Fahrenheit 451 Part 1 Essay

1. The image that this creates is that the firemen do not care at all if a house is burning. They joke around saying that they want to pull out some marshmallows and roast them from the burning house. 2. The significance of Montag seeing his reflection in Clarisse’s eyes is that she is not like everyone else. She has a special feature that not everybody else has. 3. Montag had a child memory of one time as a child when there was a power failure, and his mother had found and lit a last candle and then he found a hour of rediscovery, of such illumination that space lost its vast dimensions and drew comfortably around them, and they, mother and son, alone, transformed, hoping that the power might come on soon again. 4. Clarisse thinks that Montag is not very happy and that he is not in love. He also laughs when she is not funny and answers before he is done thinking. 5. 5: The McClellans do funny things to classify themselves as peculiar. First of all the girl thinks to much, she talks about men in the moon, and changes the subject when things get uncomfortable in a conversation. Also, the uncle was arrested becuase he was a padestrians. Another thing about the family, is they sit around with all of the lights on in the house to talk to each other. 6. 6: She asked Montag if he was happy. This is a question that pertains to the plot because it is the question posed that gets him thinking. He really wonders, is he happy, and eventually he finds out that he is not happy. Even though he keeps telling himself he is. 7. 7: He compares her to a dial of a small clock. That you can see the lines of her face like the minute and the numbers on the clock. It glows, like the numbers on the clock. 8. Two other similes are one, her eyes were like a mirror. She is showing what he could be. Not everyone is the same. One other is said that Clarisse is like a marionette show. 9. The bedroom that Montag enters was dark and really quite. As he walks through the room he knows that there is something on the floor but he still hits. The sitting characterizes 10. The smile on Montag’s face goes away because he finds his wife lying on the bed motionless. She had have an over doss on sleeping pills and he was really sad. Montag’s answer to Clarisse’s question was yes when she first asked him but when he started to think about it more about it he wasn’t happy. 11. The event that occurs that night which provides Montag with an impression of the state of society is when he finds his wife lying on the bed because she had for gotten that she already had taken her pills. The impression was that she was dead. 12. In contrast, Montag hears and longs for someone who will want to listen to him. He wants someone to love and be happy with. He is not happy in his life right now because no one loves him. 13. The new idea for the parlor walls is adding another wall or the fourth wall. This excites Mildred because she can have more people to talk to and she can have more characters.

