Cultural Perspectives in Education Essay Example for Free

Cultural Perspectives in Education Essay The word ‘Culture’ refers to civilization or human activity. It can also refer to universal human capability to categorize skills, and to train and convey them characteristically. Therefore, one can say that Culture evolves over a period of time in response to adaptive challenges. What activities are carried out, who should participate, why they are valued and the rules of interaction are coded into the cultural models. There are different ways to educate, express or reveal knowledge to a student. The student’s education very much depends upon the teacher’s philosophy of education. This philosophical point of view appears to be true that could bring a negative influence in the classroom, no matter what syllabus is designed for the student. The students possess different qualities and beliefs that teachers should realize and learn to adapt to in the classroom. If teachers are not able to go beyond the boundaries of social class, religion, race, creed, gender, sex, disability or cultural background, then the focus of the students will also turn heavily upon differences and the classification of students as special needs or underachiever, thus building insensitive pre-expectations toward students in the classroom. â€Å"The primary goal of education is to show students different points of view and encourage them to evaluate their own beliefs. The teacher should help the students to appreciate how ones observations and interpretations are influenced by social identity and background†. Chang, H. (1993). Students should be allowed to feel free to voice an opinion and empowered to defend it. A student is able to focus on and enjoy learning more when the school and classroom make him feel safe-comfortable with himself and with his surrounding. The learning situation should be made culturally neutral by keeping in mind the potential barriers and obstacles that each student may have. Taking this into account Marda Steffey (2001) suggests a four point motivational framework for culturally open teaching: 1. Establishing inclusion—norms, procedures, and structures woven together to form a learning context in which all learners and teachers feel respected by and connected to one another. 2. Developing attitude—â€Å"norms, procedures and structures that create through relevance and choice a favorable disposition among learners and teachers toward the learning experience or learning goal. 3. Enhancing meaning—norms, procedures, and structures that expand, refine, or increase the complexity of what is learned in a way that matters to learners, includes their values and purposes, and contributes to a critical consciousness. 4. Engendering competence—norms, procedures, and structures that create an understanding for learners of how they are or can be effective in learning something of personal value†. (Nawang, 1999) The main idea of the four points is that when student and teachers find themselves submerged in a unique world of the classroom, the interaction of culture is invaluable for the success of the learning process. Solomon, B. B. (1991). Teacher should recognize any biases or stereotypes in the class room, â€Å"by treating each student as an individual, and respect each student for whom he or she is. Amend any language practices or examples that exclude or degrade any group, should be aware of how students feel about the cultural climate in the classroom†. (Woolbright, 1989) A productive education must start with an awareness of these issues and some basic schemes for overcoming them. Although a variety of teachings can be fruitful, it seems especially cooperative to offer an atmosphere where students can easily hold an open discussion rather than class session in which a correct answer is required. True open discussion will send a message of authority between equal students who have something substantial to add to a common endeavor. Sharing the facts and principles of ones discipline with students is very important as that helps to prepare an environment of comfort, trust and joint respect. Therefore, such an environment makes it possible for people to exchange ideas and thoughts on complex and often terrifying issues. It opens a way for students to carry out a common ground of joint practices and respect which can bind students together and at the same time make it easier for them to understand and observe many differences. The teacher should not only establish a content of diversity but a procedure that creates and demonstrate appreciation of diversity. It is important to keep in mind that students always observe and learn their teachers’ behavior as well as their expressions. The classroom environment not only represent the fundamental value of appreciation of diversity of cultures nevertheless it also capitulate great rewards in terms of vital thinking skills, especially the aptitude to value sophisticated multiple point of views on complex rational and ethical issues. The school or college should recognize all of the various types of diversities, whether it is cultural or not. Students should understand when they go their classroom that they will be interacting with many different types of students from all walks all of life. Levinson, B. A. , and Holland, D. (1996). They should understand that they are all in this facility for a reason and that it doesn’t matter what they look like or what language they speak, they need to cooperate to make their class environment more conducive to learning. It is very unfortunate to say that not much improvement in this has been made around the world except few countries, while in rest there is still school and colleges where cultural factors are given preferences. Every discipline is influenced by the inequity of power that exists across racial and cultural groups, between genders, and among other socially created classes of difference. In spite of advances in race and cultural relations, gender equality, and religious tolerance, significant documented differences continues to exist around the world. In order to gain a true moderate education, school administration should honor diversity of cultures. It should recognize holidays of other ethnicities and always study new and interesting ways of life. The students of the respective schools and colleges should â€Å"love learning about other cultures and how they interact with one another†. (Harold, 2006) The students should be allowed to do arts and projects that are representatives of other cultures and take great pride in the fact that they now have knowledge of their brothers and sisters around the world. Educators have a responsibility to assist the people who are privileged enough to be students in becoming aware of the inequalities around them. Therefore, each educator should work to infuse each class with the diverse voices that contributed to the knowledge base of the discipline. References Chang, H. (1993) Affirming Childrens Roots: Cultural and Linguistic Diversity in Early Care and Education: California Tomorrow. Hodgkinson, Harold L. (2006) Education in Social and Cultural Perspectives: Prentice-Hall Levinson, B. A. , and Holland, D. (1996). The cultural production of the educated person: An introduction. In B. A. Levinson, D. Foley, and D. Holland (Eds. ), Albany: SUNY Press. Phuntsog, Nawang. Magic of culturally responsive pedagogy: In search of the Genies lamp in multicultural education. Teacher Education Quarterly, Summer 1999 Solomon, B. B. (1991) Impediments to Teaching a Culturally Diverse Undergraduate Population: Kendall/Hunt Publishing. Woolbright, C. (Ed. ). (1989) Valuing Diversity on Campus: A Multicultural Approach. Bloomington, Ind. : Association of College Unions-International.

