Effectiveness: Communication and Team Members Essay

Aims / details: The primary purpose of the report is for you to work with three other people and undertake a study of an organization – the steps for establishing team performance plans, the development and facilitation of team cohesion, the facilitation of teamwork and, liaising with stakeholders. Reviewing the effectiveness of teams within an organization is imperative so that opportunities for improvements may be identified and investigated. The study necessitates an evaluation of an organization’s policies, procedures, processes and resources – whether they are sufficient, or whether additional arrangements need to be looked into. The study may reveal a need for: more documentation, infrastructural changes and/or employee requirements. During your study of the organisation you must consider the following: how are team members consulted about their roles, responsibilities and accountabilities; how do team members develop performance plans; how are team members supported in achieving performance outcomes; what are the strategies, policies and procedures to ensure team member participation; how is feedback about team member efforts provided; what are the processes for raising and addressing concerns; how are team members encouraged to take responsibility for team activities; how does the contributions of team members serve as a role model; how are communication processes established and maintained; what are the arrangements for communicating information; what are the arrangements for communicating issues and problems; how is corrective action evaluated and taken to resolve those issues and problems. From the information that is gathered, you will also be required to make recommendations for improving the problem areas that you may have identified. It will be crucial for you to liaise and interview the appropriate key personnel for this report. These may be: employees, the chief executive officer, direct superiors, other management representatives, board members,  business or government contacts, funding bodies, union/employee groups and representatives and work teams. Elements / performance criteria: This workplace related report would assess all the topics of the module Ensure Team Effectiveness. The assessment is done holistically. Remarks: This assignment must be presented in a report form and Presented professionally – bound or presented in a file. Include an assignment cover sheet, table of contents, introduction, body, recommendation/conclusion, and in the bibliography use the Chicago style referencing (refer to Summers, J and Smith, B 2004, Communication Skills Handbook. How to succeed in written and oral communication, Wiley, Queensland, Australia, Chapter 2). As a guide, the report should be approximately 10 to 12 pages-this excludes the bibliography / any other attachments. Typed/font size 12 (Times New Roman) or 10 (Arial) Margins to be 2.5 cm all round. Line Spacing – 1  ½ BRIEF REASONS must be given to support the points raised in your report. The project (report) will be marked according to the headings / guidelines as provided in the DAS – the outline of what are to be included. Note that each report may contain different details –as each organization may have different systems, procedures, processes and programs etc. You are expected to be able to aptly apply the concepts to a real life situation. Granted that there will always be a degree of difficulty in assessing all the details of any company, a fair amount of secondary data and ‘common sense’ will be needed in working through this project. The company that you are choosing to ‘study’ must be willing to be interviewed / provide information where necessary. Actual information on the organisation and relevant information of organizations in a similar industry must also be available / able to be obtained. The following headings could be used in your report. You could also choose to have your own ‘headings’ and /or add additional headings / sub- headings as you deem appropriate. The notes following the headings provide some guidance of the kinds of information and analysis that would need to be considered. Group Report Provide an appropriate title (as it relates to the organisation under study) Suggested headings For report – EnSURE TEAM EFFECTIVENESS (name of organisation) 1. Introduction Provide an overview of what this report entails – include aspects of the purpose of your report and what the report entails. You should also briefly include a brief overview of the organisation (for example, its name, type of business etc) 2. Sources of information Outline the various sources of information that you used to gather your information. Such sources could include gathering information from primary sources (e.g. the relevant personnel in the company- personally and via questionnaires) and secondary sources (e.g. company reports, documents). Include copies of your interviews as an appendix in the report. 3. Develop Headings and Sub-headings Clearly describe what is included/considered (keeping in mind the Module Topics, required knowledge and required skills). a) Establish Team Performance Plan Explain the mechanisms that the organization has in place for consulting with team members to establish a common understanding of team purpose, roles, responsibilities and accountabilities in accordance with organizational goals, plans and objectives Briefly outline the steps and procedures that the organization has to develop performance plans to establish expected outcomes, outputs, key performance indicators and goals for work team Describe the steps/procedures that the organization has to support team members in meeting expected performance outcomes b) Develop and Facilitate Team Cohesion Briefly outline / summarize the strategies the organisation has in place to ensure team members have input into planning, decision making and operational aspects of work team Explain the steps that the organisation has in place to develop policies and procedures to ensure team members take responsibility for own work and assist others to undertake required roles and responsibilities Describe the arrangements that the organization has to provide feedback to team members to encourage, value and reward individual and team efforts and contributions Summarize the steps/procedures that the organization has to develop processes to ensure that issues, concerns and problems identified by team members are recognized and addressed Include copies of the organization’s policies, procedures and codes of practice in the appendix of the report. If these are not available, you should note these and make suitable recommendations on how these deficiencies should be addressed. c) Facilitate Teamwork Explain the steps that the organisation has in place to encourage team members and individuals to participate in and to take responsibility for team activities, including communication processes Describe the procedures  that the organization has to support the team in identifying and resolving work performance problems Briefly describe the arrangements that the organisation has to ensure own contribution to work team serves as a role model for others and enhances the organization’s image for all stakeholders d) Liaise with Stakeholders Explain the processes that the organisation has in place to establish and maintain open communication with all stakeholders Describe the steps that the organization has in place to communicate information from line manager/management to the team Outline/summarize the arrangements that the organization has in place to communicate unresolved issues, concerns and problems raised by team members and follow-up with line manager/management and other relevant stakeholders Briefly explain the provisions of the organisation to evaluate and take necessary corrective action regarding unresolved issues, concerns and problems raised by internal or external stakeholders 4. Recommendations & Conclusion Briefly summarize your findings Outline the problem areas that have been identified.  Explain whether the current procedures, processes, activities and resources in the organization are sufficient, or whether additional arrangements might need to be looked into. Indicate what those arrangements are (i.e. more documentation, infrastructural changes and/or employee requirements)

Southwest Airlines: Organizational Commitment and Communication

Southwest Airlines’ strong organizational culture is reflected in its mission as shown in its website: â€Å"dedication to the highest quality of Customer Service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and Company Spirit. † Southwest is a company that not only excels in customer service and profitability but also in employee development. Its organizational commitment is not reduce to the organization; it is actually expand it to an ongoing relationship with the employees where they have the opportunity to express their ideas, suggestions and concerns. This organizational culture has made Southwest Airlines one of the companies with the fewest customer complaints, and an employee turnover ratio of less than 10 percent (D’Aurizio, 2008). The same strong culture Southwest Airlines has built over the time is supported by every employee who has in mind that they have to deliver a warm and friendly assistance to their customers. Southwest management’s strategy could not be any better; the management treats employees as family, expecting from the employees to treat customers like family as well. The company is characterized for having a decentralized structure. In between the CEO and the frontline supervisors, there are only a few levels. Their philosophy on structure is very relaxed. Any employee who feels the need is welcomed to contact someone above their supervisor. The president has three executive vice presidents who each have five or six vice presidents who report to them. There is one vice president of Internal Audits and Special Projects who reports directly to the president. (Rivera, Cornwell, Abenes, 2003) The Southwest culture creates and integrates a dedicated and motivated workforce that succeeds together. The owners’ leadership style is led by example; that is how Kelleher treats his employees, like family, he is open to communicate and he also knows the vital role in forming this unique culture. Before people become employed at Southwest, the managers in charge of the hiring interview make sure they embed the organizational culture in the candidates. When they become part of the Southwest family, then they are treated like part of it. Any event in the lives of the employees are acknowledged and celebrated by everyone, everyone cherish for the success and happiness of the members of the family. The company establishes special programs for families of employees. The company listens to comments and feedback, not only from employees, but also employees’ families, customers, and vendors (D’Aurizio, 2008). This company has become profitable by putting into practice the philosophy of an open communication. Southwest does not have the culture only in paper, they actually live it. The managers start giving the example to the employees, and they follow their leaders. Southwest strategically generates satisfaction to their employees, this needs satisfactions will later reflect and convert into satisfaction to the customer and shareholder value via organizational capabilities I believe the success of Southwest Airlines comes from the combination of different sources of power. Part of it comes from the expert power, and also from the reward power. Southwest management had has the ability and knowledge to create such an amazing organizational culture, this ability is the expertise power. Now the way they have applied the idea into real actions, the fact that they led by example and treat the employees as family is the reward power. The management has gained the respect, trust and loyalty from their employees. This is because of what they have done not only with words but more important with actions. Concerning the communication aspect, this plays an important role in the organizational culture of Southwest Airlines and the way the employees perceive that culture. The website Reference for Business (2009) explain how the contend of a message send will be perceive in different way by every individual. Each person gives their own personal meaning to the message received. This also happens due to the experience, the receiver makes sense out of a message based on experience. No one can perceive experiences in the same exact way as another does. Each individual has a unique set of experiences, a unique perceptual â€Å"filter,† that helps them to understand or interpret messages received. These filters are built over time by each individual person according to their childhood background, and the life experiences. Finally, we can say that the combination of the message received and he experience of the receiver is what makes an interpretation of the message. This is the reason why Southwest management emphasizes in a clear and concrete communication. They know how some messages can be easily misunderstood or twisted on the way. And this is the reason why they keep an open communication to the employees. Allowing questions when the message was not clear, as well as allowing suggestions when the employees do not agree. The challenge for every organization is how to create a great channel of communication that will enable employees to comprehend messages in the way they were originally intended to be transmitted. According to Beebe and Masterson, â€Å"conflict in a group occurs when members disagree over two or more options that a group can take in trying to make a decision, resolve a problem, or achieve a goal† (Chapter 7, p. 69). Other types of conflicts can occur as a result of differences in goal. Now, the good news about conflict is that it can be use in a positive way contrarily to the popular belief that states that a conflict should always be avoided. Southwest Airlines, for example, could use conflict to challenge their employees to research, or come up with ideas of how to resolve some specific issues, problems. Additional researches will help to determine a better way to fix problem that are costing a lot of money to the company. The commitment of Southwest airlines is to a culture that motivates, empowers and promotes employees to make the company one of the best companies to work for, as well as one of the most profitable one. One of the most important tools this company uses is the open communication and the in-house advancement that encourages a positive perception of company culture, allowing employees the opportunity to express ideas, suggestions, concerns that Make them believe they are part of the Southwest â€Å"family†. Southwest best strategy is the commitment not only to the organization itself but also to the employees. Everyone there is part of a big family who works hard to keep harmony n within the family. They use great leadership styles where the managers led by example and they are always open to any communication. This company should be use as example as what it is to build a great culture and a great organizational commitment.