Five Factor Theory

One of the long held goals of psychology has been to establish a model that can conveniently describe human personality and disorders therein, with the intent to use this model in the remedying of personality disorders and improving general understanding of personality. Currently, a handful of models have risen to prominence, and have thus far stood the test of time. Some models are more generally accepted than others. Support for some models seems to come and go in cycles. One of the more prominent models in contemporary psychology is what is known as the five-factor model of personality. This theory incorporates five different variables into a conceptual model for describing personality. These five different factors are often referred to as the â€Å"Big 5†. The five-factor theory is among the newest models developed for the description of personality, and this model shows promise to be among the most practical and applicable models available in the field of personality psychology. Thorough critical attention is given to the proposal that the five-factor model is in fact a great theory. As it became evident to many psychologists that, mathematically, combinations of five factors were useful in describing personality, there was a need to clearly define what these factors were. Indeed, this process led to some dissent in the ranks. One dissenter from the five-factor theorists was renowned psychologist H. J. Eysenck. Eysenck felt that, due to overlaps in the five factors and their correlates, in fact a three-factor model was more appropriate and accurate. His theory is called the PEN model (which stand for psychoticism, extroversion, neuroticism), or sometimes is even shortened to the two factor E-IN model (extroversion-introversion, neuroticism). Many psychologists support Eysenck's PEN model. However, of the major â€Å"factor-analytic models†¦ the Big Five dominates the landscape of current psychological research† (Ewen, 1998, p. 141). Through extensive debating and experimenting, there is currently a general consensus in the realms of scholarly psychology as to the identity of the five factors, and their basic interpretations and values to analysis of personality. The five factors are extroversion-introversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness. Extroversion has long been one of the traits that has appeared in factor-analytic models, and is one of the two traits to appear in both the five-factor model and Eysenck's PEN and E-IN models. Extroversion also is sometimes referred to as social adaptability, though the popularity of this term seems to be waning. Extroversion is defined as a trait characterized by a keen interest in other people and external events, and venturing forth with confidence into the unknown. Neuroticism is the other trait to play a role in most of the contemporary factor models for personality. In some studies, adjustment is examined as a factor, instead of neuroticism. In this case, higher scores will indicate a positive result, consistent with the other four factors. This is because the term neuroticism has an inherent negative denotation (Bradshaw, 1997). The bases of neuroticism are levels of anxiety and volatility. Within these bounds, neuroticism is a dimension of personality defined by stability and low anxiety at one end as opposed to instability and high anxiety at the other end. Openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness are all terms with which most people outside the realm of psychology are familiar. In general, openness refers to how willing people are to make adjustments in notions and activities in accordance with new ideas or situations. Agreeableness measures how compatible people are with other people, or basically how able they are to get along with others. Conscientiousness refers to how much a person considers others when making decisions. As with the two factors in the big five from Eysenck's E-IN, these three are also placed on sliding scales. These three scales, like neuroticism and extroversion, slide between their limits to give a clear picture of personality. The limits of these scales give a clear idea of their applications and are defined as trusting and helpful versus suspicious and uncooperative (agreeableness), hard working and reliable versus lazy and careless (conscientiousness), and nonconformist and creative versus conventional and down-to-earth (openness). Never the less, there are many other theorist who have evaluated the five factor theory in a much boarder aspect. These researchers began by studying all known personality traits and then factor- analyzing hundreds of measures of these traits in self-report and questionnaire data, peer rating and objective measures from experimental settings in order to find the basic, underlying factors of personality. The big five factors of personality are five broad domains or dimensions of personality which have been scientifically discovered to define human personality at the highest level of the organization. These five over-arching domains have been found to ontain and subsume more or less all known personality traits within their five domains and to represent the basic structure behind all personality traits. They have brought order to the often-bewildering array of specific lower level personality concepts that are constantly being proposed by psychologists, which are often found to be overlapping and confusing. These five factors provide a rich conceptual frame work for integrating all the research fi ndings and theory in personality psychology. Three sets of researchers have worked independently for decades on this problem and have indentified generally the same Five Factors. They are Goldberg at the Oregon Research Institute, Cattell at the University of Illinois, and Costa and McCrae at the National Institutes of Health. These three sets of researchers used somewhat different methods in finding the five traits, and thus each set of five factors has somewhat different names and definitions. However, all three sets have been found to be highly inter-correlated and factor-analytically aligned. The Big Five Factors are commonly known as Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness and Neuroticism, also Known as OCEAN or CANOE. OPENNESS Openness is a general appreciation for art, emotion, adventure, unusual ideas, imagination, curiosity, and variety of experience. The trait distinguishes imaginative people from down-to-earth conventional people. People who are open to experience are intellectually curious, appreciative of art, and sensitive to beauty. They tend to be, compared to closed people more creative and more aware of their feeling. They are more likely to hold unconventional beliefs. In addition, people with low scores on openness tend to have more conventional, traditional interest. They prefer the plain, straight forward and obvious over the complex, ambiguous and subtle. They may regard the arts and sciences with suspicion, regarding these endeavours as abstruse or of no practical use. Close people prefer familiarity over novelty. They are conservative and resistant to change. CONSCIENTIOUSNESS Conscientiousness is the tendency to show self-discipline, act dutifully and aim for achievement. The trait shows a preference for planned rather than spontaneous behaviour. It influences the way in which we control, regulate, and direct our impulses. Conscientiousness includes the factor known as Need for Achievement or NAch. It is obvious that the benefits of conscientiousness are high. Conscientious individuals avoid trouble and achieve high levels of success through purposeful planning and persistence. They are also positively regarded by others as intelligent and reliable. On the negative side, they can be compulsive perfectionists and workaholics. EXTRAVERSION Extraversion is characterized by positive emotions, surgency and the tendency to seek out stimulation and the company of others. The trait is marked by pronounced engagement with the external world. Extraverts enjoy being with people and are often perceived as full of energy. They tend to be enthusiastic, action oriented individuals who are likely to say â€Å"I most certainly will! † or â€Å"Come on let’s go! † to opportunities that will excite them. When placed in groups they are likely the first to talk, and assert themselves, just to draw attention to themselves. However, Introverts lack the exuberance, energy and activity levels of extraverts. These individuals tend to be quiet, low-key, deliberate, and less involved in society. Their lack of social involvement should not be interpreted as shyness or depression. Introverts simply need less stimulation than extraverts and more time alone. AGREEABLENESS Agreeableness is a tendency to be compassionate and cooperative rather than suspicious and antagonistic towards others. The trait reflects individual differences in general concern for social harmony. Agreeable individuals value getting along with others. They are generally considerate, friendly, generous, helpful and willing to compromise their interests with others. Agreeable people also have an optimistic view of human nature. They believe people are basically honest, decent and trustworthy. On the other hand, disagreeable individuals place self-interst above getting along with others. They are generally unconcerned with others’ well being and are less likely to extend themselves for other people. Sometimes their scepticism about others’ motives causes them to be suspicious, unfriendly and uncooperative. NEUROTICISM Neuroticism is the tendency to experience negative emotions, such as anger, anxiety or depression. Emotional instability it is sometime called. Individuals who score high in neuroticism are emotionally reactive and vulnerable to stress. They are more likely to interpret ordinary situations as threatening and minor frustrations as hopelessly difficult. Their negative emotional reactions tend to persist for unusually long periods of time, which means they are often in a bad mood. These problems in emotional regulation can diminish the ability of a person scoring high on neuroticism to think clearly, make decisions and cope effectively with stress. However, on the other end of the scale, those who score low in neuroticism are less easily upset and are less emotionally reactive. These individuals tend to be calm, emotionally stable, and free from persistent negative feelings. Freedom from negative feelings does not mean that low scorers experience a lot of positive feelings. Frequency of positive emotions is a component of the Extraversion domain.

