Reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Reflection - Essay Example However, even in the stories these masters have produced, the question of how or whether we can establish our identities as human individuals is answered with our experiences and our personal approaches to solving problems. Identical twins such as the characters that appear in Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors create an immediate sense that there is no way we can become individuals as they are duplicates of each other. In this play, the characters are even all given the same names, increasing the confusion of the action of the play and revealing the degree to which we are easily confused with our double. Part of the reason they struggled so much is that their personalities were also very closely matched - both Antipholus characters being hotheads and both Dromios being rather sarcastic. However, it is their experiences that distinguish them as being different as the Ephesian set are already aware of their wives. The doppelganger effect is somewhat subdued in Stevenson's story of The Str ange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde because the Hyde character reflects all of the evil that was once a part of Dr. Jekyll leaving the Dr. Jekyll personality to express all the good.

Financial Markets Assignment Essay Example for Free

Financial Markets Assignment Essay Explain how interest rates decline following major Fed purchases of mortgage-backed securities. The FED implements quantitative easing by buying financial assets of longer maturity, e. g. , mortgage-backed securities, from commercial banks and other private institutions in order to inject a pre-determined quantity of money into the economy. This is a means of stimulating the economy and lowering longer-term interest rates further out on the yield curve; quantitative easing increases the excess reserves of the banks, and raises the prices of the financial assets bought, which lowers their yield. Graphically, this can be explained with the aid of Figure below. The supply of money is shifted from point 1 to the right (MS1 to MS2) and, all else equal, the new equilibrium point (with aggregate money demand curve) is at point 2, where the interest rate is lower. i i1 i2 AD1 MS1 MS2 Quantity of Money 2. What could be the implications of lower interest rates for households and businesses? By implanting the policy of purchasing mortgage-backed securities, the FED has set its sight on increasing consumption and investment, which will ultimately increase employment. As described in question one Bernanke’s policy decreased interest rates to new record lows, encouraging borrowing for both businesses and households. The ability to borrow money at more attractive rates stimulates investment in durable consumer goods, such as automobiles, and in operational necessities such as buildings and capital equipment for businesses. Indeed, after the implementation of the policy mortgage applications increased significantly. Because of low interest rates households and businesses as investors could shift their preference away from bonds and into stocks. According to frbsf. org, the increase in stock trading volume has the effect of raising the value of existing stock portfolios, which in turn stimulates consumer and spending across the country due to the psychological effects of rapid capital appreciation. Lower interest rates can have negative effects on the value of the local currency compared to other currencies. As foreign investors dump their local-denominated investments in favor of more profitable currencies, exchange rates can shift to the detriment of the local currency. The weakening of the local currency serves to increase the attractiveness of local goods to foreign purchasers, which has the effect of boosting exports and international sales. All of the factors mentioned above have the combined effect of increasing productive output, or GDP, and increasing employment across a wide range of industries. As individuals, businesses and foreign investors are encouraged to spend more due to increased access to capital, higher portfolio valuations and weaker currency values, businesses in nearly every sector experience an increase in sales, often requiring them to grow their operations and employ additional labor. However, there are some negative implications from this policy. Without a strong commitment to control inflation over the long run, the risk of higher inflation is one potential implication of experiencing real interest rates below the economy’s natural interest rate. Low interest rates provide a powerful incentive to spend rather than save. In the short term, this may not matter much, but over a longer period, low interest rates penalize savers and those who rely heavily on interest income. If short-term interest rates are low relatively to long-term rates, households and firms may overinvest in long-term assets, such as Treasury securities. If interest rates rise unexpectedly, the value of those assets will fall (bond prices and yields move in opposite directions), exposing investors to substantial losses. Finally, low short-term interest rates reduce the profitability of money market funds, which are key providers of short-term credit for many (large) firms, e. g. the commercial paper market. 