Alaska Airlines 3

It was a critical time for Alaska Airlines, and they never encountered such a challenge and crisis in the company's existence. Flight 261 had crashed killing 88 people on board; while the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) was reporting that the potential cause of the crash was due to a lack of regular airplane maintenance. Most detrimental to the airline was the media published a letter from 64 Alaska Airlines mechanics. The letter disclosed insider information regarding a base maintenance manager’s inappropriate activities of contradicting federal aviation regulations, leading to dangerous operations.This letter also built more evidence that it was Alaska Airlines’ negligence that resulted in the tragedy. In addition to the maintenance crew, the pilots posted a message on the union’s website complaining about the â€Å"misconduct† of Alaska Airlines. It was apparent that pilots, a integral assets for an airline company, did not trust corporate m anagement. Alaska Airlines had been run for 70 years and had climbed in status during the 1990s, if the company could not promptly and appropriately handle this crisis, its reputation could be destroyed.It was time to test Alaska Airline’s capability of handling crisis management, management system and labor relations. Alaska Airline, a veteran in the industry, would have to deal with the public scrutiny as they sorted through the government investigation to determine the exact cause of the crash. In the transportation industry, unions are common which made handling this crisis more difficult. The difficulty is due to every move or conversation the airlines make are out for the public to view and criticize. â€Å"Airing the dirty laundry† of Alaska Airlines was an extremely embarrassing situation .Management could not support the criticisms for fear of completely destroying their reputation. However, those criticizing the company were employees and knew firsthand what was happening. In the end, the company has to acknowledge the mismanagement of corporate management team. This spelled trouble for the airline. However, if everything was handled properly, there were still some possible solutions that would be helpful to the airline. If I were Mr. Hamel, I would communicate with the union panel members immediately.Although there were 64 mechanics participating in the complaint, the decisive power and attitude was in the announcement of the union. If the union sends a clear message to the public to criticize Alaska Airlines, it would lead to unpredictable damage to the future of the company. However, if the union spoke cautiously about the letter, it could help alleviate some of the negative press about the airline. Alaska Airlines should address the union so they understand that this was an individual case and not how the company runs its day to day operations.The airline would want the union to allow them to address the issue with the public and en sure safer operations in the future. If the union works with Alaska Airlines, they will secure a valuable opportunity to win back their reputation, investigate the issue and restructure its management. Hamel would try his hardest to persuade the union that this was a win-win solution for the union and Alaska Airlines. Second, Hamel needs to set up a joint investigate panel with the union leaders to investigate the complaints thoroughly.If the contents of the complaint were true, that manager should be held accountable. Holding managers accountable proves to the employees that the company does not tolerate unethical management practices. This should help the employees gain a little more trust into management, knowing that their voices are heard. Then, based on the issue, the investigation could be extended to a broader range to any areas concerning safety. Hamel again should address the union to get cooperation from them.The union needs to see that the airline is taking responsibilit y for their actions and that will regain some confidence from the union and employees. Considering the power of unions in any industry, it is risky for a company to address sensitive issues without union support. Lastly, Hamel should establish regular communication and develop a problem-solving system that keeps the union in touch with their labor style. It would be in the best interest of the Alaska Airlines to work with union from this point on so any conflicts that may arise are more likely to be worked out privately.In today's society all companies are trying to motivate employees to participate in corporate matters and contribute more opinions and ideas. Labor unions can be viewed positively when they help unite the employees and the corporation. The key is how to cooperate with the union and treat it as a resource to develop the business but not a hindrance to the company. By means of tackling this issue strategically, companies can dramatically unite and motivate their employ ees and finally create a long term win-win situation.

Business Administration class Internal Analysis Essay

Business Administration class Internal Analysis - Essay Example The mission and vision statements of StilSim Company requires the company to acquire respect in the existing market through providing the best or quality services and going the extra mile to meet the clients’ requirements. This mission statement acts as a guide as it states the positions and expectations of StilSim Company. StilSim accomplishes its mission by adopting strategies such as developing long lasting relationships with its clients, exceeding productivity standards, adoption of the best and cheapest strategies, and developing synergistic teamwork within the organization. Furthermore, they also incorporate their core values in ensuring that their mission and vision are realized. These core values are professionalism and integrity other values include leveraging technology, innovation, and teamwork to satisfy customers, decisiveness and embracing growth opportunities and setting meaningful goals (StilSim Personnel , n.d.) StilSim Company envisions itself as being the best in the region. This goal is to be realized in the next three years. The company plans to train it current workforces to use new tools to satisfy his customers’ demands, and improve on it internal communication strategy. These two are the main point for which the company banks on. However, the company is strategizing on various ways of motivating its performing employees. This tool is mainly used companies to evaluate the existing strengths and weaknesses within a business. It serves as a strategic management tool for identification and evaluation of all function areas within an organization. Moreover, it gives an actual picture of how functional business areas relate to each other. There are strengths that facilitate the existence and performance of any organization. StilSim has been operational for more than twenty years. This can be directly attributed to the company’s long history of providing good services to customers. The quality

The idea of love in john donne and shakespeare Essay

The idea of love in john donne and shakespeare - Essay Example It is like a little song that states a problem, explores the implications and resolves the dilemma. In many ways, Shakespeare’s and Donne’s poetry are familiar but have contrasts as well. This paper will focus on the idea of love as portrayed by the two in their sonnets (Blair, 2005). Shakespeare’s sonnets are divided in three groups as they address three different people while Donne’s are divided in two parts; the witty love and religious merit. Shakespeare’s sonnet 130 shows how he makes fun at the courtly conventions during those days. This love sonnet mocks how other people think of love but it does not undermine his mistress’s beauty. While other people compare the lips to coral, in the sonnet he says that â€Å"coral is far more red than her lips†. Shakespeare says she would love her even if her breast were ‘dun’. In his love sonnets, Shakespeare writes for a wider audience and tries to convince them to see things fr om his perspective. Shakespeare uses a different language to express love, for instance he quotes â€Å"if hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head†. In love poems, many poets will make the hair look soft, long and probably golden (Shakespeare and Booth, 2000). In a love sonnet, the reader will not expect a language like black wires on the head or ‘dun’ breasts. ... Shakespeare uses a dark lady to depict beauty and love which is the opposite of renaissance love poetry. This interprets love to be an internal force that have power even over the external forces such as looks. According to Shakespeare, love is more than the looks, material things and romance (Martin, 2010). In sonnet 73, Shakespeare seems to be the speaker, and is pleading for love to grow stronger. He uses a soothing and humble tone in this sonnet. In sonnet 116, the ideal love according to Shakespeare is the kind that perseveres and does not wear with time. He states â€Å"love is not love, which alters when its alterations finds†. When a love relationship is broken, it is accompanied by heartaches and in his opinion; love can also hurt, as written in sonnet 147 (Shakespeare & Booth, 2000). Looking at Donne’s second sonnet ‘song’, speaker uses impossible actions and fantastic language to show love. For example, â€Å"Teach me to hear mermaids sing†. His emotions and how he feels about love can be strongly felt through his poetry. His sonnet, ‘the canonization’ talks about two lovers whose love cannot be understood by anyone else (Donne & Redpath, 2009). Donne seems to tackle the ideal love from his experiences in life. He had eloped with his underage love Anne, and it is not clear whether this poem portrayed how his father and the society failed to understand and objected their marriage. Despite the hardship, the couple loved each other deeply. In this sonnet, nobody believed that these lovers should be allowed to be and that is why they talk ridiculously behind their back. This is a metaphor to show that they will talk and ridicule them but they will long to have a deep love just as theirs (Donne, & Stringer, 2005).

