Roles, Responsibilities, and Relationships in Lifelong Learning Essay Example for Free

Roles, Responsibilities, and Relationships in Lifelong Learning Essay Roles, Responsibilities and Relationships in Lifelong Learning In this assignment I will be addressing the role of a teacher, their responsibilities to their learners and the relationships a teacher has with other professionals. I will also look at my own role and responsibilities in the lifelong learning sector and how I can meet the needs of my learners while working within the boundaries of the role of a teacher. This assignment will explain how to meet the needs of learners through referral to specialist professionals and how to promote appropriate behaviour in a safe and supportive learning environment which values equality and diversity. Government legislation dictates certain behaviour and actions to be taken by a teacher in given situations. The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Act 2001 (SENDA) provides legal rights for disabled students whom are at a ‘substantial disadvantage’ that the responsible bodies require reasonable steps to be taken to prevent that disadvantage. These steps could include physical changes to the educational establishment, delivering course material relative to the needs of the learner and providing learning material in different formats. The Equality Act 2006 was passed to establish the Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR). The CEHR has a statutory remit to promote and monitor human rights; and to protect, enforce and promote equality across the nine protected grounds age, disability, gender, race, religion and belief, pregnancy and maternity, marriage and civil partnership, sexual orientation and gender reassignment (EHRC 2013). This makes sure that discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief within public functions, education and several other areas. They also place a duty on public authorities to promote equal opportunities between men and women. These legislations, along with many more, place responsibility on me as a teacher to be able to deliver the same criteria to learners regardless of gender, social background and ability. Working in a young offender’s institute I only deliver lessons to males aged 15 to 18. These young people however are at different levels of education, have varied social backgrounds and ethnicity. It is my responsibility to ensure these learners can all complete the necessary tasks to achieve a qualification. If I do not feel I have the resources personally to meet the special needs of an individual learner then I can refer them to any of the more specialized staff within the establishment such as SenCo for special educational needs or YOT for help getting the learner into further education when their sentence is fully served or during their sentence if possible. The learners can display negative attitudes towards other young people or staff of differing social backgrounds or ethnicities. It is my responsibility to challenge these negative attitudes in an attempt at changing the perception the learner has about these people by discussing the effects that their opinions have on individuals. If I feel I am not reaching the learner and their views are not changing I can refer them to the chaplaincy or their keyworker who can provide relevant courses that are aimed at these specific areas. It is important that I promote the relevance of equality to the learners so that they feel comfortable sharing a work space with others of differing race or gender. Through this the learners will then learn to value and respect diversity in people and what a person from differing backgrounds can offer, rather than use it as a barrier to their own learning. In my role as a teacher it is my responsibility to identify and meet the needs of my learners. I can identify some of their needs before I have any contact with them by asking for any information ESS or SenCo have about any learning needs I should be aware of such as dyslexia so I can adapt learning material for them. Once I am aware of the learner’s specific needs then I can talk to them about achievable targets to set which they agree to and set these targets out in their ILP (Individual Learning Plan). I find that learner’s are more receptive to targets that they have agreed to rather than targets they have forced upon them. This can help if a learner has problems with authority as they see they are working with the teacher towards their own goals. Everyone wants structure in their lives, and no more so than your most poorly behaved students (Cowley 2005). Keeping problems from inappropriate behaviour to a minimum is important for all in the class as it is disruptive for all learners. It is important that I set out what is appropriate behaviour once a learner has started on my course. We discuss what they think is expected of them and what I expect of them and sign an agreement which outlines these expectations. Now the learner is aware of how they should behave during their time with me I positively reinforce their good behaviour with praise during the lesson for good work, at the end of the lesson I point out a few things they did well and at the end of the week I have well done slips I give to learners who have produced good work and behaved well all week. These slips allow the learner points to spend on items from the shop on their wing and when issued are recorded as positive behaviour on C-Nomis to make other professionals aware that the learner has performed well. And if your students do choose to push the barriers you have given them, you must be prepared to sanction them accordingly (Cowley 2005). However if a learner is misbehaving during lesson time I will remind them of the agreed behaviour expected of them, if their behaviour fails to improve I will ask them if they have any issues outside of class that could be causing them to ‘act out’ and if I cannot help with these issues I will refer them to another professional who can help such as their personal officer. If their poor behaviour continues I can record this on C-Nomis to make other professionals aware that this behaviour needs addressing. In teaching in a prison keeping on top of learner behaviour helps maintain a safe learning environment as if I allow certain poor behaviour to go unchallenged it could lead to dangerous situations. Also each learner is made aware of various health and safety issues they may face during class time as when they start the course they need to complete a health and safety unit. This covers areas such as spotting hazards, using fire extinguishers and working on portable access equipment safely. Involving the learner in identifying risks and hazards within the class environment helps them realise these dangers. Within a safe learning environment each learner can focus on their individual tasks and I can focus on their individual needs. When each learners needs are being met and the learners feel they can ask for help from their teacher a supportive environment has been achieved. As a teacher in the lifelong learning sector I must be responsible for having the relevant skills and qualifications to fulfil their role. Having appropriate levels of skill in literacy and numeracy means I can produce materials for the learners to use and keep record of the progress the learners are making. Most worksheets and lesson plans are produced using a personal computer; this would not be possible if I was without the necessary ICT skills. Various interpersonal and life skills are required to be a good teacher such as; being adaptive, committed, confident, creative, decisive, diplomatic, enthusiastic, focused, honest, intelligent, patient, organised, positive, professional, reliable, responsible and supportive. These skills and many more enable me to create a positive learning environment where learners can achieve their potential and as I evaluate myself I can ever improve the learning experience. When teaching a subject it is important that I have the relevant skills, qualifications and experience within this subject to be able to deliver quality lessons. It is imperative that I identify the needs of each individual learner so the learners feel valued and can receive appropriate tutorials and assessment for their level of ability as they achieve. I must also meet the needs of the organization I work for by following the code of conduct the organization has produced. I will continue to attend CPD (Continual Personal Development) events to further develop and expand my skills to the benefit of my learners. In my role as a teacher I have a responsibility to other professionals to keep my lesson punctual so it does not over run into another teacher’s lesson and that I inform other teachers or colleagues of any behavioural problems with specific learners so appropriate measures can be applied to remedy this. While I like to keep my learning environment relaxed and friendly it is important to be aware of the boundaries in my role as a teacher. These boundaries mean I should not become over familiar with my learners which could be detrimental to the learning environment and deal with learner’s emotional problems in a professional manner referring them to other professionals who are there to accommodate these needs. These boundaries differ from other professionals as they are specific to a teaching role and are vital for keeping a teacher safe in their practice. In summary a teacher has many important roles and responsibilities to learners choosing to continue their personal development in lifelong learning and must always strive to improve the learning environment within current legislation.

