolic gestures of disdain, demotion, unwanted transfer, withholding resources p- Authority Management right to control, obligation of others p- to obey, playing the boss and abusing authority exercise of leadership in times of crisis or need p+ Referent identification based on personal characteristics, sometimes on perception of charisma; or reciprocal identification based on friendship, association, sharing information, common interests, values and preferences p+ Expert Possession of specialized knowledge valued by Others, used to help others, given freely when solicited. p+ Unsolicited expertise creates barriers; expertise Offered condescendingly is coercive; withholding expertise in times of need p- Information access to information that is not public knowledge, because of position or connections; can exist at all organizational levels; secretaries and personal assistants to executives often have information power, and can control information flows p- Affiliation borrowed from an authority source-executive Secretaries and assistants act as surrogates for their Superiors p+ acting on their own self-interest; using negative affiliation power by applying accounting and personal policies rigidly p- Group collective problem solving, conflict resolution, creative brainstorming; group resolution greater Than the individual contribution. p+ a few individual dominating the proceedings, groupthink p- Tutorial question Discuss : Which power base or which combination of power bases would you expect to be most effective for an organisation leader in current times? Five approaches to Leadership Research on leadership shows five main approaches in the study of leadership and that leadership theories have evolved gradually starting from the Trait spotting approach to New Leadership theories Trait spotting: the research for personality markers For the first four decades of the twentieth century, researches assumed that they could identify the personality traits of leaders It would then be possible to select individuals who possessed those traits and to promote them into leadership position. This search for the qualities of good leaders was influenced by great man theory, which claims that (predominantly male) leaders are born as such, and emerge to take power, regardless of the social, organisational or historical context. Great man theory is a historical perspective based on the premises that the fate of societies, and organizations, is in the hands of key, powerful, idiosyncratic (male) individuals who by force of personality reach positions of influence from which they can direct and dominate the lives of others. Typical list of qualities: Strong drive for responsibility; Focus on completing the task; Vigour and persistence in pursuit of goals; Venturesomeness and originality in problem solving; Drive to exercise initiative in social settings; Self-confidence; Sense of personal identity; Willingness to accept consequences of decisions and actions; Readiness to absorb interpersonal stress; Willingness to tolerate frustration and delay; Ability to influence the behaviour of others; Capacity to structure social systems to the purpose in hand. Rosemay Stewart (1963) cites a study in which American executives were asked to identify indispensable leadership qualities. They came up with the following fifteen traits: judgement initiative integrity foresight energy drive Human relations skill decisiveness Dependability emotional stability fairness ambition dedication objectivity Co-operation Limitations of the trait spotting theory It is difficult to challenge the list of qualities cited by either Stogdill or Stewart. Can we say that effective leaders should lack judgement, be low in energy, be undependable, lack drive, ambition, creativity and integrity and have little foresight? What happens when we compare Stewart with Stogdill? Both identify drive as a key trait. However, Stogdill lists venturesomeness, self-confidence, stress tolerance and system structuring as traits which Stewarts omits. Stewart identifies foresight, fairness, integrity, fairness and co-operation, which are missing from Stogdills list. Traits spotting presents several difficulties. First, there are more attributes here than personality traits. Second, these attributes are vague. Third, many of the items on these lists describe skills and behaviour patterns which have to be observed, rather than personality traits that can be assessed by questionnaires or interview: persistence in pursuit of goals, ability to influence others. It is difficult to see how trait spotting can be used effectively in leadership selection context, as originally intended. A further problem lies with the observation that one list of good leadership qualities is as good as another. Stogdills review revealed some overlap between research findings, but it is also revealed disagreement and inconsistency. This line of research has been unable to establish a consistent set of leadership traits of attributes. Leadership is about power and influence, the chemistry of which it is difficult to analyse in terms of personality traits. Style counselling: the search for effective behaviour patterns Disillusionment with the traits approach meant that leadership, management and supervisory style became a major focus for research. Attention switched from selecting leaders on personality traits to training and developing leaders in appropriate behaviour patterns. This research tradition argues that a considerate, participative, democratic and involving leadership style is more effective than an impersonal, autocratic and directive style. Two research projects, the