3. Explain the Fed’s policy dilemma and try to rationalize why unemployment in the US is stubbornly high while inflation is low. Based on the theory of the Philip’s curve diagram we notice that there is an inverse relationship between inflation and unemployment. Stated simply the lower the unemployment in an economy the higher the rate of inflation. Philip’s Curve Inflation Unemployment The explanation of the inverse relationship between inflation and unemployment is based on two assumptions. The first has to do with the fact that as unemployment rises there is no room for workers and labor unions to demand an increase so a wage inflation that would increase the prices of the final products cannot occur. Secondly high unemployment is a reflection of the decline in economic output and indicates an economy’s slowdown. Therefore competition among firms in recession will lead the prices at lower levels. But this is not the case currently in the US since we observe high unemployment and low inflation. The FED is concerned about the unemployment rate and in an effort to stimulate the economy and improve the labor market conditions it started implementing the quantitative easing policy. So the FED purchased MBS, helped banks to rebuilt their balance sheets, contributed into maintaining price stability, preserved interest rates near zero for more than three years, and prevented the economy from slipping into greater recession. Despite all these efforts the situation in the labor market did not improve. Apparently the fact that unemployment is still very high depicts the limitations of the monetary policy. The low business confidence, policy uncertainty, and the government’s reluctance to act are beyond the FED’s capacity. What is more the infinite use of the quantitative easing may produce undesirable effects in the long run such as stagflation. The only optimal solution under these circumstances is the co ordination of the FED’s monetary policy with the government’s fiscal policy plan that could boost the society’s confidence. . Do you think that another round of quantitative easing (QE) by the Fed would help stimulate the US economy? Please explain. The FED declared that the use of QE will be aggressively continued until the economy is improved. The cash injections into the economy helped interest rates to remain at low levels. Consequently everyone wins from this decision in the short run; homeowners can borrow at historical low levels of inter est rate, corporations can also take advantage of this act and invest, consumption increased and also the banks increased their profits and the stocks record a growth. So as long as the QE is active in the short run everyone is a winner. But in the long run things become vague. First of all historical evidence shows that despite the fact that interest rates may be at levels near zero it remains uncertain whether this will be the incentive to boost the actual economy. Secondly the fact that consumers will have more money to spend but fewer goods to buy might lead to a hyper inflation. Furthermore by repeating the use of QE is very possible to lead to a liquidity trap, unless the economy finds ways to stimulate production. Last but not least the FED’s decision to inject cash into the economy by purchasing MBS is questionable; Mortgage backed securities entail the risk of defaulting once again as they did in the real estate crisis and that would cost the Americans a lot more money repeating the history that started back in the September of 2001. To sum up the use of QE is indeed very effective but only in the short run. Short periods of economic recession can be avoided by stimulating the economy temporarily through cash injections but to maintain growth on the real economy we need to improve labor market conditions, productivity, innovation and bolster the economy’s confidence. So a combination of fiscal and monetary policy is the only way to prevent an economy from collapsing, and also is this is the only way to avoid a possible systemic risk that will negatively affect all the institutions and individuals. . How is a loose Fed monetary policy in the US affecting fundamentals (such as inflation, asset and commodity prices) in other countries? What does that imply about global monetary policy? Since the dollar is the vehicle currency in the global economy almost every country is tied to its value and everyone is affected by the monetary decisions of the FED. By the QE, the supply of dollars is increased and consequently the dollar depreciates against foreign currencies. This means that America’s exports will increase and on the contrary the imports will decrease. So countries trading with the US fear about the capital inflows and the possible inflation on commodities. On the other hand the FED support that there can be no further inflation since the global economy is in recession. Moreover countries experiencing huge capital inflows resulting in inflation can implement fiscal policy, such as imposing taxes, in order to contain the effects of foreign capital inflows which push up local stock prices and the currency itself. Every country should focus on its own monetary policy adjusting it to the problems that may experience. For example the US chose to inject more money in the economy. The results of such a decision are low interest rates, more exports but always with the risk of inflation. On the other hand a country experiencing high inflation might limit the money supply, increasing the interest rates with the risk of experiencing a decline in exports.