Project Management Definition And Importance Information Technology Essay

Project Management Definition And Importance Information Technology Essay This paper has the purpose to discuss about project management and its importance in the business world. It will then refer to project life management and the advantages of project management to companies. Another concept to be discussed is planning in the project life cycle and ways in which critical thinking and research is mandatory in planning. The paper will refer to project organizations, the importance of sponsorship and leadership, as well as project team building (and how to build and efficient and successful team). Work breakdown structures are also points of interest in this paper as they will be discussed at some point. Lastly, I will refer to project management software in large project and the advantages to use them. Project Management Definition and Importance According to Ohlendorf (2001), project management is a methodological approach to achieving agreed upon results within a specified time frame with defined resources. Project managers will make use of skills, knowledge, different tools and techniques to various activities to meet project requirements. So, the three constraints that project management is concerned of are: time, costs, and performance. Project management is important in businesses for various reasons, such as: compression of the product life-cycle, knowledge explosion, triple bottom line, corporate downsizing, increased customer focus, small projects represent big problems, and others. Project management is important because one of its purposes is to compress or to shorten the product life cycle. One of the projects that I have been part of was to mount a wind turbine on a field. This way a repeating project that has been implemented for more than 20 years. However, since project management concepts have become wide known we have focused on shortening the implementation of this type of project. Project management has helped in succeeding it. It is interesting that knowledge explosion represent the fact that the growth in knowledge has boosted up project complexity as projects tend to use latest advancements if their budget is appropriate. Take for example the fact that building a hotel 80 or 90 years ago was not so hard given the fact that there have not been so many regulations in this area. In the present days, it is a complex process as the builders and project managers need to take consideration of many building codes and also seismic codes to design and build a hotel. This is why the importance of project management has increased a lot. Another reason is triple bottom line which is represented by the planet, the people, and the profit. According to Larson and Gray (2011), business can no longer simply concentrate on the maximization of profits to the detriment of the environment and the society as well. Business have to be more socially and environmentally responsible in what concerns sustainability and durability because the preservation of life on earth and the preservation of earth itself has become one of the most important purposes in the past one hundred years. Project management is important because of the increased customer focus. This means that in the past years, since the competition became bigger and bigger, since more companies from the same industry join the same market, businesses tend to focus on their customers and on their wellbeing, most importantly on increasing the wellbeing for the purpose of reaching competitive advantage. Project Life-Cycle Management and Its Benefits According to Larson and Gray (2011), another way to illustrate the original nature of project work is through project life cycle, which is composed of four stages: defining stage, planning stage, executing stage, and closing stage. The first stage of the project is where the specifications are defined and the objectives are established. This is also the stage when teams are formed and responsibilities are assigned to each team member. The second stage of the project life cycle is the planning stage which is when plans are being created with the purpose of determining what the project will include, determining the schedule of the project, the ones to benefit from it, the budget, as well as the level of quality that is needed. The executing stage is where the work to complete the project takes place. This is when physical and mental work is needed. Most of the physical work is done by less intellectual prepared employees (however, they have good skills), while most of the mental work is done by knowledge base workers such as directors or managers. To make sure that everything goes according to plan, managers implement means of control and evaluation, such as: time measures, cost measures, and specification measures. The last stage of the project life cycle is represented by the closing stage, which according to Larson and Gray (2011), includes three activities: delivering the project product or service to the customers, redeploying some or all of the resources of a project, and post-project reviews. Through delivery methods we understand transfer of documents or customer training. Through redeploying resources we understand the ability of using the resources of the project in the completion of other projects. Through post-project reviews we understand assessment of performance and also capturing the lessons learned by getting the project to the completion date. There was once a project on one of my former workplaces where we had to build a house for someone. We had to create a work team for this project. I was in charge with leading the project. I remember that we used project life cycle to get this project to completion. In the defining stage of the project life cycle we assessed the specifications of the project such as the materials we would need, the time to complete each phase, the papers that we need to get from the authorities, and other specifications that were relevant to the project. We have also established the objectives for the project, we created work teams and we assigned responsibilities to everyone. I remember that the work teams created have been created in a smart way because people with qualities in the same area would be in the same team (for example people good at infrastructure would be in the same team). The planning phase was where we referred to specific details of the project and the level of quality that is desir ed while in the execution stage we did most of the work to get the house built. Several methods of control have been present and we compared the initial established standards with the results of our actions. This way we tried to keep a good level of quality. Lastly, in the closing stage we evaluate the way the project was undertaken and completed and we kept the results for future use when other similar projects will be needed. In the closing stage we have also delivered the house to the customer along with certain instructions of how to use it. Leadership and Sponsorship in Project Organizations According to Stanford University (2007), some of the roles of sponsors in projects are: accountability, strategic fit, resources, project financing, lead political change, and own the final product. Some of the specific duties related to these responsibilities are to: keep the project on track, be available when consultation is needed, to make sure that the project is in line with the strategic goals of the company, to provide or located project resources, to provide or locate project funding, to be clear and specific with the end results, and others. Project sponsors are important and they need to be treated accordingly because they are key players for the company as it tries to reach its objectives. Keeping the project sponsor informed and updated is also important because the sponsor has the power to cut or give extra resources and funds to a project. When it comes to leadership, Winston (n.d.) thinks that a leader can be one or more people to select, to train, to equip, and to influence one or more followers who have different abilities, gifts, and skills, and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“focuses the follower to the organizationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s mission and objectives causingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  them to expand energy to reach the organizational objectives. This may be a quite long definition; however, a leader is someone to inspire other people and the concept of leadership is really important in project management. Project Team Building and WBS Creating a project team may be a difficult task; nevertheless it is an important process that needs to be properly assessed if a company wants to reach positive results when it comes to different projects. According to Larson and Gray (2011) there are five stages in creating a good project team. These stages are: forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. The first stage of the team creation is when members get to know each other and understand the purposes and scope of the project. This is when they need to identify rules that will be used with the team. The second stage, storming, is usually when members fight with each other as they try to find a way to get along and start working as a team. The third stage of team creation is norming and this is when the team members create closer relationships with each other and they form a cohesive team. The fourth stage is performing and it is when the team is fully operational and the team members have developed tight connections with each other. This is where the team works efficiently. Adjourning is the last stage in team creating and it is when team members prepare to separate from the team. As we can see, team creation is a process consisting of various stages that have to be browsed accordingly. Team building is important in project management because tight teams can provide more efficie nt parameters for project completion. To get the work done more efficiently, teams and project managers use work-breakdown structures. Successively subdividing project work into smaller work elements is creating a work breakdown structure which helps project managers in making sure that all work elements and products are identified in order to integrate the project with the organizations and also to determine a control basis. WBS is important in project management because it helps projects to become more understandable and it helps specific work elements to be assigned to people skilled on a certain area. By breaking down the work into smaller elements, WBS has provided clear and more comprehensive schedules and plans for managers, as well as for the people getting the work done. Project Management Software in Large Integrated Programs Along with work breakdown structures, large projects need software to assist them into getting the project to completion. This is also good for project management because it provides ways to better handle the projects and the activities related to them. Take for example software to handle work schedule for employees in a large company. These employees work in shifts and the shifts have to change now and then because some workers cannot work only at night while others during the day. Imagine how hard it is to manage this type of schedule without software to handle it, considering there are more than 1,000 workers to be included into this schedule. Also, project management software is useful in the areas of cost, time, and performance by trying to find ways to reduce the duration of certain stages in project life, reducing different costs related to these stages, as well as achieving higher level of performances through a better management of resources, a better management of quality, and a better management of human power. Conclusion This paper provided different concepts into understanding project management and ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s important in the corporate world. It referred to project life cycle, to team building along with its stages, to leadership and to the importance of sponsor in projects, and to work breakdown structures and the ways in which they can help projects be more comprehensible. Lastly, I have discussed about project management software and its critical importance in large companies undertaking large projects. It has to be concluded that project management has become a mandatory discipline in corporations that want the best out of their resources.