Exclusion Clauses in Business Contracts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Exclusion Clauses in Business Contracts - Essay Example Certain warranties or guarantees may not actually be written into a contract, yet those contractual terms are implied by statute. For example, the Supply of Goods and Services Act of 1982 makes it clear that when a sale is made, there is an implied condition that the goods that have been supplied are of satisfactory quality. While most businesses are bound to the necessity of providing satisfactory quality of goods, they can protect themselves from very high levels of liability through exclusion clauses. An exclusion clause may be inserted into a contract in order to exclude one party’s liability for breach of contract or negligence . Taking into account the standard terms of a business contract, it must be noted that exclusion Clauses of the Company’s terms and conditions of sale needs to absolve it of any liability on the condition of the goods, such that it will be invalidated only if it is unreasonable. The validity of exclusion clauses has however, been upheld by the Courts in the case of dealing between businesses who are parties of equal bargaining power . Exclusion clauses have greater validity and will be enforced more strictly by the Courts in cases where ordinary consumers are involved . Filing a claim against a business, even if an exclusion clause is contained in a contract, could make it possible to invoke the provisions of the Unfair Contract Terms Act of 1977, which is only relevant in the case of ordinary customers and not for businesses.

Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Management - Assignment Example Especially employees’ developments and training along with management of the culture become important in the conditions of Bonduelle’s transformation from vertical structure of power to a matrix type of organizational structure, which supposes decentralized decision-making process and delegation of crucial responsibilities. Development of people and management of the culture help employees improve own professional skills, raise productivity and job effectiveness, gain promotions and self-realization, increase motivation and benefit business in general. It is essential for Bonduelle to follow the formula of successful HR management, which states that a mix of knowledge creation and innovations encourage competitive advantage. It is recommended to provide trainings, round tables, support network and available reading materials so that each employee may improve own knowledge and skills to contribute the entire organization.Question 10Rapidly developing globalization, incre ase of demographics, emancipation and widening of women's role in professional sphere, appreciation of ethnicity, culture and traditions, liberalization of society and legally democratic treatment to employees have given birth to such notion as "diversity", which is still a great challenge in Bonduelle's organizational structure. Despite the fact that one fourth part of entire managerial staff consists of foreigners, the executive board still stays homogenous being represented mostly by French males.

Developing the Artisan Teacher Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Developing the Artisan Teacher - Essay Example One of the responsibilities of a school administrator is to provide support to the school. Therefore, one should be familiar with the school resources so that he can quickly provide support to both teachers and students. Administrators also plans, manages finance and are always the first face of the school to a new visitor. He should, therefore, be kind, humble, honest, trustworthy and one that is willing to go the extra mile for others. A teacher is a very instrumental person in a student’s life. His teachings are embedded in the students’ mind. Therefore, every teacher should ensure he promotes values, skills and talents in his pupils’. A teacher who has a one on one time with his student is likely to be more influential and impactful than the one who does not have such time. He can also quickly identify each student’s strength, weaknesses, and talents. For maximum coordination and impact, a class should have a few students. Teachers are unable to manage relatively large classes and thus have a poor result and performance. Quality education is as a result of a well-analyzed topic and a teacher’s ability to share the knowledge in a manner that the students will understand best. However, each teacher has a unique way of teaching. Different approaches may bring optimal results depending on the environment, the students and the situation at hand (Tuck, 2012). A teacher has the mandate to identify skills amongst his student. He should create an environment and tasks that propel the students to bring out their natural skills (Olszewski & Thomson, 2015). The teacher should then attentively and deliberately watch the students as they engage in the different activities so that he can be able to identify what every student is gifted at. Then, he can create more opportunities for each child to develop in the area that they are good at (Ornstein, 2015). An external person listens to a teacher teaching and picks his key strengths

Music ethnography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Music ethnography - Essay Example In a special interview of one of the natives who claimed to have attended every Pow Wow Festival since he was five years old, he said the festival often takes a whole week. Whereas this still takes place, the March event was not one of the special occasions that called for a week’s celebration of dances, music and culture of the First Nationals of America. Obtaining historical information about the event that has become popular over the ages was easy given the fortunate friendship I struck with the old man (probably 76 years). He had so much interest in the event that his knowledge of every detail of the event was more refined than obtainable in a cultural encyclopedia. Abukcheech Adahy explained the significance of the event from its origin. From the senior native’s knowledge, the word â€Å"powwow† comes from Naragansett term â€Å"powwaw† that has the meaning of a â€Å"Spiritual Leader†. It is used to describe a gathering of Native Americans of any tribe. Abakcheech is a member of the planning committee for Pow Wow Festival, and he revealed that planning for the occasion begins close to a year before the event. In essence, Pow Wow Committee starts planning for the following years as soon as one festival is over. For this year’s event, the festival was sponsored by assortment of colleges and unive rsities, American Native Communities within California, Tribal Organizations, American Native Club and Native American Studies Program. Performance on the occasion is highly choreographed and organized. The Pow Wow Committee is responsible for securing location of the event, hiring head staff of the event and recruiting vendors to sell merchandise related to the cultural occasion. These include foods and artifacts as well as costumes and traditional attire that the performers use in the event. The head staff of Pow Wow Festival is usually chosen as an honor to a person’s dedication to the

Action Paper Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Action Paper - Assignment Example Peter, the sales manager, supported the general manager’s suggestion. Because I had been given an obligation to solve the problem, I proposed that the right people to ask in order to discover where problem was were the striking workers. All of them agreed with me. I went on and interviewed several employees who were on strike by that time. The purpose of this was to clarify as well as identify what caused the strike. Employees aired out their grievances that helped me to understand the real problem. I informed the rest of management body members about what caused workers to go on strike without issuing a notice. I suggested that for us to be surer about causes of the issue at hand there was a need to research more about what employees gave as their complaints. I invited all employees whom I had interviewed earlier, to give more details about their grievances. They stated how some of their grievances started, when it started, and their suggestions concerning the best way in which they wished their issues should be handled. After doing further inquiries about the problem, I presented the results to the general manager in addition to members of management body. At this point, we were sure about root causes of the strike. Together with my colleagues, we discussed about how we could solve the problem effectively, and within a short period to prevent more losses that our company was experiencing at that moment. James proposed that we invite all striking workers for negotiation. He also said that at the time of negotiation, workers were to be given promises that their issues were going to be solved as soon as they get back to job. Peter suggested that the best way to deal with the problem was to issue sacking threats to workers who will not report on duty as soon as possible. I disagreed with these suggestions and recommended formation of a special team that will deal with that issue without interfering with company’s way of

