Belonging Essay Example for Free

Belonging Essay An individual’s interaction with others and the world around them can enrich their feelings of belonging and acceptance, however feelings of insecurity can lead to isolation and rejection limiting the experience of belonging. The concept of belonging is feeling connected to another individual, group, place or object that evokes positive emotions within oneself. In contrast, not belonging leads to feelings of alienation due to a lack of understanding, separation or when forced to embrace unfamiliarity. Through the 1992 film ‘Strictly Ballroom’ directed by Baz Luhrmann, the children’s biography ‘ by Beverley McGregor and the punk rock song ‘Perfect’ by Simple Plan, composers illustrate both concepts of belonging and alienation . Through a range of cinematic and literary techniques these composers show how an individual’s interaction with others and the world around them can enrich and limit their experiences of belonging. Baz Luhrmann through the film ‘Strictly Ballroom’ utilizes costuming to suggest isolation as well as ‘belonging’ and how it can either enrich or limit an individual’s experience. This is highlighted in the first scenes when viewers are introduced, through the mocumentary, to the flamboyancy of characters from the world of ballroom dancing such as Liz in her trademark gaudy canary colored outfits, and Shirley Hasting in her pink ball gowns that are matched to her ornate fuchsia eye shadow and lipstick. In contrast the character of Fran is dressed in a shapeless, oversized t-shirt and a close up of her face shows her naturally troubled skin free from makeup, wearing a large pair of thick-framed glasses. This immediately segregates her from the rest of the competitors and supporters of Ballroom dancing, signifying to the audience that a lack of interaction with others can severely impact on ones sense of belonging. The split screen later in the film where Fran, in normal day clothes dances with Scott and on the other side of the curtain Tina Sparkle dances in her lurid sequined costume, further shows Fran’s alienation from the dancing world. However, the song she and Scott are dancing to is Doris Day’s â€Å"Perhaps†, suggesting that their partnership could possibly work. The shock on Shirley’s face and the use of the children as a Greek chorus ‘Fran.. who’d have thought’ also suggest an acceptance of Fran. This is soon dispelled as Fran trips and a low angle shot of Liz and Shirley as they attend to her and tell her to ‘go home’ reminds the audience who belongs. Shirley and Liz’s perception of ‘belonging’ is enriched through their interaction with each other and their compatibility with the world of ballroom dancing. When Scott is shown by Ricco how to dance the Passo Doble, a close up of his feet in dusty work shoes on bare timber of the floor contrasts with a previous close up of Scott’s feet in shiny shoes on a highly polished floor. However, it is on this rough-hewn timber that Scott finally learns to dance ‘from the heart’ and his experience of belonging is enriched. You introduce costuming here so keep to that – your next paragraph is camera shots so do not confuse the two here. You could talk of costuming and characterization here but do not discuss camera techniques when that is part of your second discussion of the core text. Similarly aspects of belonging and not belonging and how these feelings can enrich or limit an individuals experience are explored in Beverly McGregor children’s biography ‘Pink Balloons’. The protagonist Sky constantly suffers from alienation and rejection from her peers and their parents due to her recent diagnosis of HIV/AIDS. This can be seen through symbolism to express ‘Skye’s’ feelings of isolation, when she says to her carer ‘Do you like my picture, the octopus has nine legs instead of eight, he is crying because he is different to the others†. This shows her feelings of inadequacy due to her inability to interact with the world around her and the limitations she faces in order to become accepted. This can be further expressed through the somber tone of the protagonist Skye as she relays her grief stating to her mother â€Å"Mummy, its bad enough having AIDS without everyone staying away from you because they are scared they can get it too†. Thus Skye’s apparent isolation as can be seen through the discrimination she endures throughout the text, which significantly decreases her chances of interacting with others to enrich her own personal experience of ‘belonging’. Continue here†¦ In contrast, Skye’s experiences of ‘belonging’ are enhanced following her election to vice captain in her class as can be seen through the literary technique of a rhetorical question when Skye states â€Å"they could have picked anybody, but who did they choose? †. This highlights Skye’s ability to feel a part of the world around her as a result of her eventual acceptance in her class, despite the constant stigma attached to her and her contraction of the HIV/AIDS virus. Baz Luhrmann further exhibits belonging and not belonging and its effect on enriching or limiting an individuals experience in ‘Strictly Ballroom’ through the implementation of camera techniques. This can be seen in the split screen where Fran and Scott are caught dancing together behind the crimson colored show curtains. Fran in an ordinary day dress is juxtaposed with Tina Sparkle in her lurid costume and sequins on the other side of the curtains. Scott and Fran dance to the Doris Day song ‘Perhaps’ suggesting they could possibly be dance partners. After Fran falls to the ground and is dragged stage left by Shirley Hastings and Liz to the powder room a low angle point of view shot signifies the alienation of Fran. Fran is seated on a stool and stares up at Mrs. Hastings and Liz showing the obvious superiority Shirleyand Liz feel over Fran. and further highlighted when ‘Liz’ states â€Å"you’re a beginner Fran, what the hell did you think you were doing? † Fran is then left isolated staring up at the huddled group of women representing her separation from the world of ballroom dancing. When Shirley Hastings states, â€Å"I think it will be better if you just went home and forgot about all this nonsense† Fran’s rejection through this scene conveys her inability to enrich her experience of belonging in the world of ballroom dancing. Continue here†¦. In comparison the final dance scene highlights the enrichment of a sense of belonging. This is conveyed through a long shot of the ballroom, which captures the acceptance of Fran and Scotts ‘crowd-pleasing’ steps, when everybody begins to clap with Doug to enable them to continue their dance. Crosscutting between ‘The Pan Pacific Championships’ and Fran’s back yard is also utilized to express the relationship between Fran and Scott and their newfound connection with dancing. Scott no longer dances to win but for the love of the sport and to express the simplicity related to his relationship with Fran. This technique symbolizes that it does not matter where Fran and Scott dance as long as they are dancing together. The implementation of Diagetic sound the ‘Rumba De Burros’ in the concluding scene expresses the concept of belonging and allows the viewers to develop an understanding of the enrichment of ‘Fran nd Scott’ when they are accepted in the world of ballroom dancing just the way they are. Additionally the song ‘Perfect’ by the punk rock band ‘Simple Plan’ displays how isolation can limit an individual’s chance to belong. ‘Perfect’ encapsulates feelings of worthlessness and insecurity as it explores the concept of rejection from the composer’s own father quote needed. The use of repetition as can be seen through the words â€Å"I am sorry, I can’t be perfect†, and highlights how feeling inadequate can segregate an individual from their world. Repetition is effective as it reinforces the deviation