Prohibition of Unsolicited Parties Act 2010 Essay

Prohibition of Unsolicited Parties Act 2010 - Essay Example This paper illustrates that Tom works in the particular business as a sales assistant. His duties are limited, according to the employment contract related to the particular position; the supervision of the organization’s premises is not part of Tom’s duties but his job is related only to sales. The manageress of the business asks Tom to keep an eye on the business while she will be abroad; this means that Tom has acquired the right to have access to the business even when it is closed. However, this right is related only to the check of status/ safety of premises and is not expanded to other rights, at least as explained in the case study. Tom asks his friends to visit a specific part of the business for participating in a party that Tom has organized because of his birthday. This action of Tom is out of his powers, as given by the manageress. Furthermore, Tom uses his e-mail for inviting his friends. The specific means of communication is exposed to risks; the phenome non of technical failures of e-mails is quite common. Still, the specific technical problem is rather unusual. This means that Tom could not expect that his invitation would reach all his e-mail contacts, especially if in the past he had faced no such issue when using the specific e-mail service. The above facts should be taken into consideration when deciding on the overall liability of Tom in regard to the particular case. The individuals who joined the party of Tom were welcomed to participate. There was no warning made to them in regard to the mistake and the need for them to leave the place. At this point, the liability of Tom could not be doubted. It was only under the intervention of a neighbor that the party stopped since the police were also asked to intervene. The liability of Tom, as related to the above facts, will be analyzed by referring to the Act under examination, as influenced by relevant provisions of the UK law.

Depression and African-American Men Essay Example for Free

Depression and African-American Men Essay First of all it is important to understand what really constitutes depression. All of us feel down from time to time perhaps based on having a bad day. However when feelings of sadness last for several weeks, months, or years, and are accompanied by other symptoms such as change of appetite, isolation from family and friends, sleeplessness, etc. these are symptoms of depression. In 1999 Dr. David Satcher, Surgeon General of the United States, and an African-American, released a Report on Mental Health that was a landmark moment for America. This was the first comprehensive report on the state of the nations mental health issued by Americas physician-in-chief. It is both an inventory of the resources available to promote mental health and treat mental illness, and a call to action to improve these resources. It paints a portrait of mental illness, filling the canvas with the faces of America, revealing that the effects of mental illness cut across all the nations dividing lines, whether gender, education, economic status, education, or race. However, the 2001 supplement to the original 1999 report indicates that it probably affects African American men more adversely than it does the general population.Mental Health: Culture, Race and Ethnicity, which is the title of the supplement by Dr. Satcher, says that racial and ethnic minorities collectively experience a greater disability burden from mental illness than do whites. The supplemental report goes even deeper in that it highlights the disparity that exists for black men in mental health as it does in relation to most health problems. For example, African-American men are more likely to live with chronic health problems, and studies show that living with chronic illnesses increases the risk of suffering from depression. In a 2002 report, The Burden of Chronic Diseases and Their Risk Factors, the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention points out that African American Men have the highest rates of prostate cancer and hypertension in the world. The report also says that black men are twice as likely as white men to develop diabetes, and suffer higher rates of heart disease and obesity. The American Cancer Societys report entitled Cancer Facts and Figures, and written in 2003 found that black men are more than twice as likely as white men to die from prostate cancer. We are also more likely than others to wait until an illness reaches a ser ious stage before we seek treatment. Often times treatment is not sought until we are in emergency rooms, homeless shelters, or prisons. According to a report by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation in 2003, men in general are three times less likely than women to visit a doctor, and African-American men specifically are less likely than white men to go to a doctor prior to them being in poor health. This is the case for physical ailments. When one factors in the stigma attached to mental illness, and other barriers that keep us from getting help, it is easy to see why black men are even less likely to seek treatment for depression. Yet, the nation, including the African-American community is often silent on this issue. The silence on the subject among blacks is due, in part, to our lack of vocabulary to talk about depression. We call depression the blues in the black community. We have been taught, at least in the past, and, to a certain extent even now, to shrug off this mental state. For many of us, it is not just a fact of life; it is a way of life. When bluesmen used to sing, Every day I have the blues or It aint nothing but the blues or similar words from hundreds of songs, they do more than mouth lyrics. They voice a cultural attitude. They state an accepted truth at the heart of their music: Having the blues goes along with being black in America. In addition, from the time we are young boys, black males have ingrained into us an idea of manhood that requires a silence about feelings, a withholding of emotion, and ability to bear burdens alone, and a refusal to appear weak. The internal pressure to adhere to this concept of masculinity only increases as we sometimes experience various forms of racism in a society that historically has sought to deny us our manhood. The internal wall that often keeps black men away from psychotherapy goes along with external barriers built just as high, if not higher. Mental health practitioners are overwhelmingly white, with the proportion of black psychiatrists, psychologists, and psychoanalysts estimated at less than three percent of the nations total. This would mean that even if black men were to break through the self-imposed barriers and seek professional help for mental issues, it may be difficult to find someone with whom they can build a rapport, and whom they feel can relate to them, and they can trust. This feeling of comfort is what allows a patient to reveal his most intimate secrets. As Dr. Richard Mouzon, a prominent black clinical psychologist puts it, Many of us grow up feeling that it is dangerous to give up too much of yourself to the white man. Theres no denying that access to mental health care is restricted for Americans in general. In private health insurance policies and government medical assistance programs, psychotherapy is too often considered a luxury rather than a necessity. It has been said often times that the only people with a guaranteed right to health care are the inmates of our jails and prisons. That is even more true of mental health care.Unfortunately, this is a right that is of marginal value; while many black men receive their first treatment for mental illness behind bars, that treatment is likely to be directed at keeping them under control rather than alleviating the effects of their illness. Our health care system assures preventative measures and early intervention for mental health problems only to the privileged, just as it does for physical health problems. The disparity is so great in minority communities that for many, mental illness receives attention only when it reaches a florid stage, in public hospitals emergency rooms and psychiatric wards, or worse, in its aftermath, when people with mental illness may end up behind bars and in morgues. According to a new study reported on by the Health Behavior News Service, jobless African-American men appear to be at a greater risk of suffering from depression. While the issue of unemployment offers at least one possible explanation for why the symptoms of depression might be experienced, more puzzling is the fact that African-American men who were making more than $80,000 per year were still at a higher risk for depression. In order to come to their conclusions, Dr. Darrell Hudson, Ph.D., and his fellow researchers carefully screened the data provided by the National Survey of American Life. During their analysis, they took into account how much various factors such as social class, income, education, wealth, employment, and parental education level related to depressive symptoms. After measuring depression in a very comprehensive way, the results were not very consistent. We need to figure out as a general public: Is there a cost associated with socioeconomic position or moving in an upward trajectory? said Dr. Hudson. For the purpose of the research 3,570 African-American men and women who experienced depressive episodes within the past year of their lives were studied. Men who made over $80,000 per year reported more symptoms of depression than those making less than $17,000 per year. However, unemployed black men were more likely to report depression during that year compared to employed men. Men who completed some college or beyond were less likely to experience depressive symptoms than those who did not complete high school. Women, on the other hand, did not appear to suffer the same rates of depression. Females who earned between $45,000 and $79,000 were less likely to report symptoms of depression than those with the least income. The study appeared in the journal Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology. According to Dr. Hudson: One thing could be going on with African-American men with greater incomes. The more likely they are to work in integrated settings, the more likely they are to be exposed to racial discrimination. Racial discrimination can undermine some of the positive effects of socioeconomic position like the increased benefits of more income. Some black men who suffer from depression may think suicide is the answer. It is not. Men that become suicidal dont realize that they are repeating the cycle, burdening their children with the same loneliness the father had endured. Their kids would grow up with the knowledge that their father had taken his life. Depression can be very paralyzing to African-Americans. This vile illness affects men from all walks of life, from the black executive to the young street hustler. In many documented cases, several socially advanced black men have suffered from depression for many years and refused to receive treatment. This is a very disturbing undercurrent. If educated, accomplished, and highly informed black men refuse to seek treatment for depression, just imagine how difficult it is for uneducated or poor black men to seek help. Some experts believe that depression is likely a key factor in a 233 percent increase in suicide in black males ages 10-14 from 1980 to 1995. According to Dr. Satcher: Black men feel that they have to be twice as good as other people, that you cant be weak because people will take advantage of you. Those pressures work powerfully against a black male seeking treatment for depression and other mental illnesses. About one in four African-Americans is uninsured, compared with about 16 percent of the U.S. population overall. African-Americans are less likely to receive antidepressants, and when they do, they are more likely than whites to stop taking them. Particularly troubling to those who study and treat mental illness in black men is their disproportionately higher rates of incarceration than other racial groups. Nearly half of the U.S. prison population is black, and about 40 percent of those in the juvenile justice system is black. It is a very difficult and very serious situation for these young men and for society. Psychiatrists who work with the homeless as well as with black youth say they see dozens of black males each year head to jail or juvenile justice when they should be in treatment centers.They blame,in some form or another, depression, or other related mental illnesses. It happens all the time and its very alarming, said Dr. Raymond J. Kotwicki, Medical Director of Community Outreach Programs, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, at Emory University School of Medicine, in a recent statement. While all mental illnesses often come wrapped in some sort of stigma or negative connotation, mental illnesses in black men are even more entangled. Historical racism and current cultural biases and expectations all play a part, mental health advocates say. Nearly two-thirds of African-Americans believe that mental illness is a shortcoming that can be overcome through prayer and faith, according to a study by the National Alliance for the mentally ill. Certainly prayer and faith may be helpful to someone suffering from mental illness, but is not a replacement for treatment by a professional. The neglect of emotional disorders among men in the black community is nothing less than racial suicide.Many experts argue that the problem of depression in black America can be traced back to the time of slavery, when it was believed that blacks were unable to feel inner pain because they had no psyche. This myth has damaged generations of African-American men and their families, creating a society that sometimes has defined black men as being violent and aggressive, without considering that depression (or other related mental illnesses) might be one root cause. The consequences of untreated mental illness can be dire. And the tragedy of the worst outcomes can be no greater than when the disorder is depression, one of the most common and treatable mental illnesses. The disease is painful, and potentially fatal, but eighty percent of those who get treatment get better. Yet, quite sadly, only twenty-five percent of those who need help get it. African-American men are especially prone to put ourselves in mortal danger because we readily embrace the belief that we can survive depression by riding out the illness and allowing it to run its course. The internal walls we build to keep out the world, along with the walls that society sometimes builds to isolate us, cut us off from the help we need. So we suffer, and we suffer needlessly. Please do not be ashamed of seeking help if you feel that you are suffering from depression, or any mental illness. There are very likely resources right in your own city or town such as a county Mental Health Center, even if you are uninsured. Those who are insured may choose a private hospital or psychiatrist, but dont hesitate to get help. One resource that is available would be to call 1-877-331-9311, or 1-877-568-6230 to talk to a specialist at any time. This could change your life immensely, and could indeed save your life.