Teaching Reading Is Rocket Science Essay Example for Free

Teaching Reading Is Rocket Science Essay Preface Executive Summary Preventing Reading Failure: A Top Priority for Education Where We Are: Taking Stock of Teacher Preparation in Reading The Difficulty of Teaching Reading Has Been Underestimated / 11 Why Have Teachers Been Left Unprepared? / 11 The Knowledge Base for Teaching Reading Is Hidden, Extensive, and Complex / 11 Meaningful Professional Standards Are Absent / 12 Good Information Is Hard To Get / 14 Classroom Instructional Programs Are Uninformative / 14 Can We Do Better? /14 Toward a Curriculum for Teacher Preparation and Inservice Professional Development Knowledge of the Psychology of Reading and Reading Development / 16 Basic Facts About Reading / 16 The Characteristics of Poor and Novice Readers / 18 How Reading and Spelling Develop / 18 Language: The Foundation for Reading Instruction / 20 Practical Skills of Instruction in a Comprehensive Reading Program / 21 Opportunities for Supervised Experience / 21 Use of Validated Instructional Practices / 21 Assessment of Classroom Reading and Writing Skills / 24 Where We Need To Go: Changing Teacher Preparation and Professional Development in  Reading In Sum End Notes References Appendix A—Knowledge and Skills for Teaching Reading: A Core Curriculum for Teacher Candidates 5 7 9 11 16 25 28 29 30 33 TEACHING READING IS ROCKET SCIENCE / 3 Teaching reading is a job for an expert. Preface R eading is the fundamental skill upon which all formal education depends. Research now shows that a child who doesn’t learn the reading basics early is unlikely to learn them at all. Any child who doesn’t learn to read early and well will not easily master other skills and knowledge, and is unlikely to ever flourish in school or in life. Low reading achievement, more than any other factor, is the root cause of chronically low-performing schools, which harm students and contribute to the loss of public confidence in our school system. When many children don’t learn to read, the public schools cannot and will not be regarded as successful—and efforts to dismantle them will proceed. Thanks to new scientific research—plus a long-awaited scientific and political consensus around this research—the knowledge exists to teach all but a handful of severely disabled children to read well. This report discusses the current state of teacher preparation in reading in relation to that research. It reviews and describes the knowledge base and essential skills that teacher candidates and practicing teachers must master if they are to be successful in teaching all children to read well. Finally, the report makes recommendations for improving the system of teacher education and professional development. In medicine, if research found new ways to save lives, health care professionals would adopt these methods as quickly as possible, and would change practices, procedures, and systems. Educational research has found new ways to save young minds by helping them to become proficient readers; it is up to us to promote these new methods throughout the education system. Young lives depend on it. And so does the survival of public education. The urgent task before us is for university faculty and the teaching community to work together to develop programs that can help assure that all teachers of reading have access to this knowledge. TEACHING READING IS ROCKET SCIENCE / 5 To understand printed language well enough to teach it explicitly requires disciplined study of its systems and forms, both spoken and written. Executive Summary T he most fundamental responsibility of schools is teaching students to read. Indeed, the future success of all students hinges upon their ability to become proficient readers. Recent scientific studies have allowed us to understand more than ever before how literacy develops, why some children have difficulty, and what constitutes best instructional practice. Scientists now estimate that fully 95 percent of all children can be taught to read. Yet, in spite of all our knowledge, statistics reveal an alarming prevalence of struggling and poor readers that is not limited to any one segment of society: s About 20 percent of elementary students nationwide have significant problems learning to read. At least 20 percent of elementary students do not read fluently enough to enjoy or engage in independent reading. The rate of reading failure for AfricanAmerican, Hispanic, limited-English speakers and poor children ranges from 60 percent to 70 percent. One-third of poor readers nationwide are from college-educated families. Twenty-five percent of adults in this country lack the basic literacy skills required in a typical job. s s ameliorated by literacy instruction that includes a range of research-based components and practices. But, as the statistics testify, this type of instruction clearly has not made its way into every classroom. Indeed, a chasm exists between classroom instructional practices and the research knowledge-base on literacy development. Part of the responsibility for this divide lies with teacher preparation programs, many of which, for a variety of reasons, have failed to adequately prepare their teacher candidates to teach reading. Fortunately, this situation is being corrected, thanks in large part to recent basic research on reading that has allowed the community of reading scientists and educators to agree on what needs to be done. This new information about language, reading, and writing is just beginning to shape teacher preparation and instructional programs. This knowledge must also form the basis of high-quality professional development for practicing teachers. s s What Does the Research Say About Effective Reading Instruction? Well-designed, controlled comparisons of instructional approaches have consistently supported these components and practices in reading instruction: s Research indicates that, although some children will learn to read in spite of incidental teaching, others never learn unless they are taught in an organized, systematic, efficient way by a knowledgeable teacher using a  well-designed instructional approach. And, while many students from high-risk environments come to school less prepared for literacy than their more advantaged peers, their risk of reading difficulties could still be prevented and Direct teaching of decoding, comprehension, and literature appreciation; Phoneme awareness instruction; Systematic and explicit instruction in the code system of written English; Daily exposure to a variety of texts, as well as incentives for children to read  s s s TEACHING READING IS ROCKET SCIENCE / 7 independently and with others; s Vocabulary instruction that includes a variety of complementary methods designed to explore the relationships among words and the relationships among word structure, origin, and meaning; Comprehension strategies that include prediction of outcomes, summarizing, clarification, questioning, and visualization; and Frequent writing of prose to enable a deeper understanding of what is read. Changing Teacher Preparation and Professional Development in Reading If higher standards and substantive courses of preparation are adopted now, the two million new teachers projected over the next decade may be equipped to minimize reading failure in all but a small percentage of students. To achieve that goal, a range of initiatives needs to be considered: s s s s Research should guide the profession. Core requirements and standards for new teachers should be established. Teacher education programs should be aligned with standards for students and licensing requirements for teachers. Professional development institutes should be created for professors of education and master teachers. Developers of textbooks and instructional materials should be encouraged to improve their products. High-quality professional development must be available for teachers. An investment in teaching should be made to attract and retain high-caliber teacher candidates. Toward a Curriculum for Teacher Preparation and Inservice Professional Development Because classroom instruction, more than any other factor, is crucial in preventing reading problems, it is a primary focus for effecting change. A comprehensive redesign of teacher preparation in reading instruction, founded on a core curriculum that defines the knowledge and skills necessary for effective practice, is vital to improved classroom instruction. Such a research-based core curriculum would provide much more extensive, demanding, and content-driven training to inform classroom practice. Specifically, a core curriculum for teacher preparation must include components for: s s s s s s Understanding reading psychology and development; Understanding the structure of the English language; Applying best practices in all aspects of reading instruction; and Using validated, reliable, efficient assessments to inform classroom teaching. s s s This core curriculum can also serve as the basis for inservice professional development for the vast number of current teachers who have not been exposed to the research-based knowledge. The fact that teachers need better training to carry out deliberate instruction in reading, spelling, and writing should prompt action rather than criticism. It should highlight the existing gap between what teachers need and what they have been given. It should underscore the obligation of teacher preparation programs to provide candidates with a rigorous, research-based curriculum and opportunities to practice a range of predefined skills and knowledge, as well as the need for licensing authorities to assess that knowledge. The knowledge and skills inherent in effective reading programs must be part of every teacher’s reading instruction repertoire. Good, research-based teacher preparation programs, coupled with high-quality professional development for classroom teachers, can assure that this is so. 8 / AFT TEACHERS Preventing Reading Failure: A Top Priority for Education I n today’s literate world, academic success, secure employment, and personal autonomy depend on reading and writing proficiency. All children who are capable of reading must be taught how to read; such is the fundamental responsibility of schooling. Although educators have long understood the importance of literacy, a series of recent studies goes a long way in elucidating the chain of cause and effect that supports the development of literacy. Convergent findings of high-quality research have clarified how children learn to read and what must be done to ensure that they do. Beyond doubt, reading early links one benefit to another. Enjoyment of reading, exposure to the language in books, and attainment of knowledge about the world all accrue in greater measure to those who have learned how to read before the end of first grade. Difficulty with the first steps of reading, in contrast, eventually undermines vocabulary growth, knowledge of the world, mastery of language, and skill in writing. Once behind in reading, few children catch up unless they receive intensive, individual, and expert instruction, a scarce (and expensive) commodity in most schools. 1 Far too many children have trouble reading and writing. About 20 percent of elementary students nationwide have significant problems learning to read; at least another 20 percent do not read fluently enough to enjoy or engage in independent reading. Thus it should not be surprising that, according to the United States Office of Technology, 25 percent of the adult population lacks the basic literacy skills required in a typical job. 2 Among those who do not make it in life—school dropouts, incarcerated individuals, unemployed and underemployed adults—are high percentages of people who cannot read. 3 Such realities have prompted the National Institutes of Health to regard reading development and reading difficulty as a major public health concern. For poor, minority children who attend low-performing urban schools, the incidence of reading failure is astronomical and completely unacceptable. AfricanAmerican, Hispanic, limited-English speaking students, and those from impoverished homes fall behind and stay behind in far greater proportion than their white, middle-class counterparts. The rate of reading failure in these groups is 60 percent to 70 percent according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress. 4 This figure alone explains much about the poor academic achievement of minority students and why they are under-represented in professions that depend on higher education. Environment, however, does not explain all. Many children from more advantaged, literacy-rich environments have trouble learning to read, and many children from high-risk environments do indeed learn to read. 5 California recently initiated a series of laws to reform reading education after 49 percent of students of college-educated parents scored â€Å"below basic† on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. One-third of poor readers nationwide are from college-educated families who presumably encourage literacy in the home. The tragedy here is that most reading failure is unnecessary. We now know that classroom teaching itself, when it includes a range of research-based components and practices, can prevent and ameliorate reading difficulty. Although home factors do influence how well and how soon stu- TEACHING READING IS ROCKET SCIENCE / 9 Learning to read is not natural or easy for most children. Reading is an acquired skill. dents read, informed classroom instruction that targets specific language and reading skills beginning in kindergarten enhances success for all but a few students with moderate or severe learning disabilities. Scientists now estimate that 95 percent of all children can be taught to read at a level constrained only by their reasoning and listening comprehension abilities. 6 It is clear that students in high-risk populations need not fail at the rate they do. 7 When placed into schools with effective principals and well-prepared and wellsupported teachers, African-American, Hispanic, or students who are economically disadvantaged can learn to read as well as their more advantaged peers. 8 Further, students who lack the prerequisite awareness of sounds, symbols, and word meanings can overcome their initial disadvantage if teachers incorporate critical skills into lessons directly, systematically, and actively. 9 Thus, while parents, tutors, and the community can contribute to reading success, classroom instruction must be viewed as the critical factor in preventing reading problems and must be the primary focus for change. Ensuring effective classroom instructional practice is well within the purview of educational policymakers. 