of the composer and provides the audience with a clear understanding of the separation between the writer and his father. The reminiscent nature of the lyrics can be seen through the rhetorical question ‘Did you know, you used to be my hero? ’, this engages the listener and alerts them to the change in the relationship while expressing the passionate tone of the song and the eventual acceptance of the turbulent relationship by the protagonist. Colloquial language, â€Å"Hey Dad† appeals to a young audience and invites them to have an insight into the father and son’s personal life to allow them to understand the hurt that is felt by the son in their dysfunctional relationship. Likewise the song writer constantly uses rhetorical questions to address his father and express his feelings of inadequacy such as â€Å"Did I grow up, according to your plan?. Thus it can be understood that due to the rejection experienced by the lyricist at the hands of his father it limits his opportunity to experience a sense of belonging. You need to discuss the music when you talk about a song otherwise you must only talk about it as the lyrics†¦ In conclusion various composers have utilized literary, visual and sound techniques to convey aspects of belonging, and how this can limit or enrich ones reaction to the world around them. Through the analysation of ‘Strictly Ballroom’, ‘Pink Balloons’ and ‘Perfect’ we can enhance our understanding of belonging and different obstacles that prevent an individual from feeling accepted.

Material Culture in Education Essay

Material Culture in Education Essay This study explores the role of material culture in arts and design class at colleges in Singapore. Normally, students in a contemporary graphic design class face many difficulties particularly in interactive creation of arts and design. Basically, this study tends to identify and analyze the advantages of using material culture in a contemporary graphic design class. Furthermore, this paper also attempts to design an effective curriculum that will satisfy the needs of using material culture in a contemporary graphic design class. Concurrently, graphic design schools today face ever-increasing demands in their attempts to guarantee that students are well equipped to enter the workforce and navigate a complex world. Research indicates that material culture can help support learning concerning culture and past histories, and that it is especially useful in developing the higher-order skills of critical thinking, analysis, and scientific inquiry. But the mere presence of material culture in the classroom does not ensure their effective use when it comes in adding validity and substance to graphic design study. This study explores the various ways material culture can be used to improve how and what student learn in the classroom particularly in creative design and arts. Moreover, this paper pointed out the use of material culture as an effective learning tool in studying past history and culture is more likely to take place when embedded in a broader education reform movement that includes improvements in teacher training, curriculum, student assessment, and a schools capacity for change. In this study, the researcher investigated several variables that may influence the development and progress of students in different contemporary graphic design classes at colleges of Singapore. These included perceptions of problem difficulty, creative designing, value of art, and quality of work. The researcher believes that enabling the students to use material culture aided by the procedure in graphic design will result in effective learning and understanding in creative design and provides quality design and art. This research will analyze and investigate the role of material culture and personal perception of the students in Singapore. This shall include a discussion on the positive and negative variables related to material culture and contemporary graphic design, an analysis of performance of the students in school in relation to material culture was also conducted. Particularly, the research will focus on examining the role of material culture in contemporary graphic design provided by the school instructors/administrators. Basically, the results of the study will lead the researcher to the development and devise an effective curriculum in arts and design with respect to material culture in graphic design. Problem Statement This researcher finds the necessity for a study that specifically tackles the effects of material culture in contemporary graphic design at Colleges in Singapore. Specifically, this study intends to explore the significant impact of this material to the Colleges in Singapore that are related in contemporary graphic design. It will present the performance of the students by identifying weaknesses and inefficiencies and recommending solutions. Basically, the problem of this study is about conventional methodology in teaching which used a dry lecturer is really dull and takes a lot of time to finish a modular or syllabus of each topic depending on lecturer capabilities, skills, availability, mood and student indulgent of what their thought. That is not effective for students to get an effective way to learn, there is a need to get a new and effective approach since material culture may now touch the cultural and historical value of a certain art or design. The purpose of using material culture in a contemporary graphic design class is to develop a better learning than conventional method in colleges but through the early resistance, it emphasized their ability to appreciate art and learn it cultural and historical value perform the complex tasks needed in contemporary graphic design. Through material culture student can develop a bond and understanding of ones traditional cultures that motivate visual communication students to create strong cultural identity graphic design. Moreover, this study will try to answer the following queries: Can understanding of ones traditional cultures motivate visual communication students to create strong cultural identity graphic design? Can material culture add validity and substance to graphic design study? Purpose This study seeks to understand fully how students awareness of their traditional cultures might be the factor that motivate them to research and explore their cultures as a graphic design topic. Hypotheses This paper will work on the following hypothesis: Material culture in graphic design class in colleges plays significant effect to the students awareness of their traditional cultures. Material culture in graphic design class in colleges has significant effect to the memory retention of the students when it comes in studying traditional culture. Since it is exciting, challenging and fun to use, then it encourages students to study the material culture again and again. Material culture has significant effect to the learning improvement of the students since it attaches to ones traditional culture. Definition of Key Terms Graphic Design- Graphic Design is the process and art of combining text and graphics and communicating an effective message in the design of logos, graphics, brochures, newsletters, posters, signs, and any other type of visual communication (http://www.geemultimedia.com.au/glossary.asp). Material Culture- Material Culture is a term often used by archaeologists as a non-specific way to refer to the artifacts or other concrete things left by past cultures. An archaeologist thus can be described as a person who studies the material culture of a past society (www.encyclopedia.com). Art- Art is the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way to affect the senses or emotions. It encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations, and modes of expression, including music, literature, film, sculpture, and paintings (www.encyclopedia.com). Education- Education encompasses the teaching of specific skills, and also something less tangible but more profound: the imparting of knowledge, good judgment and wisdom. One of the fundamental goals of education is to impart culture across the generations socialization. (www.encyclopedia.com) Knowledge- Knowledge includes, but is not limited to, those descriptions, hypotheses, concepts, theories, principles and procedures which to a reasonable degree of certainty are either true or useful. (www.encyclopedia.com) School-A school is a type of educational institution. The range of institutions covered by the term varies from country to country. (www.encyclopedia.com) Review of Literature World history has witnessed the birth, development, and achievements of the most talented people. These people have their distinct gifts and area of mastery literature, politics, arts, science, and so forth. Still, much of their success can be traced back to the kind of life and personality they had. Childhood experiences, support from people around them, environmental influences and personal motivations often determine how a gifted person makes use of his innate abilities to become an important figure in his chosen field of expertise. The world of arts is one of the most interesting topics of study. This field usually includes some of the most peculiar people who can express their personalities through unique paintings, sculptures, and drawings. Art education is culturally identified as a subject area that enables students to use their imagination and creativity to produce pieces of artwork from a wide variety of materials. This identification may also include the study of famous artists and their well-known artwork (Oliver, 2010). On the other hand, the cultural identity is constructed through various signs and symbols that the culture attribute to art education.   Symbols include art making materials (The Culture of Education in the Visual Arts, 1999). These materials that are attached to ones culture were known as â€Å"material culture†.   Material cultures are becoming known to the teachers in contemporary graphic design because of its motivational effect to their students in studying culture and art. In graphic design class, art symbol with respect to materials are crucial. An example of art education symbols are the variety of medias- both two and three dimensional that are used to illustrate subject matter. In addition to more practical symbols of art education are the humanitarian symbols which may include connecting with artists and their work, both contemporary and historical (The Culture of Education in the Visual Arts, 1999).  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The art and crafts around communities, in stores and on posters will always be a symbol of a reflection of art education (The Culture of Education in the Visual Arts, 1999). Another facet of creating a cultural identity is to reflect on the cultural rituals that are often associated with art education. The most apparent rituals include the various processes that are employed to make art.   It is important to remember that such rituals/processes are influenced by the geographical location of the school district (Oliver, 2010). Another cultural ritual attributed to art education is the physical demonstration that the art teacher must provide for students in order to teach them specific techniques. This demonstration often includes safety precautions as rituals that the students will then strictly employ to create art without hurting themselves with the tools in the making (Oliver, 2010). Other ritual distinctive to art education is the practice of critiquing students art work, often done by the whole class in order to provide constructive feedback and criticism of the finished piece of art.  Ã‚   One final ritual that should be imperative to an art education program is class field trips to museums, galleries, and artists studios that connect the learning of art in the school to actually viewing art in the community (The Culture of Education in the Visual Arts, 1999). It is important to connect these cultural rituals and symbols of art education to not only show how they produce a cultural identity, but also form a sense of social solidarity among students, teachers, and communities (Oliver, 2010). The visual arts or the graphic designs are arts that we see. It has its own language-the language of feelings, emotions and ideas without words. We could discover the world outside and inside us through visual arts. The visual artist through unspoken can communicate with us when he creates visual work of arts like painting. Paintings and works of art in general are meant to move us, especially in ways that words often cant. Graphic designs inspired by material culture play a major role not only in academic purposes but also in health and medicare related aspect and in the community as well. It develops the intelligence and the overall personality of the students. Moreover, graphic designs inspired by material culture also provide meaningful self-expression of all students. It is used in therapy procedures for aiding child development. It assists in educating disabled children, especially those who are blind and have hearing problems. And finally, visual arts also help in building communities and mural projects. In studying graphic designs inspired by material culture, it shows that visual arts and cultural identity are related. The cultural identity is constructed through various signs and symbols that the culture attribute to art education.   Methodology This section of the research proposal discusses the methods to be used.   This illustrates the method of research that identifies its applicability. Likewise, the section illustrates how the research was to be implemented and how to come up with relevant findings. Moreover, this methodology part of the research underwent into several stages. In the research design, the researcher collected data from students and teachers in some Colleges in Singapore that are using material culture in their graphic design class. At the time of data collection, the researcher gathered and sum upped the data acquired from these resources. Study Setting In accordance to the goal of this study i.e. to investigate the role of material culture in contemporary graphic design, the researcher decided to conduct the investigation in 10 Colleges in Singapore. Basically, in these 10 chosen schools in Singapore, a random sample of 10 students each will be chosen. The students to be included should be familiar to graphic design and material culture. Research Design Generally speaking, there are two research positions, often call paradigms, which researchers can choose from. The first is the quantitative paradigm in which researcher attempts to understand causal relationship of existing phenomena or attempts to discern the validity of the theory in a particular social context (Creswell, 1994). And since one of the purposes of this study determine the role of material culture in contemporary graphic design, the quantitative research position is taken here because it is appropriate for the research purpose. Aside from this, the second approach, called the qualitative paradigm, is not chosen. Actually, as indicated in the paper of Daymon Holloway (2002), the qualitative design the researcher assumes this position and attempts to understand a particular social phenomenon by using the actors frame of reference. In addition, data are presented not in numerical form but in actual words which is in contrast to the aim of this research. There are few research strategies that often used for conducting research such as survey, case study, action research, Ethnography etc. According to Yin (2003), there are three conditions to be considered for choosing an appropriate research strategy