Energy Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Energy Industry - Essay Example Alaska, California, Louisiana succeedingly ranked in its respective slate in 1989 for generating 41% of oil but have degraded its supply contribution to 17% of total oil output recently (Styles, 2013). This decline is supplemented with the development of extractive industry at New Dakota which replaced Alaska in 2012and is contributed further by Colorado, Oklahoma and New Mexico’s rigs (Styles, 2013). The risk however is showed by oil generation reduction when the principal pipeline of onshore oil production became a funnel for oil importation (Styles, 2013). There is imminent reduction of New Mexico’s oil supply too following the Deepwater Horizon incident in 2010 (Styles, 2013). Economists recognized that the challenged nowadays is how the oil supplies from the upper part of the country to be distributed in the regions needing more of oil supply efficiency for domestic market demands (Styles, 2013). Such meant that the company therefore should be re-strategizing its w ays to balance the distribution of oil from region with crude surplus to other areas by transporting or shipping the refined products via multiple tankers to the Midwest (Styles, 2013). Recognizing that there is reduced supply after more than two decades of extraction, the challenge on oil production and efficiency distribution is doubled, notwithstanding fact that there are Oil Companies now eyeing oil resource in Monterey deposit (Styles, 2013). Suffice it to say, there is further challenges in the participation of the states in the west coast and hence, economist purviewed that California, Oregon, Nevada, and Washington will be primordially affected when oil production and distribution disruption happens (Styles, 2013). As an adviser to the consultant of the oil industry sector, the following vulnerabilities are therefore significant for consideration: 1. Improving quality control for oil generation and control.- Oil companies have been confronting problems on facilities and pipe lines safety amid issues that have happened on leakage or destruction in some significant part of the generation or oil refinery plants that caused and cost significant amount of destruction. 2. Problems involving social acceptability of tapping oil reserves- Strong sentiments on climatic changes, environmentalism and protection of indigenous peoples rights, as well as strong presence of armed elements over their lands are major causes of resistance from regions where proposed tapping of oil reserves are abound. Company managers must look into these concerns and seriously deal states and communities in rigorous dialogues. They must also be ready of measures to prevent potential outbreak of violence. 3. Future oil production and distribution efficiency for the Midwest states. The significance of this matter is highly elaborated in the preceding paragraphs of this paper. 4. Adaptation to renewal energy. Review the capacity of renewable energy production of the country and valuate its supplementary contribution to meet the demands for energy for Midwest states. Evaluate if the states can opt to maximize the potentials of renewable sources of power and its feasibility to double or triple it adaption (Department of Energy, 2013). Concerns relating to climatic changes and weather patterns must be accounted for serious consideration too on how renewable energy be maximized in accord to weather

How do affect and emotions influence decision making processes and how Essay

How do affect and emotions influence decision making processes and how might this in turn influence the design of a specified in - Essay Example If the situation is dangerous or bad, the brain induces a negative action to counter the bad feeling. Visceral level of the brain is captured by high arousal or increased adrenaline rush that is associated with danger. To most people visceral levels dominates reflective level of the brain. A behavioral level of the brain is concerned with daily behavior of an individual and is often unconscious. It is associated with effectiveness and pleasure of doing or using something. This level of the brain can be enhanced or inhibited by the reflective layer of the brain but it can influence the visceral level. The third level of the brain is reflective level. Reflective level is contemplative and concerns itself with rationalization and intellectualization. It does not control the behavior directly because it does not have direct access to sensory input. It controls behavior indirectly by influencing the behavioral level of the brain and competes with visceral level. Affect and emotions are cr itical in decision making. This is because they influence decision making process in various ways. People make decision based on both immediate and expected emotions. First, immediate emotions affect decision on the basis of good or bad experiences at that particular time when decisions are made. Immediate emotions are affective and affect decision making directly or indirectly. Decision making can be influenced directly as they are made. For example, if a person feel fearful at a time when he or she makes decision concerning his treatment approach, he or she is likely to choose a less risky treatment approach even if the most risky option has better results. Emotions can also affect decision made indirectly by changing desirability or probability expectations of an anticipated future result. For example when a patient is feeling happy, he or she is likely to choose a riskier treatment option that has better future outcome as compared with the less risky outcome with poor future out come (Kattan and Cowen, 2009). Immediate emotions are considered affect program emotions. They disrupt current actions and cognitive inputs making a person to alter his or her actions. Immediate emotions that influence decision making are categorized into negative and positive emotions. Negative emotions include anger, hate, anxiety, fear, worry and stress. Negative emotions make a person feel out of control. If a person has negative emotions, he or she is likely to make pessimistic, radical and aggressive decisions. Positive emotions include happiness, love, kindness and security. A person with positive emotions is more likely to make optimistic, cooperative and mild decisions. Immediate emotions change outcome or probability perceptions as well as the quantity and quality of processing relevant facts and signs for decisions. Secondly, expected emotions influence decision making. The emotional outcomes associated with a given decision affect decision making process. Often, people s elect actions that minimize negative emotions and maximize positive emotions. For example, a patient suffering from prostrate cancer may choose radiation treatment over surgical treatment because surgical treatment is likely to make him impotent. How it influence the design of specified interactive media production First, knowledge is embedded on human emotion, motivation and cognition space. As a result, the knowledge that is embedded in human emotion dictates persons’

Comparing Schools Essay Example for Free

Comparing Schools Essay This report provides advice on the collection and reporting of information about the performances of Australian schools. The focus is on the collection of nationally comparable data. Two purposes are envisaged: use by education authorities and governments to monitor school performances and, in particular, to identify schools that are performing unusually well or unusually poorly given their circumstances; and use by parents/caregivers and the public to make informed judgements about, and meaningful comparisons of, schools and their offerings. Our advice is based on a review of recent Australian and international research and experience in reporting on the performances of schools. This is an area of educational practice in which there have been many recent developments, much debate and a growing body of relevant research. Our work is framed by recent agreements of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG), in particular, at its meeting on 29 November 2008: C OAG agreed that the new Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority will be supplied with the information necessary to enable it to publish relevant, nationally-comparable information on all schools to support accountability, school evaluation, collaborative policy development and resource allocation. The Authority will provide the public with information on each school in Australia that includes data on each school’s performance, including national testing results and school attainment rates, the indicators relevant to the needs of the student population and the school’s capacity including the numbers and qualifications of its teaching staff and its resources. The publication of this information will allow comparison of like schools (that is, schools with similar student populations across the nation) and comparison of a school with other schools in their local community. (COAG Meeting Outcomes) Our work also has been framed by the recently endorsed MCEETYA Principles for Reporting Information on Schooling (see Section 1. 