Different Views On Motivation Education Essay

Different Views On Motivation Education Essay Motivation, a psychological feature can be defined as the direction and intensity of ones effort (Sage, 1977). In short, the direction of ones effort alludes to an individual is attracted to a certain situation, for example the student may be motivated to go out for a soccer team. Whereas, the intensity of ones effort refers to how much effort a person put forward in a particular situation, for example a student may attend physical education class but do not put effort during class. The relationship of direction and intensity of efforts are directly related, typically a student who seldom miss training lesson will usually put in more effort during participation. Different views on motivation There are generally 3 different types of views on how motivation works, typically the trait-centered, the situation centered, and the interactional. The trait centered view refers to a motivated behavior actually comes from individual character. The personality, needs, interests and goals are some of the component that determines a motivated behavior. The situation centered views sees motivation as an influence of a certain situation. A student may be unmotivated in attending soccer training but motivated to play for the school soccer team. The last view of motivation which is widely endorsed by sport psychologists is the interactional view, this view actually combines the trait centered views and situation centered views to form a new view. An interactional view of motivation study was conducted by Sorrentino and Sheppard (1978) on 44 male and 33 female swimmers in universities, testing them on a 200 yard individual event and then a part of a relay team. The study has shown that kno wing the swimmers personal characteristics (trait centered view) was not the best way to predict the behavior (individual best split time), because the performance also depended on the situation like whether it is relay or individual race (situation centered view) (Brewer B, ,2009)3. Achievement motivation and Competitiveness In sport, achievement motivation and competitiveness are known to be able to influence performance and participation. Achievement motivation is defined as a persons efforts to master a task, achieve excellence, overcome obstacles, perform better than others, taking pride in exercising talent (Murray, 1938). It allows athletes, exercisers, students to achieve excellence, to gain high levels of fitness and to maximize learning respectively. Achievement motivation is also an inclusive of trait view, situation view and interactional view of a motivation of a person. Competitiveness, on the other hand is defined as disposition to strive for satisfaction when making comparisons with some standard of excellence in the presence of evaluative others (Martens, 1976). Both deal not just with the final outcome but also the journey of getting to the final outcomes. Own motivation experience I am interested in the concept of motivation because due to my own personal account. I am currently a contract Physical education (PE) teacher with Ministry of Education. In 2 months time (June 2010), I will be going to National Institute of Education (NIE) in Nanyang Technological University to train as a PE teacher. However to be admitted into NIE, I need to pass a physical proficiency test (PPT) conducted by NIE Physical Education and Sports Science. The PPT comprises of 5 different stations, namely the agility run, badminton, possession game, gymnastic and swimming. To pass the PPT, a candidate must achieve the following: a. A score a total of 9 points or more in the test. b. Does not fail any station. To date, I have taken the PPT twice, but failed to pass the agility run station both time, the minimum passing time for the station for male runner is less than 17.7 sec. Even though, I am very disappointed, but I am very determined and motivated to take and pass the test again. Hence, the achievement motivation (Wikipedia, Jan 2010)2. for this PPT has influence a wide variety of my current behaviors, thoughts and feeling for example. Choice of activity (seeking out runners of greater ability to learn with them the correct techniques). Effort to purse goals (I have been practicing for every alternate days) Intensity of effort in the pursuit of goals. (To do 25 mins sprinting, mobility, warms up before the run.) Persistence in the face of failure and adversity (When I still not able to run within the 17.7 secs, I will work harder, to try new ways to run the test.) In short, with the understanding of the 4 theories of achievement motivation, I (considering myself as low achievers) have summaries the major predication from each theory and hoped to use them to guide my own practice to pass my PPT in march 2010. Low achiever Motivation orientation High motivation to avoid failure (Need to pass PPT) Attributions Ascribes failure to stable and internal factors within my control. (Dry testing field, well prepared) Goal adopted Outcome goals (Pass PPT) Perceived competence and control Low perceived competence and believes achievement is outside own control. (To date, still cannot clear 17.7 sec) Task choice Seeks out difficult challenges (Pass PPT, to become PE teacher) Performance conditions Performs poorly in evaluative conditions Four theories of achievement motivation Over the years, four main theories were evolved to explain motivation in people, they are the need achievement theory, attribution theory, achievement goal theory and competence motivation theory. Need achievement theory Need achievement theory (Atkinson 1974; MClelland, 1961) has 5 components which include personality factors, situational factors, resultant tendencies, emotional