Promoting autonomy of oneself and others Essay

Introduction                     Autonomy is the ability to have the capacity for self-governance or have self- determination. This is a concept which comes out through various arenas. For example, the moral autonomy is usually governed by the moral laws ( Deci, 2010). Therefore, personal autonomy can be said to be the capacity of a person to pursue actions based on moral content. This paper will compare the philosophical work by Nietzsche and MacIntyre and determine who offers the best tool of promoting autonomy. Over the past centuries, the teachings of Friedrich Nietzsche have transformed and penetrated every realm of social culture in the Western world. In his essays, he examines the significance of people’s ability to make promises. He states that to hold to the promises made requires both confidence about the future and very powerful memory that will ensure that certain issues are not forgotten. According to Nietzsche confidence requires one to be predictable or calculable and, therefore, he or she must share common sets of customs and laws that govern his or her behaviour (Risse, 2001). The society and morality play an important part of making a person predictable, therefore, giving the person ability to make promises. This process according to Nietzsche is complicated as it ends up in the ‘sovereign person’ who can make decisions, not only because the person in question is bounded by social mores but because he or she is the master of his or her own free will. The sovereign of an individual is characterised by tremendous responsibilities of one being free to make claims in regard to his or her future. This sense of responsibility according to Nietzsche is called conscience (Risse, 2001). Nietzsche defines the concept of ‘bad conscience and guiltiness using German words for ‘debt’ and ‘guilt.’ He suggested that, originally, there were no relationship between guilt and accountability or immorality. Punishments were meted on the basis of reprisal and not on the basis of guilt. If a person failed to honour promises, then they were considered to be in debt the person they failed. The debt could then be balanced by punishing or torturing the person. This happened to a person say the creditor who had no interest of getting his money back from the debtor. Thus, the memory of making promises during this time was burdened and the punishments and cruelty ensured that the debtor does not forget his promises next time (Risse, 2001). Macintyre’s in his book, ‘After Virtue (1981)’ explains his long ethical project. The book diagnoses the rising issues in the society such as ‘culture of emotivism’ where the moral language pragmatically manipulates decisions, attitude and decision. According to the book, those moral cultures are said to be a theatre of illusion where the objectives of moral rhetoric masks the decisions. The books examine the part of the community in making the judgments about the truth or falsity. The work by MacIntyre also examines the reasons why human beings need virtues through investigating the social debts and needs of human agents and the part which they were playing in the formation of an independent practical person who can reason (Borden, 2007). The philosophy by Maclntyre’s is very important especially to the fields of communitarian politics and the virtues of ethics. He points out the insignificance of conventional business ethic as an application of the modern moral concepts in decision making. His work in philosophy has lead tremendous renewal of values over the last decades. For example, in his works his discusses the moral condemnation of Stalinism. His presentation of this concept draws two important conclusions related to morality, one is the fact of the people’s solidarity in discovering what people want in their moral life (Borden, 2007).. According to MacIntyre morality organises life of the community. As he concludes his book, he says that the concepts of morality are neither historical nor timeless and, therefore, the understanding the developments of historical, ethical concepts can liberate people from any falsity claims (Borden, 2007). MacIntyre’s Aristotelian offers the best tool of promoting autonomy of one self and others compared to Nietzsche because he examines the habits that humans should develop in order to make judgement and act efficiently in the pursuit of the true choices which have a worthy end. His examination has a very rich account on the deliberate activities by human that encompass moral formation and society life. He also accounts why humans have practical wisdom to do what is right based on the freedom of morality. References Borden, S. L. (2007). Journalism as practice: MacIntyre, virtue ethics and the press. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.. Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2010). The support of autonomy and the control of behavior. Journal of personality and social psychology, 53(6), 1024.Risse, M. (2001). The Second Treatise in In the Genealogy of Morality: Nietzsche on the Origin of the Bad Conscience. European Journal of Philosophy, 9(1), 55-81. Source document