Michigan and Ohio studies, in the 1940s and 1950s underpinned Employee- centred behaviour: focusing on relationships and employee needs; employee-centred behaviour: focusing on relationships and employee needs job-centred behaviour : focusing Consideration is a pattern of leadership behavior that demonstrates sensitivity to relationships and to the social needs of employees. Initiating structure is a pattern of leadership behavior that emphasizes performance of the work in hand and the achievement of product and service goals. Consistent with the Michigan studies, the Ohio results identified two categories of leadership behaviour, consideration and initiating structure. The considerate leader is needs- and the relationship- oriented. The leader who structures work for subordinates is task-oriented. The considerate leader is interested in and listens to subordinates, allows participation in decision making, is friendly and approachable, helps subordinates with personal problems and is prepared to support them if necessary. The leaders behaviour indicates genuine trust, respect, warmth and rapport. This enhances subordinates feeling of self-esteem and encourages the development of communications and relationships in a work group. The researches first called this leadership dimension social sensitivity. The leader initiating structure plans ahead, decides how thing are going to get done, structures tasks and assigns work, makes expectation clear, emphasizes deadlines and achievement, and expects subordinates to follow instructions. The leaders behaviour stresses production and the achievement of organisational goals. This type of behaviour can stimulate enthusiasm to achieve objectives as well as encouraging and helping subordinates to get the work done. This is the kind of emphasis that the scientific management school encouraged, except that here it is recognised that task orientation can have a positive motivating aspect. The researches first called this leadership dimension production emphasis. Consideration and structure are independent behaviour patterns and do not represent the extremes of a continuum. A leader can emphasize one or both. Job satisfaction is likely to be higher and grievances and labour turnover lower where the leader emphasizes consideration. Task performances, on the other hand, is likely to be higher where the leader emphasizes the initiation of structure. Inconsiderate leaders typically have subordinates who complain and who are more likely to leave the organisation, but can have comparatively productive work groups if they are high on initiating structure. Initiating structure High low High performance low performance High few grievances few grievances Low turnover low turnover Consideration Low High performance low performance Many grievances many grievances High turnover high turnover Figure 1 : The Ohio State leadership theory predictions The influential work of another University of Michigan researcher, Rensis Likert(1961), reinforced the benefits of considerate performance-oriented leadership. He found that supervisors in highly productive sections were more likely to: Receive general as opposed to close supervision from their superior; Give general as opposed to close supervision to their subordinates Enjoy their responsibility and authority; Spend more time on supervision; Be employee- rather than production-oriented Supervisors in sections where productivity was low were production-oriented and concentrated on keeping their subordinates busy on achieving targets on time. The effective supervisors were not just concerned with employee needs. They were seen as subordinates as emphasizing high performance and had a contagious enthusiasm for achieving goals. Likert and his team identified four main styles or systems of leadership: System 1: Exploitative autocratic, in which the leader Has no confidence and trust in subordinates; Imposes decisions, never delegates; Motivates by threat; Has little communication and team work. System 2: Benevolent authoritative, in which the leader Has superficial, condescending trust in subordinates; Imposes decisions, never delegates; Motivates by reward; Sometimes involves subordinates in solving problems. System 3: Participative, in which the leader Has some incomplete confidence and trust in subordinates; Listens to subordinates but controls decision making; Motivates by reward and some involvement; Uses ideas and opinions of subordinates constructively. System 4: Democratic, in which the leader Has complete confidence and trust in subordinates; Allows subordinates to make decisions for themselves; Motivates by reward for achieving goals set by participation; Shares ideas and opinion. Likerts research showed that effective supervisors were those who adopted either system 3 or system 4 leadership, what Likert called and alternative organisational lifestyle. Tutorial question: The style counselling leadership approach is extremely relevant in current times Discuss this statement. Context fitting: the development of contingency theories The Michigan and Ohio perspectives offer leaders one best way to handle followers, by adopting the high-consideration, high-structure ideal. This advice is supported by the fact that most people like their leaders to be considerate, even when they are performance- oriented as well. The main criticism of this perspective lies with the observation that one leadership style may not be effective in all circumstances. Departing from one best way, Robert Tannenbaum and Warren Schmidt (1958) presented the autocratic- democratic choice as a continuum, from boss centred leadership at one extreme to