4). Before summarising our specific recommendations, there are some general conclusions that we have reached from our review of international research and experience. The specific recommendations that follow are best understood in the context of these general conclusions: †¢ Vigilance is required to ensure that nationally comparable data on individual schools does not have the unintended consequence of focusing attention on some aspects of the purposes of schooling at the expense of other outcomes that are as important but not as easily measurable. Parents/caregivers and the public are interested in a broad range of information about schools, and nationally comparable data should be reported in the context of this broader information. †¢ Although it has become popular in education systems in some other parts of the world to use statistical models to develop ‘measures’ of school performance and to report these measures publicly in league tables, we believe that there are very v Reporting and Comparing School Performances  sound technical and educational reasons why school measures of this kind should not be used for public reporting and school comparisons. †¢ Related to this point, we are not convinced of the value of reporting ‘adjusted’ measures of student outcomes publicly. Measures of student outcomes should be reported without adjustment. †¢ To enable the comparison of unadjusted student outcomes across schools, we believe that a ‘like-schools’ methodology should be used. This methodology would allow parents/caregivers, the public, and education systems to compare outcomes for schools in similar circumstances. †¢ While point-in-time measures of student outcomes often are useful, it is difficult to establish the contributions that teachers and schools make to point-in-time outcomes. In general, measures of student gain/growth across the years of school provide a more useful basis for making judgements about the value that schools are adding. †¢ Measures of gain/growth are most appropriately based on measurement scales that can be used to monitor student progress across the years of school. The NAPLAN measurement scales are an example and provide educational data superior to that available in most other countries. Consideration should be given to developing national measurement scales for early literacy learning and in some subjects of the national curriculum. †¢ Initially reporting should build on the understandings that parents and the public have already developed. For example a school’s NAPLAN results should be reported in forms that are consistent with current NAPLAN reports for students. Although much work needs to be done in defining the most appropriate measures, the principle should be to build on the representations of data that are already familiar to people. Recommendations Our report makes the following specific recommendations: student outcome measures †¢ Nationally comparable data should be collected on the literacy and numeracy skills of students in each school, using NAPLAN (Years 3, 5, 7 and 9). †¢ Nationally comparable data should be collected on the tertiary entrance results of students in each senior secondary school. These data could be reported as the percentage of students achieving tertiary entrance ranks of 60 or above, 70 or above, 80 or above, and 90 or above (calculated as a percentage of the students achieving tertiary entrance ranks). †¢ Nationally comparable data should be collected on the percentage of students in each senior secondary school completing Year 12 or equivalent; the percentage of students applying to all forms of post-school education; and the percentage of students completing VET studies. vi Reporting and Comparing School Performances †¢ Nationally comparable data should be collected on the achievements of students in core national curriculum subjects (English, mathematics, science and history), beginning in 2010. National assessments could be developed initially at Year 10. †¢ Nationally comparable data should be collected on the early literacy learning of children in each primary school. These assessments will need to be developed and should be administered upon entry to school and used as a baseline for monitoring progress across the first few years of school. physical and human resources †¢ Nationally comparable data should be collected about sources and amounts of funding received by each school, including all income to the school from State and Commonwealth governments, as well as details of fees payable by parents, including those that are mandatory and any voluntary levies that parents are expected to pay. †¢ Nationally comparable data should be collected on the numbers and qualifications of teaching staff in each school. Basic data would include academic qualifications, details of pre-service teacher education, and details of any advanced certification (eg, Advanced Skills Teacher; Level 3 Teacher). student intake characteristics †¢ Nationally comparable data should be collected on the socio-economic backgrounds of students in each school. Data should be based on information collected at the individual student level, using at least parental occupation and, possibly, parental education levels, under the agreed MCEETYA definitions. †¢ Nationally comparable data should be collected on the percentage of students in each school of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander background under the agreed MCEETYA definition. †¢ Nationally comparable data should be collected on the percentage of students in each school identified as having a language background other than English (LBOTE) under the agreed MCEETYA definition. †¢ Nationally comparable data should be collected on the geo-location of each school using a 3-category scale: metropolitan, provincial, and remote. †¢ Nationally comparable data should be collected on the percentage of students in each school with special educational needs. A nationally agreed definition of this category will need to be developed. like-school comparisons †¢ In reporting student outcome data for a school, data for like-schools should be provided as a point of comparison. Like-schools will be schools in similar circumstances and facing similar challenges. †¢ In determining ‘like-schools’, account should be taken of the percentage of students with Indigenous backgrounds, the socio-economic backgrounds of the students in the school, and the percentage of students from language backgrounds other than English. vii Reporting and Comparing School Performances †¢ For each school separately, like-schools should be identified as the schools most similar to that school on the above characteristics (rather than pre-defining a limited number of like-school categories). †¢ Work should commence as soon as possible on the development of an appropriate like-schools methodology. public reporting †¢ For the purpose of providing public information about schools, a common national website should be used to provide parents/caregivers and the public with access to rich information about individual schools. †¢ The national website should provide information about each school’s programs, philosophies, values and purposes, provided by the school itself, as well as nationally comparable data, provided centrally. †¢ Nationally comparable student outcome data should, wherever possible, provide information about current levels of attainment (ie, status), gain/growth across the years of school, and improvement in a school over time. †¢ The complete database for each state/territory should be made available to the relevant state/territory departments of education and other employing authorities, enabling them to interrogate data for their schools and to make judgments about school performances using aggregated data and national summary statistics. We believe that almost all nationally comparable data collected centrally could be reported publicly. The exceptions would arise when the public reporting of data may have negative and unintended consequences for schools. For example, we can envisage negative consequences arising from the reporting of the socio-economic backgrounds of students in a school, or of the financial circumstances of struggling, small schools (both government and non-government). We also believe that data reported publicly should be factual data about a school, and not the results of secondary analyses and interpretations that are open to debate (eg, value-added measures). viii Reporting and Comparing School Performances 1. INTRODUCTION In education, good decision making is facilitated by access to relevant, reliable and timely information. Dependable information is required at all levels of educational decision making to identify areas of deficiency and special need, to monitor progress towards goals, to evaluate the effectiveness of special interventions and initiatives, and to make decisions in the best interests of individual learners. The focus of this  paper is on the provision and use of information about individual schools. The starting point is the observation that relevant and reliable information about schools is required by a range of decision makers – including parents and caregivers, school principals and school leadership teams, system managers and governments, and the general public – all of whom require dependable information that they can use to maximise opportunities and outcomes for students. 