Learning Disabilities Essay

Puzzling is the term teachers use to describe students with learning disabilities.   They tell us that these students look entirely normal, seem intelligent, carry on intelligent conversations – that they don’t appear to any different than other students. Yet these students have difficulty doing certain tasks – not all- in school.   Some have difficulty reading; others perform poorly in spelling; still others make frequent mistakes in math.   Teachers in many schools tell us that these students are very hard to teach – that they simply do not learn in the same ways or as easily as others their age.   They tell us that these students have special needs and are not easy to teach in large classes in which most other students perform reasonably well.   They tell us that modifying instruction so that these students can profit from teaching is an intricate process. Because of the heterogeneous nature of this group of children, the concept of specific learning disabilities has been hard to define or describe in few sentence or by a numerical score such as an IQ or by a decibel loss. Furthermore, because the field has been of interest to educators, psychologists, psychiatrists, neurophysiologists, pediatricians, ophthalmologists, optometrists, speech pathologists, and others, the problem has been viewed in each of those disciplines from different perspectives. Hence there is really the need for several definitions for learning disabilities and thus we can conclude that its definition is defined in â€Å"case to case† basis. Definition of Learning Disabilities Historically, the following terms were used to name children with Learning disabilities: ââ€"   perceptually handicapped ââ€"   brain injured ââ€"   neurologically impaired Then, there came two broad aspects of concern in defining and or identifying those children: biological etiology- â€Å"minimal brain dysfunction†, psychoneurological learning disorders. behavior – â€Å" developmental disparity in psychological processes†, developmental imbalance† The definition of learning disabilities in an educational term has derived its heritage from: ââ€"   neurology ââ€"   psychology ââ€"   speech pathology ââ€"   ophthalmology ââ€"  Ã‚   remedial reading      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Wiederholt (1984) has traced the history of Learning disability and has delineated three dimensions of disorders namely: (1) disorders of the spoken language studied primarily by neurologists and ophthalmologists such as; ââ€"   Samuel Kirk developed a test, the Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities, for use in describing language functioning and developing remedial programs. disorders of written language represented mostly by psychologists, speech pathologists, and educators such as; ââ€"   Grace Fernald established a clinic at UCLA where she perfected remedial reading and spelling techniques. disorders of perceptual and motor behaviors studied mostly by a number of disciplines such as; ââ€"   Goldstein, Werner and Strauss as pioneers of the field which listed the following behavioral characteristics that differentiated between those with and those without brain injuries: excessive motor activity, hyperactivity, awkwardness and consistently poor motor performance, erratic behavior, poor organization, high distractibility and faulty perceptions (like reversals) and ââ€"   Samuel Orton was a neurologist who believed that lack of cerebral dominance was a cause of language disorders. (In normal individual either the left or right side of the brain has dominance in controlling specific functions.) ââ€"  Ã‚  Ã‚   Cruickshank focused his efforts on the study of brain-injured children, specifically children with cerebral palsy. ââ€"   Getman, Marianne Frostig, Newell Kephart, and Ray Barsch focused on the correlation of perceptual disorders and developed remedial procedures ranging from optometric eye exercises, tracing and copying patterns, and differentiating figure from background in a puzzle, to making angels in the snow.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Today, there are various provinces in Canada that have established programs for learning disabilities which was instituted for example by ââ€"   The Ontario Ministry of Education ââ€"   Saskatchewan Department of Education ââ€"   Halifax Board of Education and ââ€"   Quebec Ministry of Education But the most widely used definitions is the one incorporated by the Learning Disabilities Association of Canada or LDAC (2002) which state that, the term â€Å"Learning Disabilities refer to a number of disorders which may affect the acquisition, organization, retention, understanding or use of verbal or nonverbal information. These disorders affect learning in individuals who otherwise demonstrate at least average abilities essential for thinking and/or reasoning. As such, learning disabilities are distinct from global intellectual deficiency. Learning disabilities result from impairments in one or more processes related to perceiving, thinking, remembering or learning. These include, but are not limited to: language processing; phonological processing; visual spatial processing; processing speed; memory and attention; and executive functions (e.g. planning and decision-making)†. Further, LDAC mentioned that learning disabilities range in severity and may interfere with the acquisition and use of one or more of the following: oral language (e.g. listening, speaking, understanding); reading (e.g. decoding, phonetic knowledge, word recognition, comprehension); written language (e.g. spelling and written expression); and mathematics (e.g. computation, problem solving). Further, the U.S. Department of Education regulation further states that a student has a specific learning disability if: the student does not achieve at the proper age and ability levels in one or more of several specific areas when provided with appropriate learning experiences; the student has a severe discrepancy between achievement and intellectual ability in one or more of these seven areas: (a) oral expression, (b) listening comprehension, (c) written expression, (d) basic reading skill, (e) reading comprehension, (f) mathematics calculation, and (g) mathematics reasoning. To summarize, all these definitions of learning disabilities, it includes the following major concepts: The individual has a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes.   Ã‚  Ã‚   (These processes refer to intrinsic prerequisite abilities, such as memory, auditory   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   perception, visual perception, oral language, and thinking.) The individual has difficulty in learning, specifically, in speaking, listening, writing, reading (word-recognition skills and comprehension), and mathematics (calculation and reasoning.) The problem is not primarily due to other causes, such as visual or hearing impairments; motor handicaps; mental retardation; emotional disturbance; or economic, environmental, or cultural disadvantage. A severe discrepancy exists between the student’s apparent potential for learning and   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   his or her low level of achievement.   In other words, there is evidence of   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   underachievement.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The various definitions of learning disabilities have several elements in common: neurological dysfunction uneven growth pattern difficulty in academic and learning tasks discrepancy between potential and achievement exclusion of other causes Identification of Learning Disabilities In identifying individuals with learning disabilities, the following common characteristics must be observed: ââ€"   Disorders of attention: Hyperactivity, distractibility, poor concentration ability, short attention span; ââ€"   Poor motor abilities: Poor fine and gross motor coordination, general awkwardness and clumsiness, spatial problems; ââ€"   Perceptual and information processing problems: Difficulty in discrimination of auditory and visual stimuli, auditory and visual closure, and sequencing; ââ€"   Oral language difficulties: Problems in listening, speaking, vocabulary, and linguistic competencies; ââ€"   Failure to develop and mobilize cognitive strategies for learning: Lack of organization, active learning set, metacognitive functions; ââ€"   Reading difficulties: Problems in decoding, basic reading skills, and reading comprehension; ââ€"   Written language difficulties: Problems in spelling, handwriting, and written composition; ââ€"   Mathematics difficulties: Difficulty in quantitative thinking, arithmetic, time, space, and calculation facts; and ââ€"   Inappropriate social behavior: Problems in social skills deficits, emotional problems, and establishing social relationships. There are also other practical classification schemes that are useful: (1) the academic learning disabilities ( reading, arithmetic, handwriting, spelling, and written expression) (2) the developmental learning disabilities: ( attention, memory, perceptual skills, thinking skills, and oral language skills) A somewhat more systematic way to look at characteristics of students with learning disabilities is to look at those factors referenced in screening devices.   The following outline reflects the types of difficulties often observed in learning disabled students: (1) significantly different classroom behaviors difficulty in beginning or finishing tasks difficulty in organizing inconsistent in behavior difficulty in peer relationships (2) significantly below-average performance in auditory comprehension and listening difficulty in following directions difficulty in comprehending or following class discussions inability to retain information received aurally difficulty in understanding or comprehending word meanings (3) significantly below-average performance in spoken language use of incomplete sentences or unusual number of grammatical errors use of immature or improper vocabulary or very limited vocabulary difficulty in recalling words for use in self-expression difficulty relating isolated facts, scattered ideas difficulty in relating ideas in logical sequence (4) significant academic problems difficulty in reading fluency difficulty in associating numbers with symbols incorrect ordering of letters in spelling confusion of manuscript and cursive writing avoidance of reading confusion of math concepts – addition, multiplication (5) orientation difficulties poor time concept, no grasp of meaning of time difficulty in â€Å"navigating† around building or school grounds poor understanding of relationships (big, little, far, close, under, on, near) inability to learn directions (north, south, left, right) motor disabilities or significant underdevelopment for age poor coordination very poor balance awkward, poorly developed manipulative or manual dexterity lack of rhythm in movements III. Intervention for Learning Disabilities. This knowledge of the characteristics of learning disabled students is one basis for intervention. Thus, we have seen that children with learning disabilities compose quite a diverse group.   It should be no surprise then to find that the teaching and strategies approaches designed to help those children are also quite a diverse. But it is possible to cluster the various approaches into three broad educational strategies: task training, in which the emphasis is on the sequencing and simplication of the task to be learned. ââ€"   Ysseldyke and Salvia (1984) have advanced tow theoretical models namely: (a) analyzing the child’s abilities and disabilities and (b) analyzing the task and the direct training of the terminal behavior or task. This view is supported by behavioral analysts who advocate (1) finding out what the child can and cannot do in a particular skill, (2) determining whether or not the child has the behaviors needed to succeed in the task, (3) defining the goals in observable terms, and (4) organizing a systemic remedial program using reinforcement techniques. The applied behavior analysts do not infer processes or abilities that underlie difficulties but rely solely on the child’s interactional history and the current behavior and environmental situation.   They feel that their approach, which is task oriented and observable, is the most parsimonious approach, and to some it is the only approach needed. ability or process training, in which the focus is on the remediation and simplification of the task to be learned. Quay (1983) discussed the relative efficacy of ability or process training.   He stated that three approaches to remediation have evolved: (1) remediating a disability so that learning will be facilitated at a later date, (2) training and ability or process for its own sake, and (3) direct training of the task.   He concludes that the direct instruction method (task training) should be tried first and then discarded in favor of other methods if direct instruction is not successful. ability – or process-task training, in which the first two approaches are combined and integrated into one remedial program. Raschke and Young (1986) support this approach.   They compared the behavior – analysis model with the diagnostic-prescriptive model. They state that neither approach alone has the answer and propose what they call a dialectic-teaching approach into one system. Essentially the model assesses the abilities and disabilities of the children (intraindividual diffences), makes task analyses of the skills to be learned, and prescribes remediation in the functions and skills to be developed. This dialectic system they maintain â€Å"permits the teacher to assess, program, instruct, and evaluate the child’s psycholinguistic characteristics in the same system as his skill competencies and consequential variables†. Hence, the task of developing a definition of learning disabilities proved to be a formidable challenge.   Indeed, defining this population is considered such an overwhelming task that some have likened learning disabilities to Justice Potter Stewart’s comment on pornography: impossible to define, â€Å"but I know it when I see it.† Thus, defining learning disabilities in a way acceptable to all has continued as a debatable issue since the inception of the field.   Although a number of definitions have been generated and used over the years, each has been judged by some to have some shortcomings.  Ã‚   There are many types of disabilities, each of which may require a unique diagnosis and a unique remedial method. POSITION PAPER   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The definitions of learning disabilities are numerous and so varied that it is difficult to present taxonomy or even a specific list of these different definitions.   The definition of learning disabilities is a problem in much of the nations throughout the world. This problem first came out when some parents in the United States became concerned because their children who were not learning in school were rejected from special education since they were not mentally retarded, deaf or blind, or otherwise handicapped.   Their children were called by various names such as; neurologically handicapped, brain-injured, aphasodic, dyslexic, and perceptually handicapped. In spite of its current widespread use, the term learning disability is vulnerable to misunderstanding and misuse. The condition is difficult to define operationally since the designation learning disability is an umbrella term for a variety of deviations that are not included in traditional categories of exceptional children. Also it has been confused with general learning problems that are common to some degree in most children. In addition, it has been misused to include educational retardation, which is found in slow learning children and in children who have not learned because of poor teaching or absence from school. Another vulnerability of the term comes from the difficulty in drawing an explicit line between normal and abnormal.   Some allowances must be made for biological and psychological diversity, and considerable variation in abilities is accepted as normal. So, the question now is, â€Å"If there are objections to the term learning disabilities, why use it?   Why not use some other term? Well and good, if a better term can be found.   Other terms are either too specific or too broad.   Dyslexia for example, only refers to severe reading disability and it is not the only learning disability.   Brain injury has little or no educational relevance.   Perceptual handicaps exclude children with language disorders. Hence, the label learning disability has evolved to encompass the heterogeneous group of children not fitting neatly into the traditional categories of handicapped children. And that, substantial number of children show retardation in learning to talk, do not acquire other communication skill, do not develop normal visual or auditory perception, or great difficulty in learning to read, to spell, to write, or to make arithmetic calculations. Some of them even, are not receptive to language but are not deaf, some are not able to perceive visually but are not blind, and some cannot learn by ordinary of method of instruction but are not mentally retarded. Although such children are from a heterogeneous group and fail to learn for diverse reasons, they have one thing in common: they do not perform as well in school as they could. Discussing the problem and the difficulties of names for these children, Kirk (1963) explained that sometimes classification labels block our thinking. He further stated that it is better to state that a child has not learned to read than to say the child is dyslexic. So he advised that the name should be functional.   He suggested further that since the parents were interested in service to their children, it might be preferable to use a term related to teaching or learning and that the term learning disability might be preferable over the currently used terms such as cerebral function and brain injured. The term learning disabilities were agreed by these parents and they consider it more appropriate since it implied teaching and learning and since they were interested primarily in service for their children. So, one of the major problems of definition is that a learning disability is not as obvious or homogenous as blindness or deafness. There are many types of disabilities, each of which may require a unique diagnosis and a remedial method may vary differently from another condition also termed a learning disability. It is no wonder that many students, teachers, and parents have become confused about the term learning disability and the characteristics of children so labeled. This confusion appears to be international and is illustrated by the remarks of a teacher who, in testifying to a government committee studying the subject (Learning Difficulties in Children and Adults, 1986), stated:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I find myself asking the following questions:   What does the term â€Å"learning difficulty† mean?   Does the term â€Å"learning difficulty† mean the same as â€Å"learning disability†? How about the term â€Å"dysfunction†? What does the term â€Å"minimal brain dysfunction† mean? Do they all mean the same? Certainly, all these labels are not necessary, or are they? Does labeling a child with learning problems create more problems? It all becomes a bit confusing†¦The terminology changes often, varies from state to state and from country to country. Out of these definitions, came my own definition of learning disability: Learning disability describes a result rather than the cause of the learning disability.   Therefore, the conditions we call a learning disability is defined in terms of the student’s difficulties – what he can and cannot do in school – and focuses primarily on the academic performance.   