reactions, and achievement related behaviors. These components serve as the framework to predict task preferences and performance outcomes. Achievement related behavior results from the interaction of the other four components (high achievers tend to perform better when evaluated and select challenging tasks with intermediate risks; low achievers tend to avoid risky and challenging tasks, and perform less well when evaluated). Attribution theory This theory focus on the explanations that people tend to make to explain success or failure (Heider, 1958, Weiner 1985, 1986). The theory has 3 main categories, they are stability, locus of causality and locus of control. Stability refers the cause of the success or failure may be either stable or unstable. If the we believe the cause is stable, then the outcome is likely to be the same if we perform the same behavior on another occasion. If it is unstable, the outcome is likely to be different on another occasion.. Locus of causality refers to the cause of the success or failure may be internal or external. That is, we may succeed or fail because of factors that we believe have their origin within us or because of factors that originate in our environment. Locus of control refers to the cause of the success or failure may be either controllable or uncontrollable. A controllable factor is one which we believe we ourselves can alter if we wish to do so. An uncontrollable factor is on e that we do not believe we can easily alter. The most important contribution of the theory is it explains the attributions affect expectations of future success or failure and emotional reactions (Biddle, Hanrahan Sellars, 2001; McAuley, 1993b). Achievement goal theory According to this theory three factors interact to determine a persons motivation: Achievement goals, Perceived ability, Achievement behavior. This theory also indicates that individuals in achievement settings are typically oriented to one of two goals either task goal or outcome goal. When determining whether or not they have been successful in these contexts. Someone may have an task goal orientation where they only focuses on comparing performance with personal standards and personal improvement Others may have an outcome orientation that focuses on comparing performance with and defeating others, Competence motivation theory A theory of achievement motivation based on a persons feelings of personal competence. According to the theory, competence motivation increases when a person successfully masters a task. This encourages the person to master more tasks (Weiss Chaumeton, 1992). For example, a young high self-esteem soccer player believes that he has control over the learning and performance of skills, then the efforts to learn the game will increase his pride and happiness, this will in turn lead to increased motivation. An analysis of the relationships between the four theories Based on the book (Weinberg, R.S., Gould, D. (Eds), 2007)1, the 4 theories of achievement motivation are able to work together and give a clear predication of the motivational behavior for high and low achievers. The table below establishs how high and low achievers vary in terms of their motivationals orientation, attributions, the goals, their task choices, their perceived competence and control, and their performance. High achiever Low achiever Motivation orientation High motivation to achieve success Low motivation to aviod future Focus on the pride of sucess Low motivation to achieve success High motivation to aviod future Focus on shame and worry that may result from failure Attributions Ascribes success to stable and internal factors within ones control Ascribes failure to unstable and external factors outside ones control Ascribes success to unstable and external factors outside ones control Ascribes failure to stable and internal factors within ones control Goal adopted Adopts task goals Adopts outcome goals Perceived competence and control High perceived competence and believes achievement is within ones control Low perceived competence and believes achievement is outside own control. Task choice Seeks out challenges and able comptitors and tasks Aviod challenges; seeks out very diffcult or very easy tasks and competitors Performance conditions Performs well in evaluative conditions Performs poorly in evaluative conditions In contast, high achievers normally embrace task goals and are fully aware of their own ability and control. They believe success is due to stable and internal factors like high skill and they see failure is due to unstable and control factors like low efforts, they always have a positive and optimistic attitude. For example, someone who has a positive attitude always focuses on opportunities rather than on potential drawbacks. They focus on solutions rather than on problems. Low achievers usually have low ability and control, believing on more outcome goals and credit success to luck and ease of the task, they blame failure due to low ability. They always have negative attitudes most of the time. For example, they focus on the possible drawbacks rather than on opportunities. The low achievers tend to dive in and find problems when others find solutions. In summary, with the results tabled above, parents, teachers and coaches are able indentify the personal and situation factors in influencing achievement behavior for different individuals (for high and low achievers). They are able to emphasize task or master goals instead of outocme goals for different individuals. They are also need to assess and correct inappropriate individuals attributions and enhance perceptions of competence and control. And finally, helping different individuals to decide when to compete and when to focus on individual improvement.