10 / AFT TEACHERS Where We Are: Taking Stock of Teacher Preparation in Reading The Difficulty of Teaching Reading Has Been Underestimated Teaching reading is a job for an expert. Contrary to the popular theory that learning to read is natural and easy, learning to read is a complex linguistic achievement. For many children, it requires effort and incremental skill development. Moreover, teaching reading requires considerable knowledge and skill, acquired over several years through focused study and supervised practice. Consider what the classroom demands of the teacher. Children’s interest in reading must be stimulated through regular exposure to interesting books and through discussions in which students respond to many kinds of texts. For best results, the teacher must instruct most students directly, systematically, and explicitly to decipher words in print, all the while keeping in mind the ultimate purpose of reading, which is to learn, enjoy, and understand. To accommodate children’s variability, the teacher must assess children and tailor lessons to individuals. She must interpret errors, give corrective feedback, select examples to illustrate concepts, explain new ideas in several ways, and connect linguistic symbols with â€Å"real† reading and writing. No one can develop such expertise by taking one or two college courses, or attending a few one-shot inservice workshops. Although reading is the cornerstone of academic success, a single course in reading methods is often all that is offered most prospective teachers. Even if well taught, a single course is only the beginning. Without deeper knowledge, the specific techniques of lesson delivery cannot be acquired, let alone knowledge of language, reading psychology, children’s literature, or the management of a reading program based on assessment. The demands of competent reading instruction, and the training experiences necessary to learn it, have been seriously underestimated by universities and by those who have approved licensing programs. The consequences for teachers and students alike have been disastrous. Why Have Teachers Been Left Unprepared? Why are the stringent demands of teaching reading and writing unrecognized in the design of preparation programs? In reading, at least, misunderstanding and lack of knowledge may play as big a role as institutional politics and budgetary constraints. What drives the mind of the reader is neither self-evident nor easy to grasp, and, consequently, many years of scientific inquiry have been necessary to expose the mechanisms of reading acquisition. Only recently has basic research allowed the community of reading scientists and educators to agree on what needs to be done. This new information about language, reading, and writing is just beginning to shape teacher preparation and instructional programs. This knowledge must also form the basis of inservice professional development for practicing teachers. The Knowledge Base for Teaching Reading Is Hidden, Extensive, and Complex Reading education is a field more vulnerable than many to faddish practices that TEACHING READING IS ROCKET SCIENCE / 11  later prove to be untenable. Such is the risk whenever a human trait that becomes the subject of education is poorly understood. To appreciate why reading is one of psychology’s more mysterious phenomena, we must consider the nature of the linguistic communication that reading requires. Skilled reading happens too fast and is too automatic to detect its underlying processes through simple introspection. We read, but we cannot watch how our minds make sense out of print. The linkage of sounds and symbols occurs rapidly and unconsciously. The linguistic units that compose words, the single speech sounds (phonemes), syllables, and meaningful parts (morphemes), are automatically matched with writing symbols so that attention is available for comprehension. 10 Because our attention is on meaning, we are not aware of the code translation process by which meaning is conveyed. Until we are faced with a class of children who are learning how to read symbols that represent speech sounds and word parts, we may never have analyzed language at the level required for explaining and teaching it. Similarly, we may not know how a paragraph is organized or how a story is put together until we teach writing to students who do not know how to organize their thoughts. Thus, to understand printed language well enough to teach it explicitly requires disciplined study of its systems and forms, both spoken and written. When adults are evaluated on knowledge of language, even those who are educated exhibit rudimentary or cursory familiarity with concepts about our writing system that are insufficient for teaching children. Surveys measuring experienced teachers’ ability to identify speech sounds, spelling patterns, and word structures reveal confusions that are typical of most adults. 11 For example, the concept that a letter combination can represent one unique speech sound (ch, wh, sh, th, ng)—is unclear to a surprising number of elementary teachers. Many identify these units by rote but are unable to differentiate conceptually between these spelling units (digraphs) and two letters that stand for two distinct sounds (consonant blends such as cl, st, pr) or silent letter spellings that retain the sound of one consonant (kn-, wr-, -mb). Few adults can explain common spelling patterns that correspond to pronunciation and word meaning, such as why we double the consonant letters in words like misspell, dinner, and accommodate. A deeper, explicit level of knowledge may not be necessary to read the words, but it is necessary to explain pronunciation and spelling, where the words came from, and how spelling is related to meaning. 12 Some children learn language concepts and their application very easily in spite of incidental teaching, but others never learn unless they are taught in an organized, systematic, efficient way by a knowledgeable teacher using a well-designed instructional approach. Children of average ability might learn enough about reading to get by, but may not develop the appreciation for language structure that supports learning words from context, organization of the mental dictionary, comparing words, or precise use of language. 13 Yet teachers are seldom asked to study the language they teach or how its form carries its message. In addition, teachers are not born knowing the relationships among the basic skills of reading and reading comprehension. They may see that children read poorly in the middle and upper grades, but may not understand that proficiency in basic reading skill must be taught before students will progress. Without instruction and practice, teachers are unlikely to develop the questioning techniques and discussion strategies that promote thoughtful reading by groups of children. 14 Meaningful Professional Standards Are Absent Other complex and demanding professions insist on much more stringent training and preparation than that required of teachers. Pilots, engineers, optometrists, and art therapists, for example, must learn concepts, facts, and skills to a prescribed level, must conduct their practice under supervision, and must pass rigorous entry 12 / AFT TEACHERS examinations that are standardized across the profession. Continuing education to stay abreast of proven best practices is mandated. The public interest is protected by professional governing boards that monitor the knowledge base and oversee the competence of these licensed professionals. We, the consumers of these professional services, should be able to trust that any person holding a license has demonstrated competence and is accountable to his or her professional board of governance. No such rules or standards assure that teachers who instruct children in reading have mastered the relevant knowledge base and acquired the necessary skills. Even within large universities that prepare hundreds of teachers every year, there may be no curricular specifications or standards. What a teacher candidate learns depends on the professor he or she selects. What the professor teaches is determined solely by what the professor may know or believe. Courses in reading, which are typically limited to three credit TEACHING READING IS ROCKET SCIENCE / 13 hours, are often taught by adjunct faculty who are accountable to no one. 15 Thus, preparation for teaching reading often is more grounded in ideology than evidence. 16 While the academic freedom that professors often invoke has a place in teacher education, its claim is not as absolute as it may be in the humanities. 17 Professional preparation programs have a responsibility to teach a defined body of knowledge, skills, and abilities that are based on the best research in the field. This is no less important in reading18 than it is in medicine or the law. Good Information Is Hard To Get Few of today’s popular textbooks for teacher preparation in reading contain information about the known relationships between linguistic awareness, word recognition ability, and reading comprehension. Few discuss in any useful detail how the English writing system represents speech. Basic concepts such as the differences between speech sounds and spellings, the fact that every syllable in English is organized around a vowel sound, and the existence of meaningful units (morphemes) in the Latin layer of English (about 60 percent of running text) are rarely explained. Few texts contain accurate information about the role of phonology in reading development, and few explain with depth, accuracy, or clarity why many children have trouble learning to read or what to do about it. Teachers are often given inaccurate and misleading information based on unsupported ideas. For example, in the recent past, one of the most common misconceptions has been that knowledge of the phonic system can be finessed with awareness of sentence structure and meaning. 19 Textbooks for teachers must attain a much higher standard of accuracy, currency, depth, clarity, and relevance if teachers are to be wellprepared to teach reading. 20 learn about spoken and written language concepts and to generate strategies for teaching students to read. Major classroom textbooks in language arts omit systematic teaching about speech sounds, the spelling system, or how to read words by sounding them out. 21 The most popular programs being used today are appropriately strong on literature, illustrations, cross-disciplinary thematic units, and motivational strategies for children, but very weak or simply wrong when it comes to the structure of English and how children actually learn to read the words on the page. 22 A recent review of major classroom reading programs shows that they continue to lack the content necessary to teach basic reading systematically and explicitly. 23 Can We Do Better? Comprehensive redesign of teacher preparation and inservice professional development is possible, but it must begin with a definition of the  knowledge and skills necessary for effective practice and demonstration of how these are best learned. Fortunately, leaders in the field— including the National Research Council panel on the Prevention of Reading Difficulties in Young Children and the member organizations of the Learning First Alliance—have reached consensus regarding the agenda for change. 24 They agree that new teachers require much more extensive, demanding, and contentdriven training if discoveries from the reading sciences are to inform classroom practice. Specifically, teachers must understand the basic psychological processes in reading, how children develop reading skill, how good readers differ from poor readers, how the English language is structured in spoken and written form, and the validated principles of effective reading instruction. The ability to design and deliver lessons to academically diverse learners, to select validated instructional methods and materials, and use assessments to tailor instruction are all central to effective teaching. Classroom Instructional Programs Are Uninformative Inadequately prepared novice teachers often find themselves dependent on the information given in teachers’ manuals to 14 / AFT TEACHERS Only recently has basic research allowed the community of reading scientists and educators to agree on what needs to be done. Toward a Curriculum for Teacher Preparation and Inservice Professional Development core curriculum for teacher preparation and inservice professional development can be divided roughly into the following four areas: s A. Understanding knowledge of reading psychology and development; Understanding knowledge of language structure which is the content of instruction; Applying best practices in all aspects of reading instruction; and Using validated, reliable, efficient assessments to inform classroom teaching. s s s This core will, of course, be supplemented and honed in time, but its goal is to bring continuity, consistency, and comprehensiveness to preservice teacher education and to focus the content of continuing education and graduate programs. (For specific details on the curriculum content in these four areas see Appendix A. ) Knowledge of the Psychology of Reading and Reading Development Basic Facts About Reading If the findings of research psychologists, educators, and linguists were better known, the risk of unfounded and even harmful teaching practices would be reduced. Learning to read is not natural or easy for most children. Reading is an acquired skill, unlike spoken language, which is learned with almost any kind of contextual exposure. If learning to read were as natural as acquiring spoken lan-guage, many more societies would have written languages; human beings would have invented writing systems many thousands of years before we did; and everyone would learn reading as easily as ducks learn to swim. The prolonged, gradual, and predictable progression of skill in print translation attests to the difference between processing spoken and written language. Although surrounding children with books will enhance reading development, a â€Å"literature-rich environment† is not sufficient for learning to read. Neither will exposure to print ordinarily be sufficient for learning to spell, unless organized practice is provided. Thus, teachers must be reflective and knowledgeable about the content they are teaching, that is, the symbol system itself and its relationship to meaning. Research has shown that good readers do not skim and sample the text when they scan a line in a book. 25 They process the letters of each word in detail, although they do so very rapidly and unconsciously. Those who comprehend well accomplish letter-wise text scanning with relative ease and fluency. When word identification is fast and accurate, a reader has ample mental energy to think over the meaning of the text. Knowledge of sound-symbol mapping is crucial in developing word recognition: the ability to sound out and recognize words accounts for about 80 percent of the variance in first-grade reading comprehension and continues to be a major (albeit diminishing) factor in text comprehension as students progress through the grades. 26 The ability to sound out words is, in fact, a major underpinning that allows rapid recognition of words â€Å"by sight. † 16 / AFT TEACHERS Language knowledge and language proficiency differentiate good and poor readers. Before children can easily sound out or decode words, they must have at least an implicit awareness of the speech sounds that are represented by symbolic units (letters and their combinations). Children who learn to read well are sensitive to linguistic structure; recognize redundant patterns; and connect letter patterns with sounds, syllables, and meaningful word parts quickly, accurately, and unconsciously. 27 Effective teaching of reading entails these concepts, presented in an order in which children can learn them. The Characteristics of Poor and Novice Readers. Experts agree that reading and writing call primarily on deep linguistic processing, not on more peripheral auditory or visual perceptual skills. Language knowledge and language proficiency differentiate good and poor readers. As they begin to learn, poor readers are not less intelligent or less motivated; they are, however, less skilled with language, especially at the level of elemental linguistic units smaller than whole words. For this reason, they benefit from instruction that develops awareness of sounds, syllables, meaningful word parts, relationships among word meanings, and the  structures of written text. The language skills that most reliably distinguish good and poor readers are specific to the phonological or speechsound processing system. Those skills include awareness of linguistic units that lie within a word (consonants, vowels, syllables, grammatical endings, meaningful parts, and the spelling units that represent them) and fluency in recognition and recall of letters and spelling patterns that make up words. Thus, skilled reading presents a paradox: Those who can most easily make sense of text are also those who can most easily read nonsense. For example, children who comprehend well when they read also do better at tasks such as reading words taken out of context, sounding out novel words, and spelling nonsense words. 28 Intelligence and verbal reasoning ability do not predict reading success in the beginning stages as well as these specific linguistic skills. Although the purpose of reading is to comprehend text, teachers should also appreciate the relationships among reading components in order to teach all components well—in connection to one another and with the emphasis needed at each stage of development.