So, one cannot be labeled as learning disabled if he has not yet started formal schooling as the label learning disabled indicates that a student is having unusual learning difficulties and involves speculations to possible causes, but it specifically indicates that the primary cause cannot be a condition such as mental retardation, hearing or visual impairment, and so on. Learning disabilities should be identified in the formal school context. Thus, preschoolers should not be labeled as learning disabled as growth rates are so unpredictable at young age,   In addition, very young children who appear to have problems may be identified under a noncategorical label, such as developmentally delayed.   For many children, learning disabilities first become apparent when they enter school and fail to acquire academic skills.   The failure often occurs in reading, but also happens in mathematics, writing, or other school subjects.   Among the behaviors frequently seen in the early elementary years are inability to attend and concentrate; poor motor skills, as evidenced in the awkward handling of a pencil and in poor writing; and difficulty in learning to read.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the later elementary years, as the curriculum becomes more difficult, problems may emerge in other areas, such as social studies or science.   Emotional problems also become more of an impediment after several years of repeated failure, and students become more conscious of their poor achievement in comparison with that of their peers.   For some students, social problems and inability to make and keep friends increase in importance at this age level. A radical change in schooling occurs at the secondary level, and adolescents find that learning disabilities begin to take a greater toll.   The tougher demands of the junior and senior high school curriculum and teachers, the turmoil of adolescence, and the continued academic failure may combine to intensify the learning disability.   Adolescents are also concerned about life after completing school.   They may need counseling and guidance for college, career, and vocational decisions.   To worsen the situation, a few adolescents find themselves drawn into acts of juvenile delinquency.   Because adolescents tend to be overly sensitive, some emotional, social, and self-concept problems often accompany a learning disability at his age.   Most secondary schools now have programs for adolescents with learning disabilities. Many teachers in Canada suggested that we abolish the label learning disability, and merge it with the emotionally disturbed and the educable mentally retarded and only deal with the child from an instructional point of view by defining learning tasks so that they can be taught step by step.   I strongly opposed with this suggestion.   Though maybe it is possible for the child with severe learning disability, but this approach is not sufficient to mild learning disabilities students. This is one of the greatest sources of controversy about the identification issues. The question of how much academic and learning retardation is evidenced before an individual should be identified as learning disabled.   Aside from identifying children with learning disability, it is very important to judge the extent of a child’s learning disability as either mild or severe.   Determining the level of severity is helpful in placement and in planning teaching delivery.   I strongly suggest that students with mild learning disabilities should be given different remediation from those of students who have severe learning disabilities. At this point, it is very crucial to differentiate the two cases.   Mild learning disabilities describe the problems of many students.   Students with mild learning disabilities usually have a disability in just one or two areas of learning, and although they need supportive help and special teaching, they can probably get along – at least for part of the day – in the regular classroom. So, within the regular classroom, the regular teachers should often make changes in instruction that will benefit these students. On the other hand, students with sever learning disabilities pose a very different problem and they require quite different educational services.   These students are likely to lag significantly in several areas of learning and to have concomitant social, emotional, or behavioral problems.   They need the environment of a special classroom, should contact mainly with one teacher, and should be given special services for most of the day.   Because of the intensity of their problems, the special class should be given fewer students than the regular classroom.   I suggest the 1:3 teacher to student ratio is the best to maximize and hasten the remediation process.   However, students with severe learning disabilities can gradually be mainstreamed for special subjects or activities or placed in the resource room, or even back in the regular classroom as their progress permits.   Because of these definitions; teachers, guidance councilors, and other school personnel, play the biggest role in identifying, diagnosing, remediating or treating this kind of disability within the school context.   So any teaching/service delivery should best meet the requirements needed to serve properly learning disabled students within the regular classroom.   Hence, learning disabled students should be treated or given remediation within the given school context with the greatest help of the regular classroom teacher but the guidance of the learning disabilities specialist.   So, it is implied that each school should have a learning disabilities specialist. With this, a change in the administrative arrangements for the placement for instruction of children with learning disabilities is a must.  Ã‚   It is important to take note that in the past, the rapid growth of special education was in the direction of removing atypical children from the mainstream of regular classroom and placing them into special education programs. Even the regular education supported this movement which maybe because the responsibility of educating children with a variety of learning problems is transferred to the domain of special education, and that would really lighten the work load of regular teachers.  Ã‚   But that should not be the case and I do not support that movement. The trend should be reversed and all students with learning disabilities should be brought back into the regular classroom with the regular students and in the hands of the regular teacher with the help of the learning disabilities specialist.     Ã‚  A number of movements and researches support this claim. The influential movement that supports this claim is the REI or the regular education initiative led by Madeline Will, the director of special education in the U.S. Office of Special Education in 1986.   She stated that this initiative is designed to promote collaborative efforts among regular and special educators and â€Å"shared responsibility† (Will, 1986).   In this initiative, regular and special educators were encouraged to pool their talents and coordinate their efforts in planning and teaching.  Ã‚   I greatly support this initiative as the underlying premise of this concept is that student’s learning disabilities can be more successfully taught in the regular education classroom than in special education classes or resource room. By promoting the merging of special and regular education, the regular education initiative reflects a major change in the way students with learning disabilities are identified, assessed, and educated. The approach is supported by many special educators (Lloyd, Singh, & Repp, 1991; Maheady & Algozzine, 1991; Biklen & Zollers, 1986; Greer, 1988; Reynolds, Wang & Walberg, 1997).     Ã‚  A specific example is, more than fifty years ago, Samuel Kirk, in his presidential address to special educators, emphasized that all teachers (regular and special educators) have the responsibility for teaching learning disabled children.   Kirk implored that â€Å"every teacher †¦ is a teacher of learning disabled children† (Kirk, 1941).   He further wrote the following: Actually the education of exceptional children is not wholly the responsibility of any one group of teachers †¦. It is hoped that in the future all special class teachers will not only be responsible for the education of children in their classroom, but will take on the added responsibility of contributing their knowledge and special skill to the regular classroom teacher †¦ who (has0 many learning disabled children in (the) classroom. (Kirk, 1941) In 1968, Lloyd Dunn wrote an influential article about the benefits of having special educators work with regular teachers in serving learning disabled children (Dunn, 1968). Another view to change the administrative arrangement in special education is to group children with different disabilities together for instruction.   This categorical system in special education historically evolved as the field of special education developed.   Each category of disability (such as visual impairment, hearing impairment, mental retardation, orthopedic disabilities, speech disorders, emotional disturbance, and learning disabilities) became established individually over the years when there was sufficient interest in that particular area of exceptionality.   This concept emphasizes the common characteristics among students with disabilities and the common instructional methods for teaching students with various disabilities.   In this system, students with learning disabilities, behavior disorders, and mental retardation are often grouped together. Some parents and special educators are concerned that children with learning disabilities might be lost in the shuffle of this kind of placement, if such classes become a dumping ground for students with a variety of unrelated problems.   The resulting diversity of learning and behavior problems would impede teachers in helping students with learning disabilities. But this view is also opposed by a number of authors and has even provoked unusual levels of confusion, emotion, and debate within the special education community (Jehkins & Pious, 2001).   Moreover, other special educators and parents, express concern regarding the regular education initiative movement and caution that more study is needed before making full-scale and far-reaching changes in procedures and policies that will affect the lives of students with learning disabilities (Lloyd et al., 1991; Journal of Learning Disabilities, 1988; Cannon, 1988; Kaufman, Gerber, & Semmel, 1998; McKinney & Hocutt, 1988, Lerner, 1997). But these opposing views have no substance and should be disregarded altogether.   Fuchs & Fuchs (2000) have conducted research on the perceptions of and attitudes toward the regular education initiative among both regular and special educators.   These studies suggest that neither regular nor special education teachers are dissatisfied with the current special education delivery system.   In fact, the teachers favored the resource room model over the consultant model.   Many of the teachers saw no improvement in the achievement levels for either special or regular education students as a result of the regular education initiative reforms.   The success of the initiative depends on the support of regular and special teachers (Semmel, Abernathy, Butera, & Lesar, 1991; Coates, 1989).   Moreover, the research prove that merely shifting the responsibility from the resource room teacher to the regular or a consultant is not enough to ensure the success of the reform. Hence, major policy changes in regular education profoundly affect students with learning disabilities.   Several recent national study commissions on the poor quality of schools serving the learning disabled students.   It is my fear that, most school’s pursuit for academic excellence standards will left behind students with learning disabilities – or they will be the losers.   Being unable to meet the educational standards set by the pursuit-of-excellence movement, some students with learning disabilities will be denied a high school diploma and thus be denied the opportunity to complete their schooling.   Further, if regular teachers are held accountable for the academic excellence of their students, they will be reluctant to accept the responsibility for hard-to-teach students.   Some special educators predict that the push for excellence may serve to widen the schism between regular and special education (Pugach & Sapon-Shevin, 1997). Hence, it is my challenge to educators and healthcare professionals to undergo another education reform movement where school curriculum requirements for the learning disabled should be added to the current curriculum standards for the regular students. So in this recommendation for curriculum changes, a greater consideration should be given for the learning disabled students.   But this should be within the context of the regular education curriculum. This approach is same with the integration of regular and special education.   Some special educators also are now urging that the integration process should be taken much further – that the current special education system should be drastically restructured and that regular and special education should be merged into a single system (Kauffman & Trent, 1991).   Such educators cite several reasons for changing the current system.   Special education, they maintain, is not effective when it occurs outside of the regular classroom.   In addition, the physical separation of students with disabilities is demeaning and degrades instruction.   These special educators maintain that integrated special education is more effective than separate programs. So the delivery options for teaching students with learning disabilities should also include regular classes and resource room classes.   This approach is concomitant to the observation that successful adults with disabilities have learned to function comfortably in society as it exists – an unrestricted environment composed of all people.   To promote experiences in the greater society, it must be ensured that, to the extent appropriate, students with disabilities should have experiences in school with regular (or non-special education) students. Since society includes the family, parents too should not be forgotten as an important element in the entire complex.   Parents are a vital component in the student’s education. These parents of children with learning disabilities need help in accepting their situation.   Mental health professionals should help make parents be aware that the problem must be faced both by the child and by other members of the family.   In addition to an honest acceptance of the disability, there must be recognition that improvement is often a slow process. So any approach concerning children with learning disability should establish healthy parental attitudes and ensure parent-teacher cooperation is of course, very necessary.   Parent support groups and family counseling are effective in assisting parents understand their children and their problems and in finding ways to help their children within the home.   In addition, parent-teacher conference can become a bridge between the home and school and can involve parents in the educational process. Learning disabilities is now at a crossroads, as it seems to have been throughout its thirty-year history.   Many innovative ideas are only in their beginning stages and will develop more fully in the years to come. The approach I suggested as discussed in this paper is one of those ideas.   It is very important for this approach that more students with learning disabilities are served through regular education.   In addition, there should be more collaboration between special and regular educators.   A consequence of all of these shifts is that the responsibilities of learning disabilities teachers will change to meet the new demands. References Bush, W., and Giles, M.(1979).   Aids to Psycholinguistic Teaching. Columbus,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Ohio: Charles E. Merrill. Clements, S. (1986). Minimal Brain Dysfunction in Children.   Public Health   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Service Publications. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Washington, D.C. Dunn, L.M. nad Smith J.O. (1987). Peabody Language Development Kits. Levels   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   P, I.II.III. Circle Pines, Minn.: American Guidance Service. Fernald, G.M. and Keller, H. (1971), â€Å"The Effect of Kinesthetic Factors in the   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Development of Word Recognition in the Case of Non –Readers.† Journal of   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Educational Research 4:355-357. Getman, G.H. (1985). â€Å"The Visuo-Motor Complex in the Acquisition of Learning   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Skills.† Learning Disorders, Volume 1. Seattle: Special Child Publications Gellingham,A. and Stillman B. (1986). Remedial Training for Children with   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Specific Disability in Reading, Spelling, and Penmanship, 5th ed. Cambridge,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Mass: Educators Publishing Service. Hegge,T., Kirk,S. and Kirk, W.(1986). Remedial Reading Drills.   Ann Arbor,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Mich.: Geroge Wahr. Hirsch,E. (1983). â€Å"Training of Visualizing Ability by the Kinesthetic Method of   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Teaching Reading.† Unpublished master’s thesis. University of Illinois. Karnes,M., Zehrbach, R. and Teska, J. (1984). â€Å"The Karnes Preschool Program;   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Rational Curricular Offerings and Follow up Data.   Report on Longitudinal   Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Evaluations of Preschool Programs, vol. 1: 95-108. Kirk, S.A. (1963).   â€Å"Behavioral Diagnosis and Remediation of Learning   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Disabilities.† In Proceedings of the Conference on Exploration into the   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Problems of the Perceptually Handicapped Child.   Chicago: Perceptually   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Handicapped Children. Kirk, S.A. and Elkins, J. (1985) â€Å"Characteristics of Children Enrolled in the Child   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Service Demonstration Centers.†Ã‚   Journal of Learning Disabilities 8: 630-637. Learning Difficulties in Children and Adults. (1986). Report of the House of   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Representatives Select Committee on Specific Learning Difficulties. Lombardi, T.P., and Lombardi, E.J. (1987).   ITPA: Clinical Interpretation and   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Remediation. Seattle: Special Child Publication. Minskoff, E.D., Wiseman, and Minskoff J. (1985). The MWM Program for   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Developing Language Abilities. Ridgefield, N.J.: Educational Performance   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Associates. Orton, S.J. (1978). â€Å"Specific Reading Disability – Strphosymbolia.† Journal of the   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   American Medical Association 90:1095-1099. Spalding, R.B.AND Spalding W.T. (1987). The Writing Road to Reading.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Morrow: New York. Strauss, A.A. and Lehtinen. (1987). Psychopathology and Education of the Brain-   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Injured Child, vol. II. New York: Grune and Stratton. Weiderholt, J.L (1984).†Historical Perspectives on the Education of the Learning   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Disabled.† In L. Mann and D.A. Sabitino, eds. The Third Review of Special   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Education.  Ã‚   Philadelphia: JSE Press.