The Scope Of The E Business

The Scope Of The E Business The electronic business, and talks about like; electronic Business; or; e-business; can be defined as information and communication technologies (ICT) to support all the economic activities. The commerce is the interchange of products and services between the companies and you can see the groups and the individuals, like one of the basic activities in any business. Electronic business and centers in the use of the ICT to allow the external activities, and labor relations with the individuals, the groups and other companies. The internet: It creates or no, and the creation of the later part of the way of the Internet in 1969, during the cold war of the military of the United States. It was supposed to be communications network of the nuclear-test; Today, the Internet is separating by everybody, and consists of networks and the countless computers, allowing that million people interchange the information. It is the transference of the data transmitted on long distances in the Internet in the big lines known collectively as the spine the Internet. And now the Internet of suppliers of important services of the Internet such as WorldCom and MCI, Sprint is maintained and, GTE, American National Standard, and UUNET. Because these suppliers do enormous amounts of yield of the Internet, and are motivated to maintain constant and fast the communication, that will benefit to the users from the daily Internet like you and me. World Wide Web: A system for Internet that supports the coordination of special documents. Formatted documents in an increase in the price language have been called HTML (Hypertext Mark up Language) the language of the increase in the price of the hypertext that connections to other documents, as well as supports graph, audio and video files. This means we jump of one document to another simply by on hot spotting to click. Not all web servers A part of the World Wide forms web. There its different applications to have called browsers of the web which it easy turning access into the World Wide Web; two of most popular Firefox and Microsoft Internet Explorer are. World Wide Web is not synonymous with Internet Extranet: Uses networks and Internet-protocols are the extranet private link network. Be possible on company are found intranet as part of external network that is extended to users outside the company, and usually by means of Internet. Such as other companies (between companies and matter, B2B) described at treating a selected group, in heat insulation of already other Internet the users examined Internet as a means. On the one hand, the communication with users is known by the consumer and has been known the company sector and (B2C) the models of the consumer involving servers and one or more of the companies. E-business and e-commerce: in 1997 IBM (www.ibm.com/e-business) to use the term to promote its services was one of the first suppliers: E-business (ebizNis) -through the use of Internet technologies the transformation of key business processes . E-commerce (electronic commerce or EC) is the buying and selling of goods and services on the Internet. Some Differences between B2B and B2C E-Commerce: o B2C for each of the goods sold flat rate retail price it offer spot sourcing contract management. o B2B transaction to establish the price based it involves negotiation terms on which other factors for example carrier, warranty coverage, logistics preferences and volume-based pricing etc. will be decided. o B2C the business to spend on expensive, extensive infrastructure it does not require. o B2B requires in integrating the systems of the organization huge amounts to be involved in spent the process as well as those of its business partners that made time consuming, raising many questions about security and expensive etc. o B2C e-commerce used defined profiles and email promotions just involves. o B2B e-commerce studying order history data it needs the involvement of complex issues, for example locations, the preferences of trading partners, payment records etc. Between B2B and business-to-consumer e-commerce these are just some of the main differences. There are companies that offer services as well as products to help run business successfully. 1.2. Benefits: When we access internet we find so many sites on it. When we open it we also get some useful information about the topic. Through website we can do shopping, marketing, sales, advertise, business, etc. the list is endless. For giving and getting information on a large scale just make a website and a reliable hosting company for our self. Sometimes it is expensive but sometimes it is not so, this is because if we get a good host that offers us good services and keep our website updated according to its and market need, is not a venture of loss. Knowledge of Products: We can now increase our business not only determining the local market but the international market too for improving the growth of your business with no difficulty. By following this website business we can definitely change the way and nature of your business. We can also stretch or make more elastic diversity of your products to millions of our unknown site users. We can allow our products to be in view for all the time on net. Through website we can extend our business hours for selling and purchasing of goods. Freedom of having Website: We can put any information on our site at any time of the day in order to be viewed by the internet surfers and your website users. We can change or add the information according to our numbers of time in a day. Through internet we can browse any business site and can expand our business to those you do not know. Through increased internet users our business can develop and attain growth on net. On net you face even more challenging market and companies with hundred million of customers at this new market place without making us worried. Low cost Advantage: Being on net we have to be more aware for the growth of your business by applying new challenging tactics that can be useful for us to remain in competition. We can increase our business by advertising our products and services without spending a large amount and time loss activities on printing and distribution. We get a higher value added cost for our product as the market is international and expanded one as compared to the local city market with only handful of customers. We can also add the facility of ecommerce for our site users and customers. Through this facility our old customer and our prospective customer can place order and purchase our products with the services we offer them online. We can reduce the expenses like telephone calls, distribution costs, printing etc and also by increasing some hi-tech facilities like emails, promotion of your product through website, with extended business hours without our presence and we can send out your less promotional product with a small cost plan. Nature of e-business: In e-business again on the subject of trust, Daughtrey (2001) refers to the conditions of consumers expect purchasing from the Internet or when conducting business with: Generalised perception of supplier or reputation. Confidentiality and privacy, security for Customer expectations. Supplier provided by Assurances for example guarantees. Other customers reports. For example a history of prior transactions If the customer has, additional factors may be: Order fulfilment accuracy. Order fulfilment Timeliness. With customer relations Nature of any interactions. Any disputes Resolution. From the supplier Subsequent communications. With whom customer information was shared any communications from other suppliers. 1.3. Nature of e-business communication: MassMass communicationcommunicationcommunication refers to the process of transferring or transmitting a message to a large group of people. Typically, this requires the use of some form of the media, including newspapers, television and the internet. Personal communication begins when two people are aware of each other. You dont need to know each others name, even dont need to talk. When two persons eyes meet, and two people realize there is a person right there. The communication has just begun. internet communication Purely internal or intranet mail systems, where the information never leaves the corporate or organizations network, are much more secure, although in any organization there will be IT and other personnel whose job may involve monitoring, and occasionally accessing, the e-mail of other employees not addressed to them. 2. How the internet works: 2.1. How messages are transferred across the Internet: Internet technology The transfer encoding scheme that is used to transfer messages comprising strings of 8-bit bytes. With the aid of a time sequence diagram, use the list of FTP command and reply messages to show a typical exchange of messages to carry out the transfer of a named file from the file system on a server to the file system on a client. 2.2. Introduction to HTML: HTML is a language for describing web pages. HTML stands for Hyper Text Mark-up Language. HTML is not a programming language; it is a mark-up language. A mark-up language is a set of mark-up tags. HTML uses mark-up tags to describe web pages. Clients, servers and browsers: Client-server model of the customer of fact processing is the structure of the application of the distribution of tasks which the sections or the workload between service providers, frequently communicate serve called servers, and the student, and called customers and the customers and the servers concerning a computer network on separate hardware, but both the customer has a server who in the system himself it is established. The machine of the server is the host who puts one or more of the server software in functioning these resources with customers shares. The customer must share none of their resources, but the functionality of the service requests the server for the contents or. And beginning then with meetings with customers connects servers who (listening) the received registrations wait. Supplies, and expresses it to win web browser and the application of information resources on the World Wide. 2.3. Intranets and extranets: The intranet is an information portal that specific for small and internal communication means or large ventures, companies and governments, the industries, financial institutions is devised of any size or complexity Extranets, slightly same as the intranet. External networks are devised the state specifically, and limited entrance to some files of the computer systems to give which we have had: Some large customers or privileges, Specific the industry partners, Suppliers and subcontractorsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Etc. E-business models The five business models: the different ways in which the internet may be used to generate revenue by supporting the sale of a product, or service for example CDs, flights; supplying electronic information, or media services for example reports or music; charging per transaction for the provision of a service for example airline booking; charging a subscription for an information service for example news; advertising revenue, from an attractive website the internet can be used for selling a product, or service: 1. To a good place start is in the auction site on Internet. There are a lot of sales by auction which on Internet are specialised and unspecialised auctions that examine on Internet can be found. 2. A lot of service providers of Internet and web folders of research engines the property of Classifieds which can be used to solicit to other agencies on Internet to sell. 3. Found on the bulletin Council and the newsgroups which specialise themselves in this point (s) that you tries it reported sell and from to spread out to include your advertisement. 4. If we maintain an Internet site of the private sector or the homepage, and our point (s) at our place advertises. 5. Taking photos everything wants sell you, raises it very the chances of selling them. Differentiate between other business models for generating revenue from the internet: Distinction between the other company models to produce turnover of Internet. There five business models: 1. To enter 2. Supplying electronic information 3. Charge for each operation 4. The levy of prices 5. Declaration of income We can continue to the shares by means of Internet or for matter Internet Or If we or you have any cooperation. Then we can be advertised Or We can treat complete control of our work and have during the fact search All thanks to the turnovers of Internet.. Revenue from Internet! Identify other uses of the internet which may not generate revenue Several disadvantages can be obtained due to inadequate planning of the e-business strategy. For instance, it could lead to productivity losses, including loss of both existing and new staff and economic loss. The absence of an e-business plan may also lead to false starts and personal losses, which can occur as stakeholders become frustrated and disappointed over the general mission (2002). On the bright side, these losses are avoidable. In support of the creation of an e-business plan. Website design 4.1. Elements of a web page that may be used by search engines How Search Engines Work Crawler-based search engine of the strap linked on the basis of the evidence that human-drove both they to describe the term of the Search Engine; it is of frequent use generally. In radically diverse collection of the ways of listings in both types of motors of the search. Crawler-Based Search Engines Crawler-based search on the basis of the strap linked by an example for example of Google create their own lists automatically. They spider or crawl in the Internet, then the search finds people. The Strap-based motors of the search look for these changes in the end of the day if we had to change to Web pages, and how it is mentioned that can affect to us. The body copy, the titles of the page and other elements all play a role. Human-Powered Directories Evidence of human-powered for an example of the Open Directory, of the lists, depends on humans. We offer to the directory and a brief description of the entire site, or editors to review sites that you write one. The sponsor of the descriptions of research looks for games only. Hybrid Search Engines It used to be in the days on the Internet early on that the search engine lists presented either human-powered or on the basis of the results Crawler. This will be quite common today for both types of results. Typically, one kind of lists on another search engine hybrid will fit. For example, the look of a smart MSN Search is more likely to submit lists of human energy. However, it also displays the results on the basis of creeping, and also for more obscure queries. 4.2. What makes a website easy for the visitor to use: Always let the visitor know where they are located in the website. When building a website dont make the user learn the navigation or absorb significant new ways of doing things in order to access the content. Navigation choices should be available. Visual feedback such as subtle rollovers is often a good idea to improve the website to make it easier to the consumer. 4.3. Consideration should be taken to make a web page attractive to the visitor: consideration should be taken to make a web page attractive to the visitor through Easy navigation, Originality Creativity, Harmony of colours images. (1) Content, Grammatical Spelling Errors. (2)HTML: Reasonable loading time, Screen resolution compatibility, (3) Big No Nos: No distracting backgrounds, No saturation of advertisements, No poor quality animations, NO HYPE! No Background Music, Dont Over-do the Extras. Capital One does not provide financial education system and the abundance of information. The only qualm we have with their system is the lack of interactive features and financial instruments. We would like to see something more than just publishing articles cardholder can be made through the face. Education systems of financial tools are very useful because it allows the cardholder additional information about credit and money management. We can access your monthly statement, schedule payments online, and check our balance from any internet access around the globe. If we have trouble remembering to pay your bill on time, go to the website and set up an automatic withdrawal from our checking account so that we never miss another payment and never have to worry about late fees accumulating on our card and accruing interest. We did not hassle offered 24 / 7 account access and account alerts for free on the Internet. Each of these features makes banking easier and less expensive. It would be access 24 / 7 account holder allows manage their accounts online from any computer with an Internet connection. Alerts free account is a great tool, which amount to the cardholder if they are approaching the credit limit or if the bill is paid off. By using this feature, you can avoid a lot of fees is not necessary. This is why in my view; capital one site is better than this site MBNA. Conclusion: the widespread adoption of the internet and the web means that all business can now operate globally, expand the customer base, compete effectively, process orders, payments and deliveries. References: Apte, Chindanand, Bing Liu, Edwin P.D. Pednault and Padhraic Smyth (2002) Business Application of Data Mining, Communication of the ACM, 45 August Brahm Canzer, 2006, E-business: strategic thinking and practice, p-176, published by Charles Hartford. Ravi Kalakota, Marcia Robinson, 2001, E-business 2.0: roadmap for success, pp-44, 47,2nd Ed, published by Pearson education corporate. Retrieved on 10th may 2010 http://ivythesis.typepad.com/term_paper_topics/2009/08/internet-and-e-business.html Retrieved on 15th may 2010 www.guardian.co.uk/online website of The Guardian newspaper

Vouchers and School Choice Beats No Choice Essay -- Argumentative Pers

School Choice Beats No Choice    I am avidly in favor of school choice for two main reasons. First, no child should be locked into attending an inadequate school, lacking quality and diversity, which under the current system is rewarded for its failure. Secondly, children and parents who hold strong convictions concerning their academic and social objectives need latitude in order to place themselves in an environment which will maximize their learning success.    The ideal choice program, in my opinion, would comprise vouchers, drawn from the child's home district and not exceeding the average amount spent locally per student. A voucher or draft is awarded upon the completion of an in depth interview of both student and parents, guardian or assigned mentor and an interview board consisting of school board and local business representatives, and nominated tax payers. In turn, the draft would be valid at any school in the United States, including institutes for higher learning or for study abroad programs, providing the student has met all application standards of said school. Stakeholders are encouraged to make frugal use of the monies or creatively obtain any excess balance. Those not willing to choose, incapable of making such decisions or deemed hard to place, would be assigned local mentors to aid them in this process. Actively encouraging families to choose involves them more fully in the educational process as a whole.    Opposition will arise focusing on such issues as community fragmentation, rampant unemployment, and territorilaism (outsiders viewed as a potential detriment). Communities described as crime ridden, inner city, lower socio-economic can hold high expectations for their children t... ...their students to be educated at schools of choice. I feel confident the active role the school board will acquire, within this system, generating individual, genuine concern and commitment toward others will help pull a community together.    It becomes every community's challenge to foster caring and appropriate experiences for its children. Our goal is to turn out productive members in our society. This task becomes impossible for those locked in a no choice system. Therefore, the successful implementation of a voucher program and elimination of dysfunctional schools will provide the choices which allow our communities to meet such challenges. The competition engendered by a choice program should ensure excellence in teaching and dynamic educational systems which in turn will produce users and managers of information in a global society.      