The Presidential Debates Between Bill Clinton And Dole :: essays research papers

The Presidential Debates Between Bill Clinton and Dole The presidential debates between democratic President William Clinton and Republican Senator Robert Dole proved to be a game of "dodge-ball". Bob Dole fired criticism and attacks while Clinton tried to "dodge" them. Dole attacked him on most of his ideas, and his tendency to exaggerate. Clinton avoided the lies he made since the 1992 presidential campaign (brought up by Dole, of course) by revealing all that he accomplished for the good of the people. Clinton focused on politics at a federal level at home, and tried to avoid foreign affairs. Dole based his debate on a state or local level. They both had separate ideas on different topics such as education, taxes, etc. They used these opposite ideas to attack each other. The debates went smoothly through the first minutes without a lot of conflict but shortly into the debate Clinton makes his claim that "The United States is better off now than it was four years ago". Dole attacks by saying "He's (Clinton) better off than he was four years ago". Although it cracked a few laughs, it showed how little respect he has for Clinton and how desperate he is getting to resort to such cheesy remarks. The first several minutes of the debate had Clinton summarizing all that he has done in the past four years such as 10.5 million more jobs, the Brady Bill, and Family, Medical, and educational bills. In turn Dole complains that the United States has stagnant wages, and that 40% of wages are spent on taxes. On the topic of drug use in the United States Clinton claimed that cocaine use decreased 30% and crime decreased as well. Dole soon reacted by saying, rather sarcastically that drug abuse has doubled and for so much money that has been spent on crime little has changed. Throughout the debates Clinton claims he has done so much good for the country such as cutting the size of government, and stimulating economic growth. In return Dole would blame him for exaggerating and stealing credit for other's work such as governors, senators, etc. Clinton did little direct attacking but at one point, for example, he criticized Dole's 550 billion dollar "scheme" to cut Medicare and Social Security. Clinton and Dole showed very different views on education. Clinton observed education as dependent on the federal government program for funding. Bob Dole believes that education should be brought more local, and on a state level. Dole wants to cut all federal programs and move programs such as Health Care, Medicare, etc., to more of a state level.

Social Needs Affecting The Development Of Skill And Capabilities In Relation To Social Roles And Responsibilities

During the last two decades,a convincing body of evidence has accumulated to indicate that unless children achieve minimal social competence by about the age of six years, they have a high probability of being at risk throughout life. Hartup suggests that peer relationships contribute a great deal to both social and cognitive development and to the effectiveness with which we function as adults (1992). He states that: â€Å"Indeed, the single best childhood predictor of adult adaptation is not IQ, not school grades, and not classroom behavior but, rather the adequacy with which the child gets along with other children.Children who are generally disliked, who are aggressive and disruptive, who are unable to sustain close relationships with other children, and who cannot establish a place for themselves in the peer culture are seriously at risk. † (Hartup, 1992). The capacity to communicate is the ability and desire to connect with others by exchanging ideas and feelings, both v erbally and non-verbally. Most children learn to communicate to get a need met or to establish and maintain interaction with a loved adult.The child’s ability to communicate is critical in the developmental process where in when left unattended can cause damaging effect evident as the child struggles through adulthood. Children who are unable to communicate may in turn be unable to form close or satisfying relationships with peers and definitely should be of concern to parents and teachers alike. For one thing, these children miss out on opportunities to learn social skills that will be important throughout their lives. (Asher and others 1982). Children who lack ongoing peer involvements also may miss opportunities to build a sense of social self-confidence.These children may develop little faith in their own abilities to achieve interpersonal goals and, thus, are easily overwhelmed by the normal ups and downs of social interaction. Implications for the children's future soci al and professional adjustments are obvious. Problem solving skills are also contributory in the learning process that can affect child’s diverse role in his search for answers. By exploring social relationships, manipulating objects, and interacting with people, children are able to formulate ideas, try these ideas out, and accept or reject what they learn.Constructing knowledge by making mistakes is part of the natural process of problem solving. Through exploring, then experimenting, trying out a hypothesis, and finally, solving problems, children make learning personal and meaningful. Piaget states that children understand only what they discover or invent themselves. It is this discovery within the problem solving process that is the vehicle for children's learning. This discovery process allows children to construct their own learnings.Most problems