Additional Support Needs and Inclusion in Education

Additional Support Needs and Inclusion in Education Behaviour Children Mainstream Exploring Difference and Diversity As a Teacher of Additional Support Needs in a secondary school in North East Scotland I intend to investigate Difference and Diversity and the move from Special Educational Needs to Additional Support Needs and Inclusion. How it affects my own practice and that of my school. Having been a mainstream secondary school teacher for 14 years before becoming an Additional Support Needs teacher, I have learnt from experience and listening to colleagues, that behaviour seems to play a major part in the inclusive classroom. Colleagues have commented in the past that they don’t mind those children with ‘Special Needs’, it is those with behavioural difficulties which cause the problems. This train of thought is corroborated by Paul Croll and Moses (2000). They interviewed Head Teachers from both Special Schools and Mainstream, and LEA Officers. ‘The view that children whose behaviour challenged the mainstream should be in separate provision was a widespread one: â€Å"We cannot cope with EBD [emotional and behavioural difficulties] children in the mainstream.† (Primary Head) â€Å"I am very committed to integration in principle, but it is very difficult to have disturbed children in mainstream schools.† (Primary Head) â€Å"Some emotionally and behaviourally disturbed children make too great demands on staff. It’s not fair on other children.† (Primary Head) (Croll and Moses 2000, p6) Also, cited by J Allan (1999, p10), Armstrong and Galloway have noted a tendency of teachers to reconstruct children with emotional or behavioural difficulties as ‘disturbed’ (1994:179), with the implication that these are outside the responsibilities of mainstream classroom teachers. It is for this reason I intend to look at the behaviour of a small group of first year pupils in my classroom, and try to put into place some strategies to help reduce the frequency of unwanted behaviours, which hopefully, will go some way in promoting inclusion within my classroom practice and thus enabling them to access more mainstream classes in the future. The unwanted behaviour could stem from a number of factors including their home life, environmental influences, peer pressure, personality, self confidence and self esteem, to name but a few; which will be discussed later. When considering difference and diversity, many people think of stereotypes, such as, cultural diversity, gender differences etc. The problem with a stereotype however, is that no one individual conforms to it exactly, and yet, in the educational institute it is individuals that we are dealing with therefore, we place the emphasis on exploration of individual differences, and not stereotypes. Do these differences really mean that some children and young people are uneducable and have to be segregated and placed in special schools? Previous trains of thought were that those with ‘special needs’ would be better off in special schools. By placing them in such institutes, the education of the rest would not be hindered. According to Thomas and Loxley (2007) one of the first Special Schools in the UK was The School of Instruction for the Blind, in Liverpool 1791, also mentioned in The Warnock Report (p8). During the Nineteenth Century Special Schools were established for the blind, deaf and dumb children. During the 20th Century Special Schools grew in number until they catered for around 2% of the school population. In the early part of the century people with learning difficulties were referred to as feebleminded, imbeciles and idiots. Many of the special schools were started by voluntary organizations for pupils with specific disabilities. They were seen as more helpful and less intimidating to students with disabilities. ‘The term special educational needs began to come into use in the late 1960s as a result of increasing dissatisfaction with the terminology used in the Handicapped Pupils and School Health Service Regulations (1945), which classified handicapped children into ten categories according to their main handicap. There was, moreover, an increasing awareness of the frequency of learning and other difficulties affecting children’s progress and adjustment in ordinary schools’. (Ronald Gulliford, (Ed) 1992 p1) Before the Warnock Report it was commonly believed that special educational needs stressed that the deficits were from within the child. This came from a medical or psychological point of view which implied that the individual was in some way ‘in deficit’. The requirement for special educational provision was related to the concept of disability of mind or body. The 1944 Education Act defined 11 forms of disability but did not include groups of children who were considered to be uneducable due to the extent of their handicap. Disabilities were described in medical terms except for educational sub-normality and maladjustment which were more difficult to clarify, suggesting that there was a cut-off point between normal and abnormal. In 1970 legislation was introduced which stated that local education authorities had to make special educational provision for all types of disability, but this did not specify whether it should be in separate schools or classes. This resulted in special education being considered as that which only took place in special schools. (Sally Beveridge 1999) The Warnock committee was set up to review the provision for children with mental and physical disabilities and produced the report in 1978. It promoted a wide range of special needs, rather than discrete categories and helped to form the basis of the 1981 Education Act’s policies on special educational needs (SEN), which introduced a different approach to the definition of children with SEN: ‘A child will have a special educational need if s/he has a learning difficulty requiring special educational provision. The ‘learning difficulty’ includes not only physical and mental disabilities, but also any kind of learning difficulty experienced by a child, provided that it is significantly greater than that of the majority of children of the same age’. (1981 Education Act, p1) The Act stated that the education of children with SEN should be carried out in ordinary schools where possible. The Act emphasized an approach that is in favour of inclusion and integration, rather than separation and isolation. This approach recommended that children with special needs should be treated as individuals, and that the child should have a learning support teacher with them in the classroom, rather than being taken out of the class. Since the Warnock report and the 1981 Education Act, legislation has been gradually catching up with the recommendations. The most recent legislation is The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004, in which the term ‘Special Educational Needs’ has been replaced with ‘Additional Support for Learning’. The Act states that ‘A child or young person has additional support needs for whatever reason, the child or young person is, or is likely to be, unable without the provision of additional support to benefit from school education provided or to be provided for the child or young person. In relation to a prescribed pre-school child, a child of school age or a young person receiving school education, provision which is additional to, or otherwise different from, the educational provision made generally for children or, as the case may be, young persons of the same age in schools (other than special schools) under the management of the education authority for the area to which the child or young person belongs.’ (Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004, p1) This definition seems to be similar as in the 1981 Education Act previously mentioned, although the Education (Scotland) Act 1981 did not mention that the ‘learning difficulty’ included physical and mental disabilities, as did the Act in England. Does this mean there are no real changes in policy? Is everything exactly the same as before but with a different name? The Additional Support for Learning Act introduced a new framework for supporting children and young people. The Education (Scotland) Act 1981 required education authorities to make a generalprovision in their areas to meet such needs. The 2004 Act requires education authorities to make adequate and well-organized provision for additional support as is required by the child or young person with additional support needs’. This goes further than making a general provision, such as special schools. The education authority has a duty to provide the necessary additional support to every individual child or young person who needs it to benefit from education. It also has to identify children and young people with additional support needs and to review their continuing needs and the sufficiency of steps taken to meet them. Staff and resources from within the particular schools attended by these children or young people have a role in enabling an education authority to fulfill these duties, as do staff and resources from its own services and from other agencies. (Focusing on Inclusion, p7) Children may need additional support for a wide variety of reasons. A child’s education could be affected by issues resulting from: learning environment inflexible curricular arrangements inappropriate approaches to learning and teaching more able children children with English as an additional language family circumstances homelessness parental drug or alcohol misuse children who are parents children who are carers children looked after by the local authority disability or health need motor or sensory impairment specific language impairment autistic spectrum disorder learning difficulties ADHD depression or other mental health problems social and emotional factors children who are being bullied children who are suffering racial discrimination children who are bullying children with behavioural difficulties (Govan Law Centre, internet source) This is far from being a complete list and does not mean that every child fitting one of the above categories necessarily has additional support needs. This will depend on the amount and type of support required by the individual child. There are many more factors that are now considered under The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 compared with the previous Act. Children with English as an additional language are now included whereas previously they were not, they were not viewed as having special needs, but they are now recognized as needing support to access the curriculum. Also, parents now have the right to: Ask their child’s education authority to find out whether your child has additional support needs. Request a specific type of assessment and/or examination for your child when their education authority is proposing to formally identify whether they have additional support needs. Receive information or advice about a child’s additional support needs. (Enquire 2006) All local authorities should have policies in place to ensure they are abiding by the act. The authority in which I work has various policies and guidelines in place, including: Policies Access to Education for Pupils with Disabilities/Additional Support Needs Strategy 2005-08 Race Equality Policy and Strategy 2005-08 Sensory Support Service Quality Assurance Policy Additional Support Needs Policy Framework. Policies Under Development Disability Equality Scheme Guidelines Guidance on the Education of Looked After Children and Young People Improving Access to the School Environment to Communication for Parents and Visitors. How good is our Educational Psychology Service Draft Snapshot. Improving Physical Access to Education. Riding for Pupils with Additional Support Needs. Safety and Good Practice on Education Excursions. Supporting Pupils access to the curriculum using ICT (ASPECTS). Swimming for Pupils with Additional Support Needs. Guidelines Under Development Autism Support. English as an Additional Language. Integrated Assessment Framework Draft Operational Guidelines Motor Coordination Difficulties. Sensory Support Service Guidelines. The Additional Support Needs Policy Framework was produced in January 2007 as 6 Pathways to Policy booklets and the principles behind the policy are printed in each booklet: ‘The Additional Support Needs Policy Framework and the Pathways to Policy Pack for Supporting Children’s and Young People’s learning ensure that all children and young people are provided with the necessary support to help them work towards achieving their full potential with respect to their personality, talents and mental and physical abilities. It promotes collaborative working among all those supporting children and young people’. In September 2005 HM Inspectorate of Education was asked by Scottish Ministers to monitor and evaluate the consistency, effectiveness and efficiency of education authorities in implementing the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 and to ensure that procedures for implementation were in line with the duties of the Act 2004 and the associated Code of Practice. In 2007 HMIE produced the Report on the implementation of the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004. The report states that most authorities were effective in ensuring that their procedures for implementing the Act were in line with the duties of the Act and the associated Code of Practice. The most effective had built on existing good practice and developed joint strategic approaches with other agencies to meet the needs of children and young people with additional support needs. However, authorities varied in their effectiveness in implementing the key requirements of the Act. (HMIE 2007) The report provided guidelines for improvement and was made available to schools in February 2008, to enable them to evaluate their implementation and effectiveness of current legislation; the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 and Inclusion. Following this report some schools including the school, in which I work, are holding CPD sessions for staff on the implementation of the Act and Inclusion, and ways forward. Inclusion is not a new phenomenon, it has been recommended in educational legislation since the Warnock Report in 1978. In fact it has been spoke about during the 1960’s, As cited by