Drama Essays Shakespeares Tempest

Drama Essays Shakespeares Tempest The conflict and contrast between the utopian ideals and Elizabethan politics presented in Shakespeares The Tempest The play opens with a description of a terrifying and relentless storm that wrecks the ship belonging to the King of Naples, Alonso. The wreck drifts onto the shore of Properos island but the force of the sea is insuperable, and the boatswain appeals to the noblemen, crying out that they are hindering the others. He calls to Gonzalo, If you can command these elements to silence, and work the peace of the present, we will not hand a rope more. Antonio and Sebastian are also rebuked by the boatswain, and reminded of the inefficacy of their social status is nothing in such a critical situation, invoking their wrath, while simultaneously hinting at the bias of the play. We suspect the boatswain will be proven right, and that Shakespeare gently asks us to heed the rude wisdom of the common pragmatists, even or especially- the context of ostensibly decadent theatricality. Hence from the start we are presented with an intriguing balance of high romantic drama, opinionated political commentary, and fragile idealism. The shipwreck symbolises considerably more than what it appears to at first. It is no mere vehicle for the themes of the play to hitch a lift on, it is representative of an entire societys collapse into irretrievable disarray. Indeed, it may be representative of the doom faced by all faulty societies. As such it is a moral vehicle, carrying an apparently disparate group of frightened and confused figures to their ide ntical destiny. As Soji Iwasaki writes, A voyage is often a symbol of the progress of a mans life, and the sea is symbolic of Fortune; a shipwreck is a typical instance of bad fortune, while a ship sailing before a fair wind is an image of good fortune. Sometimes a ship at sea serves as a symbol of the Church, in which the whole congregation sails over the sea of ProvidenceIn The Tempest it is Goddess Fortune (1.2.178) that drives Alonsos ship towards the island of Prospero, where a tempest is caused by Prosperos magic. Prospero judges the ship to be full of sinfull soules, a reference to the political crimes of the characters on board. The King of Naples was guilty of usurping the Milanese dukedom, Antonio betrayed Prospero- his own brother, while Sebastian, Stephano and Trinculo are all intrinsically evil. In fact the only figure to escape judgement is Gonzalo, a harmless courtier. These figures will not find their arbitration in the next life, by some god-figure, though, as Shakespeare takes pains to emphasise. Prospero is the only figure with deific power, literary or figurative, in the play: his magical powers, clearly, serve a metaphorical purpose, symbolising the power of rhetoric and the force that lies behind absolute righteousness. Since Prospero has been wronged, Shakespeare seems to (fatalistically) say, he will vindicate himself using the power that comes from knowledge and wisdom- just synonyms for what is called magic in the play. Prospero knows how to rebuke and is wise enough to fin d forgiveness in his heart. As the ship will eventually return to Naples, the plays theme arguably evolves into dealing with the ruin and rebirth of a commonwealth. Between the first, highly symbolic tempest scene, and the final heraldic manoeuvre, the plays action all occurs on the island. Prospero reveals to Miranda the truth he has kept from her for twelve years, since her infancy. He tells her of his brother, her uncle, Antonios usurpation of his dukedom of Milan and the hardship they were forced to endure as a result. While Antonio behaved callously by acting on his jealous desire to take over his brothers dukedom, Prospero was partially to blame too, since he had been preoccupied with his private, obsessive studies of cultivation of the mind, neglecting all the state business (1.2.89-97) to which he admits he should have been more committed. By handing the state affairs over to Antonio and investing so much trust in him, Prospero unwittingly sewed seeds of ambition in his brother, instigating his own down fall. As Iwasaki describes it, Prospero committed a double offence: he forgot the balance between action and meditation that, as sovereign ruler, he should remember, and he also made a mistake in trusting the wrong person, a mistake which a ruler should never make. Ficino reports on the same problem. No reasonable being doubts that there are three kinds of life: the contemplative, the active, and the pleasurable (contemplativa, activa, voluptuosa). And three roads to felicity have been chosen by men: wisdom, power, and pleasure (sapientia, potentia, voluptas). Renaissance humanists aspired to a harmony of the three. Prospero chides himself for his youthful pursuit of the contemplative, where his preoccupation with esoteric learning came at the price, eventually, of his political power. Prospero may be paying some kind of price, but it is very difficult to read the Tempest as a cautionary text. Shakespeares attitude to power and wisdom is not so clear cut, there appears to be more than one kind of power and more than one kind of wisdom, after all, and although this is not recognised explicitly by the characters in the play (who operate on the Ficino model), Shakespeare wryly alludes to the holes in the world-view of his people. Shakespeare knows that there is power beyond and after usurpation, a power beyond the political and more powerful than any government- and it is a sort of wisdom. He represents it in the only way he can- symbolically- as magic. Prosperos power is also inextricable from his idealism, too. He has transposed his ownersh ip, the projected environment that has come to signify his sense of self, onto the Island. Thus his ideal society as an image has been projected onto a wild and natural, complicated, uncontrollable and antisocial, setting. In fact, wild and frightening imagery very often accompanies a commentary on a social naivety, and naivety about the limits and nature of power. The first scene, with the tempest and the useless noblemen, springs to mind immediately for reasons I have already explored, and the scene where Caliban is introduced makes the same point soon after, as he speaks bitterly and fearfully of Prospero, Enter CALIBAN with a burden of wood. A noise of thunder heard CALIBAN All the infections that the sun sucks up From bogs, fens, flats, on Prosper fall and make him By inch-meal a disease! His spirits hear me And yet I needs must curse. But theyll nor pinch, Fright me with urchinshows, pitch me i the mire, Nor lead me, like a firebrand, in the dark Out of my way, unless he bid em; In many ways Caliban embodies Shakespeares preoccupation with exposing the popular but inaccurate conceptions of what constitutes power, The play also fails to question Calibans position as a savage and slave, and seems to validate and legitimise it by his behaviour and his attempted rape of the sweet Miranda. In many ways the play acts out the treatment of indigenous people by Europeans. The values system of Caliban is silenced and simply seen as barbaric. He is costructed as the Other, different from Europeans and therefore naturally inferior (But thy vile race-/Though thou didst learn had that int which good/natures/Could not abide to be with; therefore wast thou/Deservedly confined into this rock). If we see Caliban as representative of the indigenous peoples dispossessed by European colonisers the previous quotations certainly