i.e. : The type of research question The extent of control an investigator has over actual behavioural events. The degree of focus on contemporary as opposed to historical events From the paper of Saunders, et al. (2007), survey approach often uses questionnaires to collect a large amount of data from a sizeable population in a highly economical way. Therefore, the survey approach is usually able to apply a more representative sample among a massive population for the study, trying to achieve generalisibility of the results. The case study, however, according to Denscombe (1998), is an investigation that focuses on detailed, in-depth descriptions and analysis of one or a few organisations. This approach is normally use to explore the phenomenon by in-depth data gained in the research context. This implies that the research results gained by case study cannot be generalized to a larger population due to that the investigation range is limited. By considering this limitation of case study approach, the researcher opted to choose the survey method. Population and Sampling Plan The sample size consists of students, who are the logical key informant related closely to the issue under investigation, as well as the teachers numbering to 10 subjects.   There is no reason to believe that 10 teachers is not a large enough sample size because ultimately it is this individual who works directly with the issue and teachers has the most intimate knowledge of the subject. Basically, the survey respondents are asked regarding their perception towards material culture and graphic designing and students performance. In essence, Guilford Fruchter (1973) argued that in choosing sample sizes, the Slovins formula should be considered. Therefore, in selecting the sample size (100 students) in this paper was identified by Slovins formula. The Slovin (1960) formula is given as: Where: e= needed error margin (percent requirement for non-precision due to the use of the sample as an alternative of the population). N= size of population n = size of sample Data Collection Procedures Yin (2004) provides six different sources of data collection that is commonly used in case study methodology, which include documentation, archival records, interviews, direct observation, participant observation and physical artifacts. The data collection method uses survey and interview that is to take place with the students and teachers, as these are the closest people working with the subject under scrutiny here Material culture and should serve as the key informant. In addition, students are also surveyed to understand how they feel about the use of material culture in their graphic design class since the teacher may provide biased information, however accessing the students is subject to the permission of the teacher who acts as the gatekeeper. If surveying the students is possible the survey that students will fill out will be left on the teachers desk where they can fill it out and return it to a drop box in a closed envelope without a name or other identifying information. The questions for the employees are created after a thorough review of literature. For documentation that refers to secondary information about the material culture and graphic designing, such considerations have been taken to reduce concerns as they would otherwise pertain to bias or the reliability and validity of the findings. Relying on documentation are used even if the students do participate since it strengthens the findings further (Yin, 2003). Documentation specifically includes performance reports and records, or books and journal articles discussing material culture and graphic design. Accessing of the teacher is going to take place by first, sending the school an outline of the study and ethical content forms and arrange meeting, through the telephone or MSN given geographical constraints, to explain what it is the research wishes to do and how it will benefit the organization. Ultimately, what the researcher wants to do is discern how training is able to increase students performance and the mechanisms that school in Singapore has in place to assure this. Executing the above step is useful since the gatekeepers are going to want to protect the interests of their students and the organization (Holloway Walker, 1999). Overall, the approach above is based on negotiation, which as researchers note, â€Å"Access is negotiated and re-negotiated throughout the research process† (Gubrium, Holstein, 2001, p. 301). The teacher was also assured that confidentiality by not releasing information that they do not want to be released and anonymity by using pseudonym s for students, participants and settings will be secured (Daymon Holloway, 2002). It is not unreasonable for the teacher to participate in the study given the steps executed above which are suggested by research methodology practitioners. Finally, research questions are based from the literature as is suggested by research methodology practitioners. Data Analysis To determine the perceptions of the student respondents pertaining to material culture and graphic design, the researcher a set of guide questions for the interview and prepared a questionnaire. A non-threatening questionnaire in nature that can be completed within 30 minutes are considered. The respondents graded each statement in the survey-questionnaire using a Likert scale with a five-response scale wherein respondents are given five response choices. The equivalent weights for the answers are: When the entire information consumer responses have been collected, the researcher used statistics to analyse it; and was assisted by the SPSS in coming up with the statistical analysis for this study. For the details gathered from journals, an evaluation was drawn in order to identify the role of material culture to contemporary graphic design. Moreover, this research will utilise the several statistics in order to determine the differences between their perceptions towards the impact of material culture on students performance and art appreciation. As stated above, the researcher was aided by the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) in the making and creation of the statistical analysis for this study. SPSS is one of the mainly and extensively accessible and potent statistical software packages that has a extensive range of statistical practices, which permits a researcher to sum up information (e.g. calculate standard deviations and means), identify whether there are major differences between groups (e.g., ANOVA t-tests), observe relationships among variables (e.g. multiple regression correlation) and graph output (e.g. line graphs, bar charts, pie chart, etc.) (Sauders, Lewis Thornhill 2007).   Concluding Remarks Significance This study will be a significant endeavour in promoting culture awareness among graphic design students. This study will be beneficial to future leaders. By understanding the needs of the students and the benefits of quality education, these practitioners will be assured of a larger progress performance. Moreover, this research will provide recommendations on how to value students as they are taking a large part in the overall performance of the school quality education. This study would also be of help to those school and market scientists who are interested in finding out the social implications of the boom and the bust phases of the school industry. Moreover, educators can gain from this study, as they find the connection between how they have designed their curriculum and what are the actual needs of the citizens.   