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

"Breaking Dawn" by Stephenie Meyer â€Å"Breaking Dawn† by Stephenie Meyer is fourth and final book of the Twilight series. In this book, Bella finally marries Edward and becomes a vampire. Unfortunately, for the Cullens, unforeseen complications take place when Bella becomes pregnant and the Volturi decide to visit the Cullens. Bella is happy to find out that Jacob, her best friend and a werewolf who is prejudiced against vampires like her new husband, makes an appearance at her wedding. She causes an argument when she tells Jacob she still plans to become a vampire after having a real honeymoon. During their honeymoon, Bella begins to feel sick and after she suspects that she is pregnant. Edward and Bella rush home, with Edward planning to remove the fetus. But Bella turns to her new sister-in-law, Rosalie, to help protect her unborn child. When Jacob hears that Bella is sick, he believes she is in transition to become a vampire and sets out to kill the Cullens. He is surprised to find that Bella is in fact pregnant, but when the rest of the wolves want to kill Bella and the abomination, Jacob objects, starting his own pack with Seth and Leah, since he is the rightful Alpha. Jacob plans to protect the Cullens, though he hates the creature that is killing the woman he loves. Bella’s health improves after the Cullens realize the fetus craves blood like its vampire father, but Bella’s heart stops beating during delivery, forcing Edward to inject her with his own vampire venom. Convinced that Bella is dead, Jacob is determined to kill her murderer, but his whole world turns upside down when he imprints on the baby girl, Renesmee, instead. After a painful transformation, Bella wakes up with an unusual amount of self-control for a newborn vampire. She is able to control herself around Renesmee, Jacob, and Charlie, even though they smell like food. She is extremely happy with her new life. When Irina, the Cullens’ friend from the Denali coven, sees Bella, Jacob, and Renesmee in the woods, she mistakes Renesmee for an immortal child, children bitten to become vampires which were outlawed by the Volturi because they were unmanageable. Irina g oes to the Volturi who were looking for an excuse to kill the Cullens and recruit Edward and Alice to their guard. As the Cullens gather friends to witness that Renesmee was born and is not an immortal child, Alice and Jasper leave, seemingly abandoning their family. After Alice and Jasper have left, Bella learns to fight and to use her power as a shield to protect those she loves.When the Volturi come to Forks, they believe Renesmee when she shows them her birth, but they deliberate about the unknown dangers of a half-mortal and half-vampire child. Their guard tries to attack the Cullens and their friends, but Bella uses her shield to protect their entire party. Just before the Volturi issues their resolution, Alice arrives with Nahuel, a 150 year old human-vampire hybrid, proving that crossbreeds, such as Renesmee, are not a threat. The Volturi are relieved to depart in peace because they feared losing this battle. The Cullens and their friends return to their happy peaceful lives and Bella looks forward to spending eternity with her new family.

Business report explaining a certain topic Essay

Business report explaining a certain topic - Essay Example Another motivating factor can be where people will be motivated to reach their target. This will lead to their success and recognition. The need for recognition and job satisfaction which is that emotional payoff can also be a motivator (Madura, Jeff 35). This topic also looks at the importance of motivation. This helps in appreciating this topic. Some of the benefits it provided by motivation include improving the level of efficiency of people. It helps to appreciate that in order to get quality output from employees, the gap between ability and that willingness has to be filled. This in turn also helps in the achievement of the organizational goals. Employees who feel appreciated are most likely to work efficiently as they feel as being part of the organization. Goals may be achieved where co-ordination and co-operation takes place simultaneously. This can be done effectively through motivation. Motivation is important to understand as these leads to retention and stability of staff. This is because they will feel as being part of the organization. By looking at the importance of motivation, the topic also looks at the causes of de-motivation. A drop in staff motivation can become damaging to the business if the cause of de-motivation is not identified and addressed. Some of these de-motivating factors include: Inadequate job skills due to lack of training of staff. This affects the confidence of employees and frustrates the employees that affect their motivation. This is because of lack of the knowledge to perform what is expected from them. It can also be caused by goal flaws where company goals may not be inclusive of the interests of the employees. This in turn makes employees not to feel as part of the organization leading to their de-motivation. Overwork is another de-motivating factor. Employees who are overworked often loose there motivation even if they receive payment for overtime worked. The topic also

Discuss the Explain the view that the dependence of developing Essay

Discuss the Explain the view that the dependence of developing economies on agriculture condemns them to remaining among the worlds poorest nations, Discuss th - Essay Example Cash crops in developing countries are mainly for exports and some of these products include coffee, tea and cocoa, however the oversupply of these products in the global market leads to low prices, high competition in the global market also leads to the low prices of these products. Subsistent crops are produced for the purpose of domestic consumption and the surplus is sold in the local markets, however the products are usually perishables and due to lack of good infrastructure and communication networks products do not reach the market where prices would have been high. The production of both cash crops and subsistence crops is important in these developing countries, cash crops are grown for the purpose of export while the subsistence crops are for local production, however these countries mostly produce the cash crops in large quantities in order to export although these goods do not yield sustainable incomes for the country to develop, there is need to diversify these products. Many developing countries are faced with natural disasters such as draughts and floods, this cause them to import food from other countries when such disasters occur, they lack food security programs that ensure that in years of over production the surplus is stored and these therefore contribute to food shortages, these importation of food products from other countries results to unfavourable balance of payment and unsustainable debts, therefore there is need to initiate a food security program and also an import substitution strategy. Falling food prices in the long term Due to the overproduction of agricultural products leading to high supply levels, the prices of food products falls even to levels below the cost of production, these leads to underdevelopment in the agricultural sector where farmers avoid overproduction of products. Price stabilisation The developing countries

Cyber attacks Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Cyber attacks - Research Paper Example It is concerned with communications, transportation, water supply, energy, emergency services, and banking and finance. Information Technology has been evolved with new research and reinventions facilitating the critical infrastructure computerized. On the other side, vulnerabilities also emerged causing disruption to the critical infrastructure impacting in several ways. Although there are many vulnerabilities, cyber attacks are the most prominent one. Cyber attacks approach the target in a non traditional way. Due to inequity in the military strengths, hackers attack this critical infrastructure affecting both the economy as well as the military sector of the country (SANS: Critical infrastructure protection). It could be operated by the government or the private sector, both Networks provide opportunities for hackers to intrude the destination remotely and take control of the capabilities and resources these devices has. The impact of hacking in these systems is devastating. For example, hackers may gain access to the military radar systems, credit card data stolen, data stolen from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has revealed secret agents and now their life is at risk etc. The capacity of these attacks impact on the country’s economy, security and financial stability. They breach government networks which are directly related to national services. Thousands of new cyber attacks categorized with ‘Major’ and ‘Minor’ are penetrated on the Internet daily. The focus is the power sector of the United States including websites of Poland, South Korea and United Kingdom. They all have witnessed cyber attacks in past few months. Different schools in various sates of America have lost millions of fraudulent wire transfers (Shackelford, 2010). Cyber attacks are intelligent as well as organized. Once the network is hacked, they install small lop holes or software intruders for giving hackers access whenever they