subordinate- centred leadership at the other. This is illustrated in figure 2 Subordinate-centred leadership Boss- centred leadership The contingency theory of leadership is a perspective which states that leaders to be effective must adapt their style in a manner consistent with aspects such as the work context, attributes of workers and the nature of the work to be done Use of authority by the manager Area of freedom for subordinates Manager Manager Manager Manager presents Manager presents Manager defines Manager permits makes decisions sells presents ideas tentative decision problem, gets limits; asks group subordinates to and announces it. Decisions. and invites subject to change. suggestion, makes to make decision. function within limits questions. Decision. defined bysuperior. The Tannenbaum-Schmidt continuum of leadership behavior The steps in this continuum are represented as alternatives for the leader; their article was subtitled should the manager be democratic or autocratic- or something in between? Tannenbaum and Schmidt argue that the answer depends on three sets of forces: Forces in the manager personality, values, preferences, beliefs about Employee participation, confidence in subordinates Forces in the subordinates need for independence, tolerance of ambiguity Knowledge of the problem, expectations of involvement Forces in the situation organizational norms, size and location of work Groups, effectiveness of teamworking, nature of The problem Having concentrated on forces in the manager, having challenged the notion of one best way, to lead, research now considered aspects of the context in which the leader was operating: the people being led, the nature of the work they were doing, and the wider organisational setting. This perspective suggests that leaders must be able to diagnose the context and be able to decide what behaviour will fit. As the best style is contingent on the situation, this approach is referred to as the contingency theory of leadership. Tutorial question Leadership research and theory seems to be consistent in arguing that a considerate, employee- cantered, participative and democratic style is more effective. What factors in an organisational context would make an inconsiderate, goal- centred, impersonal and autocratic leadership style more effective? Contingency theory of leadership contd Another influential contingency theory of leadership was developed by Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard (1988). They believe that leaders can alter their style to fit the context. Hersey and Blanchard call their approach situational leadership, summarised in fig 3, which describe leader behaviour on two dimensions. The first dimension (horizontal axis) concerns task behaviour, or the amount of direction a leader gives to subordinates. This can vary from specific instructions, at one extreme, to complete delegation, at the other. Hersey and Blanchard identify two intermediate positions, where leaders either facilitate subordinates decisions or take care to explain their own. Situational leadership is an approach to determining the most effective style of influencing, taking into accounts of direction and support the leader gives, the readiness and maturity of followers to perform a particular task. The second dimension (vertical axis) concerns supportive behaviour and the amount of social backup a leader gives to subordinates. This can vary from limited communication, at one extreme, to considerable listening, facilitating and supporting at the other. The model establishes four basic leadership styles, labelled S1 to S4 S1 Telling: High amounts of task behaviour, telling subordinates what to do, when to do it and how to do it, but with little leadership behaviour. S2 Selling: High amounts of both task behaviour and relationship behaviour. S3 Participating: Lots of relationship behaviour and support, but little direction of task behaviour. S4 Delegating: Not much task behaviour or relationship behaviour. Share ideas and Explain decisions and provide Facilitate decision making. Opportunity for clarification. PARTICIPATING S3 S2 SELLING DELAGATING TELLING Turn over responsibility Provide specific instructions For decisions and and closely supervise Implementation performance. S4 S1 (Supporting Behavior/Relationship Behavior R RELATIONSHIP BEHAVIOUR Low TASK BEHAVIOUR high (GUIDANCE) High Moderate low R4 R3 R2 R1 Able and willing or confident Follower Readiness Able but unwilling Or insecure Unable and unwilling Or insecure Unable but willing Or confident Follower directed leader directed Hersey and Blanchard also argue that the readiness of followers to perform a particular task is a key factor. This is explained by the lower portion of the figure in which follower readiness is drawn on a continuum, with insecure subordinates unwilling to act at one extreme to confident followers able and willing to perform at the other. Superimpose the readiness continuum on the top half of the model and you have a basis for selecting an effective leadership style. It is compelling and consistent with other theories to suggest that insecure subordinates need telling while willing and confident groups can be left to do the job. Tutorial question; Take an organisation of your choice and discuss the relevance and significance of the Hersey and Blanchard situational leadership theory. Leadership in the twenty-first century Two related trends in leadership thinking are now evident: Recognition of the role of heroic, powerful, charismatic, visionary leader. Recognition of the role of information leadership, at all levels. These trends appear to be