In that way, they would be able to make immediate changes, if necessary, or continued improvement of their programs, through further studies. Furthermore, it is hoped that this study would help the students to improve learning and appreciation skill through Material culture in Art and Design at colleges in Singapore because Material culture has many advantages/effectiveness such as retention and motivational factors in accordance to the leaning behavior of student. Thus, student can go deeply into each topic areas they need to learn without lecturer involvement because material culture is related to the history of the arts they are perceiving. Moreover, this paper introduced important changes in our educational system and gives a huge influence to the way we communicate information with students. It would make them as an active participant in their own learning process, instead of just being passive learners of the educational content.   Apparently, this research also hoped can provides an opportunity to gain a greater understanding of the factors that impact on the students experiences of material culture in learning pr ocess. Finally, this study would benefit future researchers in the field of the, education, arts and design management, business and the social sciences since it depicts the future of the school industry and its varying effects to many sectors of society. Limitations This study will only cover material culture as part of studying contemporary graphic design in arts and design for the college students in some colleges in Singapore. Basically, this paper will only cover students selected from semester 1, conducted from some colleges in Singapore. As there are numerous issues surrounding the school, this research will primarily examine program development and performance progress. The outcome of this study will be limited only to the data gathered from books and journals and from the primary data gathered from the result of the questionnaire survey and interview that will be conducted by the researcher. As the research was completed in a relatively short period of time other factors and variables are not considered. This might have an impact on the results of the study.   Basically this research study will enable the researcher to design a quality curriculum that will satisfy the needs of the students. References: (1999). The Culture of Education in the Visual Arts. Retrieved March 24, 2010, from www.orgsites.com Creswell, J.W. (1994). Research design. Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage. Daymon, C. Holloway, I. (2002). Qualitative research methods in public relations and marketing communications. Routledge. Denscombe, M. (1998), The Good Research Guide, Buckingham, Open University Press. Guilford, J.P. Fruchter B. (1973). Fundamental Statistics in Psychology and Education, 5th Edition. New York: Mc Graw-Hill. Holloway, I. Walker, J. (1999). Getting a PhD in health and social care. Wiley. Oliver, S. (2010). The Importance of Visual Arts in Schools. A Free Article. Retrieved March 24, 2010, from www.afreearticle.com Sauders M., Lewis, P. Thornhill, A.(2007). Research method for business students, FT Prentice Hall, Harlow. Yin, R.K. (2003). Case Study Research Design and Method (2nd ed), Sage, Thousand Oaks.

Essay --

Alaina Novotny February 19, 2014 Research Paper Jackie Joyner-Kersee is an intelligent, generous, fun-loving famous African American who happens to also be an Olympic heptathlete. Inspite of growing up in a big family, a dangerous neighborhood, and with little money, she grew up to be the record holder of the long jump and to own many Olympic medals. Jacqueline Joyner, widely known as Jackie Joyner, was born March 3, 1962 in East St. Louis, Illinois. She was named Jacqueline after President John Kennedy’s wife. When she was born, her grandmother predicted, â€Å"Someday this girl will be the first lady of something.† (Source 2) Oddly enough, her prediction came true. The Joyner family consisted of Alfred, Mary, Al, Jackie, Angela, and Debra. Jackie’s family was Baptist. Mary and Alfred Joyner needed to work hard to help support their family, since they married at a young age. Mary worked as a nurse’s assistant at St. Mary’s Hospital. The family was very poor. Most of their dinners were bread and mayonnaise. Also, Jackie only owned one pair of shoes. Additionally, Jackie participated in many different sports. When she was younger, Jackie studied modern dance and she was in a dance group called the Fabulous Dolls. This was what Jackie thought she wanted to do with her life, until her dance coach unexpectedly died. She could not move on after that incident. Along with dance, she was also a cheerleader. She participated most of her sports at Mary E. Brown Community Center. Which included track and field, basketball, and volleyball. She excelled well in every sport she did, especially the ones she did at Mary E. Brown Community Center. Jackie started track and field when she was nine years old. By twelve, she had jumped almost seventeen f... ...ld record holder for long jump. Then, in 1987, she scored the longest legal jump that year by a woman in the United States. However, Jackie ended up retiring from track and field because of her asthma. When she was finished with track and field she joined the Richmond Rage a basketball team in the American Basketball League. She also had enough time to write and publish an autobiography in 1997 titled A New Kind of Grace which was all about the story of how she became an Olympian. Jackie Joyner is known for her determination, bravery, and of course her six Olympic medals but there is more to becoming an amazing athlete than training, you have to be dedicated. She overcame a life of little money and without having much training equipment, to live a life as an Olympian. â€Å"It’s better to look ahead and prepare, than to look back and regret.† –Jackie Joyner (Source 3)

The Devil’s Playground :: Devil Religious Beliefs Creative Writing Essays

The Devil’s Playground Slowly the snow drifted along the sidewalks and streets as he strolled down his own path. Following no particular way but his own, he traveled. Knowing not his destination but only his outcome. His ideas were changed, his beliefs were diminished to that of nothing and his perception of reality was turned upside down. All he knew now was himself and that of his tendencies. His own nature was the only real and raw thing that he was able to hang on to. A life of mistreatment and abuse, his last actions displayed his true feelings. "I should have stopped you in the womb. When I had the chance I should have taken it. YOU, were my worst mistake." "LEAVE! Nobody here wants you nobody here cares for you and there is no place for you. Hide yourself somewhere and do the world a favor." His mother screamed constantly, shaming him to that of nothing but guilt of being alive. It was a common ritual in his OLD household. Then tonight, with the quick flick of a wrist and the glisten of rose red, the shaming ended. The guilt stopped. Then with two more quick and swift movements he finished off what was left to remind him of his past. What would have been witnesses were nothing more than cold and bludgeoned heaps. Ryan lived on the outskirts of the city. Wandering from house to house throughout his childhood he knew not much of the meaning of family. His parents were constantly sending him to foster families for a few weeks at a time then taking him back, only to get a few more pleasurable meetings with him. He was unwanted by all but himself and ignorant to the idea of remorse. He always knew one day, he alone, could stop all his pain and all his suffering but he wasn’t concerned with that right now. In fact, the only things that crossed his mind were, "Right foot, Left foot." It was all he thought of and it was all he spoke of as he walked. He carried the rose red razor in his right hand and his left was clenched tight. His knuckles as white as the snow that surrounded him. His pajama pants and white tee shirt were all he wore. No shoes to protect his feet from the harsh winter cold and snow and no hat to warm his freezing head.