Saftey Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Saftey - Essay Example At the moment changing the clothing may take a long process. For this reason, this memo will provide some basics guidelines on how to handle a bee attack and avoiding the insects. Additionally, the memo will highlight on the steps to be followed after a bee attack. The memo will also provide guidelines on how to treat and handle immediate stings and long terms management of bee stings. Students should avoid strong scented colognes and body perfumes. Bees are easily attracted to strong scents. Considering that students are in bright attires, strong colognes make then easy targets of the insects. Students should avoid walking barefooted while in the field. Some wasps make their nests on the ground and stepping on the nest one may get their foot stung. Additionally, bees may be sucking nectar from flowers on the ground walking barefoot may result to a sting. In case of a bee sting, a person should as quickly as possible seek professional help to get the sting removed (Pearson 112). The urgency in this case reduces the amount of venom that enters the body after the sting. After the sting has been removed swelling can be minimized by compressing the affected area with ice. Bee venom is acidic and applying a base on the wound at high volumes would effectively neutralize the venom (Stengler & Balch 78). Stengler, Mark. & Balch, James. Prescription for Natural Cures: A Self-Care Guide for Treating Health Problems with Natural Remedies Including Diet, Nutrition, Supplements, and Other Holistic Methods. New York: John Wiley & Sons. 2011.

Generic skills in accounting education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Generic skills in accounting education - Essay Example purpose, the accountants need to possess certain generic skills that will aid them not only to attain the above stated objective but also to develop their career in the respective field (Willcoxson & et. al., 2010). Thus, it will be vital to mention that the generic skills are quite essential in the field of accounting education for imparting them with effective technical knowledge towards the attainment of predetermined individual targets (Montano & et al., 2005). Thus, based on the above stated facts, the prime intent of this essay is to identify along with analyse the persistence of varied generic skills and their influence in the sphere of accounting education. Furthermore, the essay concludes by providing a detailed understanding about the level of further preparation required in improving the identified generic skills so as to attain the desired targets of the graduates or the learners of accounting education. Based on the observation made by Keneley & Jackling (2011), the above discussed generic skills can be segregated into two particular segments. These segments comprise cognitive and behavioural skills. In this regard, cognitive skills entail analytic capabilities, critical thinking as well as writing qualities and making complex along with creative judgements. On the other hand, behavioural skills often comprise personal and interpersonal capabilities (Keneley & Jackling, 2011). Based on this similar perspective, Jackling & Lange (2009) pointed out certain skills that are required to be possessed by the accountants in this modern globalised era. These skills are identified to be personal along with interpersonal skills, communication skills, problem-solving capabilities, analytic along with team skills and time management. Arguably, the formation and the advancement of soft skills like interpersonal, communication, problem-solving, critical judgement and analytical capabilities are d uly considered to be quite vital in the circumstance of reforming

Robin Hood Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Robin Hood - Case Study Example As the size of the band started growing, they had to increase the supply of food for each of his men. It was exceeding the food capacity of his band. Second issue that bothered Robin was that, with increasing men in his band, it was becoming difficult for him to maintain the discipline. He was thinking of changing the way of his policies in order to maintain the order of his band. The best way to do it would be to stop confiscating the goods from the rich and rather imply a transit tax for each of the person crossing from there woods. He has to get things more organized, because he was aware of the fact that the sheriff was becoming more and more organized gradually. This was threatening for Robin and his band men. So using a fixed transit was the best option rather than killing the sheriff or being a part of Barons in order to topple the king, because there was no assurance that they succeed in their plan. In case they did not, then the King will get back to everyone and all these p reparations would go in

BFS 3430-09D, PRINCIPLES OF FIRE BEHAVIOR (BFS3430-09D) Essay - 2

BFS 3430-09D, PRINCIPLES OF FIRE BEHAVIOR (BFS3430-09D) - Essay Example Be sure to divert the spilled fuel away from the cockpit or cabin; and take extra precaution against any possibility of fuel burst out, set up a safety border within the region of the incident site (Union County Standard Operating Guidelines n.d.). 3. For fire related incidents, full protective gear must be worn including SCBAs and move towards the fire from the windward side. If no hazardous materials or explosives are present, go about the procedure as a flammable liquid fire (Union County Standard Operating Guidelines n.d.). Foam must be used in fire fighting when Jet A fuel is involved. If foam is not available make use of a semi-fog stream to push the fire away from the cockpit or cabin. Make sure that the fuel spill and fire does not flow back behind you while protecting the crew and advancing towards the fire as this may trap you (Union County Standard Operating Guidelines n.d.). 4. If the fire involves hazardous and explosive materials, follow the Hazardous Materials resources guide for the product involved, and set up a safety perimeter around the incident site (Union County Standard Operating Guidelines