have more than one solution; some problems cannot be solved. Experiences with these sorts of problems promote learning in young children. (Britz, 1992) Development of sound moral decision is also a skill which is considered important as our life's path is controlled or based on what we see as right and wrong. Lawrence Kohlberg's ideas of moral development are based on the premise that at birth, all humans are void of morals, ethics, and honesty. He identified the family as the first source of values and moral development for an individual.He believed that as one's intelligence and ability to interact with others matures, so does one's patterns of moral behavior (Woolfolk, 1993). Environment's role in the development of communication skills, problem-solving and making sound good judgment The life of a child can be affected by how he interacts in two different worlds common to him, which is the home and the school. Family Environment Child rearing practices are especially critical. In the terms of family policy dominant in the culture of North America, children are usually raised in ways that encourage t hem to become self-reliant and independent.Children are often allowed to act somewhat like equals to their parents. For instance, they are included in making decisions about what type of food and entertainment the family will have on a night out. Children are given allowances and small jobs around the house to teach them how to be responsible for themselves. In contrast, children in China are usually encouraged to think and act as a member of their family and to suppress their own wishes when they are in conflict with the needs of the family.Independence and self-reliance are viewed as an indication of family failure and are discouraged. It is not surprising that Chinese children traditionally have not been allowed to act as equals to their parents. (O'Neal, 2002) The way parent's react to external influences is important because they help design the first blueprint for their children's sense of self through the behavior they model. How they act, feel, and think is crucial, because their children see them as a reflection of the outside world-as a glimpse into what they'll be like when they grow up. Medhus, 2002)It all started with our need to communicate. It is very much vital in achieving our social needs as well as physiological needs.. It has been stated that during infancy when one starts to communicate his need we should be able to respond to it in a timely manner for this will definitely affect the child's psychologically, and will then affect his social skills having difficuty to trust people. Erik erikson proposed that the concept of trust versus mistrust is present throughout an individual's entire life.Therefore if the concept is not addressed, taught and handled properly during infancy (when it is first introduced), the individual may be negatively affected and never fully immerse themselves in the world. For example, a person may hide themselves from the outside world and be unable to form healthy and long-lasting relationships with others, or even themselves. If an individual does not learn to trust themselves, others and the world around them then they may lose the virtue of hope, which is directly linked to this concept.If a person loses their main belief in hope they will struggle with overcoming hard times and failures in their lives, and may never fully recover from them. This would prevent them from learning and maturing into a fully-developed person if the concept of trust versus mistrust was improperly learned, understood and used in all aspects of their lives. (1950) In order to develop the child's ability to communicate, it should start from person where in he can establish contact easily.A family environment that promotes communication like talking and listening to each other help is essential for him to for the development of his social skills which will determine how he would interact with the world outside as he grew up. Parents who communicate effectively with their children such children know what to expect f rom their parents, and once children know what is expected of them, they are more likely to live up to these expectations. They are also more likely to feel secure in their position in the family, and are thus more likely to be cooperative. ( Zolten and Long,1997)Relationships between parents and their children are greatly improved when there is effective communication taking place. They believe that these adults will nurture and protect them, unless repeated experience teaches them otherwise. When children form secure attachments, their development tends to flourish. Long-term studies show that children who have secure attachments early in life make better social adjustments as they grow up, and do better in school. ( Teo and others, 1996, p. 285) The family evironment should also be a place where growth is allowed and not restricted.Mistakes should not be considered as failure. If this happens the child's exploration will be limited for the fear of comiting mistakes. This will eve ntually help build up the child's self-esteem. Children with good self-esteem do better in school, act independently but enjoy group interaction, respond appropriately to peer-pressure, take pride in their accomplishments, tolerate frustration, try new tasks, and offer help to others. Therefore one way to help your children have self-esteem is to begin building your own.However, unreasonable parental control or domination being execised as a family environment may inhibit the development of the skills