contradictory. We have the new leader, who is a rational figure motivating followers to superlative levels of achievement. However, we have also the super leader, who is able to lead other lead themselves .The super leader thus encourage, develops and co-exists with informal leadership dispersed throughout the organisation hierarchy. The new leader is an indispensable and inspirational visionary, a coach, a facilitator concerned with building a shared sense of purpose and mission, with creating a culture which ensures that everyone is aligned with the organisations goals and is skilled and empowered to go and achieve them. The super leader is a leader who is able to develop leadership capacity in other, developing and empowering them, reducing their dependence on formal leaders, stimulating their motivation, commitment and creativity. The new leadership theory originates from the work of McGregor Burns (1978), who distinguished between transactional and transformational leaders. The transactional leader is a leader who treats relationship with followers in terms of an exchange, giving followers what they want in return for what the leader desires, following prescribed tasks to pursue established goals. Transactional leaders see their relationship with formers in term of trade, swaps or bargains. Transformational leaders are characterised as individuals who inspire and motivates others to go beyond contract, to perform at unexpected levels. Although Burns saw these two types of leadership it was easy to see why some commentators equate transactional with management, and transformational with leadership. The transactional leader is a leader who treats relationship with followers in terms of an exchange, giving followers what they want in return for what the leader desires, following prescribed tasks to pursue established goals. The transformational leader is a leader who treats relationships with followers in terms of motivation and commitment , influencing and inspiring followers to give more than mechanical compliance and to improve organisational performance Transformational leadership occurs when leaders: Stimulates others to see what they are doing from new perspectives; Articulate the mission or vision of the organisation; Develop others to higher levels of ability; and Motivates others to put organisational interest before self-interest. They achieve this, according to Bass and Avolio, by using one or more of Idealised influence act as role models, attract admiration, respect and trust, put needs of others before personal interest, take risks and demonstrate high standards of ethical conduct Inspirational motivation motivate and inspire by providing meaning and challenge, arouse team spirit, show enthusiasm and optimism, communicate expectations, demonstrate commitment Intellectual stimulation question assumptions, reframe problems, approach old issues in new ways, encourage innovation and creativity, avoid public criticism of mistakes Individualised consideration attend to individual needs for growth and achievement, act as coach or mentor, create new learning opportunities, accept individual Differences, avoid close monitoring. The transformational leader is a leader who threats relationship with followers in terms of motivation and commitment, influencing and inspiring followers to give more than mechanical compliance and to improve organizational performance. It is tempting to regard the profusion of new terms and the shift in emphasis in leadership theory and research as a systematic development of earlier ideas. However, the identification of new, super, transformational leaders represent a simplification of the concept of leadership, returning to trait spotting (hunt the visionary) and overlooks what is known about the influences of a range of contextual factors on leadership effectiveness. Tutorial question Considering senior business and political leaders with whom you are familiar, either directly or through the media, which come closest to these definitions of new leader, super leader and transformational leader? The new, super, transformational leader looks like a one best way approach. Does this vindicate trait spotting and discredit contingency perspectives? Dispersing the leadership role In the distinction between leadership and management, orientation to change is a defining characteristic, a distinctive mark of the leader. These results suggest, therefore, that leadership is a widespread phenomenon. Leadership behaviours are dispersed rather than concentrated in the hands of formally appointed managers. Leadership functions are best carried out by people who have the interest, knowledge, skills and motivation to perform them effectively. This observation is reinforced by the development of self-managing autonomous teams, which often have no leaders, or have coach-facilitators whose role is to develop team skills. These coaching- facilitating are super leaders. Recognition of dispersed leadership does not imply a shift of focus away from formal, senior figures. It may be useful to separate notions of leadership from formal positions and prestige job titles. However, it is necessary to recognise that senior figures with prestige title continue to exercise leadership roles and functions as well. This twin-track approach, which combines recognition of visionary new leadership with the notion of a widely dispersed leadership decoupled from high office, is illustrated by Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus (1985). Their model of twenty-first century leadership (in which the new role of the leader is to be (leader of leaders) is summarised in table 4.