shows how it is his race and nature that makes him inferior, even though the benevolent Whites tried so valiantly to make him human. Caliban is supremely ironical, then, since he is the least civilised but the most symbolically loaded: the most powerful on the level of reading (or viewing) a play- the only character who represents more information than his actions will ever reveal. Prospero, by contrast, finds himself judged and committed entirely by his actions, although his power actually lies in his psychological strength: his knowledge and wisdom. In fact, Caliban and Prospero, as characters, represent two sides of this play about politics and idealism. While Prospero is a meditator who is treated for his activity, Caliban is an activator and catalyst of discourse who is treated only as intellectually weak. Both characters are more active in their capacity as viewed figures than as real people within the universe of the play, however, underlining one of the many ways in which that this play is idealistic: its potential for bypassing narrative viewing and settling at an ideological operative level. Prospero onl y works when we suspend our assumptions about realism and begin hearing in his voice the tones of Shakespeare himself, when we cease assuming that this character should be literal and real not affecting a performance. Prospero and Caliban, like, perhaps most of the characters in The Tempest, exceed mimesis and function as narrators of their own lives. Their words, then, express their own ideals, and between the lines of the words they say we can be sensitive to the playwrights attitudes to the naivety that informed the politics and idealism of his own society, The Tempest is Shakespeares dramatization of his political ideas concerning the state and the prince. Prosperos island is a model of a commonwealth: Prospero is the king, his magic a symbol of his absolute power, Ariel the agent of his government, and Caliban all the subjects (1.2.341) Shakespeare makes much of the criminally large amount of trust Prosperos invested in his brother. As Iwasaki notes, Prospero was not an ideal prince in his trusting his brother nor in his neglect of a life of action; his loss of the dukedom was a result of his disqualification as a prince. He did not put realpolitik into practice. Alonso is another failure as a sovereign ruler. Having sent in marriage his daughter Claribel to a far-off country, he has now lost his only son and heir Ferdinand to his great sorrow. The political uneasiness of a kingdom with no prospect of its future succession is analogous to the actual situation of the Virgin Queens commonwealth, in which succession problems caused political unrest and governmental debates Theory aside, there are keen racial implications, entangled in the rhetoric of ostensible politically sensitive play. The Tempest has generally been read as a play about forgiveness and reconciliation, change and transformation, illusion and magic and the Prosperos usurpation. Such interpretations generally privilege the attitudes of noble, educated Europeans- in particularly those of Prospero. Such readings are in danger of nulling Calibans rights and silencing his appeal for freedom. A postcolonial reading leads to another reading entirely: The Tempest can then be appreciated as allegorical, referencing the exploitation of indigenous races, with Caliban as a single figure standing for the natives of the New World who were dispossessed and exploited by the European powers. Caliban voices the indignance of the natives who were widely treated as inferior and even sub-human because of their skin colour and their differing cultural traits- which lead to their social marginalisation as u ncivilised. Due to their widely accepted, aggressive branding as inferior creatures, the natives were exploited to benefit the economy, through their capture and subsequent use as slaves. Arguably, the manner of representing race in The Tempest suffers from being heavily and naively Eurocentric. Calibans physicality evidences his difference, which is arrogantly equated with inferiority, something even found in his name which is almost an anagram of cannibal. Yet I have argued that Shakespeare is conscious of his characterisation as separate from himself, and that, although they may sometimes speak with his voice they certainly have distinct voices of their own. Shakespeare takes pains to establish a partially artificial, in many ways almost pantomimical, universe where characters who react to each other naively or selfishly, are in fact being puppeteered by the playwright who has filled the gaps between every line of the play with invisible communications aimed directly at his audience. Hence Shakespeare does not see his savage as a cannibal, he has named him so to signal the way in which the other characters/puppets in his play perceive Caliban. At first sight, the Europeans, Stephano and Antonio, see Caliban as an anomaly that they might be able to sell in Europe as a spectacular freak, saleable for his Otherness: an alien that their perception has constructed. Their attitude is shocking in its narrow capitalist scope: Trinculo says Were I in England now as once I was and had but this fish painted, not a holiday-fool there would give a piece of silver and Antonio and Sebastian also see him as a marketable product that can be bought and sold, Very like. One of them Is a plain fish, and no doubt marketable Race is therefore a marker for one human-ness and anything other than European is constructed as naturally inferior, without rights and available to be exploited for economic purposes. In one writers opinion, Caliban is constructed as innately inferior and savage because of his race. This is articulated by the supposedly sweet and tender Miranda: But thy vile race -/Though thou didst learn had that int which good natures/Could not abide to be with ..'(31) In these lines Calibans race is seen as the reason for his barbaric behaviour it is his very nature that makes him savage and dangerous. In this the text constructs other non-European races as savage, less human, incapable of so-called civilisation all because of their race: this is a damning indictment of non-Europeans as it positions them as naturally inferior and unable to change their ways so that they will never be able to develop the fine sensitivity and refinement of Western civilisation. All the characters in the play speak and think politically and everyone is aware of the significance of the state as both a real, specific, place, and a general idea. Where some characters are idealists, others are have a grave ambitions to achieving power. Speaking for the idealists, Gonzalo details his dream in such detail it evokes a certain melancholy- only those so far from paradise can imagine its details with absolute precision, I th commonwealth I would by contraries Execute all things, for no kind of traffic Would I admit; no name of magistrate; Letters should not be known; riches, poverty, And use of service, none; contract, succession, Bourn, bound of land, tilth, vineyard, none No use of metal, corn, or wine, or oil; No occupation, all men idle, all, And women too, but innocent and pure; No sovereignty All things in common nature should produce Without sweat or endeavour. Treason, felony, Sword, pike, knife, gun, or need of any engine Would I not have, but nature should bring forth Of it own kind all foison, all abundance To feed my innocent people. (2.1.145-62) In the words of Alvin Kernan, For the old courtier Gonzalo, as for