Josephine Jenkinson, Dunn’s (1968) argument against segregated special education and in favour of integration was that advances in the development of individualized, self-paced curricula in regular education would allow students with disabilities to be accommodated in the regular class, if they were provided with a programme designed by a specialist teacher to meet their needs and in which they could progress at their own pace. Integration could be made possible by radical departures in school organization, involving a greater emphasis on team teaching, ungraded classes and flexible groupings. (Jenkinson, 1996. p 15-16) This implies that there should be a change in the curriculum and how it is delivered, to meet the needs of all pupils, and that specialist teachers should be working with classroom teachers to plan and deliver the curriculum. Historically â€Å"integration† was the term used in the 1980s, but this came to be seen as placing disabled children in a mainstream setting, without providing the support they required and allowing them to be there as long as they were able to fit into the existing systems and cultures. It is now acknowledged that the inclusion of disabled, and children with additional needs, involves going much further, and changing the policies, practices and attitudes within the school. The Centre for Studies on Inclusive Education provides the following definitions of inclusion in education, from the Index for Inclusion in education (Booth and Ainscow 2002), also cited by Thomas and Vaughan 2004 (p183): Valuing all students and staff equally. Increasing the participation of students in, and reducing their exclusion from, the cultures, curricula and communities of local schools. Restructuring the cultures, policies and practices in schools so that they respond to the diversity of students in the locality. Reducing barriers to learning and participation for all students, not only those with impairments or those who are categorized as `having special educational needs. Learning from attempts to overcome barriers to the access and participation of particular students to make changes for the benefit of students more widely. Viewing the difference between students as resources to support learning, rather than as problems to be overcome. Acknowledging the right of students to an education in their locality. Improving schools for staff as well as for students. Emphasizing the role of schools in building community and developing values, as well as in increasing achievement. Fostering mutually sustaining relationships between schools and communities. Recognizing that inclusion in education is one aspect of inclusion in society. (Centre for Studies on Inclusive Education, internet source) Why do we need inclusion? Whatever their disability or learning difficulty children have a part to play in society after school. An early start in mainstream playgroups or nursery schools, followed by education in ordinary schools and colleges, is the best preparation for an integrated life. Education is part of, not separate from, the rest of childrens lives. Disabled children can be educated in mainstream schools with appropriate support. As discussed by Ainscow (1999), Inclusion is a feature of the Salamanca Statement which was agreed by 92 governments and 25 international organizations in 1994. ‘The statement argues that regular schools with an inclusive orientation are the most effective means of combating discriminatory attitudes, building an inclusive society and achieving education for all’.( Ainscow 1999, p74) Cited by Thomas and Vaughan (2007), Rustemier argues that segregated schooling breaches all four principles underpinning the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. These principles are: Non-discrimination (Article 2) – all children should enjoy all rights without discrimination and on the basis of equality of opportunity; The best interests of the child (Article3); The right to life, survival and development (Article 6) – development is meant in its broadest sense, including physical health but also mental, emotional, cognitive, social and cultural, and ‘to the maximum extent possible’; and The views of the child (Article 12) – children have the right to be heard and to have their views taken seriously in matters affecting them. Rustemier goes on to argue that inclusion has come to mean almost everything but the elimination of exclusion. And that the current education system excludes and segregates large numbers of children from mainstream education because of learning difficulty, disability, and behaviour, despite claiming to have inclusion as its goal. (Thomas and Vaughan, 2004, p 23-24). Joe Whittaker discusses, in an article which appeared in the Greater Manchester of Disabled People’s Magazine ‘Coalition’, the damage he believes is inflicted on disabled children and their local communities by a system of special schooling and segregation. He further argues that inclusive education will be prevented from being implemented in any meaningful way whilst this system continues. ‘Over the last 50 years different governments have told us that we are moving towards integration, where disabled children and non-disabled children work together in the same school and where everyone has equal opportunities. However, simultaneously the same governments have stated that there will always be a need for some children to go to segregated special schools, and legislation was introduced to ensure this would happen’. (Joe Whittaker 2001: pp. 12-16) [See appendix1] Despite the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the growing number of people in favour of Inclusive mainstream schools and the closure of Special Schools, Government statistics show that there has been an increase in the number of Independent Special Schools in Scotland over the past few years. The number of publicly funded special schools in individual areas of Scotland has also changed. Some areas such as east Ayrshire show an increase while others show a decrease in the number of special schools. There has been a significant increase in pupils with Additional Support Needs attending both Primary and Secondary mainstream schools. There has also been an increase in the number of pupils with IEP’S attending mainstream secondary schools. [See tables1, 2: appendix 2] There are many reasons why secondary pupils are deemed to need additional support in school. According to the statistics there are 1,816 pupils with Social, emotional and behavioural difficulty; 1,403 of these being boys and only 413 girls. The statistics show that there are significantly more boys with additional support needs than girls. [See table4, appendix 2] A Scottish Executive National Statistics Publication gives the following information, along with the statistic tables in appendix 2: Special schools There were 34 independent special schools in 2004, compared to 33 schools in 2003, and 32 in 2002. There were 1,132 pupils in independent special schools in 2004, an increase of eight per cent over 2003. There were 334 teachers (FTE) in independent special schools in 2004, a 17 per cent increase from 2003. There were 3.4 pupils per teacher in 2004, a decrease from 3.7 in 