Ccontemporary Epistemological Research in Education Essay

ABSTRACT. In this article the authors challenge contemporary epistemological research within educational settings. After a reconciliation of the current models which treat epistemological beliefs as static and mechanical, the authors present a teaching experience to illustrate their enactivist view that epistemological beliefs should be conceptualized as fluid and dynamic constructs, emerging in web-like configurations. Answers to epistemological questions unfold within the interstices and mutual interactions between people and their environment. Boundaries between student–teacher, individual–community, cognition–bodily experience are becoming blurred. From this enactivist perspective the researcher’s role changes considerably. Instead of determining teachers’ personal traits and epistemological make-up, the researcher should sensitize teachers to the subtle ways epistemological beliefs are enmeshed within their day-to-day professional lives, focusing on the complex fabric of the teaching practice. KEY WORDS: contemporary epistemological research, education, enactivism, lived experiences, personal epistemology. We rehearse information, but perform meaning. Information is like the web of links in a wire fence; Meaning is like the cascade of waves on a mountain stream. Cliff Crego (2002)  © 2002 picture-poems. com THEORY & PSYCHOLOGY Copyright  © 2008 Sage Publications. VOL. 18(1): 27–45 DOI: 10. 1177/0959354307086921 http://tap. sagepub. com Downloaded from http://tap. sagepub. com at Universiteit Maastricht on August 6, 2008  © 2008 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution. 28. THEORY & PSYCHOLOGY 18(1) What is the true nature of knowledge, and how does a person come to know? These questions first became subject of psychological investigation in the late 1960s through the seminal work of Perry (1968). Today, these questions are studied under the umbrella of research on personal epistemology (Hofer & Pintrich, 2002). Personal epistemology has come to be seen as the common denominator for research done within this field and as a term signifying individual conceptions of knowledge and knowing. These conceptions are referred to by many disparate labels, of which the most commonly used term is ‘epistemological belief’. Other labels are: epistemological posture, epistemological resource, and ways of knowing (Niessen, Vermunt, Abma, Widdershoven, & van der Vleuten, 2004). Because the term ‘(epistemological) belief’ is already more broadly used within (educational) psychology and thus easy to associate with, we will use this term throughout the article when referring to issues of knowledge and knowing. Within this article we provide a cognitive psychological and an enactivist account of epistemological beliefs and claim that the differences between both are ultimately reflected in Crego’s distinction between the rehearsing of information and performing of meaning. We will apply the enactivist perspective to an interview segment to enable deeper understanding of teaching practice. The application of the enactivist account to this case has the character of a hermeneutic circle. This means that the enactivist account provides us with a background view that enables us to understand teachers’ experiences more fully. At the same time, the process of application is also a practice of opening up and being caught by new insights while interpreting. These insights might alter our epistemological perspective. This study is part of a larger ongoing investigation to understand the phenomenon of resistance by teachers to a Problem-Based Learning (PBL) environment using the epistemological perspective as our interpretive framework. PBL, in short, is an instructional method that, contrary to frontal teaching, chooses not to instruct students directly, but to facilitate the process in which students themselves and in collaboration with each other learn the necessary knowledge and skills by working on real-life problems. The role of the teacher is paramount to the success of this method. This is why the example used throughout this article highlights a teacher (Josie) who is situated within a PBL course. In the following we will first present the fragment taken from the interview with Josie. In this fragment she talks about her struggle to introduce a group of new staff members to ProblemBased Learning. We will also provide a more in-depth linguistic, methodological, and ontological characterization to contemporary epistemological research. Finally the contours of the enactivist perspective will be drawn in more detail. Josie’s Case Interviewer (I): How would you describe yourself as a trainer? Josie (J): I always try to get the group excited about PBL. Downloaded from http://tap. sagepub. com at Universiteit Maastricht on August 6, 2008  © 2008 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution. NIESSEN ET AL.: EPISTEMOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN EDUCATION 29 I: How do you do that? J: By trying to get everybody involved. At the same time, this is a potential pitfall. For instance, in a training session last week there was a group of student tutors and this group was really very critical, because they had attended other PBL courses. That was when I found myself trying to create more structure—that’s where I felt inadequate, because there were so many people with so much experience. In these instances it’s important to offer students guidelines and structure. You should be able to deviate from this structure—but only in those cases when it’s possible. Some teachers see this very clearly. Personally, I tend to create structure together with the group—on the spot. With some groups this works out just fine and with other groups it would have been better if I had provided a clear structure from the start. We would have come further. I: Students get restless? J: No, yes, well, there’s too much input and too few conclusions. I think that’s a major thing in PBL—it’s a major issue that too often, maybe, no actual conclusion is reached. That’s really what I think is probably my own shortcoming, something that as a student I thought was missing in the system. That structure—the framework in which you work. I: What does this framework look like—what is it made of? Do you know what I mean? J: A connecting thread. I: You say that on the one hand you’re trying to find this thread —and you want to connect it with the experiences of the participants—but that’s difficult because their experiences are so diverse and a common theme is hard to discern. J: Well, maybe that’s because there just isn’t one single thread and because PBL is based on the assumption that the available knowledge is relative. So you cannot say there’s one single solution to a particular problem. The important thing is that you are working towards a solution. Josie (a pseudonym) is a junior teacher trainer at the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration. She was one out of a group of 10 teacher trainers and 9 new staff members of Maastricht University in the Netherlands who were interviewed about their experiences with PBL, their concerns and unresolved issues. The participants we interviewed came from different departments of Maastricht University and differed considerably in experience with PBL, general attitude towards teaching, general teaching experience, and opinion about the value of PBL for student learning. Despite the marked differences in background and experience among the interviewees, Josie was not the only one who presented a complex and multilayered experience. Looking at other participants’ day-to-day teaching experiences, we similarly encountered varied and multilayered stories. This phenomenon is neither strange nor new. Studies by Perry (1968) and Lyons (1990), but also more recently from Phillion and Connelly (2004), show us that when researchers turn their attention to actual teaching experiences, the presented picture of teaching and epistemological beliefs is more textured and complex. The Downloaded from http://tap. sagepub. com at Universiteit Maastricht on August 6, 2008  © 2008 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution. 30 THEORY & PSYCHOLOGY 18(1) selection of this particular segment has been guided by the potential to learn from it about the role of epistemological beliefs in teaching. According to Stake (1994), ‘the potential for learning is a different and sometimes superior criterion to representativeness’ (p. 243). The fragment shows how Josie is struggling with the question: ‘How do these students come to know? ’ In the interview, Josie as a teacher trainer talks about her ideas and ideals of student involvement within her courses. She says that in some situations she finds it difficult to realize these ideals. She refers to her attempts to structure group sessions. She thinks that in order to do so, she has to develop ‘a connecting thread’ that will enable the group to achieve a sense of closure. This metaphor nicely illustrates Josie’s narrative approach to teaching. Her goal is to develop, together with the group, a storyline with a beginning, middle, and an ending. She expects that this jointly developed plot will enable the group to close the session in a satisfactory way. Josie’s ideas and strategy implicitly characterize her epistemological approach to one of the key questions in epistemology: ‘How does a person come to know? ’, or ‘How should this group of students come to know? ’ We can see an answer emerging from the confrontation between her ideals, her self-image, and the group with its characteristics. When she says ‘It’s in these instances that it’s important to offer students guidelines and structure’, she refers to her failed attempt to provide guidance, which, to her, was necessary to give the group a satisfactory sense of closure. This experience appears to have triggered a slight change in her epistemological outlook. Instead of her a priori assumption that students should be regarded as knowledgeable others, who will work together with the teacher to create a common thread, she now thinks that the group process also depends on her ability accurately to estimate the amount of prior experience that students bring to the course and her own experience and skills. Josie’s rapport with the group of students is coloured by her ideals about student involvement. It is also with this particular group of students, who have so ‘much experience’, that she discovers the failure of her usual strategy, i. e. developing a structure ‘on the spot’ together with the group. In her own words: ‘Their experiences are so diverse and a common theme is hard to find. ’ As a result she is confused and forced to reassess her epistemological ideal of