1. 1 Audiences and Purposes  Parents and caregivers require valid and reliable information to evaluate the quality of the education their children are receiving, to make informed decisions in the best interests of individual students, and to become active partners in their children’s learning. They require dependable information about the progress individuals have made (the knowledge, skills and understandings developed through instruction), about teachers’ plans for future learning, and about what they can do to assist. There is also considerable evidence that parents and caregivers want information about how their children are performing in comparison with other children of the same age. And, if they are to make judgements about the quality of the education their children are receiving, they require information that enables meaningful comparisons across schools. School leaders require reliable information on student and school performances for effective school management. Research into factors underpinning school  effectiveness highlights the importance of the school leader’s role in establishing an environment in which student learning is accorded a central focus, and goals for improved performance are developed collaboratively by staff with a commitment to achieving them. School managers require dependable pictures of how well students in a school are performing, both with respect to school goals for improvement and with respect to past achievements and achievements in other, comparable schools. Governments and system managers require dependable information on the performance and progress of individual schools if they are to exercise their responsibilities for the delivery of quality education to all students. Effective management depends on an ability to monitor system-wide and school performances over time, to gauge the effectiveness of special programs and targeted resource allocations, to monitor the impact of policies, and to evaluate the success of initiatives aimed at traditionally disadvantaged and underachieving sections of the student population. Accurate, reliable information allows system managers to measure progress against past performances, to identify schools and issues requiring special attention, to target resources appropriately, and to set goals for future improvement. 1 Reporting and Comparing School Performances 1. 2 Forms of Information Because there are multiple audiences and purposes for information about schools, the forms of information required for effective decision making are different for different stakeholders. Parents and caregivers require a wide range of information, including information relating to their immediate needs (eg, Is the school easily accessible by public transport? Does it have an after-school program? What fees and/or levies does it charge? ); the ethos of the school (eg, What evidence is there of bullying/harassment? What are the espoused values of the school? Do students wear uniforms? What level of discipline is imposed? Who is the principal? ); their child’s likely educational experience (eg, Who will be my child’s teacher next year? Will they be in a composite class? How large will the class be? Does the school have a literacy intervention program? What extra-curricular activities are provided? ); and the school’s educational results (eg, Does the school achieve outstanding Year 12 results? ). School leaders require other forms of information, including information relating to staffing and resources (eg, What resources are available for music next year? How many beginning children have special learning needs? ); the effectiveness of initiatives (eg, Is there any evidence that the extra class time allocated to literacy this year made a difference?); and academic results (eg, How many Year 5 students did not meet the minimum performance standard in Reading? Have our results improved since last year? Are we still below the state average? How did last year’s Year 12 results compare with those of the neighbouring school? ). System managers and governments require still other forms of information, including information to monitor system-wide trends over time, to evaluate the effectiveness of attempts to raise standards and close gaps, and to identify schools that are performing unusually well or unusually poorly given their circumstances. In general, the schoollevel information required by system managers and governments is less fine-grained than the information required by parents, teachers and school leaders. Figure 1 displays schematically various forms of information that could be made available about a school, either publicly or to specific audiences (eg, system managers). The forms of evidence represented in Figure 1 are: A: student outcome measures that a school could choose to report Most schools report a wide range of information about the achievements of their students to their school communities. This information is reported in school newsletters, local and community newspapers, school websites, and at school events. The information includes details of Year 12 results, analyses of postschool destinations, results in national mathematics and science competitions, language certificates, awards, prizes, extra-curricular achievements, community recognition, and so on. Most schools take every opportunity to celebrate the achievements of their students and to announce these achievements publicly. 2 Reporting and Comparing School Performances Figure 1. Forms of information that could be made available about a school B:a sub-set of student outcome measures on which it is agreed to collect nationally comparable data Within the set of student outcome information that might be reported for a school, there could be a sub-set of outcomes on which it was agreed to collect nationally comparable data. A reason for identifying such a sub-set would be to ensure some common measures to facilitate school comparisons – within a local geographical area, across an entire education system, nationally, or within a group of ‘like’ schools. Inevitably, nationally comparable data would be collected for only some of the outcomes that schools, parents and communities value. Performances on common literacy and numeracy tests in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 are an example of nationally comparable data currently in this category. C. physical and human resources measures that a school could choose to report Schools provide information in various forms and to various audiences about their physical and human resources. Information of this kind includes details of staff qualifications and teaching experience, staff turnover rates, school global budgets, computers and other technology, newly constructed facilities, bequests, results of fundraising drives, and so on. Some of this information may be reported to the school community; some may be kept confidential to the school, education system or government departments. D: a sub-set of physical and human resources measures on which it is agreed to collect nationally comparable data Within the set of physical and human resources measures reported for a school, there could be a sub-set of measures on which it was agreed to collect nationally comparable data. For example, there have been recent calls for greater consistency and transparency in the reporting of school funding arrangements (Dowling, 2007; 2008) and for more consistent national approaches to assessing and recognising teacher quality (Dinham, et al, 2008). 3 Reporting and Comparing School Performances E. student intake measures that a school could choose to report Most schools have considerable information about their students. For example, they may have information about students’ language backgrounds, Indigenous status, socio-economic backgrounds, learning difficulties and disabilities. This information usually is reported only within education systems or to governments and is not reported publicly, although schools sometimes provide information to their communities about the range of languages spoken by students in the school, the countries from which they come, the percentage of Indigenous students in the school and the school’s special Indigenous programs, or the number of severely disabled students and the facilities and support provided for these students. F: a sub-set of student intake measures on which it is agreed to collect nationally comparable data. Within the set of student intake characteristics reported for a school, there could be a sub-set of measures on which it was agreed to collect nationally comparable data. Some progress has been made toward nationally consistent definitions and nationally consistent data collections on student background characteristics. G. all other information that a school could choose to make available Beyond information about student outcomes, student backgrounds and their physical and human resources, schools provide a range of other information to the communities they serve. 