2003. Special Educational Needs There were 1,349 pupils with a Record of Needs and/or an Individualised Educational Programme. This is an increase of 105 (eight per cent) from 2003. The largest categories of main difficulty of learning were social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (22.6 per 1,000 pupils) and specific learning difficulties in language and/or mathematics including dyslexia (6.7 per 1,000 pupils). (Scottish Executive, Internet Source) Why is it that there seems to be more boys than girls identified as requiring Additional Needs? One reason could be that boys are seen as more boisterous than girls, thus reported as having behaviour problems, another reason could be that more assessments of boys have been carried out, compared to girls; resulting in an increase of incidences and prevalence. There is also the general assumption that girls mature more quickly than boys. Cited in ‘A study of children and young people who present challenging behaviour’ – literature review, Cole et al (1998) (1999) established that there were ten to twelve times more boys than girls in English EBD schools and over three times as many boys as girls in PRUs (Pupil Referral Units). This creates very real difficulties in ensuring that girls have a suitable peer group if they attend a ‘mixed’ EBD school (see also Cruddas and Haddock, 2001). Egelund and Hansen (2000) noted a 5:1 boy:girl ratio in segregated provision in Denmark. In Scotland, Lloyd and O’Regan (1999) report that over 80% of the pupils in specialist provision for SEBD are boys. Fortin and Bigras (1997), note that boys heavily outnumber girls in Canadian literature on EBD. (Ofsted 2005) This literature review was commissioned  by Ofsted as part of a large-scale survey to inform the report ‘Managing challenging behaviour’. Ofsted commissioned the University of Birmingham to carry out this research to inform subsequent fieldwork, and gives the assumption that the Gender imbalance is International, and Social Emotional and Behaviour difficulties is one of the categories that creates the most problems. In November 2002 BBC News Online reported Schools in England were identifying more boys than girls as needing special help with their education. ‘New statistics on the gender of those with special needs reveal for the first time that 64% are boys and 36% girls. The gender gap is even wider in the most severe cases those with formal statements of need: 72% are boys and 28% girls. Experts say the reasons are unclear but that controversially a large factor might be teachers perceptions of what constitutes problematic behaviour’. It was also reported that children with special educational needs are being turned away from schools because of fears that they could affect their position in exam league tables. Children with’ special needs’ account for almost nine-tenths of permanent exclusions from primary schools, and six-tenths of those from secondary schools. Almost five times as many boys as girls are excluded from school. This corroborates Rustemier’s argument that the education system excludes large numbers of children, especially those deemed to have ‘special needs’. The report stated that girls and boys are more or less equally likely to have physical disabilities, but boys are far more likely than girls to have specific learning difficulties, autistic disorders or emotional or behavioural problems. Medical reasons were discussed, and Richard Byers, an SEN expert in Cambridge Universitys faculty of education, was quoted as saying that some forms of special need notably autism were diagnosed much more often in boys than in girls. More and more cases of autism were being identified, so more boys were said to have SEN. But there was a bigger, greyer aspect to the issue, especially where children in mainstream schools were identified as having social, emotional or behavioural difficulties again, many more of them boys. Florid felt that we identify one kind of social, emotional or behavioural difficulty which tends to be in boys more often than girls. This might be that for all kinds of social and cultural reasons teachers perceived boys to be more problematic than girls. So there was an over-identification of boys with SEN and probably an under-identification of girls needs. The Department for Education was quoted as saying that there appears to be some evidence that professionals, including teachers, are likely to identify boys as having SEN particularly in relation to behaviour. The BBC also reported that the editor of The Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, Lani Florian, said the gender gap might be as high as 10 to one in the case of emotional and behavioural problems. People had put forward various theories, to do with genes and hormones, for instance but none had been conclusive. It has been said that the classroom is just a friendlier environment for girls but thats just a theory too, Dr Florian said. We really dont know. (Gary Eason, BBC News online 2002) This report has been discussed by various people on a GTC forum as summarized by Allan Witherington (efacilitator) Many of the contributors have offered observations from their own experiences in the classroom that confirm the often described differences in attitude, learning style and attainment between boys and girls. Boys were said to be noisier and to lose interest more quickly, whereas girls were quieter, more reflective and better able to deal with written tasks. No-one contested the fact that the gender gap is real. A persistent theme was the need for teachers to deliver lessons offering a variety of learning experiences to cater for the different learning styles of all those in the class’. This was said to be ‘a tall order’. When discussing the quote from a DfES spokesperson as saying, There appears to be some evidence that professionals, including teachers, are likely to identify boys as having SEN particularly in relation to behaviour. The question was asked â€Å"are they suggesting that the perceptions of the professionals are incorrect? Are we just missing the sp ecial needs of girls because they are less obvious†? There seemed to be no answer to this! (GTC forum, internet source) As well as the gender issue, and it being reported that boys are more likely to be identified with Autism and EBD, according to the previously mentioned statistics table 4 (appendix 2), in 2006 there were 19 reasons for support for secondary pupils with Additional support needs compared with The 1944 Education Act which defined eleven categories of disability. Perhaps the more recent Government Policies and initiatives have contributed to the increase! With the concept of Inclusion there are now more children and young people identified with additional needs attending mainstream schools whereas in previous years they would have been segregated into special schools, the additional rights of the parents could mean that more parents are requesting assessments for their children if they think there is a problem, resulting in more children needing additional support. There are many other reasons which were not previously recognized as Special Educational Needs such as some family circumstances, bullying etc.