student involvement in light of the concrete situation. Looking back on this experience, she reflects on the epistemological perspective underlying PBL and in doing so realizes that there isn’t just one single solution to a problem and that all knowledge can make a contribution. The lived experiences of Josie as a teacher are interpreted as an indication that the epistemological questions can only be meaningfully understood when they are placed within the context of the story that defines the situation as a whole. To put it in more general terms, in order to assess a situation epistemologically or Downloaded from http://tap.sagepub. com at Universiteit Maastricht on August 6, 2008  © 2008 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution. NIESSEN ET AL. : EPISTEMOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN EDUCATION 31 make sense of teachers’ experiences epistemologically, we need to take account of the circumstances that constitute each new teaching situation. In Josie’s case these circumstances included her conviction that a common thread had to be identified, her skills to get the group to do this, the group size and group members’ varied experience. We would assert that her epistemological belief is essentially ‘indexical’ (Roth, Lawless, & Tobin, 2000), meaning that it is significant only as seen from within the concrete circumstances in which it arises. In the following section we will focus on the contrast between this view of epistemological beliefs and the prevailing views in contemporary epistemological research. Contemporary Epistemological Research Although the term ‘contemporary epistemological research’ suggests that there is a unified research domain, there are in fact different movements to which researchers within the domain of personal epistemology may turn. These movements may be referred to as ‘trait-oriented’, ‘theory-minded’, and ‘resource-oriented’. This means that researchers typify epistemological beliefs respectively as traits, theories, or resources (Hammer & Elby, 2002). Although we agree with Hammer and Elby that there are some important differences among these movements, we also discern an important mutual characteristic: all are rooted in cognitive psychology. This seems to offer an interesting perspective for an analysis and characterization of the field as a whole, because it would go to the very heart of research on epistemological beliefs regardless of the particular movement. In our view, Crego’s phrase ‘rehearsal of information’ very aptly captures the essence of contemporary epistemological research in relation to three interrelated angles: language, methodology, and ontology. Linguistic Idiosyncrasies of Contemporary Epistemological Research A striking linguistic characteristic of the cognitive psychological discourse about the foundations of thinking and believing is a marked preference for the use of nouns (Saljo, 2002). Since contemporary epistemological research is grounded in cognitive psychology, this characteristic is also discernible in epistemological research. The phenomenon addressed within epistemological research can be denoted by different labels: epistemological belief (Duell & Schommer-Aikins, 2001; Hofer, 2000; Hofer & Pintrich, 1997, 2002; Schommer, 1994, 1998b), epistemological position (Perry, 1968, 1988); epistemological theory (Hofer, 2000; Hofer & Pintrich, 1997, 2002), epistemological standard Downloaded from http://tap. sagepub. com at Universiteit Maastricht on August 6, 2008  © 2008 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution. 32 THEORY & PSYCHOLOGY 18(1) (Ryan, 1984a, 1984b), epistemological resource (Hammer & Elby, 2002), epistemological style (Martin, Silva, Newman, & Thayer, 1994), epistemological reflection (Baxter Magolda, 1992, 1994, 1996), epistemological posture (Desaultes & Larochelle, 1997), epistemological orientation (Belenky, Clinchy, Goldberger, & Tarule, 1986), epistemological antecedent (Powell, 1996), and ways of knowing (Belenky et al. , 1986). The worrisome aspect of the predominance of nouns as the building blocks for thinking and believing is that it creates the impression that people’s capacities and ideas should be conceived of as unchanging objects (Saljo, 2002). Nouns distract our attention from the processes in which epistemological constructs can be seen to emerge. Nouns denote a final state as opposed to a process in which actions and thoughts are continuously taking shape and modifying each other. The idea of stability is reinforced by the tendency to represent epistemological beliefs as stable cognitive traits or theories (Hammer & Elby, 2002). Epistemological beliefs are seen as trait-like or theory-like features which are stored and acted upon inside the brain. From an epistemological trait perspective, individuals’ beliefs and ideas about epistemology tend to cohere into stable ‘positions’ or ‘levels’, ‘phases’ or ‘stages’, which can be distinguished from other ‘levels’ and ‘phases’ with regards to organization and quality. They are seen as declarative knowledge to which a person has conscious and articulate access. In epistemological theories, beliefs are perceived as being structured in this way (Hofer & Pintrich, 1997, 2002). Congruent with the tendency to see epistemological beliefs as stable and object-like traits or theories stored within the individual mind, most researchers tend to refer to epistemological beliefs in terms of ‘individuals having them’ (Pehkonen & Torner, 1999). Another feature within Western society that reinforces thinking about epistemological beliefs as objects and unchanging is the linguistic tendency to typify mental phenomena dichotomously, i. e. as belonging to either–or categories (Amstutz, 1999; Davis & Sumara, 1997). Examples of such dichotomies are: mental–physical, internal–external, individual–collective (Davis & Sumara, 2001; Heft, 2001). Membership of one category precludes membership of the other one of the pair. This divisive either/or mode of thinking reinforces the image of people as unchanging. Something or someone is or is not of some category. According to Langer (1989, 1997), divisive thinking has this effect when people take categories or opposites literally or without mindful attention. She calls for heedful and critical thinking in which mindless acceptance of categories is regarded as the opposite of powerful learning. We think that a contemporary interpretation with a language that treats epistemological beliefs as stable and trait-like or object-like has trouble interpreting the epistemological picture that arises from teachers’ concrete perspectives. When we analyse Josie’s account and realize that she tunes into the situation as a process that unfolds in interaction with the group, we realize Downloaded from http://tap. sagepub. com at Universiteit Maastricht on August 6, 2008  © 2008 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution. NIESSEN ET AL. : EPISTEMOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN EDUCATION 33 that the boundaries between individual–collective, self–other, and internal–external are not clear-cut. They are fuzzy, blurred, and overlapping, and we see no clearly outlined either/or distinctions. We think epistemological beliefs should be better conceived of as emerging characterizations within a process of mutual adaptation, such as in Josie’s attempts to tune in to the ideas of the group and to her own and reconcile them. Because this process unfolds concurrently with the teaching process, it cannot be fully anticipated a priori or even as it is being enacted. To us, this view is compatible with a concept of epistemological beliefs as continuously unfolding processes, like waves cascading down a mountain stream. Just as the water and the mountain are being shaped and reshaped in their continuous interaction, so is the answer to the epistemological question ‘How do these students come to know? ’ being rephrased under the influence of interaction in a concrete teaching situation. Particularities Regarding the Methodology within a Contemporary Epistemological Perspective Characterizing the methodologies that are used in contemporary epistemological research, we see an equally differentiated array of instruments: production-type tasks, open-ended interviews, vignettes, observations, illstructured problems, and Likert-type questionnaires (Duell & SchommerAikins, 2001). What is striking to us is that despite this diversity, epistemological beliefs research is exceptionally unitary in its preference for using the individual and his or her beliefs, knowledge, desires, and attitudes as the unit of analysis (Lyons, 1990). We think this preference is congruent with the predilection for nouns emphasizing the object-oriented way of thinking; it seems to us that an orientation towards epistemological beliefs as object-like has been (tacitly) operative in the development of instruments that are used to study them as personal and stable traits or theories. We notice that an orientation to the individual is especially recognizable in questionnaire (Likert-type) studies and standardized interview studies. Despite growing criticism of questionnaire studies, they have been and continue to be an important method in studies of epistemological beliefs (Duell & Schommer-Aikins, 2001). Part of their popularity seems to be attributable to their easy and quick administration. Nevertheless, Hammer and Elby (2002) reveal a fundamental problem when they point out that item formulation is often far removed from day-today teaching practice while at the same time it is assumed to pertain to these contexts (see, e. g., Schommer, 1998a; questionnaire: ‘Nothing is certain but death and taxes’). According to Hammer and Elby, this is neither true nor Downloaded from http://tap. sagepub. com at Universiteit Maastricht on August 6, 2008  © 2008 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution. 