1. 3 Nationally Comparable Data Acknowledging the many purposes and audiences for information about schools, and the various forms that this information can take, the specific focus of this paper is on the collection and reporting of nationally comparable data for the purposes of evaluating and comparing school performances. In other words, the focus is on categories B, D and F in Figure 1. We envisage three broad uses of such data: †¢ use by parents and caregivers in judging the quality of educational provision and in making informed decisions in the best interests of individual students; †¢ use by school leaders in monitoring a school’s improvement and benchmarking the school’s performance against other, comparable schools; and †¢ use by education systems and governments in identifying schools that are performing unusually well or unusually poorly given their circumstances. As noted above, these three stakeholder groups are likely to have different needs. The ways in which nationally comparable data are analysed, combined and reported may be different for different purposes. We see the process of reaching agreement on the core data that should be available about a school as a national collaborative process, and see little value in arriving at different conclusions about these data for different parts of the country. 4 Reporting and Comparing School Performances 1. 4 Principles for Reporting The Principles for Reporting Information on Schooling (see pages 6-7) adopted by the Ministerial Council for Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCCETYA) provide an important point of reference for any proposed collection and use of nationally comparable data on schools. These principles recognise the multiple audiences and purposes for information about schools, the need to collect broad evidence about student and school performances, and the desirability of monitoring intended and unintended consequences of reporting information on schools. Australian governments have undertaken to ensure that data provided for the purposes of comparing schools are reliable and fair and take into account the contexts in which schools work. Governments also have undertaken not to develop simplistic league tables of school performances. 1. 5 Structure of Paper This paper first considers the kinds of nationally comparable data that might be collected about schools for the purposes outlined above. We draw on national and international research and experience, attempt to anticipate the likely requirements of different audiences, and take into account what measures currently exist and what additional measures might be desirable in the future. Each of the three data categories in Figure 1 is considered in turn: †¢ †¢ †¢ student outcome measures physical and human resources measures student intake measures (sections 2-3) (section 4) (section 5) We then consider alternative ways of evaluating and comparing school performances. Two broad methodologies are discussed: †¢ †¢ the direct comparison of student outcomes the construction of measures of school performance (section 6) (section 7) Finally, we consider issues in reporting publicly on the performances of schools: †¢ †¢ audiences and purposes for reporting options for public reporting on schools (section 8) (section 9) 5 Reporting and Comparing School Performances MCEETYA PRINCIPLES FOR REPORTING INFORMATION ON SCHOOLING There is a vast amount of information on Australian schooling and individual schools. This includes information about the educational approach of schools, their enrolment profile, staffing, facilities and programs, and the education environment they offer, as well as information on the performance of students, schools and systems. Different groups, including schools and their students, parents and families, the community and governments, have different information needs. The following principles provide guidance on requirements for information on schooling, including the types of information that should be made readily available to each of the groups noted above. These principles will be supported by an agreed set of national protocols on the access to and use of information on schooling. Good quality information on schooling is important: FOR SCHOOLS AND THEIR STUDENTS. Principle 1: Schools need reliable, rich data on the performance of their students because they have the primary accountability for improving student outcomes. Good quality data supports each school to improve outcomes for all of their students. It supports effective diagnosis of student progress and the design of quality learning programs. It also informs schools’ approaches to provision of programs, school policies, pursuit and allocation of resources, relationships with parents and partnerships with community and business. Schools should have access to: †¢ Comprehensive data on the performance of their own students that uses a broad set of indicators †¢ Data that enables each school to compare its own performance against all schools and with schools of similar characteristics †¢ Data demonstrating improvements of the school over time †¢ Data enabling the school to benchmark its own performance against that of the bestperforming schools in their jurisdiction and nationally FOR PARENTS AND FAMILIES. Principle 2: Information about schooling, including data on the performance of individuals, schools and systems, helps parents and families to make informed choices and to engage with their children’s education and the school community. Parents and families should have access to: †¢ Information about the philosophy and educational approach of schools, and their staffing, facilities, programs and extra-curricular activities that enables parents and families to compare the education environment offered by schools †¢ Information about a school’s enrolment profile, taking care not to use data on student 1  characteristics in a way that may stigmatise schools or undermine social inclusion. †¢ Data on student outcomes that enables them to monitor the individual performance of their child, including what their child knows and is able to do and how this relates to what is expected for their age group, and how they can contribute to their child’s progress †¢ Information that allows them to assess a school’s performance overall and in improving student outcomes, including in relation to other schools with similar characteristics in their jurisdiction and nationally. 1 Any use or publication of information relating to a school’s enrolment profile should ensure that the privacy of individual students is protected. For example, where the small size of a school population or of a specific student cohort may enable identification of individual students, publication of this information should be avoided. 6 Reporting and Comparing School Performances FOR THE COMMUNITY. Principle 3: The community should have access to information that enables an understanding of the decisions taken by governments and the status and performance of schooling in Australia, to ensure schools are accountable for the results they achieve with the public funding they receive, and governments are accountable for the decisions they take. Students are an important part of our society and take up a variety of roles within it after leaving school. The community is therefore a direct and indirect consumer of the product of our schools, as well as providing the means of public funding. Information about schools in the public domain fulfils the requirement that schools be accountable for the results they achieve with the public funding they receive, including relative to other ‘like’ schools; it should also give the community a broad picture of school performance and a sense of confidence in our school systems. The community should have access to: †¢ Information about the philosophy and educational approach of schools, and their staffing, facilities, programs and extra-curricular activities that enables the community to compare the education environment offered by schools. †¢ Information about individual schools’ enrolment profile, taking care not to use data on student characteristics in a way that may stigmatise schools or undermine social inclusion †¢ National reporting on the performance of all schools with data that allows them to view a school’s performance overall and in improving student outcomes, including in relation to other schools with similar characteristics RESPONSIBLE PROVISION OF SCHOOLING INFORMATION Australian Governments will