Problems Facing Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses Essay -- Small Firm

Abstract Small businesses face economic uncertainty, overwhelming legislative regulations, and employee retention problems. Small Business represents more than 99 % of all employers and employs more than one half of the private sector. It also generates one half of the United States private G.D.P. ( PR Newswire, Oct 29, 2014 pNA). In light of the significance of small business to the economy, it should be a grave concern when a third of small business owners rate the overall health of the United States economy as their biggest worry, rating higher than terrorism, the war on Iraq or healthcare costs. ( PR Newswire, July 12, 2014 pNA). Normally, during periods of economic sluggishness, it is small business that paves the way for a rebound. However, this trend has not appeared during the recent down turn in the economy which began in 2001. A major reason for small business failure to bolster the economy is a result of their inability to raise capital due to the decimation of the Small Business Administration's loans program ( Harpers Magazine, July 2014, V309 il 850 p79(2)). It appears that the very fuel that normally would stoke the economic furnace has been diluted through cost cutting measure as a result of a floundering economy. Such challenges will test the creativity and viability of small business. Unfortunately, that creativity can be overwhelmed with the legislative regulations imposed by the local, state and... ...wamped by flood of regs [Electronic version]. The Business Journal, 13(46), 29. Kurlantzick, J. (2014). Economy of scale: President Bush has been no friend to small business. [Electronic version]. Harper's Magazine, 309(850),79. McCracken, J. (1997). Big 3 drain talent from small firms. Crain's Detroit Business, 13(35), 15 Neher, M. (1995, October 15). Red tape, worker's comp worry businesses [Electronic version]. Daily Journal World, E-1. Protection service for employees (2014, September). Manufacturers' Monthly, 17. Roberts, J. ( 2014, September 02) Small business optimism increasing, Computer Resellers News. Small business owners more concerned about economy than terrorism, (2014, July 12). PR Newswire ,. Smaller firms can and do find health insurance (2014). Crain's Chicago Business, 27(42), 20.

Days of Destruction Days of Revolt Essay

They offer very detailed and disturbing descriptions of life on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, the slums of Camden, New Jersey, and the â€Å"surface mining† zones surrounding Welch, West Virginia, as well as some places in Immokalee, Florida, that are literally like slave camps. One chapter of the book caught my eye, â€Å"Days of Slavery. † It mainly takes place in Immokalee Florida, a center of immigrant agricultural laborers, mostly Latino. The immigrants are housed in terrible conditions, which makes it very hard for them to work. Additionally to the terrible conditions that they are forced to work in, they are also paid unreasonably low wages for the amount of time they are working. Another thing that is affecting the people who work in the factories are serious problems with breathing. They have this problem because of pesticide poisoning and other chemicals that they are being exposed to while working. One chemical that is mentioned is Methyl Bromide. It is also not uncommon for these workers to be held in literal slavery, have their paychecks stolen, and be subjected to physical abuse if they get out of line. The legal system in Florida appears willing to prosecute cases of slavery, but the immigrants are very afraid to come forward for obvious reasons. They are afraid they will be fired and more than likely the cases will not be judged in their favor. This is because these companies are huge, and are able to pay people off to continue making the workers work under unreasonable conditions. O’Neill 2 Hedges interviews activists from the Coalition of Imoakalee Workers, a very strong and militant organization. He describes their struggle to secure a minimum level of decent conditions for the workers. The chapter includes the case of Miguel Flores and Sebastian Gomez, who where sentenced in 1997 to fifteen years in prison on charges of slavery, extortion, and firearm possession. The duo oversaw a modern slavery operation of four hundred men and women who harvested fields in Florida and South Carolina. The book highlights the harsh conditions for the laborers in this operation. The author wrote: The workers, mostly indigenous Mexicans and Guatemalans, were forced to work ten to twelve hours a day, six days a week, for as little as $20 dollars a week, all under the supervision of armed guards. Those who attempted to escape were beaten, pistol-whipped, and at times shot. The crew leaders charged the workers exorbitant prices for food. Female workers, according to one victim, were routinely raped. The coalition workers were told by Flores that if their experiences of working in the factory were talked about, he would cut their tongues out. (Hedges 158) The main questions of the people in the community of Immokalee were probably, â€Å"Who is going to take a stand for us immigrants? Who is going to be our leader that we will follow so we can be treated like normal human-beings? Their questions were not being answered until a man by the name of Lucas Benitez came along. Benitez was thirty-six and had two children . A group was started by Bentiez as well as people who â€Å"found the courage to stand up to abuse, breaking the cycle of fear that keeps the system in place. † Benitez started by becoming an organizer. He and his group would meet at the local Catholic church at night to help those who were being treated unfairly. Things were turning around for the immigrants. They were protesting and trying to do whatever they could to defeat the huge companies who were making them work many hours for such little pay. As they began to protest and strike, the employers gave them what they wanted. The workers of Imoakalee, Florida, got O’Neill 3 a pay raise, and were no longer held in literal slavery. Other then the few changes that were mentioned above, Imoakalee Florida, has not significantly changed since the mid 1950’s. Today, Imoakalee, Florida, is still an area where a majority of America’s crops and produce are grown. Many immigrants still live in Imoakalee, Florida. To this day, unfortunately corruption is still going on in Imoakalee. Huge factories and companies are forcing workers to work very hard, and they are also causing damage to the environment. They are causing damage to the environment because of the smoke stacks that are required by the different factories. (Coalition of Immokalee Workers) O’Neill 4 Works Cited Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW). N. p. , n. d. Web. 7 Feb. 2013. . Hedges, Chris, and Joe Sacco. Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt. New York: Nation Books, 2012. Print.