Asylum : Refugees Denied Of A Home

In the early 1900s, Britain became a new home for thousands of Black, Asian, and other refugees and immigrants seeking asylum from their own countries. The issue of discrimination and prejudice became prevalent and the outcry of blacks all over Britain was no longer ignored. It showed that there was not peace in a place that highly values their reputation. Britain’s leaders valued their reputation consisting of positive things related to aesthetic and class. Yet, there were people marching in their†¦ world of refugees. According to the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees: a refugee is a person who, owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of their nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail him/herself of the protection of that country (Refugee, 2008). The current crisis of refugees around†¦ treatment of refugees who land on Australian shores. â€Å"At the end of 2015, the number of refugees reached 65.3 million, revealing that 1 in every 113 people are displaced from their home.† This constant rise in refugee number highlights the importance for Australia’s government to move towards better solutions for the management of asylum seekers. This essay will consider the political context that surround refugees, giving the perspectives on the debate of whether to accept or deny refugees. This will†¦ The Unfair Treatment of Haitian Refugees compared to their Cuban Counterparts. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), there are more refugees today than ever before—and more than half of them are believed to be children. Most of these people have left their homes in search of better living conditions and economic opportunities. This is especially true for Cuban and Haitian refugees. Living in a forever-changing world, we have to start rethinking our old immigration†¦ Asylees and Refugees Refugees and Asylees are defined as, â€Å"Under international law as being outside their home country and having a well-founded fear of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group, according to Bridging Refugee Youth & Children Services article, â€Å"Refugee 101.† In the United States, refugee and asylees resettlement was reestablished in the 1980’s. So far, 1.8 million people came to live in the US and†¦ Category: The Blog SEO Key Term: Refugees Is this from the topics needing covered tab: Yes 10 Facts About Ecuador Refugees The 7.8-magnitude earthquake in April 2016 killed over 650 people in north-western Ecuador, across the provinces of Esmeraldas and Manabà ­. Rubbing salt into the wound, two strong aftershocks in May of M6.7 and M6.8 injured 90 people and devastated the two provinces. The United Nations Refugee Agency has called on donors to immediately provide monetary support of US$73 million†¦ Question: â€Å"How has Australia protected human rights of asylum seekers in Immigration detention centers?† My Research Project was motivated by a movie screening I had attended during Refugee Week. The film viewed was â€Å"Mary meets Mohammad† (2013), which documented the commencement of Tasmania’s first Immigration detention Centre in 2011. From this involvement I was inquisitive as to how alacritous Australia’s society is in supporting asylum seekers and refugees. Having limited prior knowledge on this divisive†¦ his/her country of origin due to political reasons. When the person requests for protection from a foreign country he/she is accepted as an asylum. The country offers protection to the person as a political refugee. Those who seek asylum are normally persecuted for political reasons (Oxford journal, 2011). Those who confess to the Muslim religion view political asylum and migration with great importance. This is due to the political situation of the Muslim states. The region experiences the challenge†¦ The securitization of Asylum Seekers by Australia Orin Troyer Introduction By the conclusion of 2014, in accordance to reports of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) there are approximately 59.5 million displaced people globally as a result of conflict, violence, environmental degradation and human rights violations. Of these, approximately 19.5 million are classified as an asylum seeker or refugee collectively. A refugee is a person who is unable or unwilling to return†¦ Norwegian freighter MV Tampa rescued 438 refugees off a sinking fishing boat named the Palapa (Doherty, 2011). It was an event that ushered Australia into what is now more than a decade of constant failures to meet humanitarian conventions and international laws outlined by the United Nations and ratified by the Australian government. Federal politicians will often exhort to the use of exclusionary, and often divisive language whenever asylum seekers or refugees are discussed, particularly in the public†¦