ensure that school-based information is published responsibly so that: †¢ any public comparisons of schools will be fair, contain accurate and verified data, contextual information and a range of indicators to provide a more reliable and complete view of performance (for example, information on income, student body characteristics, the spread of student outcomes and information on the value added by schools) †¢ governments will not devise simplistic league tables or rankings and will put in place strategies to manage the risk that third parties may seek to produce such tables or rankings, and will ensure that privacy will be protected. †¢ reports providing information on schooling for parents and families and the community will be developed based on research on what these groups want to know and the most effective ways the information can be presented and communicated. FOR GOVERNMENTS Principle 4: Governments need sound information on school performance to support ongoing improvement for students, schools and systems. Government also need to monitor and evaluate the impacts (intended and unintended) of the use and release of this information to improve its application over time. Good quality information on schooling enables governments to: †¢ analyse how well schools are performing †¢ identify schools with particular needs †¢ determine where resources are most needed to lift attainment †¢ identify best practice and innovation in high-performing schools that can be mainstreamed and used to support improvements in schools with poorer performance †¢ conduct national and international comparisons of approaches and performance †¢ develop a substantive evidence base on what works. This will enable future improvements in school performance that support the achievement of the agreed education outcomes of both the Ministerial Council for Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs and the Council of Australian Governments. 7 Reporting and Comparing School Performances 2. STUDENT OUTCOMES Information about the outcomes of a school’s efforts is key information for parents and caregivers if they are to judge the quality of educational provision; for school leaders to monitor a school’s performance and improvement; and for education systems and governments to identify schools in need of additional support. However, schools work to promote many different kinds of outcomes for their students. For some schools, an important objective is to improve school attendance rates. For others, assisting students to make successful transitions into the workforce is a high priority. Some schools are more focused than others on supporting the social, spiritual and emotional development of students. Still others measure their success in terms of entry rates into highly sought-after university courses. Decisions about the outcomes to be reported publicly for schools are important because they influence judgements about how well individual schools are performing. This is particularly true when education systems and governments attempt to construct ‘measures’ of school performance: Perverse incentives can arise when the [school] performance measure has both a large impact upon actors and focuses on an aspect of schooling that does not reflect the true or overall purpose and objectives of schools. Unfortunately, this can be common in school performance measures if the performance measure is too narrowly defined. (OECD, 2008, 26).

Australian indigenous world views and accounting

Australian indigenous world views and accounting This paper summarizes the article titled The issue of Australian indigenous world-views and accounting written by Susan Greer and Chris Patel (2000). Also critically review the article and compare it with other articles those discuss the same idea and focus on the same issue. As any research area and especially in social sciences, the difficulty and the complex of the topic should be taken as a point of departure for exploring and studying the topic as well as the importance of the topic. The paper was structured into eight sections as following: an introduction; limitations of Hofstedes cultural taxonomy; yin and yang values framework; core Australian indigenous cultural values; work-related values; land-related values; the meaning of native title and concluding comments. The purpose of the paper is to provide evidence of cultural differences between indigenous Australian values and the Western capitalist values implicit in the language of accounting and accountabilityp1 as the authors believe that although great efforts have been made on the cross-cultural accounting research, the mainstream cross-cultural accounting research has failed to address two main issues: First: the mainstream research of cross-cultural accounting focused on the impact of culture on the accounting systems but not the influence of accounting on societal values. Second: the cultural differences within countries have been omitted. The article tries to study this issue and fill the knowledge gap in this field, also presents the cultural norms and values among the indigenous and non-indigenous peoples within Australia p 308. Specifically, the study aims to demonstrate that Australian indigenous cultures embody core values that conflict with the values encapsulated within Western systems of accounting and accountability. p308 Article Summary The study illuminates the differences between indigenous Australian peoples cultural values and Western capitalist values appears in language of accounting that related to work and land. Choosing the conceptions of work and land were based on two reasons, first the previous studies which have shown the importance of the work related values and differences between cultures. Second, the recent introduction of native title into property law granted the Australian indigenous conception of land some legal recognition alongside other forms of property rights p309 the authors criticize Hofsteds cultural taxonomy as they believe in its limitations, they refer to a number of limitations as: this approach overly simplistic as it reflects the values of the politically and socially advantaged groups within countries, also it does not include the minorities in the sample such as indigenous peoples, moreover, it fails to address the complexity of culture p310 Because of these limitations mentioned above, the authors adopt another suitable approach which they believe it is the appropriate one for such a study. The alternative used approach is Yin and Yang values framework, the authors believe that A useful perspective for examining the cultural values and conceptions of reality reflected and socially reproduced by accounting, is that of the universal masculine or yang and the universal feminine or yin (Hines, 1992, p. 318).as some writers (Hines 1992) showed that the language of accounting preferences yang values, such as quantification, objectivity, efficiency, productivity, reason, and logic, and in doing so, silences or excludes those values associated with the universal feminine or yin, such as relationships, nurturing, experience, and intuition p310 The authors address the usefulness of the adoption of this value framework to their study in two primary reasons. The first reason is because of the evidence of unique Australian indigenous cultural values provided from a large collection of anthropological, sociological and pedagogical literature. Secondly, the increasing emphasis of the Australian indigenous people s on cultural values and traditions. Core Australian indigenous cultural values In this section, authors try to introduce the differences in cultural values within the indigenous Australian peoples or (the yin core values). According to the authors, The whole community is classified into specific relationships with each member (Crawford, 1989). For example, the Pitjantjatjara people of Central Australia gave Europeans kinship terms à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. The Yolngu of the Northern Territory are also known to assign positions within the domain of Yolngu kinship to non-Aboriginal people with whom they have more than superficial or brief contact à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. Thus for many indigenous peoples, kin positions constitute the basic datum of social identity. p 313 Also authors state that sharing and relatedness values are central to these indigenous societies especially to Aboriginal society. In the next sections the authors focus on two groups of value taking them as examples, these groups of values, according to the authors, are aligned to yin values. Work-related values In this section the work-related values of indigenous peoples are presented as yin values, which are clearly reflected in the indigenous attitudes to work, consequently are in contrast with yang values. Some examples was given in support to this issue the strength and nature of obligatory relationships and the web of sharing within kinship networks are often acknowledged as a key