Money and Power Dont Bring Happiness Essay -- Happiness Essays

Abstract Do people who live in more developed and wealthier countries find more happiness than people in lesser developed countries? This paper analyzes the results of happiness between two sets of countries that fall on opposite sides of the industrialization and democratization scale. The results show that people between the two sets of countries are equally happy. It also shows that people in both sets of countries also are equally likely to be happy when finding things like family or friends important. As it turns out, happiness has little to do with GDP or wealth income of one’s country. In the second part of the study, happiness does not change much as a country industrializes. The author explores the point to industrialization and democratizing given one of the main goals of government should be happiness of their people. Review of the Literature It is a generally accepted idea that when countries industrialize, they improve living conditions for everyone in the country most importantly the rural poor. Britian was the first country to industrialize over a century ago, now each country that wishes to follow Britian’s example must use more state intervention. Resources and workers must be moved from rural agriculture to urban life in factories. This theory is known as the Gerschenkronian collective dillema and suggests that countries should want to industrialize and do it quickly with government coercion. Along with more state intervention in the domestic markets, industrialization also includes opening up a countries markets to international free trade. Theories introduced centuries ago by Adam Smith and other neoclassical economists state that countries will be able to increase wealth and gross do... ... of Gandhi. This speech reflects some of the views of Gandhi, himself, such as the lack of need for material items. Overall, this speech illuminates the idea that people must find inner happiness and rely less of the material world around them to get by. http://www.prosperity.com/#!/ (prosperity index) This post talks about the different countries they have analyzed throughout the years. They use a â€Å"prosperity index† by Legatum Institute to figure out and rank the different countries in the world. This index ranks countries according to economy, health, personal freedom and etc. The index shows that small countries like (Norway) can be small and not so developed but have very happy people. It goes to show that happiness is not attained by working more hours but by having more hours with close friends and family. http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/wvs.jsp

Organizational Changes

In the past organizations have been faced with problems of change due to the introduction of new information technologies as the internet .Organizational change occurs when an organization desires to change its overall strategies for achieving its goals, when it wants to add or remove some sections of the organization and when it wants to change its way of operating its business.The leaders and managers are given the responsibility of implementing change in the organizations, but there have been cases where some have failed to carry out their activities because of their own selfish interests, lack of knowledge or ignorance on their part, although some leaders have carried out their activities effectively. It is difficult to implement changes in the organizations but with the good structured programs the organization can effectively implement its changes.In times of change people in organization rarely accept change because it will affect them in one way or another, thus a manager one needs to know how people are empowered in their organization so that they can utilize the skills of all employees in the organization.   Ã‚  People resist change because of individual fears, denial and anger the organization should accept the weaknesses of the workers and they should counsel them since it is at this particular time they require help so that they can accept themselves and assist them to perform as required. In cases where there are the employees are resisting changes at all circumstances they should be given other duties to perform.In the case of politics and prose bookstore in Washington D.C of Barbara Meade and Carla Cohen they owed the business but they decided to hire an independent manager known as Danny Gainsburg to run the business. The management failed to recognize the fact that employees who had worked in the organization were supposed to be empowered so that they could carry out the task of running the management but the management employed a different person this led to conflicts.The management should have empowered its own employees in to the organization since they had acquired  the necessary skill to run the business.   With the appointment of Mr. Danny Gainsburg as an entrepreneur in to the organization was a big threat to the organization since he had his own way of running the organization since he was not previously employed in the organization.When employees are empowered they are able to accomplish the tasks that they are assigned to do since they are given the powers and authority to do their tasks as they have been asked to do and this gives them the motivation to pursue their jobs effectively.Another factor that would   lead to the process of implementing the changes of the business the employees are   practices such as flexible job assignment in terms jobs rotations or flexible schedules this provides employees with a better overview of the organization and gives them the opportunity to improve and training w ould give employees a better understanding of the techniques used and potentially increase their capacity to deal with problems incentive pays such as line incentives, power sharing and bonuses would be used to reward the employees.For change to be made effective the top management must support the change process they must provide workshop, extra time, resources, and training to the employees so as to enable change to be implemented effectively in the organization. The top management must also train, coach, and manage the process they can accomplish this by re-arranging workloads, and allowing other workers to take part in the change process. The workers must be motivated by giving them staff leaves, overtime pays, and they must be encouraged to view work so that they can effectively achieve their goals.The organization must create a conducive environment for the workers so that they can accomplish their tasks these includes allowing them to correct their mistakes and punishing thos e who need to be punished since they have been known to resist change. The organizations needs to evaluate update and periodically improve its policies, procedures, plans, communication methods, new technologies, values, performance appraisals so that it can conform to what its expected to do and this can result in better results for the organization. http://www.managementhelp.org/misc/reqrs-for successful-change.pdf  Ms Meade and Ms Cohen should have communicated the changes of organization and this would have ensured that the employees were made aware of their tasks in the organization thus be able to achieve the objectives of the organization and the task of implementing the changes of the organization.At the time when the management informed the staff about the appointment of Mr. Gains burg in to the organization the appointment was appreciated because the employees were prepared