Teachings of Quran Essay Example for Free

Teachings of Quran Essay The Quran does not emphasize the invisible dimensions of existence (God, angels, jinn) at the expense of neglecting the visible (the natural world). In numerous instances, the Quran refers to natural aspects of this life as signs of God, calling mankind to ponder on natural phenomena such as the wind, rain, vegetation and alteration of the night and the day (Amir Abbas Zamani, 2001). Muslims believe in both a material and a supernatural world. Therefore, the Muslims use a great deal of astronomy, geometry and metaphysical concepts in architecture. The Quran says: â€Å"Such as remember Allah, standing, sitting and reclining, and consider the creation of the heavens and the earth, (and says): Our Lord! Though createst not this in vain (3:191) (Petruccioli, 2002). These structures carry body and soul. The body were designed using sacred geometry, and the soul were created with the help of light, ventilation, sound effects, landscape, color, texture and symbolism used in both the interior and exterior. â€Å"The first being created by God was light. † (Petruccioli, 2002) Islamic architecture makes full use of light and shade, and the heat and coolness of the wind and its aerodynamics, of water and its cooling effect, of the earth and its insulating features as well as properties of the elements. The Muslim’s firm believe in paradise is based on the teaching of the Quran, which says, â€Å"And those who believe and do good works such are rightful owners of the Garden. They will abide therein† (2:82) (Petruccioli 2002). The detailed description of the garden of paradise is given in Sura â€Å"the Beneficent† (55:46-78). Therefore, landscape features become an integral part of site planning and architecture. The buildings are set in the landscape deliberately so that one can find himself in an idealized paradise-like environment. The buildings not only humanize the landscape but stand there in all simplicity of form and witness the divine (Attilio Petruccioli, 2002). Truly, Islamic art is an expression of beauty, a demonstration of divinity and a treasure preserved through time; Allah’s gift not just to His beloved devotees but also to the world. Reference: Amir Abbas Zamani, S. S. (2001). What is Islam? : Alhoda UK. Attilio Petruccioli, K. P. (2002). Understanding Islamic Architecture: Routledge. Glasse, C. (2001). The New Encyclopedia of Islam: Rowman Altamira. Grabar, O. (2006). Constructing the Study of Islamic Art: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. Janin, H. (2005). The Pursuit of Learning In The Islamic World, 610-2003: McFarland and Company. Oweis, F. (2002). The Elements of Unity in Islamic Art as Examined Through the Work of Jamal Badran: Universal-Publishers. com. Penney, S. (1995). Islam: Harcourt Heinemann. Ulrik Volgsten, S. B. (2006). Music And Manipulation: On the Social Uses And Social Control of Music: Berghahn Books. Waines, D. (2003). An Introduction to Islam (second ed. ): Cambridge University Press.

Love, Death and the Changing of the Seasons Essay Example for Free

Love, Death and the Changing of the Seasons Essay The majority of poems and sonnets we have read, starting back from the first sonnet to today’s modern writers. They can be said to describe as a moment’s monument. As they describe a time of hurt, happiness or a memory in that was once enjoyed that has been put into words. I am going to discuss the meaning behind, what a moment’s monument is. I am also going to find out between two sonnets, The Forge and Love deaths and the changing of the season. Weather they answer the question â€Å"the sonnet has been described as a moment’s monument’. What is the meaning of a moment, it can mean so many things. Mainly it is described as a setting to a time in someone’s life. A moment in time that has been remembered, it could be happy, sad moment or an event that you have remember such a wedding day. Putting it into a sonnet, it can be a moment of a lost one someone is explaining. A monument is a statue, gravestone or a piece of history that can act as a record or memory for someone. For an example a gravestone is a record of a person’s death and the time they spent alive, it’s their record for people who loved them and also a way of saying â€Å"I was here. The sonnet Love deaths and the changing of the season by Marilyn Hacker can be described as a moment’s monument. The speaker of the sonnet is speaking about herself and about a moment in her life. The moment in her life that she is talking about is her loss of a lover. She is explaining the pain she has to face with letting go. The monument is the record of the tears she cried over her loss of this lover who was once there with her. This is shown in line thirteen and fourteen when she says â€Å"I drank our one year out in brine instead of honey. These lines mean she is describing the one year as drinking brine which is salt water which would cause dehydration and then sickness and eventually death, she has nothing left. When she compares brine to honey it is showing us, her life has gone from something sweet like honey, to something bitter like brine. The monument which can also be linked in this sonnet is that the death of the lover, will give them a gravestone as the record. The structure of the sonnet consists of fourteen line . The rhyme pattern can be debated of being either an Italian sonnet which the pattern the lines are divided into eight and six or English/Shakespearean which consists of the lines of three quatrains and two couplets. If it is an Italian version sonnet can be broken down the first eight lines. The first eight lines are her explaining her wanting him back. Then lines nine to fourteen is her accepting his gone and letting him go. If it is an English version sonnet it can be read as line one to four is her pain. Line five to eight is he realizing his not coming back and line nine to fourteen is her bitterness of crying over her loss. Hacker’s sonnet also allows the reader to get a language image. Some examples of this is, when she says â€Å"flood gates. † This is meaning that she is opening up her heart and letting the grief pouring out. She also says of a â€Å"gift† he left her behind, which is her way of saying bitterly he has left her with nothing but tears. Another language image is â€Å"season,† also mentioned as part of the title and mentioned in the sonnet. This can be used as she also mentions in the sonnet â€Å"winter,† which is a cold and comfortless and empty season, meaning this is how she feels with only have memories now. The metre of the poem is the standard iambic pentameter, but it is used to a good strong effect for the read as it emphasizes the main words such as in line three â€Å"stomach ache, headache and heartache, which is a good effect. As is emphasizes on the main word ache, which is another word for pain. The sonnet The Forge by Seamus Heaney can be described as a moment’s monument. The speaker in the sonnet is speaking from observation, watching the Black smith it could be someone who regularly passes by or an apprentice working with the blacksmith. The moment in time which the person watching is describing is the Blacksmith in the Forge and his every day routine of making horse shoes. This is shown in line nine when it is said â€Å"where he expends himself in shape and music†, we know this as he references to the guy as ‘he’ not ‘I’. The monument within this sonnet could also be considered a moment the lines twelve and thirteen shows a good example when it says â€Å"recalls a clatter of hoofs where traffic is flashing in rows. Demonstrating it’s a memory that a moment in time that he recorded of when the streets where once surrounded with horse and remembering the sound of their shoes clattering on the roads, but now it is taken over by car and traffic lights. The structure of the sonnet is a fourteen line sonnet. The rhyme pattern of this sonnet is an Italian sonnet. The Italian sonnets are in the pattern of lines that are divided into eight and six. It can be put lines one to eight is the person watching the daily routine completed by the Blacksmith and him going about his everyday activities. Then line nine to fourteen is the person watching the Blacksmith reminisce on the past and then getting upset and returning to his work. The poem is the normal iambic pentameter, but it is used responsively, for a good outcome. For example in the very first line we already get words like dark, which is a powerful word on its own Both The Forge and Love, Death and the changing of the seasons are sonnets that are a moment’s monument. The both describe a moment in time. Weather it is a loss of a lover or a working day. They both describe a monument a memory, traffic replacing horses or the way he use to take her in his arms.