determinant of the success or failure of indigenous enterprises. Yet, governments at the state and federal levels and indigenous funding bodies have consistently ignored this factor. Instead, indigenous organisations and communities have been increasingly submitted to financial accounting controls and measures of financial accountability and compliance which prioritise yang values that are in direct conflict with the core Australian indigenous values of sharing and relatedness. p 316 Land-related values Descriptions of how the land is considered by indigenous peoples in Australia can be found under this section where the authors provide evidences on how land values for these indigenous are different to accounting and accountability systems in the Western capitalist environment. The authors state that The earth is considered the source of all life and, as such, the indigenous peoples are obligated to look after the earth, so that the earth will in turn provide for them p 318 According to the authors the link between these peoples and land is much deeper than just an economic property, as it can be read that In Australian indigenous culture it is the spiritual link to the land that is all-pervasive. The land is the source of the Dreamings, the source of identity and the foundation principle of land rights in indigenous culture is not one of individual proprietary rights, rather it is relationships p 319 The meaning of native title Native title was identified in the article as inalienable right consisting of the laws, customs, practices and traditions of particular communities. As such, the rights under native title are limited to the indigenous community which observes those traditions, customs and practices. Native title does not equate with the estates, rights or interests in land which form the law of real property at common law . . . it is to be regarded as unique p 320 The indigenous consider it as an important part of their culture not as it appears in the Western accounting literature as: . The property; . The asset; . The economic resource; . The commodity; and . The natural capital. The loss of this title means loss of culture itself for these Australian indigenous peoples. Conclusion comments the article concludes with the mention of the failure of mainstream cross-cultural accounting research to include the norms and values of less advantage groups such as indigenous, also the article refers to the complexity of accounting and accountability to study such a subject as these social aspects are part of many other subjects as history, ideology, language and mythology. Moreover, the authors suggest to build on the work has been made by Hines (1992) and Broadbent (1995; 1998). Critical Reflections This section critically evaluates the work has been done by Greer S. and Patel C. (2000) by reviewing the used method and objectives achieved in the light of other works on the same topic. Strengths it is good attempt to bring such issues to the attention of accounting, some issues like the issue of accounting and indigenous, how they are effected by accounting and how accounting should benefits from their cultures for example in terms of environment and social responsibility. As Gallhofer et al (2000) think that it seems appropriate to speculate further upon how indigenous cultural principles might be reflected more generally in the context of impacting upon accounting p 397 The objectives of the article were clearly stated and strongly linked to the title. Also the abstract summaries and explains clearly the debate issue of the article and the limitations of the methods used before. The aims and objectives of the article were well addressed and The findings were well organized and reported objectively. More importantly, new approach was applied as alternative method to characterize the indigenous peoples cultural differences in terms of accounting and accountability. It can be said that the article was well written and sectioned in good order, also very clear literature review was introduced by descriptions of the related work has been done in the same field within discussions in different places in the article which, also number of good references were used in both method section and the development body. In my view, that would give a good opportunity to describe the contents of the article and make them more readable. Not to mention the number of examples was injected in different sections of the article to support the ideas included. Weaknesses Gallhofer and Chew state that (2000) We are particularly concerned to address the problem that non-indigenous researchers face when they write about issues concerning indigenous peoples and cultures p 258. As mentioned it could be a problematic issue that non-indigenous researchers can not reflect clearly the complexity of cultural and social elements and accounting in indigenous societies in general. At one point it could be said that the method used to gather the data for this article were clearly explained and the developments of the critical contextual analysis were well explained. On the other point, however, the reliability of the used texts is sometimes difficult to be measured. Also the scope of the study and the population used were not based on a clear approach. Hofsteds cultural taxonomy was criticized in the article because of its limitations; however, the method was employed as alternative approach (Yin and Yang value framework) has its own limitations too. At one point the used method is acceptable for determining the content and deliver broader understanding to the reader .however, it could be questionable if it is the appropriate method to explain and develop scientific accounting theory and result reliable outcomes as it is affected by other sciences such as language, history and politics. This makes the issue is more complicated and can not be studied without considering other elements, for instance, Jayasinghe and Dennis Thomas (2009) found that The findings imply that any form of rational transformations in indigenous accounting systems in local subaltern communities requires a phenomenological analysis of any prevailing and dominant patronage political systems. p 351 From personal point of view, hybrid Approach should be applied to study the topic including ethno-methodological approach. The article does not mention clearly how to improved the accounting theory and engage it with indigenous culture and practices, in personal view, the expected outcomes of studies not just general description to matters but also to give potential solutions. It also can be argued that the article does not show whereas the indigenous peoples welcome the western accounting and accountability systems or not, and if yes till which degree. In general, the article should have studied both sides of the relationship between the indigenous and the language of western accounting and how they affect each other rather than focusing on one side as the relationship is an interactive one. As it seems that the issue is more deep-rooted in the accounting field which requires studying the historical background of the matter. It is also arguable that although the authors arose the differences between cultures within the same country, they applied the comprehensiveness when they studied the indigenous and ignored the cultural differences between these indigenous peoples themselves, for instance Gallhofer et al (2000) believe that There are complex differences between the three groups of indigenous people and indeed between their different tribes. p 384 Questions Left to Answer The article raises issues and possibilities that should be focused on and questions need to be further explored; additional studies are needed to raise research possibilities beyond those identified and overcome method limitations. Conclusion In conclusion, the paper has promoted to the idea of providing evidence of differences between indigenous Australian values and the Western capitalist values in the accounting context. Some good cases have been presented with implementing a developed method in the field. Besides, several of good references have been used in order to develop the problem statement of the article, It could also be said that the yin and yang values framework which used in the paper has its limitation in terms of providing evidences of the problem studied. The conclusion was based on the findings from the critical contextual analysis used and the literature reviewed; also the recommendation was limited to a call for additional research in this area of research as some other researchers suggest (Gallhofer and Chew 2000). Overall, the study gives good contribution to knowledge in terms of the used method and the objectives, also the study would need to be linked to other works have been done on the same topic (Gallhofer, S., Chew, A. (2000), Gallhofer, S., el al (2000), Davie, S. (2000), Jayasinghe K. and Thomas D. (2009), to give better and broader understanding to the problem introduced in the mentioned article.