Analysis of Sound of Silence

Lack of communication: An analysis of â€Å"The Sound of Silence† â€Å"Sounds of Silence is an album by Simon and Garfunkel, released on January 17, 1966† [ (wikipedia) ]. This is a beautiful song composed with wonderful choices of words. Behind this beautiful song with melodious rhythm, there is a big message in the lyrics. In this poem, Simon presents the speaker who speaks about communication. The idea of lack of communication builds up throughout this poem. This poem conveys a message that there is a lack of real communication in the people.The poet multiple uses of words in this poem have a significant meaning and strongly support the thesis above. The multiple uses of â€Å"I† imply that he wants the reader to be the particular person he is referring to in the poem. â€Å"I’ve come to talk with you again. † and â€Å"Left its seeds while I was sleeping† in the beginning of the poem relates silence with the speaker (lines 2-4). The dark ness meaning silence in this poem is speaker’s old friend. He knows the silence very well. Similarly, the multiple use of ‘and’ provides reasoning and supports for the writer’s argument.For example, in the lines â€Å"And the vision that was planted in my brain†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. the sound of silence†, the speaker argues that the environment he has created is still inside his brain and thus is not exposed yet (5-7). The speaker also uses the word ‘people’ many times. â€Å"People† in this poem refers to all the common people without being concerned to any individuals (17-19). In this context, people refer to those mass who are communicating with each other without any emotional feelings. The poem describes people’s way of communicating in several lines.Through the lines below, Simon wants the speaker to know how people are sharing information with no value. The following section is most important because they con vey the speaker’s main message: â€Å"People talking without speaking People hearing without listening People writing songs that voices never share And no one dared Disturb the sound of silence† (17-21). In this stanza, â€Å"People† being used three times indicates that the speaker is talking about common people of a nation where they are ruled by some dictators or harsh leader where public opinions have no any value and the freedom is snatched from the people.People are talking but they do not know what they are talking about. Their speech does not have any meaning and they are uttering words just because they are told to do so. They hear the words without interpreting them and are ready to accept whatever the leader commands without realizing the results. They know this fact, and can distinguish between right and wrong but they confine their emotions within themselves never sharing those ideas to others. They fear that silence which is their old friend will b e broken. Throughout the essay, Simon wants the speaker to know how people are really lacking communication and how it going to affect them.The speaker blames people for not having real communication. By characterizing common people as â€Å"Fools†, the speaker argues that the people are going dumb without having a good communication media (22). Lack of communication make people stupid because they are unaware what is going on in the world. Using the word fool, speaker stresses how important communication is. People really turn numb without communication. It is only through communication, knowledge is shared and people are aware of many things happening in the world.The narrator continues â€Å"Silence like a cancer grows† (23). The use of this phrase suggests us that no communication is as dreadful as cancer. When someone is silent for a long time, it becomes a habit and the victim may not even notice that. Like there is no any treatment for cancer, it is very hard to convince the people who are living without any communication for a long time. Thus, the speaker’s suggestions do not work in this case too. He tries to convince the people and bring an awareness in them as he says â€Å"Hear my words†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. reach you† (24-25).But nobody accepts the speaker’s suggestions and these suggestions come back to him like he says in his poem â€Å"And echoed In the wells of silence† (20-21). In the lines, â€Å"And the people bowed†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦neon god they made† (29-30), the poet presents Neon God as a technology. People depend on technologies thinking they are more important because they make their work easier. People today spend much time in text messages, cell phones and chatting, and these are all what the narrator points as talking without speaking and hearing without listening. People have forgotten the real communication. The real ommunication is when there are feelings, when people share ide as face to face. But people are busy in enjoying the technology without thinking about its harmful consequences. Through this poem, the speaker creates the environment where there is silence everywhere. He dramatizes a community of people where people do not communicate actually. Lack of communication creates an illusion in people. People always worship technologies but never put an effort for real communication. This poem can be a good media to show the importance of real communication and bring awareness among the general people.