Outsourcing Jobs To Foreign Countries Essay -- Outsourcing Globalizati

Outsourcing Jobs to Foreign Countries Due to the lack of employment in foreign countries, companies that outsource work overseas are not only beneficial to themselves but also to the service providers being employed. The initial benefit that catches the public’s eye from outsourcing is a cost reduction on the company’s part. But that is not the only benefit from outsourcing or even the key benefit that causes companies to outsource, on the other hand, outsourcing has its disadvantages as well. Outsourcing, like every developing idea being implemented into our economy, has its pitfalls and drawbacks such as staff cuts and information leaks, there are also cases of breach of contract. Despite all the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing, it is a wheel in motion and is becoming more than just a question of whether or not a company will outsource but it is a question of how much or how little of the company’s work will be outsourced offshore. This having been said; let us discuss the benefits an d pitfalls of offshore outsourcing. Companies not only benefit from cost reductions overseas or the ability of the company to specialize in one area of expertise but also outsourcing certain work lets designers and engineers focus on more important tasks. To illustrate, â€Å"In Calcutta, India, a team of engineers is designing bottle caps ... Back home in Indiana, a team of engineers that used to design the same bottle caps now focuses on more value-added engineering work since some of their design responsibilities have been taken away.† (Katz, J., 2006). Outsourcing from the start was initiated to reduce non-core tasks, such as inventory management and logistics from the already full list of tasks appointed to company heads, â€Å"not an ... ...g. There is an undeniable fact here, that outsourcing is no longer just a strategy to succeed but a tactic used in everyday business. References Carnevale, Dan. "Technology Companies Bring Outsourcing Home.(Rural Sourcing Inc.)." The Chronicle of Higher Education 52.31 (April 7, 2006): NA. InfoTrac OneFile. Thomson Gale. Apollo Group. 9 July 2006. Katz, J. (2006). LEARNING TO LET GO. Industry Week/IW, 255(7), 31-34. Retrieved Sunday, July 09, 2006 from the Academic Search Premier database. Panchak, P. (2006). Next-Generation Outsourcing. Industry Week/IW, 255(7), 11-11. Retrieved Sunday, July 09, 2006 from the Academic Search Premier database. "The outsourcing source book. (the pros and cons of outsourcing) (Productivity in the '90s)." Journal of Business Strategy 14.n3 (May-June 1993): 52(5). InfoTrac OneFile. Thomson Gale. Apollo Group. 9 July 2006