those who would later settle the many utopian communities of America, the new world offers the opportunity to recover the lost Eden where, freed of the weight of European society, human nature will be purified and the sins of the old world left behind. Gonzalos island country may excel[s] the golden age (166) in the sense that there is no property, unfair wealth, employment nor exploitation but Gonzalo describes a commonwealth controlled by contraries, that is- a nonsensical place of inverted logic. In fact, Gonzalos ideal principality is markedly similar to that other island government, Thomas Mores Utopia- an ideal place free from property, currency, or enclosure where gold and silver are hated. Stephen Greenblatt points out that Mores utopia is dense with contradiction: in Hythlodaeuss account freedoms are heralded, only to shrink in the course of the descriptionFor example, travelling is free and a citizen may go anywhere he likes in the country, but only with the Mayors permission, and a record of the date of return, and wherever the traveller goes he must work. Should he be caught breaking any of these rules, the traveller faces punishment as an illegal runaway and would be instantly sent home. Furthermore, if he continues to flount the rules, he risks being sent into slavery. The freedom and, subsequently, the Utopia, suddenly seems rather less ideal with these ominous qualifications. Gonzalos commonwealth contains similar contradictions, particularly, Had I plantation of this isle . . . And were the king ont . . . , I would by contraries / Execute all things . . . / No sovereignty. Gonzalo is thinking on his feet, dreaming, and like a dream his thoughts need follow no consistent logic. A kingdom with no sovereignty is obviously a contradiction, as Sebastian and Antonio are quick to point out. Gonzalos commonwealth is an abstraction, an impossible, in many ways a perfect example of the Utopia, the impossible, seductive, unrealisable dream- like the communist one of our times, a real place that nevertheless exists nowhere. Set in stark contrast to Gonzalos gentle innocence optimism stands the brash cynicism of Antonio and Sebastian. As Iwasaki writes, These are such people as are wickedly ambitious for higher status. One is a usurper, and the other once attempted usurpation. Their idea of a kingdom is not such a Utopia as Gonzalo imagines, where the people are all contented with their freedom and natural abundance, nor is it a holy kingdom ruled by an anointed king, the earthly heaven; the kingdom they conceive is a country owned by themselves, tyrants whose interest is solely in their own material felicity and wilful domination over the people. Stephano, a drunken servingman, also desires to be master of the island, and attempts to kill Prospero. It is because of the bottled spirit he owns that Caliban asks him to be his king. Stephanos wine is a physical correlative to his spiritual power; it is what Ariel is to Prospero. If Stephanos kingdom were to come into being, he and Trinculo, together with Caliban, might have a utopia of fools very much like Bruegels The Land of Cockaigne, where people can eat and drink as much as they l ike, yet they never have to work. The theoretical quality of Prosperos magic for which I have been arguing is backed up by his realism, the authorial voice, perhaps, finding a mouthpiece in this character. It is not Prosperos intention to transform his Island into a utopia. He lacks the naÃÆ'Â ¯ve optimism of Gonzalo, with his imagined new world and ideal plantation, where people are impossibly, illogically liberated from the social conventions of the Old World. Indeed Prospero is actively opposed to the illogical and knows intuitively that the wisest decisions can only be made through accommodation of all the facts of life, however unpalatable. Prospero values education to the point of snobbery, and when Ferdinand lands on the island, Prospero intends to marry Miranda to him, someone who, as the Prince of Naples, ought to have a proper education for a future king. Stunned with grief for his fathers death, Ferdinand is drawn by Ariels magical song to Prospero and his daughter. When the two youngsters meet they fall in love instantly, both mesmerised by the wonder of the others beauty, as she calls him spirit and he refers to her as goddess. Despite their passion, however, Prospero intervenes; he is adamant that Ferdinand should recieve a princely education, since he will eventually rule over both Naples and Milan. Prospero is emphatic that the new prince should have an awareness and appreciation of real politics that Prospero himself never had, and suffered for his ignorance of, thirteen years ago. So Prospero imparts trials upon Ferdinand, calling him a usurper for assuming his fathers kingdom while he is still alive, and accusing him of being a spy who intends to steal the island from Prospero: Thou dost here usurp The name thou owst not, and has put thyself Upon this island as a spy, to win it From me, the lord ont. (1.2.454-57) When Ferdinand draws his sword against Prospero, the old man entraps the youth by means of his magic, again, an obvious analogy for the power of superior wisdom. Ferdinand is humiliated, made to surrender and forced to carry logs. He is unaware of the effort, however, cherishing Mirandas love so much that he endures the slavish work with astonishing patience. Iwasaki compares Ferdinands education to the learning principle implied in Raphaels picture of The Dream of Scipio, In the left background of the picture is depicted a knight on horseback climbing the difficult passage to the tower of virtues on the top of a craggy mountain, the journey, of course, representing the trial a knight must undertake to achieve the knightly virtues, represented here by the book and the sword held by the lady in the foreground. Ferdinand, capable of a life of pleasure as a lover, is now encouraged, like Scipio, to go through a trial for his self-fashioning. Raphaels picture of Scipio was given by Thomaso Borgese of Siena to his son Sipione as a moral lesson, and like Thomaso, Prospero is a man whose educational ideal is Renaissance-humanistic. Through his slavery, as he subsists on plain food and water, Ferdinand tells Prospero that all his hardships are but light to me, Might I but through my prison once a day Behold this maid. All corners else o th earth Let liberty make use ofspace enough Have I in such a prison. (1.2.490-94) When Miranda sees Ferdinand labouring she yearns to take his place. Since the lovers devotion is characterised by their wish to serve each others physical labours, this slave labour itself comes to define the nature of their love. That is, they share a need to express their love through bearing the burden of the other, sparing the others body any pain. Their labour, then, in a kind of paradox, comes to signify the bliss of their mutual adoration- Shakespeare pits ethereal magic against physical work repeatedly in this play, and the message here seems to be that true love is best expressed through the essential of shared labour. The name Miranda, of course, has the meaning wonder and miraveglia (the principle of heroic wonder), comprising part of what Iwasaki calls the neoplatonic rhetoric of love: Admired Miranda! Indeed the top of admiration! Worth Whats dearest to the world! (3.1.37-39) Ferdinands love of Miranda seems appears to represent the affections female adoration according to the prescribed ritual of noble courting, but his feminine obsessiveness is levelled out and enhanced by the masculine force of his sweethearts devotion. Their love is emphatically built upon a systematic balance, a mechanism of reflection and reaction, eros and anteros, modern, complimentary, and more neoplatonic than conventionally courtly. Yet there remains in Shakespeares words a forceful, if unbiased, commentary on masculine dominance- particularly in the person of Prospero- that represents an ideology apt to Jacobean sexual politics. References Bacon, Francis. Essays [1625]. London: Oxford UP, 1937, 1962. Castiglione, Baldesar. Il Cortegiano [writ. 1518, pub. 1528]. C. S. Singleton, trans. The Book of the Courtier. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1959. Corbett, Margery and Ronald Lightbown. The Comely Frontispiece: The Emblematic Title-page in England 1550-1660. London: Routledge Kegan Paul, 1979. Erasmus, Desiderius. The Education of a Christian Prince, trans. L. K. Born. New York: Norton, 1968. Freedberg, David. The Prints of Pieter Bruegel the Elder (Catalogue for the Exibition, organized by Bridgestone Museum of Art, Tokyo, January 7- Febrary 26, 1989). Tokyo: Tokyo Shimbun, 1989. Frye, Northrop. Introduction to The Tempest in William Shakespeare: The Complete Works, general ed. A. Harbage (New York: Viking P, 1977). Godyere, Henry. The Mirrovr of Maiestie (1618), facsimile reprint, ed. Henry Green and James Croston. Manchester: A. Brothers and London: Trubner, 1870. Greenblatt, Stephen. Renaissance Self-Fashioning. Chicago and London: U. of Chicago P, 1980, 1984. Hamilton, Donna B. Virgil and The Tempest: The Politics of Imitation. Columbus: Ohio State UP, 1990. James, King, VI and I. Political Writings, ed. Johann P. Sommerville. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1994. Kernan, Alvin. Shakespeare, the Kings Playwright: Theater in the Stuart Court, 1603-1613. New Haven and London: Yale UP, 1995. Knapp, Jeffrey. An Empire Nowhere: England, America, and Literature from Utopia to The Tempest. Berkeley: U of California P, 1992. Machiavelli, NiccolÃÆ'Â ². The Prince, trans. L. Ricci, rev. E. R. P. Vincent. London: Oxford UP, 1935, 1960. More, Thomas. Utopia (1518), trans. Robert M. Adams. New York: Norton, 1975. Nuttall, A.D. New Mimesis: Shakespeare and the Representation of Reality. London: Broadview PR, 2001. Orgel, Stephen, ed. The Tempest (Oxford Shakespeare series). Oxford: Clarendon P, 1987. Peacham, Henry. Minerva Britanna: or A Garden of Heroical Deuises (1612); facsimile reprint, ed. John Horden. Menston, Yorkshire: Scolar P, 1969, 1973. Puttenham, George. The Arte of English Poesie, eds. Willcock and Walker. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1936. Wind, Edgar. Pagan Mysteries in the Renaissance. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Bks., 1967 Shakespeare, W. The Tempest 1.1.21-23

The Attitude of Howard Hughes :: Inventors

Although Howard Hughes had a very cocky attitude, he did what he needed to do to finish his life goals: "Things I want to be 1. The best golfer in the world. 2. The best flyer pilot. 3. the most famous producer of moving pictures." Goals written on the back of a receipt (p55) His attitude was so impressive that it led to a major contribution in the world of aviation. The steps that he took, not listening to people say that he cannot do it, great secrecy, the need for perfection, and he does what ever is necessary to get the job done, that along side of his Texan attitude would lead to one of the greatest achievements in aviation. This great achievement was that of pressurized cabins which led to being able to fly higher and faster, thus cutting down travel time and expenses. Howard Hughes?s attitude was astounding, a quote from him which reads ?Bob, please read the attached article. It refers to me as a millionaire, while others have called me a billionaire. I?m very concerned about this change in perception and the effect it will have on our businesses? (Richard Hack P xi). This is showing how great of an attitude he has if he can be so picky that he worries about if people view him as a millionaire rather than a billionaire. When Hughes had something to tell someone he had no problem with worrying about what they would think about it, or who that person is. When Howard said ?I am a little tired of being pushed around and intimidated by Senators Brewster and Ferguson just because they have some very strong powers which are granted to all Senators but which were not intended to be misused for the promotion of a three-ring publicity circus.? (P159) This shows that Hughes obviously did not care if he was talking about senators talking down on him or just a normal person. He just does not care who they are- he will not take it. We all know that Howard had money because of his great attitude, ?While the rest of America was having trouble placing food on the table, Hughes felt the effect only when he decided to buy a new plane, and was told that he needed to pay for his purchase with cash.? This shows how rich he was, but more importantly it shows that he can be very cocky about it.

Fire as technology and influence on society :: essays research papers fc

Fire and Me: A Growing Experience Throughout human history, people have made discoveries and innovations which made their lives easier and more efficient. Many of these creations have advanced our culture, while others have paved the way for future advancements and inspired new ways of thought. One example of this is the discovery of fire, which revolutionized the way humans act and think. Fire has a unique connection to humans, evolving alongside humanity, each growing in ways that wouldn't have been possible without the other. We can only speculate as to how humans began to control fire, yet it can safely be assumed that humans are not the only species able to work with fire. Chimpanzees have been taught to light cigarettes, and orangutans have been observed maneuvering sticks, which they caught on fire, for a short time before the fire burned out (Goudsblom 25). The interesting thing; however, is that fire is universally used by humans (Goudsblom 20). Human cultures which have never had interactions with other human societies have developed control over fire. By control of fire, it is meant that a culture is able to consistently manipulate fire, keeping a fire burning for extended periods of time. This shows humans who have been isolated from all other cultures have learned to control fire themselves, rather than this control of fire being taught to them from an outside source, such as a separate culture which has already harnessed fire. This would imply a natural connection between humans and fire as all humans can control fire, and no other species other than humans have been successful in consistently using fire. Why did primitive man harness fire? At first glance, fire appears to have few natural advantages, and yet has many potentially harmful effects. Fire is destructive, devastating anything which comes across its path. This devastation is irreversible as once something is burned it cannot be returned to its unburned state (Goudsblom Intro). These characteristics are far from attractive, and yet humans, rather than fearing fire, came to adopt it. The adoption of fire could be attributed to several factors which occur during a natural fire. First, game can easily be seen fleeing a fire since the underbrush has been burned away, and some animals can be found killed and cooked by the fire. After a fire has died, warmth can still be found in the embers of the blaze (Goudsblom 14).