African American History Paper Essay Example for Free

African American History Paper Essay Dr. Hardy’s view is that if you really want to understand slavery and know its full legacy and meaning you have to work with blacks. Dr. Hardy felt that even though slavery was so long ago we still feel the suffering and sorrow psychologically. According to Hardy, â€Å"talking about slavery may evoke feelings of shame and humiliation or anguish and rage in African Americans, while it tends to bring up shame, guilt, and denial in White people.† Dr. Hardy believes that even though slavery happened so long ago today both black and whites have negative feelings when the topic of slavery is brought up. The documentary that we watched in class called Africans in America: the terrible transformation is about slowly but surely piece by piece African Americans became enslaved in the US. Now to tie these together is very difficult. They are similar yet different subjects. The major topic that ties them together is slavery. What is most critical to understand especially when we consider the video Africans in America: a terrible transformation is that the Atlantic Slave Trade and slavery in America were invented to pull poor people, black and white people apart to keep them fighting one another making blacks and whites begin resent each other. I agree with Dr. Donald H. Matthews when he pointed out, in his book Slavery was â€Å"a violation of one of the greatest achievements of Western Civilization, namely, that one should never treat a subject as an object.† When we watched the PBS documentary Africans in America: the terrible transformation I learned about how slowly America was evolving into a country of slavery. Before life wasn’t perfect but it was decent not everyone was equal neither. Even not all white people were equal the classes were rich and poor. The blacks and the poor whites were on the same level/class and they began to fight though like I said earlier. There aren’t many differences between the documentary and the book that Dr. Hardy wrote but I can name a couple. The documentary looks at the past and how it evolved. While the book looks at the future/present and how we are affected now. Even though these very different they bring together the same idea that slavery has a big effect.