Grapes of Wrath Language Use

Grapes of Wrath: Unsophisticated Characters and Language The Grapes of Wrath poses a different writing scheme than what most modern students may be used to. In the 1930’s, where this novel is set, the characters act and speak in a manner that is very common of their time. Many pieces of literature of this time period didn’t become much more sophisticated. Steinbeck may have aimed to create a novel that all of the general public could relate to, and understand the hardships after the Dustbowl.The characters are relatable and simple, the dialogue is easy to understand, and reflects the people of the generation. The novels protagonist, Tom Joad is a simple man who has recently been released from prison. He is not sophisticated. He acts as he does, and does as he acts. He speaks in a dialect like everyone else in the novel, and he is easy to understand. Steinbeck wanted him to be relatable to others reading the novel. His writing differs from others that have been popular s uch as Dickens and Shakespeare.No reader could easily identify the direct emotions and understand perfectly in those novels/plays. Readers can relate to Tom Joad and understand him like no other character before. Tom Joad says a very meaningful qoute that explains his character. â€Å"The last clear definite function of man—muscles aching to work, minds aching to create beyond the single need—this is man. † Joad is just a relatable, strong, hard-working Man who has values. The dialogue is accurately represented of the time period and accent of the location. Simple folk from oklahoma speak english with a strong southern accent.They didn’t use detailed or large words, so anyone from a child to an adult could understand what was happening and being said. The dialect reflects exactly how one would say the words in the proper accent. The dialogue connected with the simple characters, and displayed the actions of them in a simple way. This method got Steinbeck' s themes across simply and understandably for the demographic of the current readers. The dialect is represented here: â€Å"Sure don't look none too prosperous. † Steinbeck captured the accurate intellect and style of the 1930’s in a imple fashion. The Grapes of Wrath is written in a novel format, with vividly descriptive writing and yet still remains understandable. This hybrid writing style is one of the first of its kind. He keeps his strong characters together, and uses symbolism heavily. An example of symbolism is the turtle crossing in chapter 3, where the turtle may represent the Joad’s journey. In conclusion, The Grapes of Wrath possess simple dialogue, relatable characters, and 1930’s style. Steinbeck captured a generation of simple folk, and did so vividly and simply.

Career Assessment Instruments Career Goals - 1070 Words

Career assessment instruments are important in the field of career development. These are the tools that will help career counselors guide the individuals they are working with down the appropriate career path along with equipping the individual with interventions to deal with barriers and handle on-the-job stressors. Career assessment instruments have the ability to measure many traits and one trait is a person’s interests and skills. The measurement of one’s interests and skills is the foundation in which one will build upon to decide a career path. When choosing an assessment instrument, many variables should be considered, the client’s needs and environment, the assessment modality, and the competency of the counselor (Grand Canyon†¦show more content†¦The Strong Interest Inventory (SII), is another assessment tool that targets a person’s interests and matches them to possible career options, possible academic majors, and leisure activities. The SII is used in school settings, social services agencies, corporations, and the military. The SII can help a person find a satisfying start to their career, change careers for those in transition, or encourage career development for those stagnant in their current position. The CISS and SII are qualitative and quantitative measured assessment tools. Both tools proven by research has shown the quality and soundness of these tools along with showing the measurable components of each assessment tool. The benefits of the CISS is that the interest scales and parallel skill scales help individuals gain a more thorough understanding of suitable career options, it is culturally competent, and can be use among a variety of populations (Taylor, N. Donnelly, C., 2012). The benefits of SII are that it has earned the reputation as a leader among assessments tools for individuals looking to match their interest to promising career and/or educational options. The SII inspires the clients to discover their true interests, which provides more career options (Hark, N. Thompson, R., 2011). Challenges occurs when an untrained professionals attempts to interpret the SII, when the client has little knowledge of the working world, there are cultural differences, or the test-taker