February Action †creative writing Essay

So, after my great holidays, back to reality. In this case, it meant moving flats. I moved out of my friends’ flat and in with two Mexican siblings, girl (spoilt acting student) and boy (pain in the ass lawyer student). (The statements in this part are highly influenced by later experiences with the two people, I got along with them and their family fine. ) And when I moved I found the flat under water. So the first thing I did was spend hours soaking towels. Apart from that the two were always nice to me, the guy was almost never there and the girl went home on weekends, so I had the place to myself a lot, which was great. The flat was on the ground floor, so despite great sunny weather outside, I lived in freezing conditions. But it was well-located for work and social life. My room consisted of a bed and a built in cupboard (already provided) and a very useful box (which I found on the street and stayed with me until I moved out). I started working too†¦ giving English classes in the Bank of Mexico, some 20 hours a week, all 1-1 classes with mostly enjoyable students. As I had already found a football team, it meant I had found friends who took me out, to the cinema and every sunday the PUMAS (one of the local teams) game was a must. I was introduced to the stadium, the anthem (!!!! ) and the during match entertainment (beer and crisps) and the after match entertainment (more beer, discussion of game, and strange activities like having electric shocks outside of the stadium). Although not completely my description of a great time, it was good fun nevertheless. I otherwise spent quite lazy weekends, enjoying the company of my friend Itziar and playing football. At the end of February, the football girls had a huge party, which was great great fun, a lovely, welcoming group of girls who know how to party. There I became better friends with a lot of them, which was very nice. The party was full of good food, dancing, dancing and dancing and when it ended, we decided to go to a friends’ house to continue the party, but we all ended up falling asleep there. So some good weekend action. I was invited by the family of my flatmates to Cuernavaca, which is the getaway for inhabitants of the big City. (btw, if New York City is the Big Apple, Mexico City must be something like the Big Papaya) I went out on the Saturday morning by bus and then spent quite a relaxed time in the house, which is quite a bit outside of the city center. We had a lovely meal and then they took me into the city center, where they, interestingly enough, put me on the tourist bus and I went around on that. Pity really, because the main square had some really interesting and fun dancing and singing going on, surrounded by people selling handcrafts and other oddities. So the bus ride was quite amusing, lots of historically interesting information that I forget while the guide is finishing the sentence. Cuernavaca is a nice city and the bus also took us on a walk through some park/ravine, which was also umm†¦ nice. Then in the evening I met the family to have supper at a very good Italian restaurant before we headed back to their house, where I fell right to sleep (tired from the party, obviously). Sunday just meant a long sleep, another nice meal and then the return journey back to the city. So I got a look at what Cuernavaca was like, which was enjoyable. Next time, I’ll just go by myself to see more of the place instead of seeing it wizzing by from the Touribus.

Compare Two Research Articles: Philosophical, Ethical, And Methodological

Introduction This paper will compare the major characteristics of two research articles – which are different in philosophical and methodological approaches but are both related to the service of school social workers – and attempt to show the differences and similarities in ontology, epistemology, ethics, methodology and the methods of both pieces of research. The first research piece is a paper called â€Å"Managing school social work records† published in 2012 in which Garrett examines the results of a survey on the record keeping practices of 73 school social workers. This sample of school social workers belonged to the School Social Workers’ Association of America (SSWAA). Based on the quantitative research and survey method, the researcher explored three relevant issues for school social workers, these were: practical issues, ethical issues and legal mandates. The purpose of Garrett’s research was to increase the school social workers practice of record keeping, improve their decision making skills, and to help them choose suitable information to include in workers’ records. Garrett’s article found that about 50% of all social workers were unfamiliar with record keeping policy and most of the respondents had a poor understanding about what they should record. It also found that they struggled to find appropriate ways to achieve goals or to overcome bad situations. The results of this research were then used to give the recommendation that school social workers needed more aid in their daily record keeping. It was explained that professional organizations have to train the social workers by offering workshops or classes that will teach them what information should be included or excluded, and the ethical and the legal policies that or importance to this recording. The second research article that will be used for this essay is called â€Å"Empowering school social work practices for positive youth development,† which is qualitative research carried out by To in 2006 in Hong Kong, China. To’s study investigates the way in which school social workers engage with 3 major dimensions of empowerment: the personal dimension; the school and community dimensions; and lastly, the institutional dimension. The sample used in To’s research consisted of 15 social workers, 10 of which were female and 5 being male. All of these had wide service experience in the schools and most of them had Master’s degrees. The purpose of this study was to explore the way in which school social workers dealt with different situations and how they influenced youth development by using diverse strategies with the students, and within the school, community and the relevant sectors of education. This was largely with the view of encouraging students t o participate in volunteer works. The findings of To’s research indicated that, in the school setting, the research participants played an active role in achieving empowerment. The relevant results provided insightful information for all other social workers who contribute services in the schools. Philosophical During undertaking social research, it is important to consider matters of both philosophical approaches, such as ontology and epistemology, and different research paradigms. These can affect the research technique and direction as it is launched from design through to its conclusion (Flowers, 2009). Hatch and Cunliffe (2006) draw attention to the fact that different paradigms â€Å"encourage researchers to study phenomena in different ways.† The two chosen pieces of research are related with different research paradigms – one of which is related with positivist and the other with interpretivist. Positivist is based on â€Å"values of reason, truth and validity and there is a focus purely on facts, gathered through direct observation and experiences and measured empirically using quantitative methods, surveys and experiments and statistical analysis† (Flowers, 2009). In addition to this, this paradigm is aligned with deductive or theory testing. However, in the case of interpretive it is argued that individuals and groups have an important role within situations that are based on their individual experience and expectations (Flowers, 2009). Interpretive consider that there is no single reality but that there are multiple realities. This paradigm is more aligned with inductive or theory building.OntologyBlaikie (1993) defined ontology as â€Å"the science or study of being† and adopts this definition f or social science, explaining that what exist is either an objective single reality (objectivism) or it is not single reality, only a subjective reality (subjectivism). The ontological approaches behind the two researches seem entirely different. With regard to Garrett’s focus on statistical data, it can be considered that Garrett believes that there is an objective reality that allows for measurement. Ontological objective result means that it does not depend on the researcher. This is because the research only described numerical results which were received from the sample of respondents who completed the survey. This language is defined as representative of the reality. On the other hand, To’s study, which used qualitative research, can be seen to focus on a subjective reality where the researcher interpreted narrative data that was derived from a semi-structured interview.EpistemologyEpistemology is â€Å"the theory or science of the method or ground of knowledge† and explains that what exists â€Å"may be known†, what â€Å"can be known† and what criteria must be satisfied in order to be described as â€Å"knowledge† (Flowers, 2009). In addition to this, Chia (2002) describes epi stemology as â€Å"how and what it is possible to know†, while Hatch & Cunliffe (2006) characterise epistemology as â€Å"knowing how you can know†. Flowers (2009) discusses that, as with ontology, both objective epistemology and subjective epistemology views can exist. Eriksson and Kovalainen (2008) describe the way in which a world can exist in view of an objective epistemology, as long as this is apparent and theory neutral; while, with a view of a subjective epistemology, no existence is possible to the apparent world beyond our subjective observations and interpretations. The two articles display a difference in their epistemological approaches. In the quantitative study, the researcher only described the results in relation to a paradigm of positivism; however, the role of the researcher is not important in influencing the data of the research. On the other hand, regarding to interpretivist epistemology, the researcher gives a weight role which influences the research and the understanding of the situations from the researcher’s point of view. Ethical Issue Ethics is one of the essential aspects in many sciences, especially in social sciences. May (2011) defines ethics as â€Å"concerned with the attempt to formulate codes and principles of moral behaviour.