Using teaching styles to make positive contributions in physical education

Using teaching styles to make positive contributions in physical education The use of appropriate teaching styles makes an important contribution to childrens learning in physical education. Different teaching styles affect many aspects of teaching and learning, including the learning environment and the teachers ability to meet individual needs. As physical education has a wide spectrum of objectives according to Macfayden Bailey (2002) teachers should use a wide variety of teaching styles to ensure that pupils achieve the wide variety of techniques and skills that physical education has to offer. This study will consider the various definitions associated with the topic and pay specific attention to the spectrum of teaching styles proposed by Mosston Ashworth (1986). The study will then specifically focus on use of the productive and reproductive styles by analysing my own experience against findings from literature. The framework for teaching styles and behaviours came from work by Mosston (1966). The ideas that Mosston proposed have changed and adapted since the first publication of the framework. The interaction between teacher and student has been developed since his initial publication (Mosston Ashworth, 1986) and have provided a framework where the decisions are the main element and the relationship between the teacher and the learner has in making those decisions. So influential was it that the work by Nixon Locke (1973) described it as the most significant advance in the theory of physical education pedagogy in recent history. A teaching style is concerned with how an activity is delivered, rather than what is delivered, (Macfadyen Bailey, 2002). Research conducted by Siendentop (1991) has also suggested that a teaching style is typified by the instructional and managerial climate that exists during the lesson which can be observed in the main that the teacher interacts with the pupils and in some cases if there is an interaction at all. The Spectrum incorporates ten landmark styles based on the degree to which the teacher or the student assumes responsibility for what happens in a lesson. This describes a continuum, where at one extreme is the direct, teacher-led approach and at the other lies a much more open-ended and student-centred style where the teacher acts only in a facilitator role. Reproductive Teaching Styles: The reproductive or direct cluster includes the command, practice, reciprocal, self check and inclusion teaching styles (Mosston Ashworth, 2002). Direct styles of teaching require the learner to reproduce known material or knowledge by replicating a specific model. This often involves subject matter relating to concrete facts, rules or specific skills/movements (Rink, 2002). In order for pupils to recreate specific skills Derri Pachta (2007) identified that learners must first be provided with a correct technical model to emulate, sufficient time to practice the model and effective feedback related to the original model, with the correct technical model often being shown by the teacher. Research conducted by Pieron (1998) supports the use of the command teaching style as the author argues that copying the most efficient style (that of the teachers demonstration) is highly profitable. It is seen as more profitable because it saves time as the teacher has the overall responsibility f or correcting faults and it ensures that pupils receive accurate feedback. The research conducted by Salvara et al (2006) highlighted that the direct teaching styles specifically the command style has been shown to have a positive impact on class control and motor performance. Within my teaching I have found that using this style of teaching to be the most effective for class control especially when the class has a large number of pupils and when the class requires a lot of behaviour management strategies used to control to the class. However Pellett Blakemore (1997) conducted a study of task presentation and content performance of four teachers who all had difference levels of experience and found that students taught by an experienced teacher were more effective at performing the skills when compared to being taught by a teacher of little experience. My experience whilst on teacher training has also supported these findings as I was able to present the tasks more clearly to pupils when I had more experience in that particular activity. I was also able to differentiate the task to a higher level with activities that I was familiar with as I had more ideas and experience to draw upon, whereas with activities I had little experience of I found it more challenging to be creative and progress the pupils. This has resulted in me taking actions towards trying to improve subject knowledge in areas of the curriculum where my experience is lacking or insufficient. Research conducted by Griffey (1983) has found that when practicing skills students of lower ability benefited more from the command style of teaching as they had little previous experience to draw from. This is something that I have also noticed, when teaching lower ability groups it is more beneficial to give the instruction or demonstration of task to save time and when working with higher ability pupils allowing the more able pupils to demonstrate the skill to increase pupil motivation. These findings have not been supported by Goldberger Gerney (1990) who found that under circuit training conditions the lower ability pupils seemed to benefit more from the opportunity to make decisions about time spent practicing at each station. However within this study the practice style of teaching has also been examined. According to Byra (2000) in the practice style of teaching the learners work at their own pace and complete teacher designed tasks in the order they choose, the class is organised around stations and the teacher provides individual feedback to the learners. The most effective type of practice style of teaching I have used whilst on teaching experience was the use of circuit training as I chose the activities/skills/tasks to be practiced at each station and the pupils chose the intensity to which they performed as each station. In a study by Beckett (1991) on college age students the practice style has proved to be very effective in promoting motor skill changes. From my experience of using this style I discovered that it was not particularly useful at promoting learning when there was limited time or large groups as different ability pupils will progress at different times and take longer with certain skills. However the ages of pupils should be taken into consideration as my experie nce is from working with pupils aged 11-16 who because they are more susceptible to development in motor skills than college aged students. This may explain why Beckett did not notice any changes in motor skills as the subject in his study may have already fully developed. My experience has also been identified and supported by Goldberger Gerney (1986) Goldberger et al (1982). However I did find this style of teaching useful during a health and fitness unit of work where the amount of