to receive him although other people did not accept him since he didn’t have the necessary experience of carrying his activities. For Gainsburg to have learnt how to deal with the problems of the organization, he set standards that would ensure that he interacted properly with the employees, had an understanding of the duties and roles of the employees and this eliminated chances of getting a negative response from them.Ms Meade and Ms Cohen move to sell the organization without the employees knowledge was a wrong move since the employees should have been informed about the move so that they could prepare themselves adequately for the change since this would mean that they would lose jobs since a new management would bring in new employees in the organization.In course of doing business the organization realized high sales from its competitor the Barnes and noble Inc and borders group inc they said their success was attributed from having their staff being motivated, having the staff with the right skills and knowledge of doing their business and the employees being charg ed with the responsibility of handling all matters of the organization and this factors made the employees work effectively. Ms Meade and Ms Cohen should have motivated, chosen the right personnel in to the organization so that they would carry out their activities effectively and this would have boosted the performance of the company tremendously.The management decision to employ Mr. Gainsburg as a partner in to the organization was unexpected because he spend most of his time with owners of the business hence he acquired the knowledge of how the business was being run thus he became the manager of the organization. Under Mr. Gainsburg leaderships in these bookstores he brought changes since he had acquired the experience to run the business, he ensured changes were implemented effectively and he informed the employees about the all that was to be done. The duties and roles of the employees were defined thus he was able to carry out his task effectively.The other reason why Mr. Gai nsburg could have succeeded in running the business is that he had employees who worked as a team and did their work effectively and this lead to the businesses success.  He had personal attributes that lead to the success of the business such as he was ready to take the risk of taking up a business that was not performing; he was humble since he took time to learn the business. He was aggressive as he listened to the criticism of others and he accepted new ideas of operating the business and thus was able to take the opportunities that the business had this led to the successful implementations of the organizationMr. Danny Gains burg learnt   ideas that enabled him   achieve its objectives these were: he established the analyzes of competition and identified the problem of the organization and he led the team to change, he created a vision for the organization which acted as a guide on how the business was to be led, he communicated the vision, strategies and the expected beh avior of the employees towards the job, he identified people who could implement change and he ensured that the changes became part of the organizational culture for long-term transformation and growth.The success of the organizations performance was as a result of the new management being given the authority to carry out its activities independently with no interference of the other departments, the management gave the employees the rights of doing their business and also trained the staff on the right mechanisms of carrying out the business and a better environment for the business was created which enhanced quality results for the organization.In order to improve productivity in to the organizations employees must benefit financially from their contribution. This means that the employees must be motivated so that they can produce good results for the organization; they must be given incentives as good pay job security, job flexibility and leisure periods.   Ã‚  The members of t he organization should be enlightened on the need for change because people resist changes in the organization because of fear of the unknown, the inadequacy to deal with change and they fear the effect that change will have on their jobs.For the organization to successful implement changes in the organization it must implement plans that consist of activities that can make change in the organization to be effective. The plans can include creating or modifying structures and processes in the organization, loading, training and enforcement of new policies and procedures must be carried out so as to ensure that the changes can be implemented effectively.Organizational change efforts should be geared towards improving the performance of the organization and the people of the organization. There are tools know as system thinking and system theory this can enable an employee to explore, understand and communicate about the progress of change process effectively. An employee needs to unde rstand himself, his biases and know he manages feedback and conflict and how he makes decision so that he can be able to interact with the other people in the organization and can bring about good results to the organization. Change agents should be honest in their work and they should set good principles that will promote the successful implementation of change process.The organizational barriers that an organization faces are when the staff of organizations other neglects their obligations .In other circumstances change can’t be accomplished because the top officials fail to recognize and to manage the workers who contribute to the development of the organization the workers.Another factor that would lead to the process of implementing the changes of the business the employees are practices such as flexible job assignment in terms jobs rotations or flexible schedules this provides employees with a better overview of the organization and gives them the opportunity to improve and training would give employees a better understanding of the techniques used and potentially increase theirThe management may fail to explain the importance of change to the organization failure to provide information, failure of the employees to consult when they are encountered with problems failure of the employees to negotiate with other staff and failure of the employees to relate properly with other colleagues in the organization and failure of the top management to build trust and a sense of security to their officials   thus the employees may not have the know how of conducting their businesses. The top officials may ignore the ideas of the other junior staff since they fear that they will be intimidated by their juniors.In most cases change efforts fail because the managers fail to recognize that the way employees behave in different ways thus dealing with their behaviors can be a difficult task thus the management must be trained on the effective methods of implement ing changes in the organization,Due to changes that have occurred in the organization   the managers must properly structure their policies in the areas such in the rules and procedures of the organization,rewardsystems ,corporate identities and career planning programs .The management should at all times consult the experts when they implementing changes in the organization .The employees should change their attitude about how they conduct their activities so they can allow decisions of the organization to be implemented effectively.