Management stress Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Management stress - Essay Example During this stage of stress response, the brain will send an emergency signal to other body parts letting them know of the dangerous situation the individual is facing. The individual can either choose a fight or flight reaction. For example, during a bank robbery, an individual may decide to ‘fight’ the robbers or run away from the scene ‘flight’. In an organizational setting, this phase does not usually affect the performance of an employee. This means that too little stress is unlikely to have an effect on the productivity of employees (Quick, Wright, Adkins, Nelson & Quick, 2013). At this stage, an employee will attempt to resist the stressor. This process is initiated so that the individual can regain balance. It is at this stage that the body puts up a fight, and the human body is likely to achieve its maximum activity levels. The body digs deep into its reserve, and an individual usually feels under pressure and is usually very anxious. According to the Yerkes-Dodson Law curve, it is at this stage that employees in an organization reach their peak performance. This goes to prove that people will usually work their best when under pressure. However, at this stage an individual’s body is usually very weak and is vulnerable to diseases due to a weakened immune system. At this stage, the human body is no longer able to cope with the stress and the body’s adaptive mechanisms collapse. At this stage, the stress is too much, and the body is usually unable to fight with the stressor. At this phase, an individual is usually tired, broken and exhausted. An individual is likely to have sleeping problems, raised blood pressure, digestive issues and is also at a higher risk of suffering from heart disease. Additionally, the individual may suffer from serious conditions like memory loss, mental illness and impaired judgment. The individual may break down due to feelings of

Australian Tourism and Hospitality Law Case Study

Australian Tourism and Hospitality Law - Case Study Example This island is managed and swimming. The Western Australian State Government had mandated the Island Authority to manage the island. There have been increased concerns over of the dangers posed by sharks in the water, according to the fishermen, shark sightings have increased in the local water, which poses a risk to the swimmers and fishermen. The fears of the fishermen were confirmed by an incident that occurred in 22nd October, during this day, Frank, who was swimming within the flags, was dumped into a sand bar, and when he was pulled from the water by the lifeguards, and taken for medical treatment, Frank was found with a fracture of his cervical vertebra. The fracture left him paralyzed from the waist down. Later in the day, there was a shark alarm, sounded by lifeguards for people to clear the water, however, Matt, who was 100 meters from the shore, was taken away and his body was never found. The events on this day leave a question of whether the Island Authority is liable fo r the Frank’s injuries and the death of Matt. Looking at the facts of this case, the Island is under the management of the Island Authority, therefore, the Island Authority is responsible for the safety of those fishing, swimming and camping on the island.1 This follows that Matt and Frank were visitors to the island; therefore, their safety was in the hands of the Island Authority. ... Looking at the statistics, 50 years before the year 2000, there was only one fatal attack in these waters, but within the last 5 years, there have been six attacks from the shark on the west coast, and these attacks were fatal. In addition, according to reports, there were 16 attacks near the sea, where the victims suffered serious injuries but survived. The Island Authority should have these statistics, and if they have them, then they should be more vigilant near the sea and in the water; they should have taken extra-measures to minimize the dangers caused by the sharks. When Frank got hurt, he was swimming within the flags; these flags indicated that the waters he was swimming in were safe, therefore, he had no worries about his safety. The same applied to Matt. This can only mean that the water was not inspected at all or the inspection was not well done, and considering the reports on the increasing shark attacks, the Island authority can be accused of negligence. In addition, t he boat patrol is supposed to be done all the time, and they are supposed to be several boats and not one, if this was the case, maybe Matt could have been saved in time. Moreover, the Island Authority is not well equipped with the disaster management equipment, and the procedure used for clearing people from the water and rescuing people is not well organized. Knowing that people might not be quick enough to clear the water when the shark alarm is sound, the Authority did not take an initiative to necessitate quick water clearance. Again, most of the people visiting the Island for recreational activities are not locals, and this means that they are not aware of the dangers posed by sharks in the water in this region.3 Therefore, it

Business Models On theWeb Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Business Models On theWeb - Essay Example This is because it avails diverse products and services, which enable customers to make choices that best suit their needs. Additionally, digital marketing reduces the chances of consumer exploitation, since consumers are not restricted with regard to the products or services to use. This video reveals that there are several tools that can be used for digital marketing; therefore, organizations ought to choose a tool depending on the target group, for example social networks and videos among others. Presently in digital marketing, the best tools have proved to be social networks, recorded videos and e-mails. These tools have helped to promote digital marketing because they are widely used by consumers as information tools. According to this video, in the contemporary society, most people spend a lot of time online due to availability of internet services, which favors digital marketing. The number of people communicating with friends has increased due to internet use. This has been possible by the existence of online social sites. Increased internet use has therefore promoted online businesses because companies can now easily have their products and services accessed. At the same time, digital markets have enabled customers to have easy access to information on products and services information, thus they can make informed choices. Digital markets also increase marketing efficiency of firms and companies as people from different geographical locations can be reached at the same time. The need for new business models is rising due to continuous digitization of the business world. A digital business model basically describes how companies digitally interact with customers to generate revenue. Firms should therefore develop effective digital business models with good content and realistic customer experience. The best business model should challenge the current marketing models. This article states that business models on the web are widely

The Restoration of Michelangelos Sistine Chapel Essay

The Restoration of Michelangelos Sistine Chapel - Essay Example Although there had been numerous problems in determining just how to decorate the ceiling of this structure as well as problems in stabilizing this same ceiling, the primary question for many was in whether or not to trust Michelangelo, a sculptor, with something at once so important and so degrading. For while Michelangelo is widely celebrated today for his work on the chapel, ceiling work such as what he was requested to perform was typically the work of lesser artists. Once the details had been ironed out and egos soothed, Michelangelo went to work demonstrating his artistic genius. Original descriptions of the chapel indicated that the paintings were alive with brilliant color, stunning imagery and mastery of technique, but visitors to the chapel in the centuries since have felt the images must have lost some of this vigor. As the previous century discovered, this has indeed been the case as almost 500 years of soot, smoke and pollution have accumulated over the faces of the imag es while the underlying structure has been assaulted by the ravages of decay and erosion. While some hailed this move as a much-needed preservation effort, others argued any attempts at restoration would necessarily destroy the artistry and originality of its creator. The purpose of this document is to explore some of the controversy surrounding the Sistine Chapel, beginning with the problems of its original creation and then jumping forward to the issues involved in attempting to restore such an irreplaceable international treasure, finishing with an analysis of the outcome of the restoration efforts.

Critically discuss some of the hermeneutical principles that are used Essay

Critically discuss some of the hermeneutical principles that are used to interpret the Bible from a liberationist perspective - Essay Example as written by human authors in the words of God under the ‘inspiration’ of the Holy Spirit.4 Thus, the church regarded the Bible a sacred writing – the Holy Scripture, â€Å"a pillar of stone†5 from which all its teachings are derived. However, different interpretations of the Bible abound, subjecting it to controversy that penetrates through its infallibility, the godliness of God, and the correctness of the doctrines of the church, sowing division in Christian faith rather than unification, spreading confusion rather than understanding. Although on positive note, it also expounds and deepens the believer’s understanding of the Bible and his/her relationship with his Creator. Yet, against these various hermeneutics, it should be considered that the Bible or the Holy Scripture could not just be interpreted in any which way one wish, because it is God’s words whose doctrines must be grasped by objectively studying its texts,6 as these used figurative languages in a time unique in itself, yet universal in influence. Moreover, as the Bible is the story of God’s profound love to humankind, â€Å"the authority of the Bible should be understood in the context of God’s relationships to all Go d’s people(s) -- the church and the world.†7 In this way, the Bible could offer a way as to how the present people’s sufferings could be overcome through a life of faith and social commitment.8 Thus, liberationist biblical critics propose that biblical hermeneutic has to accentuate three issues of utmost importance: â€Å"the demythologisation of the biblical authority, the demystification of the use of the Bible, and the construction of new models of interpretation of the Bible.†9 Firstly, to demythologise the biblical authority is to investigate â€Å"the world of text†10, as to how the existing socio-politico-economic and cultural power-dynamics in the ancient imperial worlds ruled by the colonial empires of Assyria, Babylonia, Persia, Greece and Rome immensely

Concert report Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Concert report - Assignment Example Truly speaking, I was not aware that we were not required to take notes. I was really surprised to learn that some of my colleagues were aware of the fact that they were not required to take notes. Still, I must say that the provision of not taking the notes really heightened my capacity to appreciate and enjoy the concert. Since I did not take notes, I was in a better position to get lost in the compositions being played and to enjoy the music played with all of my senses focused on it. Had I been busy taking notes, I would have approached the concert with a mainly theoretical perspective and my responses to the music would have been measured, planned and I must say a little bit plastic. The conversation I had with my colleagues before the concert tilted more towards the technicalities of music. However, once we started listening to the concert, many of my colleagues did acknowledge that it was an amazing experience. Some of my colleagues were really moved by the pieces being played . At a personal level I could qualify my overall experience to be moving, stimulating and encouraging. I was really lucky to get exposure to such a high quality musical experience. It not only enhanced my capacity to appreciate music, but also further stimulated me to learn more about Western music and to attend more such concerts in the future. It was an experience that touched my soul and calmed my senses and mind. Though all the pieces played in the concert were great and marvelous, yet, the piece that really grabbed my attention and emotions was Old Hungarian Dances. This is because this piece had a unique appeal to it. If on the one side the actual rendering of this piece was really sophisticated and professional, on the other side it had a rustic tilt to it that gave way to a sense of joy and elation in me. I must say that I would like to

Smith v. United States Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Smith v. United States - Research Paper Example The petitioners, as well as their parents, had beforehand involved in parallel activities, and they chose to partake in the program. The school had instituted a policy sanctioning students to put on arm bands carrying political symbols, but had prohibited the wearing of armbands disapproving the Vietnam War (Farish, 1997). The policy detailed that any student putting on an armband to school would be requested to remove it, and if the subject declined, he would be suspended till he resumed schooling without the armband. The petitioners wore black bands on December 16, to their school while John Tinker donned his armband the next day. The petitioners were told to go back home and suspended from school and advised to go back without their armbands (Thomas & Dale, 2009). The petitioners sought nominal damages and an injunction in opposition to a regulation that the respondents had transmitted prohibiting the wearing of armbands (Farish, 1997). ... the 1st Amendment, the school district subsequently contravened the safeguards established in the 14th Amendment that guarantees that constitutional rights are extended to all citizens, inclusive of students and teachers (Gold, 2007). The Background and Issue of the Case The petitioners, John F. Tinker (15 years old) and the Christopher Eckhardt (16 years old), were High school students in Des Moines, Iowa. The other petitioner, Mary Beth Tinker, was a junior high school student and John’s sister. Subsequent to an evidentiary hearing, the District Court threw out the complaint and sustained that the prohibition was reasonable and constitutional so as to safeguard disorder of school discipline (258 F. Supp. 971 (1966). The case was discharged since the law allowed the Board to exercise its power, notwithstanding the absence of any finding of considerable intrusion with the conduct of school activities (Burnside v. Byars, 363 F. 2d 744, 749 (1966). The Court of Appeals confirmed by an evenly divided court by holding that: in putting on armbands, the petitioners were quiet and passive and were not upsetting and did not intrude on the liberties enjoyed by others. As such, their conduct was agreeable to the safeguards availed by the 1st Amendment, plus the 14th Amendment. The court also asserted that the 1st Amendment rights are applicable to teachers and students alike, subject to application within exceptional circumstances such as the school environment (Thomas & Dale, 2009). A ban on expression of opinion devoid of any evidence on the necessity to circumvent considerable meddling with school discipline or the liberties of others is not allowable under First and Fourteenth Amendments. Constitutional Question(s)/ Issue Raised by the Case The core issues centres on the