skill learning was minimal and the main focus on the lesson was for pupils to be active using circuit training and the learning was aimed at pupils being introduced to new knowledge or gaining a further understanding of current knowledge on different types of exercises rather than developing skills. The reciprocal style has also been examined by Goldberger Gerney (1986) Goldberger et al (1982). These researchers identified that in this style the learners work in pairs to achieve the outcomes. The teachers ability to give effective instruction/information is important when using this style as when one learner performs the other observes and gives feedback to the performer specific to the instruction that the teacher gives at the start of the task and when the performer completes the task the learners switch roles. From my experience the most effective ways of giving instruction are in the form of a demonstration or a criteria sheet, I also found that demonstrations are very effective when demonstrating skills that I can show high levels of competence. In addition to improved skill performance Goldberger (1992) also found that learners in the reciprocal style provided more feedback, expressed more empathy, offered more praise and encouragement and requested more feedback from ea ch other when compared to a control group. However from my experience of this style the pairing of pupils is important as if you pair pupils of different levels the feedback would either be to complex or too simple thus affecting the amount of learning and skill performance. Also when working with pupils/groups where behaviour management is an issue it is more beneficial for the teacher to pair the pupils according to ability rather than letting pupils pick their partner as this tends to lead to the pupils picking friends and being distracted and going off task. I have also found that the way in which you give the instruction also can have an effect on the lesson as task sheets often dont work with groups where behaviour management is an issue as they do not respond well to the resource and see it as something to mess about with rather than an educational tool. Byra Marks (1993) conducted a study which focuses on the reciprocal style and the effects that different pairings had on pupils engagement. This study highlighted pupils who were identified as friends gave more effective and specific feedback due to their comfort levels being higher as they were working with a friend. The authors also found that grouping by ability had no effect on the amount of feedback given or the comfort level which is in agreement with my own personal experiences. This studies findings suggests that pupil working with friends is beneficial however this study does not take into account the behaviour of the group which I have experienced can be a major contributing fact when pairing pupils. I have experienced when allowing pupils to work in friendship pairs can sometimes be detrimental when they feel the task is not rewarding or beneficial as they distract each other and sometimes dont complete the task. I have found that to pair pupils with friends is beneficial only when you have built a rapport with the pupils and are aware of how they react working with friends. My experience of this style is that it is also beneficial to use when assessing pupils providing they are aware of the grading criteria they can receive more feedback thus improving performance when compared to othe r direct teaching styles. In support of this Cox (1986) found that when comparing the reciprocal style against the command and practice styles that the amount of skill movements was very similar which was surprising as the reciprocal style involves a lot more feedback. It was also found that three times the number of feedback statements were offered to performers using the reciprocal style resulting in higher skills and knowledge gains along with the development of social relationship skills. According to Byra Jenkins (1998) within the inclusion style of teaching learners choose the level of difficulty within a task and assess their own skill performance. With this in mind the benefits of the inclusion style are that it provides pupils with the opportunity to engage in activity that is to their appropriate skill/knowledge level potentially increasing inclusion and engagement. My experience of using this style of teaching is that I have attempted to include it in all of my lessons as ensuring all pupils are included is essential to any lesson. However when allowing pupils to decided which skill level they work at often resulted in pupils choosing a level that is not appropriate whether that be to simple or too complex. This goes against the spectrum theory which suggests that the condition provided by the inclusion style should promote success for all learners (Mosston Ashworth, 1994). The findings of Goldberger Gerney (1986) Goldberger et al (1982) has supported my experience and observed that the majority of learners made inappropriate and ineffective decisions for their skill level by choosing levels that were too complex for them to reach success or the objectives even when encouraged or prompted by the teacher. From this I have learned to set boundaries for those pupils that make the task to difficult so for example when throwing and catching setting a maximum or minimum distance they can throw the ball. My experience has also taught me that this style is most effective when used with older pupils as they have a better self concept of their own ability and are less susceptible to peer pressure this was also observed by Beckett (1991). In study of college aged students Beckett (1991) found that the inclusion style to be as effective as the practice style for learner skill performance when learning motor skills. These finding do not support the conclusions of Goldberger Gerney (1986) Goldberger et al (1982) and it was suggested that the difference in students ages as a contributing factor which supports my experience. My experience of the Inclusion style has also highlighted the importance of planning and assessment for the lesson as I have already identified that pupils sometimes dont make the correct decisions. Therefore as a result of this I found it beneficial to assess the pupils who set boundaries and goals that may be above or below their level and pupils who do not work well together and then plan a strategy into the next lesson to ensure that those pupils remain focused and on task. Productive Teaching Styles: When compared to the reproductive teaching style the productive cluster of Mosston Ashworth (1994) spectrum of teaching styles has little background research. The productive cluster requires the learner to produce new knowledge, from my experience the teacher needs a high level of understanding and creativity to create or design scenarios. According to Byra (2000) within the productive styles of teaching pupils should engage in cognitive operations like problem solving, creative thinking, inventing and critical thinking to discover new movements. It is the responsibility of the teacher to provide time for cognitive processing therefore there needs to be a class