† All social researchers should pay attention to the social research ethics. Punch (2005) believes that all social researches should include ethical issues because social researchers deal with societies and people’s daily lives; fundamentally, all data derives from people. Therefore, it is not easy to avoid ethical issues in both qualitative and quantitative approaches, especially qualitative approaches. Punch (2005) also highlights the way in which the qualitative method approach is more likely to study ethical issues as qualitative research focuses on the more sensitive issues in peoples’ lives. To’s study (2006) asked questions about the personal lives of the respondents; for this reason he used a numerical code instead of actual names to give them independence and to make them feel more comfortable. However, To did mention the name of students who played roles in the social workers’ stories. Therefore, it can be argued that, on the one hand, that To mentioned a student’s name to try and show the school social worker’s achievements, in order to have positive effect on other social workers and encourage them to do the same. On the other hand, however, this could produce ethical issues for the researcher and the school social workers because they mentioned other people’s real names, when they could have used codes or false names. In the case of Garrett’s study, which used Survey Monkey as method for collecting data, he does not mention anything ethically relevant to the respondent. However, this website has some ethical issues; for ex ample, regarding to questions design, the respondents should answer all questions before the survey can be submitted which means there is no right to avoid answering some questions (Buchanan and Hvizdak, 2009). During the period of research, it is important for the researchers to make ethical decisions and consider what is to benefit the respondents or their research process. Furthermore, they have to assess themselves by asking a number of ethical questions (May, 2011). The articles of this essay are about school social work, so all behaviours and relevant ethics are necessary for the researchers and social workers to consider. Methodological Both articles have contrasting methodological approaches which are representative of their philosophical positions (ontology, epistemology). This part will attempt to compare both research methods – one of which is a quantitative method approach and the other is a qualitative method approach – and highlights the differences of the samples, data collections, data analysis and research findings. The two chosen pieces of research use different methods for data collection: one used Survey Monkey and the other used a semi-structured interview. The Quantitative research survey method is defined by Burton (2012) as â€Å"a techniques that uses a wide range quantitative research provides valuable figures based on a large number of population that can be incredibly useful and reliable because statistic and numeric data give certain validity to the research.† A Semi-structured interview is one of the types of interviews whereby the participants have more freedom and allows them to answer questions on their own terms, although it is still arranged and questions are specified (May, 1997). However, the strategy of choosing the samples for both methods is different. Regarding the question of the samples, there are great differences that can be seen. In Garrett’s study the sample composed a small list of members of the School Social Workers’ Association of America (SSWAA). They derived this list from 24 respondents from the United States of America and Canada, who were acceptable to represent the SSWAA. The researcher divided the list into even and odd members and randomly chose one of them to survey. Then the selected group participated in the survey after receiving an email that invited them to participate and explained the purpose of the survey. In total, 245 workers were invited to participate in the survey. Some of the emails were undeliverable and some other members were not completed which meant only 73 respondents completed the survey. This number is about 30% of the potential sample (Garrett, 2012). On the other hand, the samples of To’s research participants were derived from 13 various organizations of welfare in H ong Kong. There were different genders involved, 10 female and 5 male, with an average age between 30-39 years old; only 3 of the participants were in their twenties and 1 was in their forties. On average they had about 7 years’ experience as school social workers, while most of sample had a Master’s degrees (To, 2006). With respect to data collection, during the period of March to June 2005, To’s research (2006) was carried out and the method for data collection was one-to-one semi-structured interviews. Each interview was divided into parts and each part was 1.5 hour. In To’s research the first part of the interview targeted the micro- and meso-sphere services of school social work, meanwhile the second part of the interview targeted the macro-sphere. Furthermore there were some questions about participant’s own stories and their services which were offered in their daily practices. However, in Garrett’s study the quantitative research was undertaken in February of 2009 using Survey Monkey, which is one of the most common websites used for creating surveys. The questionnaire consisted 25 short-answer questions that focused on â€Å"the types of records kept, what was included, decision-making practices, use of the records, challenges, storage, disposal of closed recor ds, access to records, and district policies† (Garrett, 2012). However, the research had one qualitative question which was an open question that focused on the most challenging aspect of keeping records (Garrett, 2012). In the case of data analysis of Garrett’s research (2012), all 25 quantitative questions were analysed after downloaded into MINITAB 15. On the other hand, in the case of the qualitative question, this was analysed after being transcribed into word processing documents where it was defined and themes were â€Å"coded, counted and summarized† (Garrett, 2012). In spite of To’s Hong Kong’s research, the researcher processed the data analysis, step-by-step after transcribing the narratives. At the beginning of this process, To read the transcripts twice to find â€Å"meaningful units†, and then converted these units to codes and began an improvement level of data analysis. Next, To found that various stages of meaning were produced and arranged these as sub-themes. Finally, the researched sorted out similar sub-themes to the main themes of his study. Relevant with the findings of To’s research, it was mentioned that together, the narratives showed a comprehensive understanding of the multidimensional empowering practices of social workers in schools. To believed that these results would help other practitioners to deal with issues of empowerment. However, in Garrett’s study the more significant findings are that more than half of the participants could not successfully record assessment information and more than 75% of participants could not make decisions about closing a case. Therefore, the results of Garrett’s study should be organized with caution because there was a small size of respondents in relation to all the members of the SSWAA. In conclusion, this essay has tried to compare two social research articles which had similar topics but completely different philosophical, ethical and methodological perspectives. One of these studies used a quantitative research approach and the other a qualitative. Each study was they carried out in different places, America and China respectively, and in different period times. Garrett’s 2012 article focuses on the positivism paradigm, which tried to find out about the knowledge gap about practices of record keeping by school social workers. The data in Garrett’s study was collected using Survey Monkey, and the numerical data was analysed. To’s 2006 research was based on a different reality and tried to investigate the role of school social workers in influence youth development and encouraging students to volunteer. The study used a semi-structured interview to collect data. The results showed that they had a live role in achieving empowerment. It can be s een, therefore, that it is significant for all social researchers to concern their philosophical, ethical and methodological positions when undertaking research. References Blaikie, N. (1993) Approaches to social enquiry polity press, Cambridge uk. Buchanan, A. & Hvizdak, E. (2009) â€Å"Online survey tools: ethical and methodological concerns of human research ethics committees†, in Journal of empirical research on human research ethics: an international journal, 4: 37-48. Chia, R. (2002) â€Å"The production of management knowledge: philosophical underpinnings of research design†, in Essential skills for management research, sage, London: 1-18. Eriksson, P. & Kovalainen, A. (2008) Qualitative methods in business research, Sage. Flowers, P. (2009) â€Å"Research philosophies–importance and relevance† in Economic record, 3. Garrett, K. (2012) â€Å"Managing school social work records†, in Children & schools, 34: 239-248. Hatch, M. J. & Cunliffe, A. (2006) Organization theory, Oxford university press: Buckingham. May, T. (1997) Social research: issues, methods and process, Open university press: Buckingham. May, T. (2011) Social research: issues, methods and research, Mcgraw-Hill International. Punch, K. F. (2005) Introduction to social research: quantitative and qualitative approaches, Sage. To, S. M. (2006), â€Å"Empowering school social work practices for positive youth development: hong kong experience†, in Adolescence, 42: 555-567.