34 THEORY & PSYCHOLOGY 18(1) viable when made explicit. Most epistemological studies ask participants direct questions about their beliefs, often by presenting epistemological statements and asking them to rate their agreement/disagreement on a Likert scale. For example, students may be asked whether they agree or disagree that ‘the best thing about science courses is that most problems have one right answer’ (Schommer, 1990, p. 499); ‘the science principles in the textbooks will always be true’ (Songer & Linn, 1991, p. 769); or ‘knowledge in physics consists of many pieces of information, each of which applies primarily to a specific situation’ (Redish, Saul, & Steinberg, 1998, p. 217). It is only by a presumption of unitarity that the results of these studies may be considered to apply to all contexts of learning (Hammer & Elby, 2002). However, the item formulation must be generic to preserve internal congruence throughout the whole study. It would be incongruent to perceive of epistemological beliefs as stable traits or theories but apply highly context-specific or dialogical research methods. A generic item formulation makes perfect sense given the a priori position that epistemological beliefs are stable phenomena. Epistemological beliefs are seen as tangible features and measured congruently. They can therefore be conceived of as entities that impact on teaching behaviour linearly, i. e.cause exists as an inherent constituent of epistemological beliefs. Contemporary cognitive epistemological research is concerned with the search for explanations of the epistemological perspective in order to predict and control students’ and teachers’ behaviour. Using standardized (correlational) measuring techniques, researchers are able to identify these linear and law-governed patterns. The role of the researcher in this process is merely to uncover these relationships objectively, with validity and reliability (Guba & Lincoln, 1989, 1994; Lincoln & Guba, 1985, 2000). In interpreting Josie’s segment, it is true that Josie shows an epistemological preference to create a common thread together. At the same time we also see that this preference becomes ‘active’ and is questioned while interacting with this specific group. Her experience of the situation she describes has led her to acknowledge that in this instance—given her own and the group’s experience—a different approach might have been more successful. Confronted with this new experience, a breach is made within otherwise customized behaviour. These breaches provide opportunities for change and revision of ideas to suit local circumstances. We interpret Josie’s ultimate handling of the situation as the result of reciprocal dynamics between different personal and situational elements, whose influence can be seen from a holistic point of view, but which cannot be reduced to any element or correlation in particular. Downloaded from http://tap. sagepub. com at Universiteit Maastricht on August 6, 2008  © 2008 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution. NIESSEN ET AL. : EPISTEMOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN EDUCATION. 35 The Particularities Regarding the Ontology within a Contemporary Epistemological Interpretation Ontology is the subdivision within metaphysics that deals with the nature of being. More concretely, ontology is revealed in the question: What is real? We might thus ask whether epistemological beliefs are real. According to Baptiste (2001), one of the most troublesome questions surrounding the issue of ontology is the distinction between the facticity and the quality of a thing. Facticity refers to the question of whether a thing exists. In our case we might ask if epistemological beliefs do exist. Departing from a realist perspective (Heron & Reason, 1997), the answer within contemporary epistemological research is that epistemological beliefs do indeed exist as theories, traits, or resources. For realists, epistemological beliefs are just as real and tangible as observable objects. The quality of a thing refers to the form of a phenomenon or the nature of an object. Within contemporary epistemological research, epistemological beliefs are thought of as psychological and physical phenomena. They are psychological because they reside in a person’s mind. They are also (presumably) physical on the basis of the default assumption that epistemological beliefs correspond to cognitive units in the brain (Hammer & Elby, 2002). Finally, there is the question of whether it would be possible for epistemological researchers to claim that epistemological beliefs exist without reference to cognitive psychology or cognitive science. Contemporary epistemological research, although not explicitly referred to, heavily draws on cognitive science and cognitive psychology as its foundational precursors, meaning that these strands are the background theories they implicitly build on. Varela, Thompson, and Rosch (1997) have pointed to the reifying effect of cognitive science on cognitive psychology when describing the centrality of the computer metaphor and similar language use. This computer-oriented language is also apparent within educational research in general and epistemological research in particular (Davis & Sumara, 1997). It depicts humans as disenchanted, cerebral beings who receive and process information from events and objects to establish representations (beliefs, desires). These representations in turn govern and give meaning to their own behaviour and that of others. In Josie’s interview, but also in the other interviews we conducted, we see from an enactive viewpoint first and foremost acting persons (Packer & Winne, 1995) who stumble and haphazardly manage to guide their classes through the course. Josie’s hesitation to infer definite conclusions about the preferred course of action in this particular situation is hard to interpret as an image of information rehearsal, the picture we see framed within contemporary epistemological research. As we see it, in this particular situation her answer to the question ‘How do these students come to know?’ is embedded within a network of concrete relations and a process of mutual attunement. Downloaded from http://tap. sagepub. com at Universiteit Maastricht on August 6, 2008  © 2008 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution. 36 THEORY & PSYCHOLOGY 18(1) In our view, Josie’s hesitation to draw definite conclusions should not be deplored but welcomed, because it may open up opportunities that may lead to epistemological attunement, which may guide students and teachers to the most appropriate end. The interview excerpt with Josie illustrates the existential dialogical nature or ontology in which it is hard to dissect the knower from the known, mind from body, student from teacher, teacher from context, et cetera (Hosking & Bouwen, 2000). Josie’s teaching might be viewed as a responsive choreography in which her behaviour and beliefs co-evolve within a relational web of individual inclinations or cognitions, her skills as a teacher trainer, the characteristics of the students she teaches, and the dialogue between these elements altogether. In the final section of this paper, we will explain and illustrate our enactive or dialogical world orientation. An enactivist world orientation is grounded in the assertion that people form complex fabrics of fundamentally and inextricably intertwined relationships with everything else—physically/biologically and experientially/phenomenologically (Davis & Sumara, 1997). From this viewpoint, epistemological beliefs are not primarily or solely cognitive features, but they are temporarily crystallized enactments in ever-changing webs of mutually defining elements. An Enactive and Dialogical Perspective on Epistemological Beliefs So far, we have focused on a passage from Josie and characterized contemporary cognitive epistemological research from a linguistic, methodological, and ontological point of view. The enactive epistemological perspective takes into account many elements, such as the group experience, the group size, and her own (in)abilities to provide a common thread (structure). In this final part of the discussion, we take up the challenge to sketch and explain more thoroughly the contours of an enactivist interpretation that enables us to take into account these elements to which Josie refers. Although we typify our interpretation as enactivist, we will also draw on theoretical notions derived from philosophical hermeneutics (Gadamer, 1990; Widdershoven, 1999) and narrative psychology (Abma, 2000; Josselson & Lieblich, 1999; Lyons & LaBoskey, 2002). Enactivism is an emerging worldview that lingers in between and draws from different domains, including philosophical phenomenology (Varela, 1999), complexity theory (Waldrop, 1992), and evolutionary biology (Bateson, 1979, 1987). Although this worldview is of reasonably recent date, it is receiving more and more attention within the domain of education (Davis & Sumara, 1997, 2001, 2002; Davis, Sumara, & Kieren, 1996; Sumara & Davis, 1997). Within the domain of contemporary epistemological research, enactivism has been largely absent, although the work by Belenky et al. (1986) and Lyons (1990) shows strong similarities. In the following we will Downloaded from http://tap. sagepub. com at Universiteit Maastricht on August 6, 2008  © 2008 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution. NIESSEN ET AL. : EPISTEMOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN EDUCATION 37 first explain enactivism as it is defined by Davis and Sumara in the field of education (Davis & Sumara, 1997, 2000, 2002; Davis et al., 1996). Although not directly translated to the educational or the epistemological field, we will also be using some of the terms (eclectically) used by Varela et al. (1997) since they are eminent in the field of enactivism. To ‘enact’ means ‘to work in or upon’ or ‘to act or perform’. ‘Enactivism’ refers to the idea of knowing in action. People come to know and believe about the world by interacting with it bodily, experientially, and cognitively. This means that individuals are simultaneously biological and social beings who experientially embody both cognitive and physical dimensions within their actions. Because continuous interaction is such an important feature of enactivism, one could claim that it holds a relational ontology meaning that all social realities and all knowledge of self, others, and things are viewed as interdependent or co-dependent constructions existing and known only in relation to each other (Hosking & Bouwen, 2000). When we review Josie’s story again, we see a rather inexperienced teacher trainer who struggles with the epistemological question: ‘How should these students come to know? ’ Her commonly used approach to create a common thread together is rather problematic given her own (in)abilities within a large group of experienced students. As a consequence of this inexperience she adjusts her epistemological outlook to include the notion that when faced with a rather experienced group she needs to hold more control. Interpreting her account enactively, we would claim that her final outlook to this particular situation is the result of the interaction between her ideal to create a common thread together and her communication skills, her self-image, the group’s size, and the amount of experience of the group. It is the confrontation of these elements within the concrete enactment that sets the stage for this particular response to arise. The enactive paradigm as exemplified by Varela et al. (1997) emphasizes the relev.