IKEA’s Global Sourcing Challenge Essay Example for Free

IKEA’s Global Sourcing Challenge Essay Indian Rugs and Child Labor (A) In May 1995, Marianne Barner faced a tough decision. After just two years with IKEA, the world’s largest furniture retailer, and less than a year into her job as business area manager for carpets, she was faced with the decision of cutting off one of the company’s major suppliers of Indian rugs. While such a move would disrupt supply and affect sales, she found the reasons to do so quite compelling. A German TV station had just broadcast an investigative report naming the supplier as one that used child labor in the production of rugs made for IKEA. What frustrated Barner was that, like all other IKEA suppliers, this large, well-regarded company had recently signed an addendum to its supply contract explicitly forbidding the use of child labor on pain of termination. Even more difficult than this short-term decision was the long-term action Barner knew IKEA must take on this issue. On one hand, she was being urged to sign up to an industry-wide response to growing concerns about the use of child labor in the Indian carpet industry. A recently formed partnership of manufacturers, importers, retailers, and Indian nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) was proposing to issue and monitor the use of â€Å"Rugmark,† a label to be put on carpets certifying that they were made without child labor. Simultaneously, Barner had been conversing with people at the Swedish Save the Children organization who were urging IKEA to ensure that its response to the situation was â€Å"in the best interest of the child†Ã¢â‚¬â€whatever that might imply. Finally, there were some who wondered if IKEA should not just leave this hornet’s nest. Indian rugs accounted for a tiny part of IKEA’s turnover, and to these observers, the time, cost, and reputation risk posed by continuing this product line seemed not worth the profit potential. The Birth and Maturing of a Global Company1   Certain details have been disguised. Cases are not intended to serve as endorsements, sources of primary data, or illustrations of effective or ineffective management. Copyright  © 2006 President and Fellows of Harvard College. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 1-800-545-7685, write Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston, MA 02163, or go to http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the permission of Harvard Business School. Working out of the family kitchen, he sold goods such as fountain pens, cigarette lighters, and binders he purchased from low-priced sources and then advertised in a newsletter to local shopkeepers. When Kamprad matched his competitors by adding furniture to his newsletter in 1948, the immediate success of the new line led him to give up the small items. In 1951, to reduce product returns, he opened a display store in  nearby Älmhult village to allow customers to inspect products before buying. It was an immediate success, with customers traveling seven hours from the capital Stockholm by train to visit. Based on the store’s success, IKEA stopped accepting mail orders. Later Kamprad reflected, â€Å"The basis of the modern IKEA concept was created [at this time] and in principle it still applies. First and foremost, we use a catalog to tempt people to visit an exhibition, which today is our store. . . . Then, catalog in hand, customers can see simple interiors for themselves, touch the furniture they want to buy and then write out an order.†2 As Kamprad developed and refined his furniture retailing business model he became increasingly frustrated with the way a tightly knit cartel of furniture manufacturers controlled the Swedish industry to keep prices high. He began to view the situation not just as a business opportunity but also as an unacceptable social problem that he wanted to correct. Foreshadowing a vision for IKEA that would later be articulated as â€Å"creating a better life for the many people,† he wrote: â€Å"A disproportionately large part of all resources is used to satisfy a small part of the population. . . . IKEA’s aim is to change this situation. We shall offer a wide range of home furnishing items of good design and function at prices so low that the majority of people can afford to buy them. . . . We have great ambitions.†3 The small newsletter soon expanded into a full catalog. The 1953 issue introduced what would become another key IKEA feature: self-assembled furniture. Instead of buying complete pieces of furniture, customers bought them in flat packages and put them together themselves at home. Soon, the â€Å"knockdown† concept was fully systemized, saving transport and storage costs. In typical fashion, Kamprad turned the savings into still lower prices for his customers, gaining an even larger following among young postwar householders looking for well-designed but inexpensive furniture. Between 1953 and 1955, the company’s sales doubled from SEK 3 million to SEK 6 million.4 Managing Suppliers: Developing Sourcing Principles As its sales took off in the late 1950s, IKEA’s radically new concepts began to encounter stiff opposition from Sweden’s large furniture retailers. So  threatened were they that when IKEA began exhibiting at trade fairs, they colluded to stop the company from taking orders at the fairs and eventually even from showing its prices. The cartel also pressured manufacturers not to sell to IKEA, and the few that continued to do so often made their deliveries at night in unmarked vans. Unable to meet demand with such constrained local supply, Kamprad was forced to look abroad for new sources. In 1961, he contracted with several furniture factories in Poland, a country still in the Communist eastern bloc. To assure quality output and reliable delivery, IKEA brought its knowhow, taught its processes, and even provided machinery to the new suppliers, revitalizing Poland’s furniture industry as it did so. Poland soon became IKEA’s largest source and, to Kamprad’s delight, at much lower costs—once again allowing him to reduce his prices. Following its success in Poland, IKEA adopted a general procurement principle that it should not own its means of production but should seek to develop close ties by supporting its suppliers in a long-term relationship.a Beyond supply contracts and technology transfer, the relationship led IKEA to make loans to its suppliers at reasonable rates, repayable through future shipments. â€Å"Our objective is to develop long-term business partners,† explained a senior purchasing manager. â€Å"We commit to doing a ll we can to keep them competitive—as long as they remain equally committed to us. We are in this for the long run.† Although the relationship between IKEA and its suppliers was often described as one of mutual dependency, suppliers also knew that they had to remain competitive to keep their contract. From the outset they understood that if a more cost-effective alternative appeared, IKEA would try to help them respond, but if they could not do so, it would move production. In its constant quest to lower prices, the company developed an unusual way of  identifying new sources. As a veteran IKEA manager explained: â€Å"We do not buy products from our suppliers. We buy unused production capacity.† It was a philosophy that often led its purchasing managers to seek out seasonal manufacturers with spare off-season capacity. There were many classic examples of how IKEA matched products to supplier capabilities: they had sail makers make seat cushions, window factories produce table frames, and ski manufacturers build chairs in their off-season. The manager added, â€Å"We’ve always worr ied more about finding the right management at our suppliers than finding high-tech facilities. We will always help good management to develop their capacity.† Growing Retail: Expanding Abroad Building on the success of his first store, Kamprad self-financed a store in Stockholm in 1965. Recognizing a growing use of automobiles in Sweden, he bucked the practice of having a downtown showroom and opted for a suburban location with ample parking space. When customers drove home with their furniture in flat packed boxes, they assumed two of the costliest parts of traditional furniture retailing—home delivery and assembly. In 1963, even before the Stockholm store had opened, IKEA had expanded into Oslo, Norway. A decade later, Switzerland became its first non-Scandinavian market, and in 1974 IKEA entered Germany, which soon became its largest market. (See Exhibit 1 for IKEA’s worldwide expansion.) At each new store the same simple Scandinavian-design products were backed up with a catalog and offbeat advertising, presenting the company as â€Å"those impossible Swedes with strange ideas.† And reflecting the company’s conservative values, each new entry was financed by previous successes.b During this expansion, the IKEA concept evolved and became increasingly formalized. (Exhibit 2 summarizes important events in IKEA’s corporate history.) It still built large, suburban stores with knockdown furniture in flat packages the customers brought home to assemble themselves. But as the concept was refined, the company required that each store follow a predetermined design, set up to maximize customers’ exposure to the product range. The concept mandated, for instance, that the living room interiors should follow immediately after the entrance. IKEA also serviced customers with features  such as a playroom for children, a low-priced restaurant, and a â€Å"Sweden Shop† for groceries that had made IKEA Sweden’s leading food exporter. At the same time, the range gradually aThis policy was modified after a number of East European suppliers broke their contracts with IKEA after the fall of the Berlin Wall opened new markets for them. IKEA’s subsequent supply chain problems and loss of substantial investments led management to develop an internal production company, Swedwood, to ensure delivery stability. However, it was decided that only a limited amount of IKEA’s purchases (perhaps 10%) should be sourced from Swedwood. b By 2005, company lore had it that IKEA had only taken one bank loan in its corporate history—which it had paid back as soon as the cash flow allowed. The Emerging Culture and Values5 As Kamprad’s evolving business philosophy was formalized into the IKEA vision statement, â€Å"To create a better everyday life for the many people,† it became the foundation of the company’s strategy of selling affordable, good-quality furniture to mass-market consumers around the world. The cultural norms and values that developed to support the strategy’s implementation were also, in many ways, an extension of Kamprad’s personal beliefs and style. â€Å"The true IKEA spirit,† he remarked, â€Å"is founded on our enthusiasm, our constant will to renew, on our cost-consciousness, on our willingness to assume responsibility and to help, on our humbleness before the task, and on the simplicity of our behavior.† As well as a summary of his aspiration for the  company’s behavioral norms, it was also a good statement of Kamprad’s own personal management style. Over the years a very distinct organizational culture and management style emerged in IKEA reflecting these values. For example, the company operated very informally as evidenced by the open-plan office landscape, where even the CEO did not have a separate office, and the familiar and personal way all employees addressed one another. But that informality often masked an intensity that derived from the organization’s high self-imposed standards. As one senior executive explained, â€Å"Because there is no security available behind status or closed doors, this environment actually puts pressure on people to perform.† The IKEA management process also stressed simplicity and attention to detail. â€Å"Complicated rules paralyze!† said Kamprad. The company organized â€Å"anti-bureaucrat week† every year, requiring all managers to spend time working in a store to reestablish contact with the front line and the consumer. The workpace was such that executives joked that IKEA believed in â€Å"management by running around.† Cost consciousness was another strong part of the management culture. â€Å"Waste of resources,† said Kamprad, â€Å"is a mortal sin at IKEA. Expensive solutions are often signs of mediocrity, and an idea without a price tag is never acceptable.† Although cost consciousness extended into all aspects of the operation, travel and entertainment expenses were particularly sensitive. â€Å"We do not set any price on time,† remarked an executive, recalling that he had once phoned Kamprad to get approval to fly first class. He explained that economy class was full and that he had an urgent appointment to keep. â€Å"There is no first class in IKEA,† Kamprad had replied. â€Å"Perhaps you should go by car.† The executive completed the 350-mile trip by taxi. The search for creative solutions was also highly prized with IKEA. Kamprad had written, â€Å"Only while sleeping one makes no mistakes. The fear of making mistakes is the root of bureaucracy and the enemy of all evolution.† Though planning for the future was encouraged, overanalysis was not. â€Å"Exaggerated planning can be fatal,† Kamprad advised his executives. â€Å"Let simplicity and common sense characterize your planning.† In 1976, Kamprad felt the need to commit to paper the values that had developed in IKEA during the previous decades. His thesis, Testament of a Furniture Dealer, became an important means for spreading the IKEA philosophy, particularly during its period of rapid international expansion. (Extracts of the Testament are given in Exhibit 3.) Specially trained â€Å"IKEA ambassadors† were assigned to key positions in all units to spread the company’s philosophy and values by educating their subordinates and by acting as role models. In 1986, when Kamprad stepped down, Anders Moberg, a company veteran who had once been Kamprad’s personal assistant, took over as president and CEO. But Kamprad remained intimately involved as chairman, and his influence extended well beyond the ongoing daily operations: he was the self-appointed guardian of IKEA’s deeply embedded culture and values. Waking up to Environmental and Social Issues By the mid-1990s, IKEA was the worlds largest specialized furniture retailer. Sales for the IKEA Group for the financial year ending August 1994 totaled SEK 35 billion (about $4.5 billion). In the previous year, more than 116 million people had visited one of the 98 IKEA stores in 17 countries, most of them drawn there by the company’s product catalog, which was printed yearly in 72 million copies in 34 languages. The privately held company did not report profit levels, but one estimate put its net margin at 8.4% in 1994, yielding a net profit of SEK 2.9 billion (about $375 million). 6 After decades of seeking new sources, in the mid-1990s IKEA worked with almost 2,300 suppliers in 70 countries, sourcing a range of around 11,200 products. Its relationship with its suppliers was dominated by commercial issues, and its 24 trading service offices in 19 countries primarily monitored  production, tested new product ideas, negotiated prices, and checked quality. (See Exhibit 4 for selected IKEA figures in 1994.) That relationship began to change during the 1980s, however, when environmental problems emerged with some of its products. And it was even more severely challenged in the mid-1990s when accusations of IKEA suppliers using child labor surfaced. The Environmental Wake-Up: Formaldehyde In the early 1980s, Danish authorities passed regulations to define limits for formaldehyde emissions permissible in building products. The chemical compound was used as binding glue in materials such as plywood and particleboard and often seeped out as gas. At concentrations above 0.1 mg/kg in air, it could cause watery eyes, headaches, a burning sensation in the throat, and difficulty breathing. With IKEA’s profile as a leading local furniture retailer using particleboard in many of its products, it became a prime target for regulators wanting to publicize the new standards. So when tests showed that some IKEA products emitted more formaldehyde than was allowed by legislation, the case was widely publicized and the company was fined. More significantly—and the real lesson for IKEA—was that due to the publicity, its sales dropped 20% in Denmark. In response to this situation, the company quickly established stringent requirements regarding formaldehyde emissions but soon found that suppliers were failing to meet its standards. The problem was that most of its suppliers bought from subsuppliers, who in turn bought the binding materials from glue manufacturers. Eventually, IKEA decided it would have to work directly with the glue-producing chemical companies and, with the collaboration of companies such as ICI and BASF, soon found ways to reduce the formaldehyde off-gassing in its products.7 A decade later, however, the formaldehyde problem returned. In 1992, an investigative team from a large German newspaper and TV company found that IKEA’s best-selling bookcase series, Billy, had emissions higher than German legislation allowed. This time, however, the source of the problem was not the glue but the lacquer on the bookshelves. In the wake of headlines describing â€Å"deadly poisoned bookshelves,† IKEA immediately stopped both the production and sales of Billy bookcases worldwide and corrected the problem before resuming  distribution. Not counting the cost of lost sales and production or the damage to goodwill, the Billy incident was estimated to have cost IKEA $6 million to $7 million.8 These events prompted IKEA to address broader environmental concerns more directly. Since wood was the principal material in about half of all IKEA products, forestry became a natural starting point. Following discussions with both Greenpeace and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF, formerly World Wildlife Fund) and using standards set by the Forest Stewardship Council, IKEA established a forestry policy stating that IKEA would not accept any timber, veneer, plywood, or layer-glued wood from intact natural forests or from forests with a high conservation value. This meant that IKEA had to be willing to take on the task of tracing all wood used in IKEA products back to its source. 9 To monitor compliance, the company appointed forest managers to carry out random checks of wood suppliers and run projects on responsible forestry around the world. In addition to forestry, IKEA identified four other areas where environmental criteria were to be applied to its business operations: adapting the product range; working with suppliers; transport and distribution; and ensuring environmentally conscious stores. For instance, in 1992, the company began using chlorine-free recycled paper in its catalogs; it redesigned the best-selling OGLA chair— originally manufactured from beech—so it could be made using waste material from yogurt cup production; and it redefined its packaging principles to eliminate any use of PVC. The company also maintained its partnership with WWF, resulting in numerous projects on global conservation, and funded a global forest watch program to map intact natural forests worldwide. In addition, it engaged in an ongoing dialogue with Gr eenpeace on forestry.10 The Social Wake-Up: Child Labor In 1994, as IKEA was still working to resolve the formaldehyde problems, a Swedish television documentary showed children in Pakistan working at weaving looms. Among the several Swedish companies mentioned in the film as importers of carpets from Pakistan, IKEA was the only highprofile name on the list. Just two months into her job as business area manager for carpets, Marianne Barner recalled the shockwaves that the TV program sent through the company: The use of child labor was not a high-profile public issue at the time. In fact, the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child had only been published in December 1989. So, media attention like this TV program had an important role to play in raising awareness on a topic not well known and understood—including at IKEA. . . . We were caught completely unaware. It was not something we had been paying attention to. For example, I had spent a couple of months in India learning about trading but got no exposure to child labor. Our buyers met suppliers in their city offices and rarely got out to where production took place. . . . Our immediate response to the program was to apologize for our ignorance and acknowledge that we were not in full control of this problem. But we also committed to do something about it. As part of its response, IKEA sent a legal team to Geneva to seek input and advice from the International Labor Organization (ILO) on how to deal with the problem. They learned that Convention 138, adopted by the ILO in 1973 and ratified by 120 countries, committed ratifying countries to working for the abolition of labor by children under 15 or the age of compulsory schooling in that country. India, Pakistan, and Nepal were not signatories to the convention.11 Following these discussions with the ILO, IKEA added a clause to all supply contracts—a â€Å"black-andwhite† clause, as Barner put it—stating simply that if the supplier employed children under legal working age, the contract would be cancelled.