charant Characterization in Sophocles Antigone Essays -- Antigone es

Antigone– Characterization  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚   This essay will illustrate the types of characters depicted in Sophocles’ tragic drama, Antigone, whether static or dynamic, flat or round, and whether portrayed through the showing or telling technique.    Martin Heidegger in â€Å"The Ode on Man in Sophocles’ Antigone† explains, in a rather involved theory,   the destruction of Creon’s character:    The conflict between the overwhelming presence of the essent as a whole and man’s violent being-there creates the possibility of downfall into the issueless and placeless: disaster. But disaster and the possibility of disaster do not occur only at the end, when a single act of power fails, when the violent one makes a false move; no, this disaster is fundamental, it governs and waits in the conflict between violence and the overpowering. Violence against the preponderant power of being must shatter against being, if being rules in its essence, as physics, as emerging power(98).    The dialogue, action and motivation revolve about the characters in the story (Abrams 32-33). Werner Jaeger in â€Å"Sophocles’ Mastery of Character Development† pays the dramatist the very highest compliment with regard to character development:    The ineffaceable impression which Sophocles makes on us today and his imperishable position in the literature of the world are both due to his character-drawing. If we ask which of the men and women of Greek tragedy have an independent life in the imagination apart from the stage and from the actual plot in which they appear, we must answer, ‘those created by Sophocles, above all others’ (36).    Surely   it can be said of Sophocles’ main characters that they grow beyond the two dimension... ...ment of his edict; he changes after Teiresias’ visit and warning. Ismene and Haemon become dynamic later in the tragedy. Rarely does the dramatist use the chorus to convey information; most of this comes from exchanges of dialogue, which would be the showing technique.    WORKS CITED    Abrams, M. H. A Glossary of Literary Terms, 7th ed. New York: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1999.    Antigone by Sophocles. Translated by R. C. Jebb. no pag. http://classics.mit.edu/Sophocles/antigone.html    Heidegger, Martin. â€Å"The Ode on Man in Sophocles’ Antigone.† In Sophocles: A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Thomas Woodard. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966.    Jaeger, Werner. â€Å"Sophocles’ Mastery of Character Development.† In Readings on Sophocles, edited by Don Nardo. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1997.   

Vikings stadium up in the air :: essays research papers

The man who is emerging as the lead owner of the Minnesota Vikings isn't thrilled with Anoka County's $1.6 billion stadium development concept in Blaine, and he has tossed the plan into flux, city and county officials said this week. Zygmunt Wilf, a New Jersey real estate developer who is scheduled to visit Blaine today, has told officials that if he and his partners buy the Vikings, a domed stadium is not a priority. He also said that elements of the retail-commercial-housing development in the Blaine proposal don't appeal to him, and that he is examining land in nearby Lino Lakes as an alternative stadium site. "He's got something in mind that he wants," said Blaine Mayor Tom Ryan. "But he's the only one who knows. We have to be sure his plan, whatever it is, works for the city." Wilf has not returned repeated phone calls from the Star Tribune since February, when it was announced that he was a partner with Arizona businessman Reggie Fowler in an effort to buy the Vikings. His scheduled visit today, his second to Blaine in three weeks, has officials curious about his intentions and vision. "We're dying to find out," said Blaine Planning Director Bryan Schafer. Of the Blaine plan, Anoka County Board Chairwoman Margaret Langfeld said: "It's just up in the air right now." Two years ago, after evaluating three potential locales in Anoka County, county officials landed on the Blaine site, which has more than 400 acres ready for development. It stands just west of Interstate Hwy. 35W, bordered by 109th Avenue NE. to the north and Lexington Avenue to the east. Soon after, the county proposed a fixed-roofed stadium, with a 300,000-square-foot medical clinic, a 250-room hotel, 1.3 million feet of corporate office space, 200 townhouses and 650,000 square feet of retail and entertainment facilities. The total cost was estimated at $1.6 billion. The county and city presented the plan to Gov. Tim Pawlenty's Stadium Screening Committee last year and, with the concept, the Anoka County Board approved a three-quarter-cent sales tax increase to help pay for it. But in a meeting with city and county officials on April 14, Wilf was apparently indifferent to a roof, questioned the need for the clinic and told political leaders that he would examine the Lino Lakes land, 8 miles to the east of the Blaine site, near Interstate Hwy. 35E. "This isn't an exact quote," said Anoka County Commissioner Dan Erhart, "but he said something like, 'I'm a builder.

Form and Structure Essay

`A Taste of Honey’ is in two acts, both containing two scenes, and set in two flats. The play could be described as episodic, due to the fact that within the same situation by using a blackout, the play has moved on months from the previous scene (i.e. Jo’s pregnancy in Act II). Delaney has used a Brechtian device with using episodes to show different aspects of the characters lives, and how they fit together in the plot. The structure of the play is fairly basic as it follows the Brechtian influence of a Linear plot(beginning, middle, end) i.e. the play is easy to follow which symbolises the characters lives – monotonous and basically the same situations arising from one day to the next. However, a element of Stanislavski is used as the technique of naturalistic/realistic drama (soap opera effect) is apparent. `A Taste of Honey’ follows the life of a young girl call Jo over the period of approximately 12 – 18 months. It is realistic in the sense th at it portrays how working class people live and the struggles they have to endure, which would therefore allow the audience to relate to this and affect them emotionally. This relates to Stanislavski’s aim of wanting to depict the working class and show the rich and privileged how they live (realities of society). This idea is also indicated throughout the outcome of the play – the initial characters in the play Helen and Jo end up as they begun, rejected and the relationships they developed throughout the play have failed( Peter has gone off with another woman, Jimmie left Jo pregnant and does not come back to see her, and Geof leaves Jo). There is only Jo and Helen left, and Helen portrays selfishness and illustrates dislike towards her daughter, as shown on the final page( 86), which was the case in the opening of the play. This situation of the characters not progressing in their lives symbolises the genre of the play as they have no hope for the future because of the lives they lead. Due to their lack of education, morals and the general way they conduct their lives, (e.g. Jo dating a coloured man) they are outcasts of society. However, due to their working class status in the 1950s, they wouldn’t be given the chance. Therefore, I feel the that Brechtian idea of current political factors playing a part in this play when written, is illustrated by the characters lives due to their working class status, the feminist issue of two of the male characters(Jimmie and Peter) only after Helen and