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Businesses were asked to check unwarranted price increases and any other practices that would hurt a family’s â€Å"living wage. † b. In the 1930s, the New Deal specifically blamed business for the country’s economic woes. Businesses were asked to work more closely with the government to raise family income. c. By the 1950s, the New Deal had evolved into the Fair Deal, defining such matters as civil rights and environmental responsibility as ethical issues that businesses had to address. . Until 1960, ethical issues related to business were often discussed within the domain of theology or philosophy. Individual moral issues related to business were addressed in churches, synagogues, and mosques. a. Within the Roman Catholic Church, social ethics included concern for morality in business, workers’ rights, and living wages, for humanistic values rather than materialistic ones, and for improving the conditions of the poor. b. Protestants developed ethics courses in their seminaries and schools of theology and addressed issues concerning morality and ethics in business. c. Such religious traditions provided a foundation for the future field of business ethics, with each religion applying its moral concepts not only to business but also to government, politics, family, personal life, and all other aspects of life. B. The 1960s: The Rise of Social Issues in Business 1. American society turned to causes, and an antibusiness attitude developed as critics attacked the perceived vested interests that controlled both the economic and political sides of society- the so-called military-industrial complex. 2. The 1960s saw the decay of inner cities and the growth of ecological problems. . The rise of consumerism- activities undertaken by independent individuals, groups, and organizations to protect their rights as consumers- began, and President John F. Kennedy announced a Consumers’ Bill of Rights (the right to safety, the right to be informed, the right to choose, and the right to be heard). 4. Consumer activists, led by Ralph Nader, fought successfully for consumer-protection legislation. 5. Activities that could destabilize the economy or discriminate against any class of citizens began to be viewed as unethical and unlawful. C. The 1970s: Business Ethics as an Emerging Field 1. Business professors began to teach and write about corporate social responsibility: an organization’s obligation to maximize its positive impact on stakeholders and to minimize its negative impact. 2. Philosophers applied ethical theory and philosophical analysis to structure the discipline of business ethics. 3. As social demands grew, many businesses realized that they had to address ethical issues more directly. 4. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act was passed during Jimmy Carter’s presidency, making it illegal for U. S. businesses to bribe government officials in other countries. 5. Major business ethics issues had emerged, such as bribery, deceptive advertising, price collusion, product safety, and the environment. 6. Academic researchers sought to identify ethical issues and to describe how businesspeople might choose to act in particular situations. D. The 1980s: Consolidation 1. Membership in business ethics organizations increased, while centers of business ethics provided publications, courses, conferences, and seminars. a. Many firms established ethics and social policy committees to address ethical issues. 2. The Defense Industry Initiative on Business Ethics and Conduct (DII) was developed to guide corporate support for ethical conduct. The DII includes six principles: a. Development and distribution of understandable, detailed codes of conduct. b. Provision of ethics training and development of communication tools to support the periods between training. c. Creation of an open atmosphere in which employees feel comfortable reporting violations, without fear of retribution. . Performance of extensive internal audits and development of effective internal reporting and voluntary disclosure plans. e. Preservation of the integrity of the defense industry. f. Adoption of a philosophy of public accountability. 3. The Reagan/Bush era ushered in the belief that self-regulation, rather than regulation by government, was in the public’s interest. E. The 1990s: Institutionalization of Business Ethics 1. The Clinton administration continued to support self-regulation and free trade, although it strengthened regulation in some areas. 2. The Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations, which were based on the six principles of the Defense Industry Initiative, codified into law incentives to reward organizations for taking action, such as developing effective internal legal and ethical compliance programs, in order to prevent misconduct,. a. The guidelines mitigate penalties for businesses that strive to root out misconduct and establish high ethical and legal standards. On the other hand, under the FSGO, if a company lacks an effective ethical compliance program and its employees violate the law, it can incur severe penalties. b. The guidelines focus on firms taking action to prevent and detect business misconduct in cooperation with government regulation. F. The Twenty-First Century: A New Focus on Business Ethics 1. New evidence emerged in the early 2000s that more than a few business executives and managers had not fully embraced the public’s desire for high ethical standards. 2. To address a loss of confidence in financial reporting and corporate ethics, Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the most far-reaching change in organizational control and accounting regulations since the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934. The law: a. made securities fraud a criminal offense and stiffened penalties for corporate fraud. b. created an accounting oversight board that requires corporations to establish codes of ethics for financial reporting and to develop greater transparency in financial reports to investors and other interested parties. c. requires top executives to sign off on their firms’ financial reports, and they risk fines and long jail sentences if they misrepresent their companies’ financial position. d. requires company executives to disclose stock sales immediately and prohibits companies from giving loans to top managers. . A 2004 amendment to the FSGO requires that a business’s governing authority be well informed about its ethics program with respect to content, implementation, and effectiveness. 4. In spite of legislation promoting better accountability in financial reporting and other measures to improve ethics, public trust of corporations (particularly financial cor porations) is at a very low point. 5. Around the world, the basic assumptions of capitalism are under debate in the wake of the most recent financial industry meltdown and global recession. a. There is a renewed need to address the level of ethical, legal and compliance regulations needed to help businesses serve the public interest. IV. Developing an Organizational and Global Ethical Culture A. The current trend is away from legally based compliance initiatives in organizations and towards cultural initiatives that make ethics a part of core organizational values. 1. To develop more ethical corporate cultures, many businesses are communicating core values to their employees by creating ethics programs and appointing ethics officers to oversee them. 2. The ethical component of a corporate culture relates to the values, beliefs, and established and enforced patterns of conduct that employees use to identify and respond to ethical issues. B. The term ethical culture can be viewed as the character or decision-making process that employees use to determine whether their responses to ethical issues are right or wrong. 1. Is used to describe the component of corporate culture that captures the rules and principles that an organization defines as appropriate conduct. C. Globally, businesses are working more closely together to establish standards of acceptable behavior. . The development of global codes of ethics, such as the Caux Round Table, highlights common ethical concerns for global firms. V. The Benefits of Business Ethics A. The field of business ethics continues to change rapidly as more firms recognize the benefits of improving ethical conduct and the link between business ethics and financial performance. B. Both research and e xamples from the business world demonstrate that building an ethical reputation among employees, customers, and the general public pays off. C. Ethics Contributes to Employee Commitment 1. Employee commitment comes from employees who believe their future is tied to both the future of the organization, and their willingness to make personal sacrifices for that organization. a. The more a company is dedicated to taking care of its employees, the more likely it is that the employees will take care of the organization. b. Issues that may foster the development of an ethical climate for employees include the absence of abusive behavior, a safe work environment, competitive salaries, and the fulfillment of all contractual obligations toward employees, as well as social programs such as stock ownership plans and community service. . Employees’ perception of their firm as having an ethical environment leads to performance-enhancing outcomes within the organization. a. Trusting relationships within an organization between both managers and their subordinates and upper management contribute to greater decision-making efficiencies. b. When employees see values such as hone sty, respect, and trust applied in the workplace, they feel less pressure to compromise ethical standards, observe less misconduct, are more satisfied with their organizations overall, and feel more valued as employees. . Research indicates that the ethical climate of a company matters to employees. D. Ethics Contributes to Investor Loyalty 1. Investors today are increasingly concerned about the ethics, social responsibility, and reputation of companies in which they invest. a. Investors recognize that an ethical climate provides a foundation for efficiency, productivity, and profits, while negative publicity, lawsuits, and fines can lower stock prices, diminish customer loyalty, and threaten a company’s long-term viability. b. Investors look at the bottom line for profits, the potential for increased stock prices or dividends, and for any potential flaws in the company’s performance, conduct, and financial reports. i)Executives may spend considerable time communicating with investors about their firms’ reputation and financial performance and trying to attract them to the company’s stock. c. The issue of drawing and keeping investors is a critical one for CEOs; gaining investors’ trust and confidence is vital for sustaining the financial stability of the firm. E. Ethics Contributes to Customer Satisfaction 1. Customer satisfaction is one of the most important factors in successful business strategy. a. By focusing on customer satisfaction, a company continually deepens the customer’s dependence on the company, and as the customer’s confidence grows, the firm gains a better understanding of how to serve the customer. b. Successful businesses provide an opportunity for customer feedback, which can engage the customer in cooperative problem solving. 2. Research indicates that a majority of consumers place social responsibility ahead of brand reputation or financial factors when forming impressions of companies. . A strong organizational ethical environment usually focuses on the core value of placing customers’ interests first. a. An ethical climate that focuses on customers incorporates the interests of all employees, suppliers, and other interested parties in decisions and actions. 1. An ethical culture that focuses on customers incorporates the interests of all employ ees, suppliers, and other interested parties in decisions and actions. b. Ethical conduct toward customers builds a strong competitive position that has been shown to positively affect both business performance and product innovation. F. Ethics Contributes to Profits 1. A company cannot nurture and develop an ethical organizational climate unless it has achieved adequate financial performance in terms of profits. a. Many studies have found a positive relationship between corporate social responsibility and business performance. b. Companies convicted of misconduct experience a significantly lower return on assets and sales than firms that have not faced such charges. 2. There are many examples of companies that have experienced significant performance declines after discovery of their failure to act responsibly toward various stakeholders. . Being ethical pays off with better performance. VI. Our Framework for Studying Business Ethics A. Part One provides an overview of business ethics, its importance, emerging issues, and the role of various stakeholder groups in social responsibility and corporate governance. B. Part Two focuses on ethical issues and the institutionalization of business ethics, such as business iss ues that create ethical decision making in organizations and the institutionalization of business ethics including both mandatory and voluntary societal concerns. C. Part Three explores the ethical decision-making process and then looks at both individual and organizational factors that influence decisions. D. Part Four explores systems and processes associated with implementing business ethics into global strategic planning. 1. The more you know about how individuals make decisions, the better prepared you will be to cope with difficult ethical decisions. 2. It is your job to make the final decision in an ethical situation that affects you: Sometimes that decision may be right; sometimes it may be wrong.