or capabilities of a person. Over centuries, parents have been brainwashed into believing that the best way to raise children is to exert control by using size and experience to their advantage. The basic premise is that, if we choose to twist our children's arms into becoming the adults we want them to be rather than coach and guide them to making choices for themselves, we're setting them up to be like us: externally directed.Physical punishment also does much to discourage self-dire ction. Many parents feel that spankings are vital to raising an obedient child, while others, drowning in the pressures of the day, simply lose control and, in the heat of the moment, fail to see an alternative. Either approach has two unfortunate effects. First, it teaches our children that violence is an acceptable solution to many of their conflicts. Second, it tells children that they are inferior beings who need to be dominated and oppressed. (Medhus, 2002) Classroom environmentResearch on work and home environments has shown that there can be a strong relationship between social settings and short and long-term emotional well-being. Considering how much time most children spend at school, psycho-social dimensions of schools have sparked the interest of a growing number of researchers concerned with school effectiveness and the emotional well-being of young people. The ‘climate’ of a school has been identified as one of the most important features of a good school. At its best,the school should be a caring, happy and safe environment in which to work and play.Where the atmosphere in a school is uncaring, unsupportive and unrewarding, the mental health, as well as the work of pupils and teachers, can be adversely affected. The impact of this unfriendly atmosphere is particularly damaging if it persists for many years. The role of the teacher includes taking care of his/her students' psychological welfare. In a school that scores high in this quality area, teachers and pupils feel valued. Parents are interested and supportive. They believe they have a role in the school and see reasons to give their support.At another level, it is about effective and sensitive communication: not only teachers providing appropriate, constructive feedback about the child’s work and giving encouragement but also pupils giving positive feedback to other pupils and to the teachers themselves. Through a greater attachment and sense of belonging, the school bec omes a place where boys and girls want to be. Promoting small group work in class and ongoing co-operative contact between pupils is central to creating a more child-friendly atmosphere.It can reduce stereotyping and improve relations between children from different social and ethnic groups. When students co-operate, the winners and losers are less obvious and subsequent humiliation for the losers is avoided. Students who participate in class are less likely to feel alienated from school. Alienation brings increased risks to mental and physical health. Active learning can help students to develop problem solving skills. In research where children have been left alone to play their own games, it has been found that children naturally develop agreements about egalitarian rules.They themselves see the intrinsic importance of sharing and co-operation, so it is possible to harness some of this potential. Showing boys and girls the value of cooperation encourages co-operative behaviour in situations and places outside the school setting, so that the family and community also benefit. Physical punishment of children in schools is unnecessary and unacceptable for good mental health and sound education. This is a contentious issue because in some cultures violence against students, in the form of corporal punishment, may be legally sanctioned, while in other cultures it may be viewed as a form of child abuse.Corporal punishment is unnecessary because it does not work; it suppresses undesirable behaviour for only a short period of time, and creates an atmosphere of fear that is counterproductive to learning. Aggression and deviant behaviour among children in school can, in turn, lead teachers to be fearful about their own personal safety. Harsh treatment of students is associated with high rates of mental health problems including substance abuse later in adulthood.There is growing evidence that discipline is not only derived from rules, punishment and external control, it is also learned from rewards and encouragement, and from consequences that are fair, firm and clearly communicated. Schools should strive for a school environment with a balance of warmth, positive interest and involvement from adults on the one hand, and the enforcement of firm limits to unacceptable behaviour, on the other. Where limitations and rules are violated, non-hostile, non-physical sanctions should be consistently applied. (Skevington, 1999) Adults at school and home must also act as authority figures in some respects.Having clear, fair rules and applying them consistently, is vital to good order. Children and adolescent themselves often agree that a good reason for having discipline is to make the home and school a safe place and can be encouraged to share the responsibility. It is very important that the environment where we interact with teaches us to communicate for us to ask questions and clarify things and will eventually come up to think of possible actions tow ards situations through problem solving skills and end up with a good moral decision that will guide us in dealing with our social roles and responsibilities.