masai tribe essays

masai tribe essays The Masai have always been different from other African tribes. Their bright red robes set them apart visually. With a spear in hand, they are calm and courageous regardless of the danger. The armed British troops who drove the Masai from their lands in the late 19th century had a great respect for the Masai. In common with the wildlife with which they co-exist, the Masai need a lot of land. Unlike many other tribes in Kenya, they live by herding cattle and goats. They believe Engai (their chief god) gave them all the cattle in the world. They referred to the neighboring tribes of farmers and hunter-gatherers as Ndorobo, meaning poor folk. This is because the Masai measured wealth by the number of cattle, so people without cattle, or those who eat the meat of wild animals are considered poor. The Masai dont have fixed ranches with permanent buildings. Instead they construct a boma (village) for a group of families. The boma is a circle of huts,one per family, enclosed within a circular fence of thorn bushes. the women of each household construct the hut from cattle dung and clay. Periodically, the group will abandon their boma and construct a new one in an area with better water and grazing. The Masai tribe are East African nomadic people speaking Maa, which is an Eastern Nilotic language. Like other tribes, they are a nation only in the sense that they speak one language, follow a common way of life, and observe the same customs and beliefs. They have a barely sufficient, yet fairly homogeneous traditions of immigration, beginning with an ancestor called Maasinda who made a gigantic ladder which enabled the forefathers of the tribe to climb up the long cliff from the Rudoph basin to the Uasin Gishu plateau north of Kitale. From there they deployed in six main sub-tribes over the central part of the Kenya highlands and southwards, down the line of the Rift Valley, into Tanganyika. The Masai went into a...

Major General George Meade in the Civil War

Major General George Meade in the Civil War Born at Cdiz, Spain on December 31, 1815, George Gordon Meade was the eighth of eleven children born to Richard Worsam Meade and Margaret Coats Butler. A Philadelphia merchant living in Spain, Meade had been crippled financially during the Napoleonic Wars and was serving a naval agent for the US government in Cdiz. Shortly after his death in 1928, the family returned to the United States and young George was sent to school at Mount Hope College in Baltimore, MD. West Point Meades time at Mount Hope proved brief due to his familys increasingly difficult financial situation. Wishing to continue his education and aid his family, Meade sought an appointment to the United States Military Academy. Securing admission, he entered West Point in 1831. While there his classmates included George W. Morell, Marsena Patrick, Herman Haupt, and future US Postmaster General Montgomery Blair. Graduating 19th in a class of 56, Meade was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1835 and assigned to the 3rd US Artillery. Early Career Dispatched to Florida to fight the Seminoles, Meade soon fell ill with fever and was transferred to the Watertown Arsenal in Massachusetts. Having never intended to make the army his career, he resigned in late 1836 after recovering from his sickness. Entering civilian life, Meade sought work as an engineer and had some success surveying new lines for railroad companies as well as working for the War Department. In 1840, Meade married Margaretta Sergeant, the daughter of prominent Pennsylvanian politician John Sergeant. The couple would ultimately have seven children. After his marriage, Meade found steady work increasingly difficult to obtain. In 1842, he elected to re-enter the US Army and was made a lieutenant of topographical engineers. Mexican-American War Assigned to Texas in 1845, Meade served as a staff officer in Major General Zachary Taylors army after the outbreak of the Mexican-American War the following year. Present at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, he was brevetted to first lieutenant for gallantry at the Battle of Monterrey. Meade also served on the staffs of Brigadier General William J. Worth and Major General Robert Patterson. 1850s Returning to Philadelphia after the conflict, Meade spent the bulk of the next decade designing lighthouses and conducting coastal surveys on the East Coast. Among those lighthouses he designed were those at Cape May (NJ), Absecon (NJ), Long Beach Island (NJ), Barnegat (NJ) and Jupiter Inlet (FL). During this time, Meade also devised a hydraulic lamp that was accepted for use by the Lighthouse Board. Promoted to captain in 1856, he was ordered west the following year to oversee a survey of the Great Lakes. Publishing his report in 1860, he remained on the Great Lakes until the outbreak of the Civil War in April 1861. The Civil War Begins Returning east, Meade was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers on August 31 at the recommendation of Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtin and given command of the 2nd Brigade, Pennsylvania Reserves. Initially assigned to Washington, DC, his men built fortifications around the city until being assigned to Major General George McClellans newly formed Army of the Potomac. Moving south in the spring of 1862, Meade took part in McClellans Peninsula Campaign until being wounded three times at the Battle of Glendale on June 30. Quickly recovering, he rejoined his men in time for the Second Battle of Manassas in late August. Rising through the Army In the course of the fighting, Meades brigade took part in the vital defense of Henry House Hill which allowed the remainder of the army to escape after the defeat. Shortly after the battle he was given command of the 3rd Division, I Corps. Moving north at the beginning of the Maryland Campaign, he earned praise for his efforts at the Battle of South Mountain and again three days later at Antietam. When his corps commander, Major General Joseph Hooker, was wounded, Meade was selected by McClellan to take over. Leading I Corps for the remainder of the battle, he was wounded in the thigh. Returning to his division, Meade achieved the only Union success during the Battle of Fredericksburg that December when his men drove back the troops of Lieutenant General Thomas Stonewall Jackson. His success was not exploited and his division was forced to fall back. In recognition for his actions, he was promoted to major general. Given command of V Corps on December 25, he commanded it at the Battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863. During the course of the