Introduction to Counselling Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Introduction to Counselling - Essay Example There are many counselling methods based on different counselling theories. The success of any type of counselling depends on the person and his requirements. Obviously, the environment and surroundings also have an effect on counselling. In most of the cases, mental therapy is required as things come from the brain, which is responsible for mental engagement. The reflex actions are taken by mental activities. So, counselling is not mainly for any ailment but it is a requirement of today’s life. One should not be hesitant in consulting any counsellor as it is important to make things better. Counsellor studies the case and after that, he decides which type of counselling a person needs. This is also dependent on the conditions provided by the person. The theories, which are being discussed below are Adlerian theory and Behavioural theory (Peele 1998). This theory is developed by Alfred Adler. Adler said that we act well when we feel that we are encouraged but we withdraw or give up when we are discouraged, we feel low in this case. The main thing in Adlerian theory is encouragement. It is the most important and key element for human success. It is a simple observation that encouragement and appreciation have pleasant affects on us and we try our best to do all the assigned jobs better. Adler uses this conception that our brain does not work using actual facts but it assumes the facts that it wants from the others, which are nice words and appreciation. He uses the subjective facts as he focuses on the perceptions of each person. As the word subjective refers to the point of view of an individual, so, Adler’s theory was based on this form (Corey 2009). The fact is that every problem or headache you posses is related to you. No other person will bear it for you so Adler uses this simple fact as basis of his theory. It is tot ally subjective. The