The Laws Of Technical Systems Evolution Information Technology Essay

The Laws Of Technical Systems Evolution Information Technology Essay Altshullers laws of system evolution reveal noteworthy, predictable, and repeatable interactions between elements of systems and between the systems and their environment (Fey Rivin, 1999). The repeatable trends that have emerged through the observation of system evolution enable problem solving based on these patterns. TRIZ theory and its laws of system evolution are predicated on the notion that systems have a predictable life cycle with identifiable stages. Systems progress from birth to growth and pass through maturity onto decline. As a result of extensive research into the patterns of technical systems evolution, Genrich Altshuller in the early 1970s subdivided all laws of technical systems evolution into three categories; statics, kinematics and dynamics. Static laws describe the criteria of feasibility of newly created technical systems during their inception. Static laws include the laws of completeness, the law of energy conductivity of the system and the law of harmonization of the rhythm of the systems parts. Kinematic laws define how technical systems evolve regardless of conditions during the systems growth phase. These laws include the law of increasing ideality, the law of non-uniform development of system components, the law of transition to higher level systems and the law of increasing dynamism. Dynamic laws hope to define how technical systems evolve under specified conditions near the conclusion of the systems development. Dynamics include the law of transition from macro to micro level systems and the law of increasing substance field interactions (Kraev, 2005). Law of increasing degree of ideality The law of increasing degree of ideality holds that systems evolve toward an increasing state of benefit to cost ratio. The ideality of a system is a qualitative ratio expressed as the desirable functionality of the system over the sum of the systems costs and problems. The capabilities of various products are endlessly increasing while the prices of these products to consumers fall (Fey Rivin, 2005). Some common trends in product development in relation to increasing system ideality include the reduction in size, weight and cost while simultaneously adding functionality. For example, adding a more powerful camera to a cell phone. Law of increasing the degree of ideality of the system is a natural progression in innovation of any design or invention. This is accomplished by increasing benefits and decreasing harmful effects, undesirable states and reducing costs. The ideal final result would be to have all the benefits of the system with a cost of zero. Whether this is attainable or not, it should be striven for in the process of innovation. This law is predicated on the observation that successive versions of a technical design usually increase ideality over time. According to Ivanov (1994) the fundamental ways to boost the degree of ideality in systems are expressed to increase the number of functions performed by a single element. This shift includes the movement from bi to poly level systems and homogenous to heterogeneous elements. Ivanov goes on to suggest that ideality can be promoted by minimizing technical contradictions simultaneously in all parts of the system. Other methods of Idealization include reducing some parts of a system or a process, increasing the number of delivered functions, using advanced equipment, materials, processes and by using disposable objects. To further idealize a system and eliminate undesirable effects, managers and systems engineers can use block structured design, use expensive materials only where necessary and look to other resources to improve the systems ideality (Petrov, 2001). By improving the degree of ideality, the system will be first lead to the increased complexity of the system elements. Next the process will move to simplify the system, but complicate the subsystems. Finally, improving the degree of ideality in the system will lead to substantial simplification of subsystem elements (Ivanov, 1994). In recent years, the Apple iPod has embodied the law of increasing ideality. When the iPod first hit the market, they were expensive and only functioned as a music playing device. After several iterations of the initial design, the system has yielded outcomes congruent with an improving cost to benefit ratio. The iPod is now relatively inexpensive (to the point where it is often a prize of gift) and it has increased functionality. The iPod Touch now plays movies, supports games and applications and has Wi-Fi and email capability. Law of non-uniform evolution of subsystems The law of Non-Uniform Evolution of Subsystems holds that various parts of a system evolve at different non-uniform rates. The uneven development of various parts of a technical system encompassing different parts will evolve differently, leading to system conflicts and consequently new technical and physical contradictions in the system. According to Ivanov (1994) uniformity is mutually exclusive to systemic behaviour. Various system elements respond differently to external stimuli, this stimuli has the potential to disrupt previously stable system element relationships (Ivanov, 1994). The law states that the improvement of one element of a system design is usually at the expense of another part of the system. These system conflicts are not ideal and usually result in a compromise. Improving the system often starts with a focus on improving a specific subsystem. It is important to recognize that subsystems have different life cycle curves. Therefore when attempting to improve a system, it is essential to focus on the correct sub system (TRIZ Experts, 1996). Advancement in wind farm technology in recent years provides an example of non-uniform subsystem evolution. The turbine systems have evolved to the point where they can create surplus power on some grids. Transmission and storage capacity of some areas of the grid have not evolved at a rate sufficient to keep up with the increased capacity generated by enhancement to turbines. Law of transition to a higher level system System genesis usually manifests in a mono system form designed to perform one specific task. Over the lifecycle of the system there is a trend to develop from a mono system to a bi or poly system to accomplish a wider scope of tasks. Eventually the poly system evolves into a new more complex but efficient system. At this point in the system lifecycle, multiple poly systems may merge to become a super system designed to perform a more complex task (Fey Rivin, 2005). Also known as the law of transition to a super-system, the rule postulates that when a system attains a level where the likelihood of further substantial enhancement becomes nominal, the system has become an element of a super-system. Some bi and poly system are the result of duplicating the component of the mono system and using the duplication to extrapolate the desired result. According to Fey Riven, by combining multiple mono systems into such a homogeneous bi or poly system can improve functionality of each sub system element such that the whole is greater than the summation of its components. Some more complex heterogeneous bi and poly systems are the result of an addition of a new element such as a clock to a radio to have a clock radio. In addition to the emergence of heterogeneous and homogenous bi and poly systems, this law further helps to identify inverse bi and poly systems which combine elements with contradictory or opposite functions; i.e. a pencil and an eraser (Fey Rivin, 1999). One example cited by Ladewig (2003) of system evolution progressing from a mono to a bi to a poly system is found in the disposable razors market. Razors initially had one blade and have advanced to two then three and currently up to four blades. A further example is found in observing screw drivers, initially this tool had one head and had advanced to include Robertson, Phillips and flathead heads, this system has now advanced to contain fittings for dozens of heads and bit styles all contained within the unit handle itself (Ladewig, 2003). Another example may be noted in the evolution of a bicycle to a bicycle with training wheels (4 wheels). Law of increasing dynamism Systems are developed and tailored to specific operating tasks and environments, as those environments change, the system needs to be flexible to adapt. The pressure exerted on rigid structures is a constant force external to the system. There is a demand on the system to evolve into more flexible and adaptive parameters that stems from end user demand. The evolving needs and demands of consumers and other users stimulate change in the system environment which translates to pressure on the system. It is important that the core competencies and values of the system entity are not corrupted in this process. In the transition between a rigid system and a flexible system, a system passes through multiple stages. The line of increasing flexibility as outlined by Fey Rivin (1999) illustrates that system begin with one state, become a system with many discrete states and ultimately exist as a continuously variable system. An example of the law of flexibility being exerted on a system is through the emergence of e-books which evolved from traditional paper books. The transcendence of hand held technology in recent years has changed the landscape of the book industry by creating new opportunities for consumers. The end user created demand for a system that would meet the needs of portability, increased capacity and decrease cost. This was a natural evolution for the paper book in terms of flexibility of use. Law of transition from macro to micro level systems The law of transition from macro to micro level systems states that systems evolve as far as possible to an ever increasing fragmentation of their components. Altshuller moved that in the context of evolving systems, what is initially one unit eventually evolves into many separate components. Through a careful observation of the physical effects of system evolution, it is evident that this law is especially emphasized in modern technical systems. The transition from macro to micro level systems is a result of the need for increased control, measurement and understanding of individual elements of a system. This narrowing of scope on system levels provides increased precision and a deeper understanding of the system as a whole. An instance of a transition from a macro to micro level system can be found in agriculture. Traditional fertilizing techniques observed that manure was beneficial to the soil to increase the productiveness of the land. The composition of the manure was not a concern as it was more beneficial than not having using it. The evolution of this system has yielded a focus on understanding the exact composition of the fertilizer down to its individual atoms. The correct mix or phosphates and nitrates are combined to provide a precise result for a specific product need. A different mix for grains than would be used for fruit trees. This transition came about as a there was a demand for increased control and efficiency. Law of completeness The law of the completeness of the parts of the system is an identification of the fact that any working system must be comprised of four essential components. The required elements of a complete system are: the engine, the transmission, the working means and the control component. The engine is the primary source of the systems required energy; the transmission component is responsible for directing the required energy to the system organ. The control function of the system ensures that the functionality can be made adaptable and flexible for the user. According to Miller and Domb (2007), when viewed in terms of the functionality of the system, completion is defined by the following actions. The existence of a tool acting on an object, the energy used by the tool to affect the object, the transmission of that energy, and the control to guide functionality (Miller Domb, 2007). The law of completeness identifies the trend towards decreased human involvement with the system. In the system lifecycle, early stage systems have more human involvement than late stage systems. The reduction of human involvement makes systems more efficient by mitigating the likelihood of operator error from human interaction with the system. The reduction of human involvement also increases system efficiency by eliminating the dependency of skilled or unskilled human inputs into the system. This reduction of human effort makes systems more adaptable to varying uses and environments. One example of a system that once relied on human interaction was an elevator. Elevators used to have dedicated operators to facilitate the opening and closing of the door and the vertical movement of the elevator car. This need for human involvement has been reduced to a simple input by the end user who merely selects a button with the desired corresponding floor. Law of shortening of energy path flows The law of shortening of energy path flows describes that systems evolve to a shortening of the distance between energy sources and their working means. The law of energy conductivity of the system is predicated on the understanding that all systems require the transfer of energy. Ideally, system energy should transfer freely and by the most direct and therefore efficient path through the components of the system. Energy cannot be created nor destroyed and systems are always moving towards increased efficiency. With these foundations, it can be postulated that more direct energy flows are more efficient. According to Ivanov (1994), the laws of conservation of matter and energy will always dictate to choose the path flow that leads to a decrease in energy expenditure rather than to its increase (Ivanov, 1994). One case of shortening of energy path flows can be observed in rear windshield in automobiles. In environments that get cold in the wintertime, it is necessary to defrost windshields on vehicles before they can be operated. A defrost system has been developed in automobiles to meet this need. Previously hot air was directed and blown at the glass areas that needed defrosting first. This system is inefficient because much of the heat required to defrost the surface was lost as the hot air dissipated and cooled over the relatively large distance before it accomplished its task. The solution to this was to embed the rear glass with heating coils so that the rear windshield could defrost through conduction. This shortened energy path flow increased the efficiency of the system. Due to the issues that would arise from visibility, this solution cannot be applied to front windshields. In the context of the front windshield, this could be considered a system conflict. It is also interesting to note that a similar principle has been applied to heated seats. Law of increasing subfield interactions The law of increasing subfield interaction is also known as the law of increasing controllability. As systems evolve, the level of control interactions improves among each of the system elements. The dispersion of substances in the S-Fields increases as the connection among fields increases which results in the responsiveness of the whole system tending to increase. According to Vladimir Petrov, veteran TRIZ practioner and educator, the increase in the degree of control over a system is the direct result from transition from a noncontrollable system to the control over deviances and variables. This progression to a controllable system, also involves developing the system to have a feedback mechanism and to be adaptive and self reproducing. The increasing degree of control over the system variables coincides with the process of automation (Petrov, 2001). A non technical example of this law in action can be found in airport security measures. There are several different stages and processes of airport security. This system has evolved from having no security at all to having customs, passport checks at check in, security, customs and before boarding. This level at control throughout all levels and elements of the system is an example of increased interaction and control. Law of harmonization of rhythm The law of harmonization of rhythm expresses that the necessary coordination for the existence of an effective system is the coordination of the periodicity of actions and its components. The law of harmonizing the rhythms of parts of the system refers to the frequency of vibrations of parts and movements of the system. These movements should ideally be in full synchronization other parts of the system. Chaos and high harmony are the two opposite ends of this spectrum. System evolution should move from chaos towards harmony. System harmonization occurs when contradictions are minimized by allowing components to be reorganized. Regrouping system elements into new configurations begets new qualities, and therefore develops new relationships among elements (Ivanov, 1994). Through reorganization, Petrov (2001) maintains that system harmonization can come in the form of functional, structural and function-structural coordination. Minor levels of coordination can be achieved at the structural and functional planes of the system which translate to increased harmonization. An obvious instance of necessary harmonization of rhythm and coordination of system elements is observed in an orchestra. An orchestra can be viewed as a system designed to produce beautiful music with all the various instruments as individual system components. When all the components are assembled for the first time the result is likely chaotic but as the symphony rehearses together over time the move toward high harmony. To improve functional coordination the conductor would insist that the individual members practice their instruments to improve on them in skill. To further the structural harmony of the orchestra as a whole, the conductor may instruct the symphony to practice together. Ideal final result According to Fey Rivin, the ideal final result is a concept based on the notion of an ideal technical system. The ideal technical system would be one that achieves the required function for which it is designed and required while producing no adverse effects. The ideal technological system would be absent of any physical entity. The lack of physical entity would be advantageous in mitigating physical system malfunctions and the cost of physical system components. The concept of ideal final result should be the goal of every system and the destination for all systems as they follow the laws of technical system evolution. The physical manifestation of the IFR may be inhibited due to physical restrictions. However, the notion of the IFR is not intended to necessarily be achievable, but nonetheless should be actively pursued in the interest of making the system better.