battle, he implored Hooker, now the army commander, to be more aggressive but to no avail. Taking Command Following his victory at Chancellorsville, General Robert E. Lee began moving north to invade Pennsylvania with Hooker in pursuit. Arguing with his superiors in Washington, Hooker was relieved on June 28 and command was offered to Major General John Reynolds. When Reynolds declined, it was offered to Meade who accepted. Assuming command of the Army of the Potomac at Prospect Hall near Frederick, MD, Meade continued to move after Lee. Known to his men as The Old Snapping Turtle, Meade had reputation for a short temper and possessed little patience for the press or civilians. Gettysburg Three days after taking command, two of Meades corps, Reynolds I and Major General Oliver O. Howards XI, encountered the Confederates at Gettysburg. Opening the Battle of Gettysburg, they were mauled but succeeded in holding favorable ground for the army. Rushing his men to the town, Meade won a decisive victory over the next two days and effectively turned the tide of the war in the East. Though triumphant, he was soon criticized for failing to aggressively pursue Lees battered army and deliver a war-ending blow. Following the enemy back to Virginia, Meade conducted ineffective campaigns at Bristoe and Mine Run that fall. Under Grant In March 1864, Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant was appointed lead all Union armies. Understanding that Grant would come east and citing the importance of winning the war, Meade offered to resign from his army command if the new commander preferred to appoint someone different. Impressed by Meades gesture, Grant refused the offer. Though Meade retained command of the Army of the Potomac, Grant made his headquarters with the army for the remainder of the war. This proximity led to a somewhat awkward relationship and command structure. Overland Campaign That May, the Army of the Potomac embarked on the Overland Campaign with Grant issuing orders to Meade who in turn issued them to the army. Meade largely performed well as the fighting progressed through the Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court House, but chaffed at Grants interference in the armys matters. He also took issue with Grants perceived preference for officers who had served with him in the west as well as his willingness to absorb heavy casualties. Conversely, some within Grants camp felt that Meade was too slow and cautious. As the fighting reached Cold Harbor and Petersburg, Meades performance began to slip as he did not direct his men to scout properly prior to the former battle and failed to coordinate his corps properly in the opening stages of the latter. During the siege of Petersburg, Meade again erred altering the attack plan for the Battle of the Crater for political reasons. Remaining in command throughout the siege, he fell ill on the eve of the final breakthrough in April 1865. Unwilling to miss the armys final battles, he led the Army of the Potomac from an army ambulance during the Appomattox Campaign. Though he made his headquarters near Grants, he did not accompany him to the surrender talks on April 9. Later Life With the end of the war, Meade remained in the service and moved through various department commands on the East Coast. In 1868, he took over the Third Military District in Atlanta and oversaw Reconstruction efforts in Georgia, Florida, and Alabama. Four years later, he was struck by a sharp pain in his side while in Philadelphia. An aggravation of the wound sustained at Glendale, he declined rapidly and contracted pneumonia. After a brief fight, he succumbed on November 7, 1872, and was buried at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia.

Book Review On A Fine Romance By Judith Sills Essay

Book Review On A Fine Romance By Judith Sills - Essay Example Dr. Sills wrote this book in 1987, and its complete title is A Fine Romance: The Passage of Courtship from Meeting to Marriage. In it she has used all her hard-earned 16 years of experience, and its title is a quintessence of its contents. In other words, A Fine Romance explains how becoming a couple is a matter of gradual unfolding of events in a succession of some predictable and some unpredictable stages and offers a clear and useful map to this process. Unlike some other psychology books which pick up a topic and aimlessly keep plowing through it throughout the remainder of the book, often making sweeping and mostly perplexing generalizations - without any sense what so ever, A Fine Romance is not only comprehensible and intelligible in its meanings and direction, but the plan it maps is easy to relate to, and with a little foresight - it is actually achievable. In other words Dr. Sills has beautifully identified and described the step- Best of all, Dr Sills has clearly and satisfyingly defined the meaning of love and relationships, but most importantly (for the readers); she also identifies the bottlenecks any relationship can face. She explains when a couple needs space and time to make sense of the scenario. She identifies, what she adequately calls the 'stuck points' in a path leading towards a successful relationship; the common and expected as well as some of the unexpected happenings that can put even thriving couples in a morass. That is exactly what makes it such a compelling must-read for anyone contemplating to find true love - it explains all the things they cannot understand along the way. She explains all the times when a call is misunderstood, or something meant to be for simple conversation misconstrued as something serious, and thus leading to a mix-up. Thus its readers get a clearer understanding of all the choices they would otherwise have been stumped by; a clearer perspective of what to do and what not to do when pursuing a relationship. Dr. Sills' writing style is pure perfection - a mixture of common sense and reassurance. Her insights are impressively eerie. It's like she was with you all the time; in the bedroom, in the car, the restaurant. She is with you when you are agonizing over something your partner said or did. If you're a woman, Dr. Sills knows what you did wrong when you stalked him after he didn't call you. She knows why your sweet little voicemail message was a put-off. If you're a man, Dr. Sills knows exactly what went wrong when she was trying to have a heart to heart conversation with you, but all you did was snap at her for interrupting your football game. Apart from this, the five-stage process she has mapped for a successful relationship is easy to relate to. For example, many readers were able to relate to the 'Switch' a process of changing your