Is Iran a threat to the U.S Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Is Iran a threat to the U.S - Research Paper Example Iran’s military also plans for a three-stage missile capable to hit targets some 3700 km away4. Despite Iran’s repeated assurances that its nuclear program is for purely peaceful purposes, the West and Israel believe that the Islamic Republic is striving to obtain a nuclear weapon, which is more or less substantiated by the latest IAEA’s report on the issue5. Alternatively, Iran doesn’t pose any serious threat to the United States because of the reasons below: Iran’s economy is suffering heavy blows with the country’s oil revenues being dramatically slashed and other trade disrupted due to the international sanctions6. This would eventually hamper both the country’s geopolitical ambitions and military programs; The expansion of the Iranian ballistic missile arsenal, along with both space and nuclear programs, will drain the country’s resources sooner or later; The military capabilities of United States overwhelmingly exceed even the most unbridled wishes of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards; Iran has recently declared that welcomes a US offer of bilateral nuclear talks. With all the ambiguity of the possible outcome, such talks have the potential for a certain reconciliation7; The so-called Arab spring, or its after effects, whatever the case might be, would eventually reach the Islamic Republic. Weighing the Pros and Cons The US-Iran relations have gone from bad to worse ever since the Shah’s fall from power in 19798. The hostage crisis, which lasted for 444 days, along with the American support for Saddam Hussein and the number of armed incidents involving US and Iranian air and naval units during the Iran-Iraq war, brought about a deep crisis in the bilateral relations9. The first Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, had demonized the US as the â€Å"Great Satan† in 1979, which image was projected across the Middle East and beyond, as well as deeply embedded in anti-American rhetoric10. Not surprisingly therefore, Hezbollah’s leader Nasrallah stated in 2002 - one year after 9/11 – that â€Å"our hostility to the Great Satan is absolute†11. Accordingly, Iran was placed on the list of rogue states, alongside Cuba, Burma, North Korea, etc., and was designated by the President George W. Bush as one of the countries that constitute the â€Å"Axis of Evil†12. The current Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei, is renowned for his animosity to the US13, and if his power and the survival of the Islamic theocracy are in danger, he would not hesitate to order strikes against US targets within the operational range of the Iranian ballistic missiles, including military and civilian installations, as well as against key American allies, most notably Israel. The anti-Semitic and anti-American rhetoric of the incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also implies such a possibility, although the real clout in Iran belongs to Ayatollah Khamenei and the circle around him. What makes the situation particularly precarious, however, is the fact that

Cost of Dying and effects of healthcare delivery system Thesis

Cost of Dying and effects of healthcare delivery system - Thesis Example These can mostly be achieved by designing long-term care facilities or homes to suit their mental and physical requirements. Hospice care is another major facility which caters to the dying during their last few months of life when they are in any terminal or chronic illness and when curative treatment is not feasible. However hospice care has not been accepted by all the people in their dying days. Barriers exist which prevent their opting for this facility. The phenomena of interest in this study lie in the care for the dying and various situations including the budgets allocated in present day circumstances for the terminal patients. The budgets involved in caring for the dying are now booming so much that finances are increasingly being channeled into it. A comparison of the total health expenditures in relationship to GDP shows an immense difference in the increase in the US when considered against other countries (See Appendix B). The intention of hospice care is to provide int ensive care for the dying in their last days. A good team of doctors and nurses, drugs and the latest technology together have made the terminal care expensive. However, in spite of the arrangements, people are opting to spend their last days in nursing homes rather than in hospice care. This paper intends to demonstrate the underutilization of hospice care, why there is resistance to hospice care from physicians and families, and how hospice care can be integrated into the continuity of care. Dr.Cicely Saunders founded the modern hospice concept (Biskupiak, 2005). The study aims to search for the various literature available on the cost of dying and the services of the healthcare system for the dying in the terminal stages. It would be interesting to explore how much of the invested amount is actually availed of during the dying phase. Statistics show that much of this amount is not

Five Years Marketing Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Five Years Marketing Plan - Essay Example The company initially started its operations in UK as a catalogue business company. The company achieved success in its initial stages only and soon after that it made a plan of opening a website in UK. This plan helped Hotel Chocolat to secure its position in the market. The company started exporting chocolates to United States by means of an online ordering website. It started expanding its business operations in the domestic land and has opened 23 stores in the outlets of John Lewis and 43 stores in United Kingdom. Hotel Chocolat produces fresh chocolates and the taste of these chocolates is much more adventurous as they are produced using more cocoa and less sugar. The company has also worked with the local farmers of Ghana in order to learn the technique of cocoa plantation. The company started various other projects apart from producing chocolates. Hotel Chocolat has opened a restaurant at the cocoa estate in Saint Lucia. Presently the company is planning for internationalisati on. Existing Market Position of the Company Hotel Chocolat is one among very few companies which has opened new stores in the high streets of UK as well as expanded its operations outside United Kingdom. The company follows focus marketing strategy presently and focuses only on the chocolate segment. The chocolate market is very competitive and is dominated by some brands like the Thorntons and Godiva. The market focuses mainly on four main time periods i.e. Christmas, Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day and Easter. In this tough competition, the company maintains its uniqueness by providing fresh chocolates, with less sugar and more cocoa, to the customers. It has achieved a successful position in the chocolate market by targeting those customers who buy the premium chocolates as gifts. The company is planning to open new stores in UK. The company has also planned for further expansion in the overseas market with new concept stores like Roast & Conch. In these stores, the custo mers will be able to see the roasting of the cocoa beans. Goal formulation: Marketing Objectives of the Company (for next 5 years) The marketing objectives of Hotel Chocolat (for the next five years) can be evaluated by the SMART approach. The specific objective of Hotel Chocolat is to achieve a successful position in the new markets where it is planning to expand its operations within the next few years by the implementation of appropriate promotional and other marketing strategies. The measurable objective of the company is minimization of the cost structure and implementation of the promotional and marketing strategies in very cost effective manner. The achievable objective of Hotel Chocolat is to reach to the position of the financial break even by the increase of the sales and minimization of the operating expenses. The realistic objective of Hotel Chocolat is to gain a remarkable position in those areas where it has planned to expand its business operations within the business plan of next 5 years. The time bound objective of the company is the fulfilment of all the above mentioned objectives within a time limit of next 5 years. Strategy formulation Target Customers Kantar Media has pointed out the fact that customers within the