Dance - Girl Essay Example for Free

Dance Girl Essay Dance, Girl, Dance is a film from the Classical Hollywood period that presents a complicated reading when viewed through a feminist lens. The 1940 film was directed by Dorothy Arzner, one of the most notable female directors and the only prominent woman in Hollywood at that time. Arzner presents her audience with an array of female characters, the main characters being Judy O’brien and Bubbles/Tiger Lily White. Judy is a dedicated dancer, honing her talents as a ballerina. Bubbles, on the other hand, uses her looks and sexuality to land jobs as a burlesque dancer. Dance, Girl, Dance reveals these characters’ experience in a dance troupe with several other girls. When the troupe disbands, Bubbles comes to offer Judy a humiliating job as her stooge. As tensions rise, the two eventually come to blows, quite literally, when both fall for the same man, Jimmy Harris. Through their relationship with each other and with men, a dynamic is defined that gives insight into the power of the male gaze and sexual politics, not only in the film but also in society at large in the context of 1930s America. This can be seen in the analysis of a particular scene near the beginning of the film. Judy and one of her roommates, Sally, are preparing for bed after their performance at the nightclub in the opening scene. Bubbles, their third roommate, arrives at home after a disappointing outing with Jimmy. This scene specifically highlights the contrast between the personalities of Judy and Bubbles, and speaks to the many ways female characters are coded based on their sexuality and appearance. The analysis of the scene begins at the moment Bubbles enters the room. She comes into the frame through the doorway in a medium shot. It is important to note her costume, as it speaks to her character. She is wearing makeup, jewelry, a fox fur stole around her shoulders and a feathered hat. One may get the impression that she is trying to look as glamorous or ostentatious as possible on her limited budget. At this point, Bubbles has already been partly established as a brash woman who does not shy away from her ability to attract men. This can be contrasted with Judy’s costume during this scene, modest button-up pajamas. The scene continues as Bubbles enters the tiny apartment. She turns on the light, when Judy whispers that Sally is asleep from off camera. Bubbles leaves the light on, looks down at Sally in the bed, and proceeds to loudly close the door while muttering â€Å"So, what? † As she delivers her dialogue, the camera follows her as she walks to her bed, panning over to include Judy in a two shot. One key element in this simple interaction is the difference of attitude toward female solidarity between Bubbles and Judy. Judy obviously cares to not disturb Sally, while Bubbles seems disappointed and only concerned with her own problems at this point. Then, the camera cuts to a close shot of Sally lying in bed, smiling and clearly awake. She then closes her eyes and continues to try and sleep, rendering her unimportant to the rest of the scene. The next cut brings us back to a long, two shot of Bubbles and Judy as they discuss what happened to Bubbles that evening. Bubbles is explaining how she had gone out with Jimmy, but he suddenly left her at the bar after giving her a little stuffed bull. In this shot, Bubbles is in the foreground, a little closer to the camera than Judy, making her appear slightly larger. This could be interpreted as signifying her social dominance over Judy, and the fact that she â€Å"stole† Jimmy from Judy earlier that evening. Bubbles dismissively tosses the bull onto a chair in front of Judy. Judy picks it up, stating â€Å"It’s cute. † Bubbles tells her that she can have it. The audience is clearly meant to get the impression that the token of the night has no significance to Bubbles, and she is merely disappointed that she could not add Jimmy to her list of men to dote on her occasionally. The camera stays stationary as Bubble walks to the background of the shot and sits on her bed. Judy gently places the bull back on the chair, already showing signs of her eventual fetishization of the bull and Jimmy. Then, she continues to bend and stretch her legs, as Bubbles pouts behind her. It is interesting to point out that as Judy resumes her exercises, she has gained the â€Å"high ground† of the shot. The reminder of her status as a dancer, a more artful and talented dancer than Bubbles, means she is the larger, more significant character in the frame now. The focus has moved from Bubbles proficiency as a female spectacle, completely at home under the male gaze, to Judy’s proficiency as a ballerina, with no real concern for superficial male attention. Then, this is reinforced when there is a cut to a medium shot of Bubbles, looking at Judy. The camera follows Bubbles line of sight and there is a quick cut to a medium shot of Judy, then it reverses back to the shot of Bubbles on her bed, shaking her head. She says, â€Å"I’ll say one thing for you, Pavlova. You’ve certainly got ambition, even if it’s dumb. † As she says this, Judy’s foot briefly enters from the side of the frame as she kicks her leg. Once again, Bubbles is coded as having no passion for her craft as a dancer, seeing it as a means to an end of attracting men and/or making money, while Judy genuinely loves to dance. One way of reading the film is through the suggestion that Judy’s ballet is high art, while Bubbles’ burlesque is low art. In the world of the Dance, Girl, Dance, women utilizing their sexuality for physical and financial gratification given by men is deemed less valuable than artistic expression. What follows is a short series of counter shots between the two, as Bubbles ponders how she will get back to New York, going through her list of male suitors to find a solution to her dilemma. On a surface level, this shows that Bubbles needs men to get where she is going, whether it is for a trip to New York or a trip to stardom as they buy tickets to her shows later in the film. The scene comes to a close as Bubbles decides on Sam, the traveling salesman that is â€Å"sweet on her. † As this line is delivered, there is a quick cut to Judy whipping her head around to look back at Bubbles. Judy has an expression on her face that is hard to describe, but it gets across the fact that her reality is very different from that of Bubbles’. Judy goes on to ask if there will be room for Sally, as the camera tracks Bubbles while she walks to the bathroom. As the camera stops tracking, it stops in a medium shot of Bubbles as she eventually replies, â€Å"†¦ All right, she can go, but don’t blame me. That guy’s got more arms than an octopus. † There is a cut to a close shot of Sally in bed with a wide-eyed, nervous expression as she quickly lifts up her head and plops back down. Like Judy, her reality is very different from the reality of the dynamic Bubbles, and the possibility of encountering a man from that reality seems to frighten her. After the last cut of the scene, it ends on a medium shot of Judy picking up the stuffed bull once again and smiling at it fondly. This emphasizes the fact Judy is not asexual and clearly is developing feelings for Jimmy. Although, Judy seems to have a more deep, emotional connection to Jimmy than Bubbles has for her various men. Judy only became interested in Jimmy after he helped the girls at the nightclub and talked with her earlier in the film. Her interest is not based solely on what he can provide to her. The differences in costume, behavior and motivation between Bubbles and Judy are relevant to a larger scope of the film involving sex and gender politics. For all of the above reasons found in the formal elements of the film’s visual and narrative composition, Bubbles is coded as superficial, purely physical and vapid. On the other hand, Judy is given much more value and depth. While Bubbles goes on to find success by exploiting her good looks, Judy is the winner in the end, when she lands her position in the ballet company and achieves her dreams. In this way, the film is sending a message that female self-worth is not derived from male approval or reaffirming of beauty, but from accomplishment of what are considered to be more substantial goals.