Baldwins Father in Notes of a Native Son Essay -- James Baldwin

Playgrounds of Harlem Narrative is a form of writing used by writers to convey their experiences to an audience. James Baldwin is a renowned author for bringing his experience to literature. He grew up Harlem in the 1940’s and 1950’s, a crucial point in history for America due to the escalading conflict between people of different races marked by the race riots of Harlem and Detroit. This environment that Baldwin grew up in inspires and influences him to write the narrative â€Å"Notes of a Native Son,† which is based on his experience with racism and the Jim-Crow Laws. The narrative is about his father and his influence on Baldwin’s life, which he analyzes and compares to his own experiences. When Baldwin comes into contact with the harshness of America, he realizes the problems and conflicts he runs into are the same his father faced, and that they will have the same affect on him as they did his father. Baldwin’s father died a broken and ruined man on July 29th, 1943. This only paralleled the chaos occurring around him at the time, such as the race riots of Detroit and Harlem which Baldwin describes to be as â€Å"spoils of injustice, anarchy, discontent, and hatred.† (63) His father was born in New Orleans, the first generation of â€Å"free men† in a land where â€Å"opportunities, real and fancied, are thicker than anywhere else.† (63) Although free from slavery, African-Americans still faced the hardships of racism and were still oppressed from any opportunities, which is a factor that led Baldwin’s father to going mad and eventually being committed. Baldwin would also later learn how â€Å"†¦white people would do anything to keep a Negro down.† (68) For a preacher, there was little trust and faith his father ... ...his father had acted the way he did, which caused him to be committed. He was facing the same experiences and the same side-effects his father once felt. However, faced with this dilemma between acceptance and equal power, Baldwin looks to the only man he can trust to help him, his father. He trusts his father because he knows that his father went through the same dilemma he is going through, he has seen the same affects in his father’s rage and hate. However, his father already passed away, and what help that could have been gathered from his father is gone; Baldwin can only piece together his memories of his father’s character and life and compare it to his own to see how the two are really alike. Works Cited Baldwin, James. â€Å"Notes of a Native Son.† 1955. James Baldwin: Collected Essays. Ed. Toni Morrison. New York: Library of America, 1998. 63-84.

The Stereotypical Old-West Lawman :: Media Stereotypes Stereotyping

The Stereotypical Old-West Lawman Justice, duty, silence, wisdom, bravery, self-reliance, independence, respect; these are all characteristics of the old-west lawman. Matt Dillon, marshal of Dodge City, is just such a lawman. His sense of justice, duty, and wisdom epitomize the stereotypical old-west hero. In the episode entitled Fawn, Marshal Dillon is charged with a woman that escaped an Indian camp. She is accompanied by a young Indian girl. They are in Dodge till the womans husband arrives fetch her. While the woman is waiting for her husband a man comes to speak to her. He accepts her and the little girl. When the husband arrives he wants the girl to go to a reservation, but the woman refuses to let her go. The husband divorces the woman and goes back east. The woman must run with the little girl because the government wants to put the little girl on a reservation. Marshal Dillon arranges for the man that spoke to the woman earlier to take both the woman and the little girl away with him. This saves the little girl. Throughout the episode Marshal Dillon defends the woman, because he thinks she and the little girl are treated unjustly. In the episode entitled How to Kill a Friend, a pair of gamblers come to town. They try to bribe Marshal Dillon, but he refuses to take their bribe. Later, someone shoots at the marshal as a scare tactic. He figures out that the gamblers shot at him and he runs them out of town. Usually such men move on to another town and dont return; but these men returned. This time they brought a gunman to keep Dillon in check. The gunman turns out to be an old friend of the marshal. He tries to convince his friend to leave, but the man has turned bad and refuses. Eventually they get into a confrontation. In the process, Dillon shoots and kills his friend. Though he is saddened that he killed his friend, he had to do his duty. He had done his best to dissuade his friend, but had to fulfill his duty. In the episode How to Die for Nothing, a bunch of cowboys from Texas come into town. One of them is drunk and when the marshal tries to take away his gun, he tries to shoot Dillon. Dillon had to shoot the cowboy and he ended up dying.

Pro-Life: The Opposite of Pro-Death Essay -- Anti-Abortion Pro Life

Pro-Life: The Opposite of Pro-Death Careful attention to the truth has never been standard operating procedure for pro-abortion advocates. Therefore, it should not be any suprise that half-truths, and misrepresentations, and many outright lies have permeated the pro-abortion propaganda campaign. Pro-choice is just a phrase used by people who know the absurdity of legal abortions and infanticide. Pro-life advocates have a more simple and straight forward approach: Pro-life is not the opposite of pro-choice, but the opposite of pro-death. Pro-choice is an escape from the harsh reality that abortion is the murder of millions of innocent lives. Activists also believe that killing infants because they are severely handicapped is morally acceptable. They are of the opinion that a life can be terminated by the hands of a physician; in my opinion, only by God. That is how pro-choice activists represent themselves. As a junior in high school, I am considering medicine as a possible career choice. Through my research in this field, I discovered the Hippocratic Oath. The Hippocratic Oath is the most famous of the Hippocratic documents; it has served as an ideal for the professional attitude and ethics of physicians to the present; the historical origin of the oath is so obscure that even the date of its composition is placed from the 6th to the 1st century B.C. The Hippocratic Oath generally stated by Hippocrates says, â€Å"I will follow that system of regimen which, according to my ability and judgment, I will consider for the benefit of my patients, and abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous. I will give no deadly medicine to any one if asked; I will not suggest any such counsel, and ... ...and wiggle in an ultrasound. I felt her turn, kick, and I also experienced her hiccups. I could feel the life inside of my and no pro-choice argument can convince me the Alexandria Nicole was not alive inside of me. I realize that pregnancy can often seem like a burden: however, if you create a life you should be responsible for that life. If you choose to be responsible only for the nine months during your pregnancy, adoption is a loving and mature option. There are countless families that would love to adopt a baby. The choice of adoption gives your baby a chance to live. There can be no justification or reason given for being pro-choice - pro-death. Every child is created with a purpose from God. â€Å"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; And I ordained you a prophet to the nations.† (Jeremiah 1:5)

Loser : Microsoft

â€Å"Still, though Microsoft’s goals are good, it’s implementation needs work.† This was Philip E. Ross’s main point in his article â€Å"Loser: Microsoft to Spammers: Go Phish.† In the article, Ross discussed the two spam e-mail countermeasures developed separately by Microsoft and the partnership of Cisco and Yahoo. Although he admitted that the systems developed – Sender ID by Microsoft and Domain Keys Identified Mail (DKIM) by Cisco/Yahoo – had their own advantages, he also confesses to believing that DKIM is the better anti-spam proposal. He goes as far as writing, â€Å"For our purposes, that makes Microsoft Corp. the loser.† After discussing the difference between Microsoft’s and Cisco/Yahoo’s designs – a Sender ID verifies that an e-mail really came from where it claims to have come from by comparing the message’s Internet Protocol address from the IP address of its claimed origin; while DKIM tacks an encrypted digital signature to the e-mail’s header and this signature contains instructions on where to find the algorithm – Ross reveals the one great loophole to Microsoft’s Sender ID. It is not able to differentiate between spam and forwarded e-mail. And Ross says this can make or break Microsoft’s anti-spam system. As Ross says, the only way to get around Sender ID’s glitch is to cut and paste a message you plan to forward. But this, Ross explains, makes sharing harder; thus, possibly resulting to lesser people e-mailing. Although Ross presents Cisco’s Jim Fenton’s claim that DKIM also has its own fault in that it is more easily confused by e-mail changes while in transit, he still has another negative comment on Microsoft. He mentions critics’ speculations that Microsoft may have other things in mind with the control of spam e-mails – speculations that may have stemmed from the company’s tight grip on Sender ID’s intellectual property. Yet even with this presentation of arguments against Microsoft’s Sender ID, Ross still believes that the Redmond, Washington computer giant is serious about eliminating spam and that they have what it takes to come up with the standard in spam countermeasures. For now though, Microsoft’s intentions are not enough and they have yet to work towards polishing their processes. Philip Ross made a well-informed article with â€Å"Loser: Microsoft to Spammers: Go Phish†. He was able to provide evidences to all his claims and was able to back-up his assumptions. But even with a fair presentation of both sides to Microsoft’s Sender ID, Ross still had the tendency to settle more on the negative side of the system. This was especially apparent when he brandished Microsoft as the â€Å"loser†, when a less negative term could have sufficed. Ross’s points, though a little biased, were admittedly insightful. His mention of Microsoft’s attempt at secreting their anti-spam technology’s intellectual property does make one wonder why such a secrecy. I do hope that assumptions on the possibility of this technology being exploited will turn out to be not true – because true to Ross’ words, nobody wants to be strong-armed. However, even I have to agree with Ross’s suggestion that perhaps Cisco and Yahoo can add Microsoft to their team and all three can work towards a stronger anti-spam system. Since the fight against spamming is not about one company’s supremacy over another but about making e-mail more reliable for all users, Cisco, Yahoo, and Microsoft must try to work together for the benefit of millions of e-mail users. And it was good that even Fenton and Microsoft’s Harry Katz concur that this is a good idea. Philip Ross may have his own biases regarding Microsoft’s Sender ID and it was slightly apparent in the article. But his proposal for making the current situation better is indeed something that current industry bigwigs should look at. Reference Ross, Philip E. (2007). Loser: Microsoft to Spammers: Go Phish. In Spectrum Online. Retrieved September 28, 2007, from http://www.spectrum.iee