Jo for sex, and the racism and discrimination towards coloured people. Stanislavski uses methods of traditional, realistic drama such as method acting, where the actor becomes emotionally involved with their character to gain a deeper understanding. Delaney intended on using this idea, as in the early rehearsals for the play, improvisation lessons were used. Avis Bunnage, who played Helen in a `Taste of Honey’ described this experience as an actor: â€Å"When we came to bits that didn’t seem to work, we ad-libbed around the ideas, made it up as we went along. We used things that were around like an aspidistra that someone had left on the stage which became incorporated in the production. I said some of my lines to it. Jean gave us hell during the rehearsals. She had us running from the stage to the paint bay and back over and even again, to give us feeling of real tiredness† Example of method acting used in rehearsals for the play I would describe the genre of this play as â€Å"kitchen sink’ as it has certain characteristics such as being set in a working class environment (Salford, Manchester – in a flat). It deals with domestic issues such as conflicts between people who live in these poor conditions (e.g. Jo and Helen). The language even insinuates this genre of theatre, as it is simplistic and could be described as ordinary, everyday language, which is sometimes crude. An example of this is in Act II, scene I, where Helen and Peter have come to see Jo: Helen: â€Å"Take your bloody money and get out† Peter: â€Å"Thank you† Helen: â€Å"You dirty bastard† (Act II, scene 1, page 66 ) Another example of the language reflecting the genre of the play is Helen’s description of the flat: â€Å"There’s a lovely view of the gas works. We share a bathroom with the community† (Act 1, scene 1, page 7) Another element of this drama is the conflicts which arise due to the conditions in which the characters live (Jo and Helen). Helen kicks Geof out/makes him leave without Jo knowing about this, and she knows Jo wants him there. Another example is Helen arguing with Peter for touching her. Peter ( touching her) †Now you know I like this mother and son relationship† Helen: â€Å"Stop it† Peter: â€Å"Aren’t you wearing your girdle?† (Act 1, scene1, page 18) Helen argues with Peter about this because really she likes him touching her. This relates to Jo ‘s situation as she doesn’t want `boy’ (Jimmie) to touch her, due to the fact that she enjoys it too. This dismissal of affection is due to both the female characters not being really used to affection, as their relationship as mother and daughter certainly doesn’t entail this behavior. Therefore, the characters don’t know how to conduct themselves in a loving relationship, and are unaware of how to respond to affection, care and attention. The hostile relationship between Jo and Helen is established due to the many arguments they have, for example, when Jo tells Helen she’s getting married, Helen is angry. Jo: â€Å"My boyfriend, he asked me to marry him† Helen: â€Å"Well, you silly bitch. I could choke you† (Act 1, scene II) The domestic relationship is between Helen and Peter (mother and boyfriend). For example, when Peter finds out that Helen has a daughter he states: â€Å"That puts another 10 years on her† (Act 1, scene 1) This portrays Peter’s attitude towards Helen, as he talks about her here in a rather disparaging tone as he knows Helen always tries to act and look younger than she actually is. This idea of making fun of characters is displayed again in Act II, scene 1, when Peter finds out Jo is pregnant: Peter (singing): â€Å"Who’s got a bun in the oven? Who’s got a cake in the stove?† Within the play the Brechtian device of including music is used, as there is many musical interludes which represent the beginning or mark the ending of a scene. For example, in Act 1, scene II the boy (Jimmie) exits whilst singing to the audience. This music within the play seems to be a contrast to the harshness and reality of it – i.e. the characters are portraying happiness or humour when singing. However, even at times with the singing there is comic – sarcasm intended. For example; when Peter finds out Jo is pregnant, he sings: â€Å"Who’s got a bun in the oven? Who’s got a cake in the stove?† This idea of music being an important factor in the play is indicated in Act 1, scene 1, when Helen is reminiscing about her experience of working in a pub, and she starts to sing a song she use to apparently perform, at which she asks the orchestra to join in and play the piece. The fact that the script indicates that there is an orchestra in the play gives us the impression that Delaney intended to make music a definite aspect of the play. Singing is also a element frequently used in the play, as Helen performs a old song she used to sing in the pub, Peter portrays his sarcasm by singing many statements, i.e. ‘Walter, Walter, take me to the alter!’. We also see boy (Jimmie) in Act 1, scene 2 (page 26) singing to the audience as he exits. This Brechtian device portrays the characters mood and temperament at the time, which also adds to the overall atmosphere. Another example of this is when Jo is reminicing about Jimmie in Act two, scene one(page 53) which indicates to the audience that she still thinks about him and how she regards him as a liar. Another Stanislavski device used is sub-text. For example; is Act 1, scene 1, when Jo has gone to make coffee, Helen talks about her daughter to the audience: † I suppose I’d better clear some of this stuff away. She wouldn’t think. Well they don’t at their age, do they. Oh! it gets me right here when I try and do anything when I bend you know. Have you ever had it? This device allows us (the audience) to witness Helen’s personality and how self-obsessed she is, moaning about her cold and generally ordering Jo around. There is no real silences in the play, due to the fact that this portrays the monotony of their lives, always doing something, moving from one place to another, arguing, fighting, different relationships etc. The relationships throughout the play are fuelled by anger, where every couple seem to have disputes which lead to rash decision making, with no real thought of the consequences, i.e, boy asking Jo to marry him, Geof kissing Jo due to confusion etc. Therefore, the suspense is built up by the language, how the tempo of the dialogue speeds up as arguments take place, and the questions raised by the characters. For example, Jo inquires about her father and Helen divulges to her that he wasn’t exactly normal. This leads the audience into thinking what actually was wrong with him and how will it effect Jo in later life? This device links to Stanislavski’s idea of realism and how, for example, Helen is ashamed to admit firstly being adulterous and how this changed her life,(turned into a whore) and that she slept with the apparent village idiot, which in the 1950s would have been the gossip of everybody (fits in with the era). An element within the play which has had the influence of Brecht is the idea of Forum theatre. Brecht liked the audience to be involved in the play and in ‘A Taste of Honey’, Delaney has tried to incorporate an aspect of this by having the some of the characters speaking and interacting with the audience. For example, Helen addressed the audience frequently in Act one, scene One: †She can’t do anything for herself, that girl.† (page 10) Another example is Jo on page 7: †You packed ’em. She’d lose her head if it was loose.† This device allows the audience to actually get feel a of what the atmosphere is actually like for the characters, and therefore this incorporates Stanislavinski’s idea of wanting the audience to be able to react emotionally to the play.