Business Strategy and the Importance of Data-Driven Decision Making Essay

Good decisiveness do is arguably the most important skill a booming coach-and-four burn possess, precisely the ability to submit trenchant decisivenesss on an on-going basis requires non only if comprehension and experience, unless also the decently in gradeation. In fact, Garrison, Noreen, and Brewer (2012) identify natural, entropy-driven decisiveness devising as a short letter attractors most basic motorbusial skill.That basic skill plays a vituperative role in helping a manager formulate and lean a thriving short letter scheme. Managers motivation main course to relevant diachronic info and projections to name adroit, fact base decisions. The implement of art parole and analytics has bring the cornerst bingle of schema formulation and implementation across corporations around the globe. Access to relevant info is a necessity in not only formulating a phone line dodge, unless in monitoring the motion of that dodging.The hold of data for e ffective decision fashioning is not a juvenile concept, but since the introduction of the fit identity card by Robert Kaplan and David Norton in 1996, the use of data to support decision making has rejoindern off. In addition, the adoption of change technologies has speed the use of data-driven decision making. Whether its an operations manager monitoring key in operation(p) indicators or a sales manager forecasting sales revenue, appropriate data and the technologies which enable its most effective use, ar key necessities in making intelligent and timely decisions.Formulating and executing a line of descent schema is a basic emergency for just about whatsoever patronage, but making good decisions is the difference amongst a no-hit concern and one that goes bankrupt. The key to making those intelligent decisions that wait on in the formulation and execution of instrument of a successful business system is the use of data to support those decisions. As an bespea k to their equilibrise wit concept, Robert Kaplan and David Norton (2001) describe how to successfully live up to a business strategy by creating an organization where everyone is focus on strategy.At the tit of their court was their veritable balanced circuit card which provides a digest of relevant data for managers. In their following book, they expand their original concept by making strategy a precedency for everyone involved in the organization (2001). Although, Kaplan and Norton focused on business strategy, what they really succeeded in doing was putting data at the heart of every business border in every organization that adopted their approach. They enabled data-driven decision making as a by-product of designing a successful appliance for executing business strategy. Kaplan and Norton understood that having access to relevant data was the key to successful decision making.Since Kaplan and Norton, the use of data-driven decision making has expanded. Today, ag gregating, displaying, and analyzing data is referred to as business intelligence and analytics. Laursen and Thorlund (2010) contend that the deployment of business analytics and a business strategy be tightly linked. compend of important data sources and methods be a critical component of overall strategy development and decision making (2010). Today, successful business leadershiphip not only recognize the use of data to grow effective decisions, but they demand it. Although companies are capitalizing on the use of business intelligence and analytics today, its clear the use of data as a tool for decision making had its roots in Kaplan and Nortons balanced scorecard (1996).The balanced scorecard concept was originally proposed by Kaplan and Norton (1996) as a delegacy to measure a companys performance and execute the company strategy. It was an improvement on the tralatitious method of using monetary administrations to rails performance (1996). Kaplan and Nortons balan ced scorecard became the norm for not only mensuration performance, but also as the prefer method for executing business strategy (1996). Although the use of data was nothing red-hot in business, the balanced scorecard gave way of life to an era of using data for making critical business decisions. I submit been involved in business oppositions for a number of years with business leaders from operations managers to senior executives.Each meeting from operations reviews to performance or strategy always includes the review of some form of scorecard with critical business data. obviously adopting the balanced scorecard approach is not sufficient though. Managers must choose a method for implementing the approach that is efficient and gets the right data to the right people when they need it the use of business intelligence can accomplish this goal (Paladino, 2008). dividing linees have accept the value of critical business intelligence, but some have taken the approach a step further. The most successful companies have adopted helpful business intelligence technologies available today to perfect the use of the balanced scorecard approach. take business intelligence tools on the marketplace optimize the use of data for intelligent decision making by victorious volumes of data and making it easy to access, shape, and amplify to quickly fit the needs of the business. These enabling technologies allow a company to efficiently use data to formulate and execute a sound business strategy. championship Intelligence offerings from SAP, IBM, Oracle, and Microsoft represent more than than half of the tools available in the market and are often tailored to specific industries (Henschen, 2012).For example, iLog is a business rule management system product from IBM that enables an indemnity company to get on a list of business rules that make a decision on whether or not an individual is approved for coverage base on user remark (IBM ILOG, 2009). An ind ividual enters all pertinent reading into a form on the insurance policy companys web rate (powered by the ILOG product), and a decision based on coverage is immediately provided. An insurance company whose business strategy outlines process and operational optimization and improving customer acquisition is better positioned to execute that strategy with such a product. ILOG however is pitch toward a more specific purpose.The more common business intelligence technologies take volumes of company and market data and organize it in such a way that provides a summary of valued business indicators. These technologies enable managers to make more aware decisions by having the right data pronto available.Intelligent decision making is a complex process that requires a cabal of experience and intuition, but most importantly, the use of the right supporting data. The formulation and execution of a successful business strategy requires managers to make a number of intelligent decision s. Having access to relevant data to make those intelligent decisions is the key to success. Integrating the balanced scorecard into the heart of a business management system as defined by Kaplan and Norton (2001) is, in fact, a way to integrate data into every business process within an organization.More youthful business intelligence and analytics technologies have do adopting these methodologies much easier for businesses. Managers are finding that an investment funds in enabling technologies yields significant financial results through efficiency and optimization. There is a common element that exists within any organization that has developed and executed a sound business strategy. Within separately business, you will find a manager or team of business leaders who recognized and implemented the use of data to drive their decision making.ReferencesGarrison, R. H., Noreen, E. W., & Brewer, P. C. (2012). Managerial news report (14th ed.). Boston, MA McGraw-Hill Learning Soluti ons.Henschen, D. (2012). Advanced analytics. InformationWeek, (1351), 7-15. Retrieved from http//search.proquest.com/docview/1220681098?accountid=7083 IBM ILOG Solutions for Insurance. (2009, July). IBM packet Group Solution Brief. Retrieved February 18, 2013, fromhttp//www-304.ibm.com/easyaccess/fileserve?contentid=193615 Kaplan, Robert S., and David P. Norton. The Balanced carte du jour Translating Strategy into Action. Boston, MA Harvard air School, 1996. Print.Kaplan, R. S., & Norton, D. P. (2001). The Strategy-Focused cheek How balanced scorecard companies thrive in the new business environment. Boston, MA Harvard Business School Press.Laursen, G. H., & Thorlund, J. (2010). Business Analytics for Managers Taking Business Intelligence Beyond Reporting. Hoboken, NJ Wiley.Paladino, B., & Williams, N. (2008). moving strategy forward Merging the balanced scorecard and business intelligence. Business movement Management Magazine, 6(2), 12-17. Retrieved from http//search.proquest .com/docview/218349922?accountid=7083