The Reproduction In Wolves Health And Social Care Essay

The Reproduction In Wolves Health And Social Care Essay This paper is an essay about reproduction in wolves. It is divided in to three major parts. The first part deals with the thing of the topic which is the wolf. Here the various aspects of the wolves are discussed these are the species, social life, hunting, communication and lifecycle. The second part deals with the main idea of the topic which is reproduction in animals. In this part the reproduction in animals is discussed. The aspects of reproduction that are explained include; the male and female reproductive systems, mating, gestation period where fertilization is explained, parturition and birth are tackled. In the third part the thing and the idea of the topic are combined to answer the questions and hypothesis relating to reproduction in wolves. Here the various aspects relating to the reproduction of wolves are discussed. The parts examined are the male and female wolf reproductive system, mating and the gestation period of a female wolf in terms of fertilization, parturitio n and birth. Introduction According to Whitt (2003) When the dog settled and embraced the community of human beings, its relatives continued to roam in the wild and they have become the most successful canid on the surface of the earth. According to Aamodt and Johnson (1987), the wolf is a wild dog and belongs to the group of animals that have the dog like traits. Scientists believe that they are direct ancestors of the present domestic dog. Even today the dogs and wolves have a lot in common. The average male wolf weighs between seventy and one hundred pound and measures from the nose to the tail, five to six point five feet (Aamodt Johnson, 1987). The two also note that the female ones are smaller and weigh fifty five to ninety pounds and are between four point five and six feet in length (Aamodt Johnson, 1987). Wolves have different colors with the majority having gray color shading but have the same body structure. Wolves like other canids have forty two teeth with twenty and twenty in the upper and lower jaw respectively. When they are moving or running, just like other canids, the wolves keep the back of their feet raised from the ground and this mode of movement is called digitigrades. Wolves are part of the canidae family which has over thirty five species including the foxes, coyotes, dingoes, jackals, dogs and the dholes. According to Mobile reference (2008), canids have long legs which are adapted for chasing their prey. All canids are digitigrades which means that they walk on four toes and their feet raised from the ground. They also have non-rectatile claws, bushy tails and dewclaws on their front feet. The canids also have a penis bone which is used for creating a copulatory tie during mating. The canids give birth to blind young one who opens their eyes after some weeks of being born. Most species in this family live and hunt as a group called pack. The wolves are classified in the canis genus since they are more doglike. According to Reiach et al (2002) there are three main types of species of wolves that is gray species which is the canis lupus, red species which is the canis rufus and the Ethiopian species which is referred to as the canis simensis wolv es. Wolf Anatomy and Taxonomy According to Marshall Cavendish Corporation (2010) all animals are classified by the scientists in to taxonomic groups based on the anatomical, genetic and biochemical similarities and differences. Wolves like other animals fuel their body by feeding food from other organisms they have a dorsal chord called the notochord that runs their bodies. Marshall Cavendish Corporation (2010) also states that on the external taxonomy, the wolves are quadrupeds with a narrow body, bushy tail and deep chest. The wolves according to Marshall Cavendish Corporation (2010) have shaggy fur, large ears, and have a big head with a slender pointed snout. The same Corporation opines that the nervous system of the wolves is characterized by high intelligence, high vision and hearing capabilities and acute smelling sense. The wolves are lithe and athletic animals. They are also muscular around the neck, hips and shoulders. On their respiratory and circulatory system, the wolves are warm blooded with a typic al mammalian circulation. They have large lungs and the larynx and vocal chords can produce a range of vocalizations. The wolves are committed carnivores with teeth that are suited for slicing the meat. They have a short and simple intestine and have a pair of kidneys used to remove metabolic waste through the blood. According to Whitt (2003) the taxonomy of the wolf is as follows. It belongs to kingdom animalia which includes animals with multicellular organs that do not have the cell wall and cannot make their food, it belongs to phylum chordata which include the animals that do have backbones or internal support and fall under the class of mammalian which includes the animals with fur and can produce milk. The wolf order is carnivora which include animals that subsists chiefly on meat and is fall under canidae family which is a group of animals with dog like traits. It is of the genus canis. There are three species of the wolf namely lupus which is the grey wolf, rufus which is the red wolf, and simensi which is the Ethiopian wolf. According Whitt (2003) more than twenty four species have been identified but have in the recent times been reclassified into five sub-species, that is, the arctas which in this case is the name for arctic wolf, lycaon which is the eastern gray wolf, baileyi which i s the Mexican wolf, nubilus which is the great plains wolf and finally occidentalis, which refers to the rocky mountain wolf. The sub-species can be distinguished from one another by use of size, fur color and the shape of the skull. Figure 1: Wolf Taxonomy Kingdom animalia Multicellular organisms that do not have cell walls and cannot make their own food Phylum Chordate Animals that have backbone and internal support. Class Mammalian Chordates that have fur and produce milk Orde Carnivora Mammals that subsist chiefly on meat Family Canidae Carnivores that have dog like traits Genus Canis wolves Species Lupus Gray wolf, subspecies lycaon Eastgern gray wolf Source: Whitt (2003). Species Gray Wolf According to (Whitt, 2003), the gray wolves are the largest in canid family and the male can grow as much as six and half feet (two meters) and stand from twenty six to thirty inches high from the ground . The average weight for males ranges from seventy to one hundred and ten pounds with the weighing fifty to eighty pounds and reaching lengths of six feet. The gray wolf I s also referred to as tundra, timber or silver wolf (Whitt, 2003). According to Harrington (2002), of the three wolf species, gray wolves are the most common and are found around the northern hemisphere the other two are very rare. According to Harrington (2002), Gray wolves have adapted to different kinds of habitats. Have gray fur and are the largest members of the canid family. Adult wolves weigh from eighty to one twenty kilograms. Ethiopian Wolf According to Animal Info (2005) Ethiopian wolves are diurnal. The wolves kill their prey and the kill is cached and retrieved later. They are both pre-eminent and cooperative hunters. Fuller (2004) observes the Ethiopian found is found in the in the Arabian peninsula, in northern Africa and in Ethiopian mountains. They live in pack of about two to twelve paired and related individuals. They prey on small and medium sized animals. They weigh about thirteen to eighteen kilograms. Harrington (2002) observes that the Ethiopian wolves are different from the gray and the red wolves. They are much smaller compared to the red and the gray wolves. They are only wolves that live in Africa. The scientist believed that the Ethiopian wolves were jackals. This is because they are they are smaller than the gray wolves, they are not stocky like the gray wolves instead they have long muzzles, long legs and slender noses just like the jackals and finally they eat small rodent which jackals love to eat . Red Wolf The red wolves are found in North America, weigh between twenty and forty kilograms and live in pairs of between three and ten (Fuller, 2004). Red wolves are similar to gray wolves. Just like the gray wolves the red wolves live in packs and hunt the prey animal. They also care for their puppies and howl to protect their territory. However they are different from gray wolves in that they have more reddish fur and are smaller than gray wolves. Adults weigh only forty to ninety pounds. Types Wolf Behavior Wolf Communication Behavior According to Wolf Haven International (2007) wolves use three types of communication namely the postural which involves the use of body language, vocal and olfactory which refers to use of smell. Olfactory communication involves scent marking which is mostly to mark boundaries, claim and defend the territories. Since they have scent gland in their toes they leave signature on all areas they go. They mark territories and food by urination. According to Wolf Haven International (2007) vocal communication among the wolves consists of howls, growls, barks and whines. They howl to claim territory or assemble the pack; whines are used by female as a sign of affection, growling is from the dominant wolves and are used to convey aggressiveness. Barking in wolves can be used to communicate excitement, raise alarm and call others to chase. Social Structure Socially wolves are organized in to packs. Aamodt and Johnson (1987), the wolves travel, hunt and perform most of their activities a group. The pack consists of members related by blood. They note that the core of the pack is a mated pair which consists of an adult female and a male. The other members are the offspring. They note that the packs may have six or seven wolves on average though the number may go up to fifteen. Like a family the members play different roles Aamodt and Johnson (1987.all the members of the pack are organized as a hierarchy with the breeding pair (alpha) at the top. At the middle of the hierarchy there are the subordinate called the beta and at the bottom there are wolves called the omega. The parent that is the alpha female and male is the oldest in the pack are involved in defending the territory and hunting due to their experience. They make important decisions like when to migrate or go for hunting. According to Aamodt and Johnson (1987) other pack membe rs down the hierarchy are allocated roles that inferior to those of the members. The young puppies and the juvenile do not have an active role in the hierarchy and are not allocated any permanent positions. In the pack the time for dismissing some adult s from the packs depends on the availability of the prey and the number of wolves in the prey. The dispersed members may end up forming a new pack or may join other existing packs. According to Aamodt and Johnson (1987 the social structure of a wolf can be thought of as hierarchy consisting of the layers outlined below. Figure 2: Wolf Social Structure The alpha male and female Beta male (this is the second ranking male sometimes mates with the alpha female) Young subordinates both male and female(often dominated by the alpha young ones ) Male and female juveniles and pups Male and female scapegoat(lives on the fringes of pack and may be mistreated by other members of the pack) Source: Aamodt and Johnson (1987). Territorial Behavior Reiach et al (2002) states that a wolf pack lives in a territory which must be characterized by enough fresh water and prey to feed the pack members. The territorial borders are marked with scent. They leave urine on scent post or upright marker for example tree stumps. The scents posts are constantly marked. Moves establish large territories in order to ensure that there is large supply of water and preys. The wolves mark their territories through methods such as howling, scent marking and direct attacks. Scent marking is done by ground scratching, defecation, and urination. In defending their territories wolves use scent marking which is done regularly and howling in order to prevent other wolves from entering the territories of other wolves. If these methods fail then the wolves may result into fighting the intruders and this can explain the high death rate of the wolves in the world. According to Defenders of Wildlife (2011), Wolves move, live and in packs consisting of four to seven animals. The pack consists of the mother, the father and the young one plus subordinate. The mother and father are referred to as the alphas lead the pack, track the prey, choose dens and mark the territory to be occupied by the pack. Feeding According to Boitani (2003) the wolves after killing their prey, they start by feeding the parts that have the most essential nutrients. The alpha female and male who is dominant feed first. So the feeding order is determined by the roles played by the wolves in the pack Boitani (2003). Boitani also notes that the wolves do not feed on meat alone since they require a balanced intake of nutrients. The most important organ to the wolves is the live since it provides them with a variety of vitamins. They also consume the heart and the lungs due to their high palatability just like the liver (Boitani, 2003). They also feed on the bones which provide calcium and phosphorous to their bodies. When food is not enough the priority is given to the puppies. Hunting According to Defenders of Wildlife (2011), wolves eat large hoofed animals such as the deer, elk and the moose and they also feed on animals that have died. On their part, Munoz et al (1994) opine that the wolves cooperate in hunting which enables them to bring down a prey. However wolves do not remain in the packs for long and this makes it difficult for them to know how to hunt as a group. Single wolves have a higher rate of succeeding in hunting than any other when they are working as a group. They find their preys through smell. According to Boitani (2003) when wolves are hunting not all members are involved in the attack of the prey. The alpha wolves lead other wolves in chasing and attacking the prey. The pack may also be split in to smaller hunting groups although cooperative hunting is emphasized among the wolves. Wolves conceal themselves when approaching their prey. They may attack animals as a herd or may isolate an animal from the rest and then start chasing it. They try to catch the animal before it runs for a long distance but for the big animals the wolves chase them for long distances. One wolf may be involved in distracting the herd of the preys while others may attack the animals from behind. They may also use ambush where they chase their prey towards the areas they have set a trap such as areas where they have dug holes. Denning and Sheltering Behavior Wolves dig holes for their puppies and use areas with natural shelters for examples in areas with thick vegetation, cliffs found in river banks and cracks found in rocks. The dens are usually dug by the female wolves. Life Cycle A wolf goes through series of changes. It is born, matures to an adult wolf which can mate or give birth (Reiach et al, 2002). The cycle begins with the birth pup. Pups are born in litters of two to seven wolves. They are fed by mothers milk. When they are a month old they join a pack when they may stay for the rest of their lives or may leave to join other packs Reproduction in Animals According to Net industries (2011), during sexual reproduction in animals a haploid sperm and an egg cell combine forming a diploid zygote which divides mitotically into an embryo. After birth the young one grows into an adult that can reproduce. The animals bring the sperms and the eggs through internal or external ways. In animals sexual reproduction requires the joining of the male and the female egg. When they combine the result is formation of a zygote. Since the animals produce sexually the male and the female are involved. There animals with one reproductive cycle while there are those with more than reproductive cycle. The female undergo reproductive cycles while the male are always in reproductive activity. The female become receptive to male when they are undergoing ovulation. This state where the female is sexual receptive to male is referred to as estrus. Estrous cycle can therefore be used to mean reproductive cycle. In external fertilization aquatic environment is funda mental for the floating of the eggs before they are fertilized. Male Reproductive System in Animals In internal fertilization the male posses a copulatory organ called the penis which is used for transferring to the female the male eggs (sperms). According fails et al (2009) in animals the male copulation organ can be divided into three areas that is the glans or free extremity, body also called the main portion and two crura or the roots. The internal structure consists of erectile tissues called the corpora cavernosa and has the trabecaculae tissues. In fibrelastic penis the major part of the penis consist of the trabeculae tissues hence the penis remains erect even when not erect. In musculocarvenous penis the blood sinusoids dominate the penis. Erection in musculocavernous penis occurs when the blood flows to the penis and leads to increase in size and turgidity of the penis Reece (2009) while in fibroelastic penis such as that of the swine and the ruminants has no great enlargement as result of blood flowing. The male eggs are formed in mature males through process called sper matogenesis. Female Reproductive System in Animals According fails et al (2009) the female eggs are produced by the female reproductive tract. It deposits the eggs to an area where they can be fertilized by the male sperms. This placement provides a good environment for the development of the embryo and expelling the fetus. According fails et al (2009) the reproductive system consists of the vagina, vulva, two ovaries, two oviducts and the uterus. The ovaries are responsible for the production of eggs through ovulation. Through the oviducts the ova from the ovaries is conducted to the uterus. The vagina acts as the birth canal through which the fetus is delivered and acts as the sheath for the male penis during copulation. The vestibule is the area that is between the external genitilia and vagina. This area has a lot of mucous glands (Fails et al, 2009). The vulva is found on the external genitalia and consists of left and right labia which converge at the clitoris which consists of two roots that is the body and the glans. If ferti lization occurs, the uterus provides a place for the development of the fetus Reece (2009). Through ovulation the female animals produce the female gametes. This happens periodically throughout the menstrual cycle. Mating During mating the penis is brought in to an appropriate position with the vulva of the female through a process called mounting (Reece 2009). According to him, successful mounting is preceded by a receptive stance by the female. In addition, he points out that that mounting can be affected if the male has a problem in the hind-limbs. The male animal introduces and maintains the penis in the vagina and this process is referred to as intromission this is enabled by the pelvic thrusts and abdominal muscles (Reece, 2009). The intromission time varies from one animal to the other. The stimulation continues and this leads to emission and ejaculation where the sperm oozes out of the penis into the vagina of the female animal. Sperm and fluids are ejaculated at the opening of the cervix in some animals while in others it occurs directly or partially in to the uterus. Gestation Period Gestation period refers to the period conceived female carries, in the uterus, the embryo. According to Fail et al (2009) the interval extends from the fertilization of the ovum to the birth of the offspring. It includes fertilization early development the embryo in the lumen of the of the female reproductive tract implantation of the embryo in the uterine wall, the development of the fetal membranes and the continued growth of the fetus while in the uterus. Fail et al (2009) states that gestation period vary from species to species. Normal gestation is when the fetus is carried thought out the gestation period. If a premature birth occurs the fetus is born before it is fully developed and this is called abortion. According Fail et al (2009) fertilization in animals occurs in the uterus. During copulation the sperms are deposited in to the females vagina. The condition where a female has a young one developing in the uterus is referred to as pregnancy (Fails et al, 2009). During pregnancy the animal experiences the development of the extra embryonic membrane which is used to feed the fetus and remove waste products. According Fail et al (2009) the placenta consists of chorion which is the outermost membrane, allantois which encloses the sac, and the amnion which is the innermost membrane. Parturition and Birth The end of pregnancy is marked by the parturition and involves giving birth. The act of giving birth is divided into three stages. The first stage involves the contraction of the uterine contracts to force the fetus to the cervix which takes a few hours. Secondly, the actual delivery takes place, from the cervix to the vagina. The third step involves the delivery of the placenta (Fail et al, 2009). Wolf Reproduction Introduction Wolves reach maturity at the age of two years. When the wolf have found a mate the courtship can last for many weeks. They are monogamous. When they mate the pair remains together in the pack. The age at which the wolves may start reproducing is influenced by the availability of food. The mating of the members of the same pack that is incest is not common among the wolves. According to Aamodt and Johnson (1987) it is only one pair of the wolves that is responsible for reproduction in a pack. It is only the alpha female and male who mate to produce offspring. Although there may be other pairs of wolves in the pack who can produce young ones, they do not in most cases mate. The alpha male uses dominance and force to discourage such wolves from forming pairs or mating. Breeding among the wolves is seasonal. This is because they experience one cycle of ovulation. All female and male wolves reach puberty at the age of twenty two months and they experience their first time production of th e sperms and the ova. The reproduction system in wolves has features that are not common with other mammals. The features of the reproduction is characterized by monogamy, monestrum with diestrous and proestrous phases that are prolonged, the lock and tie nature of their copulation, young adults being integrated into the pack and the leaders of the group suppressing the mating behavior of these young adults. Also wolves even the pseudo pregnant wolves that are those which do not get pregnant after matting are involved in the parental care of the puppies from the other wolves. Although the wolves experience one cycle of ovulation the chances of conceiving by the female are increased by the fact the both male and the female spend most of their time. For example when scent marking, the wolves do it together and this occurs when they are in proestrus phase. Also time in the estrus phase is lengthened thus the male and the female spend more time copulating. Male Wolf Reproductive System Males are twenty percent bigger compare to their female counterparts. They have a penis which supported by a bone called baculum the penis is tucked inside a skin called prepuce. In males that are mature sexually the testes are contained in a scrotal sac and hang between the hind legs. According to Marshall Cavendish Corporation (2010) male wolves have two sperm producing testes located in the external scrotal sac that hangs between the back legs. The Corporation also states that the sperms are produced in the area with the two testes. When the penis is inserted into the vagina of the female, the male wolf may ejaculate and the sperm pass along the urethra which runs through the penis. The male reproductive system can therefore be seen as comprising of several parts paired testes, duct system, scrotum, the prostrate gland and the penis. The sperms are produced in the testicles and stored in the epidermis and they are transported through the vas deferens. Female Wolf Reproductive System Female wolves which are older than twenty two months are capable of giving birth to pups. The females are seasonally monoestrous which means they come into a condition of breeding once in every year. According to the US National Research Council, most of the female wolves in a pack, in one year, give birth to one litter. The committee also highlights that presence of many female wolves with producing potential in a pack makes others not to breed. According to Marshall Cavendish Corporation (2010) the female wolves have two egg producing ovaries and from each ovary a fallopian tube leads to the uterus which has two horns. Marshall Cavendish Corporation (2010) also states that the uterus expands greatly during pregnancy and can hold a maximum of eleven pups. The female reproductive system of a female wolf can therefore be seen as consisting of various parts the ovaries which produce the eggs. After the eggs are produced, it travels through the oviducts to the uterus where it is supposed to meet the male egg and get fertilized. The uterus this is where the fertilized eggs stays and develops in to an embryo where the fetus results and finally into off spring of a wolf. In a female wolf there is a cervix found occupies uterus lower end and also occupies the upper part of the vagina. The vagina is the part of the reproductive system in the female wolf where the male wolf inserts the penis. Below the anus there is the vulva, this is the passage of urine. Phases of the Reproduction Boitani (2003) the reproductive behavior in wolves is related to the seasonal variation in the hormonal production. In autumn there is a rise testosterone hormone in males and estrogen hormones in males. The reproductive phases vary from individuals as a result of interplay of factor such as age, genotype, experience, latitude, body condition and the social environment. Pre-proestrus According to Boitani (2003) this phase occurs early winter or late autumn before the female wolves can produce a discharge from the vagina. In this stage the both the male and the female may express unreciprocated interest in another mate. The flirtatious behavior of the female may be affected by change in hormones resulting form rise in level of the gonadotropin. The Proestrus According to Boitani (2003), this begins when the bloody discharge and rapid growth in the uterine lining. The estrogen levels rise among the female wolves and the adult male s are usually attentive to the smell of the urine and the vulva. This is the communication means that are used for the newly formed pairs and who may be sexually naÃÆ'Â ¯ve. However males who have stayed with their mate may copulate (Boitani, 2003). According to Boitani (2003) the female wolves in this stage send signs to the male mates by prancing, body-rubbing, paw, nuzzling, placing their chin on the back of their males. Estrus According to Boitani (2003), this is the stage in which there is copulation and the female is receptive. He further states that a receptive female wolf shows two behaviors that is flagging which means the female averts the tail to the side of the vulva or may stand still when the male wolf mounts. This phase can also be identified by a vulva that is swollen or soft. The male may respond to females stimuli by licking the genitals and the mounting on her. If a female is non-receptive it may pull away growl, roll over, shove the male wolf away or lie down. The male may spread their hind legs to enhance stability required during mounting. According to Boitani (2003) mounting is followed by pelvic thrusts while the forelegs of the male clasp the ribcage of the female. The thrusting continues until the male ejaculates and this is followed by expansion of the penile bulb (Boitani, 2003). The female wolves get stimulated by this expansion thereby contracting muscle of the uterus to squeeze t he sperms to the ovaries. Metestrus According from Boitani (2003), Progesterone levels are high and pregnancy may result or not. Female wolves in this phase which do not get pregnant are referred to as pseudo pregnant. The males may abandon the pregnant female to look for other estrous females. Pregnancy can be identified by the loss of fur in the bellies and growth of the mammary cells. They may start constructing dens away from areas that can be attacked by other wolves Mating According to Marshall Cavendish Corporation (2010) the wolves courtship and breeding are inextricably bound up with their complex social life. Mating among the wolves is a fairly long- drawn-out affair. The penis of the male wolf swells when inside the females making it impossible for the male to withdraw. The two may remain locked for more than half an hour. This is to the advantage of the male since no other male that can mate with the female and this also enhances the chance of the male fertilizing the egg of the female (Marshall Cavendish Corporation, 2010). Gestation Period According to Mech (2003) the gestation period for r wolves is about sixty- two to sixty- three. After the male wolf ejaculates the male egg travel and in less than a minute meet the female egg and as result fertilization occurs. The fertilization and the early stages of the development of the fetus occur in the in the oviduct and the embryo goes to the uterus after some days. After four weeks of pregnancy it is possible to observe enlargement of the abdomen. Still it is possible to observe mammary gland development as the hair starts to disappear. Parturition in female wolves is identified by decline in the progesterone level. When giving birth, the female wolf undergoes through three stages. Internally the wolf experiences contraction of the uterus relaxing the cervix. The second stage is the expulsion of the fetus from the uterus and finally is the period between the fetus expulsion and placenta expulsion marks the end of this final stage. Because they deliver multiple puppies they alternate between expulsion of the fetus and the placenta. During pregnancy the female wolf does not undergo any hormonal transformation and therefore it becomes hard to differentiate between a pregnant female wolf from a non-pregnant one. Litter According to Boitani (2003) the pups are born with their eyes closed. The number of puppies that a female wolf can have depends on the species of the wolf. For example the fray wolf can produce between four and six offspring although the number may go up to fourteen. In one litter the red wolf can give birth to between two and three pups. The arctic wolf on the other hand can give birth to between four and five pups. When they are born, all the members of the pack have the responsibility of raising the offspring. The health of the pups is determined by the food availability to the mother. The pups are accorded a lot of privileges and freedoms compared to other wolves that are ranked in the lower positions in the hierarchy of social structure. Conclusion