How to Structure a Business Report

How to Structure a Business Report How to Structure a Business Report The content of a business report will depend on what you are writing about. Even the writing style may depend on who you are writing for (although clear, concise and formal is usually best). However, there is a general structure that most business reports follow. In this post, then, we’ll look at how to structure a business report for maximum clarity and professionalism. 1. Title Page Every business report should feature a title page. The title itself should clearly set out what the report is about. Typically, you should also include your name and the date of the report. 2. Summary Most business reports begin with a summary of its key points. Try to include: A brief description of what the report is about How the report was completed (e.g., data collection methods) The main findings from the research Key conclusions and recommendations A paragraph or two should suffice for this in shorter business reports. However, for longer or more complex reports, you may want to include a full executive summary. 3. Table of Contents Short business reports may not need a table of contents, especially if they include a summary. But longer reports should set out the title of each section and the structure of the report. Make sure the headings here match those used in the main text. You may also want to number the sections. 4. Introduction The introduction is the first part of the report proper. Use it to set out the brief you received when you were asked to compile the report. This will frame the rest of the report by providing: Background information (e.g., business history or market information) The purpose of the report (i.e., what you set out to achieve) Its scope (i.e., what the report will cover and what it will ignore) These are known as the â€Å"terms of reference† for the business report. 5. Methods and Findings If you are conducting original research, include a section about your methods. This may be as simple as setting out the sources you are using and why you chose them. But it could also include how you have collected and analyzed the data used to draw your conclusions. After this, you will need to explain your findings. This section will present the results of your research clearly and concisely, making sure to cover all the main points set out in the brief. One tip here is to break the findings down into subsections, using headings to guide the reader through your data. Using charts and illustrations, meanwhile, can help get information across visually, but make sure to label them clearly so the reader knows how they relate to the text. 6. Conclusions and Recommendations The last main section of your report will cover conclusions and recommendations. The conclusion section should summarize what you have learned from the report. If you have been asked to do so, you should also recommend potential courses of action based on your conclusions. If you are not sure what to suggest here, think back to the objectives set out in your brief. 7. References If you have used any third-party sources while writing your report, list them in a bibliography after the main report. This could include other business documents, academic articles, or even news reports. The key is to show what you have based your findings and conclusions upon. 8. Appendices (If Applicable) Finally, you may have gathered extra documentation during your research, such as interview transcripts, marketing material, or financial data. Including this in the main report would make it too long and unfocused, but you can add it to an appendix (or multiple appendices) at the end of the document. It will then be available should your reader need it. Summary: How to Structure a Business Report If you are writing a business report, aim to structure it as follows: Title Page – Include a clear, informative title, your name, and the date. Summary – A brief summary of what the report is about, the data collection methods used, the findings of the report, and any recommendations you want to make. Table of Contents – For longer reports, include a table of contents. Introduction –Set out the brief you were given for the report. Methods and Findings – A description of any methods of data collection and analysis used while composing the report, as well as your findings. Conclusions and Recommendations – Any conclusions reached while writing the report, plus recommendations for what to do next (if required). References – Sources used in your report listed in a bibliography. Appendices – If you have supporting material (e.g., interview transcripts, raw data), add it to an appendix at the end of the document. Don’t forget, too, that a business report should be clear, concise, and formal. And if you would like help making sure that your business writing is easy to read and error free, just let us know.