climate focused on searching and examining and feedback for producing different solutions rather than the same generic response (Mosston Ashworth, 2002). According to Mosston Ashworth (1986) six teaching styles have been identified in the productive cluster they are guided discovery and convergent discovery which both require convergent thinking from the learners and divergent production, individual program learner design, learner initiated and self teaching which require divergent thinking from learners. The majority of the research in this area has studied the effects of the divergent discovery, convergent discovery and guided discovery. In a study by Cleland Gallahue (1993) divergent movement patterns were observed to establish baseline information and to examine the different factors that contribute to a childs production of divergent movement. The findings highlighted that learners could modify, adopt and combine fundamental movement patterns to produce divergent movement. In a further study Cleland (1994) compared the divergent discovery style against the command style and a no instruction control group to examine the learners ability to produce divergent movement. The findings of this study were that students generated a greater number of divergent movements under the divergent discovery condition. The researcher concluded that employing critical thinking in the form of the divergent discovery style positively effects learners ability to generate a higher quantity of divergent movement patterns. My experience of using this teaching style is that the pupils age/maturity and experience levels are major contributing factors as learners with low levels of experience have limited subject knowledge to draw from thus affecting their ability to modify current skills/movement my experience has also been supported by the findings of Cleland Gallahue (1993). As the previous research suggests a pupils ability to think critically is important within the productive cluster of teaching styles, wish this in mind Cleland Pearse (1995) conducted a study which examined the methods that physical education teachers use to ensure that pupils use critical thinking. Critical thinking has been defined by McBride (1992) as reflective thinking is used to make reasonable decisions about movement tasks or challenges (page 115). This studies conclusion match with my experience which was that this style was most effective when employing the practice style of teaching to give instruction/deliver the subject knowledge then adopting guided discovery and convergent discovery to allow the pupils to think critically. The study also highlighted that the more experienced teachers were able to create a more effective environment for the pupils to use creative thinking skills McBride (1992). From my experience I have also been able to agree with these findings as I felt more comfortable creating an environment that was conducive to creative thinking when teaching a subject I had more experience in as I was able to give more effective feedback. The research presented to this point has seemed to favour the use of the productive teaching styles especially when creating cognitive learning however there is conflicting research presented by Salter Graham (1985). Salter Graham (1985) examined the effects of the command style, guided discovery style and no instruction on learners skill learning, cognitive learning and skill attempts. The results showed that although their was evidence that learning occurred using all three styles the pupils in the guided discovery and command style recorded significantly better cognitive learning compared to no instruction. For skill attempts however learners in the no instruction style made significantly more attempts at the task than learners in the other styles. The researchers went onto recommend that a longer practice time than 20 minutes may have resulted in the guided discovery having more skill learning, cognitive learning and skill attempts as this style requires longer practice time fo r the full benefits to be witnessed. From my own experience this is something which I have also observed as pupils respond better when they have longer periods of time to experiment different skill movements. My experience has also taught me that to increase the practice time requires effective instruction delivery which has also been identified by Cleland Pearse (1995). Conclusion: In conclusion several research questions have been answered about the reproductive styles of teaching; what the effects of the reproductive styles have on learning, how learners of different ability level are influenced by different styles, what effect pairings have on pupils ability to give effective feedback, what factors influence learners decision making and what effect the different styles have on learners ability to learn new knowledge. The findings from the productive style are; can learners employ critical thinking, what is the effect of productive styles on learners ability to produce divergent movement and how can teachers promote critical thinking. The amount of research that is available for the productive styles of teaching in limited when compared to the breadth of research studies on the reproductive teaching styles. However, a study by Cothran et al. (2000) has identify that teachers reported using a variety of style in their lessons yet only one productive style was in the top five styles used. Although it is encouraging that teachers report using a variety these results must be interpreted as it suggests that teachers over estimate the variety of teaching styles used thus affecting the amount of research there is available in relation to the productive styles of teaching. Research conducted by Goldberger (1992) has identified that the reason that may remain unconvinced or unsure of the styles use is because of the lack of confirmatory research on those styles. Therefore further research is needed into the productive styles of teaching to provide teachers with a knowledge base on how these styles can be effective at promoting learning. Recommendations: These findings have provided an initial insight into the use of teaching styles across a theoretically linked spectrum. One noticeable exception was that there is conflict within the research findings and not all researchers reported the same findings which identifies that there are a significant amount of variables related to spectrum research and that the variable that is being focused on should be properly investigated by using the correct research method. Spectrum research needs to continue as not all findings regarding assumptions associated to the spectrum have not been supported. However, some assumptions have been confirmed within this study for example the reciprocal style does in fact facilitate the provision of feedback, more so than any another style and having learners chose their partners based on friendships helps improve social skills (Byra Marks, 1993). Other assumptions like, the self check and inclusion styles are the most effective at promoting cognitive developm ent and the inclusion style is most effective at improving participation of low, medium and high ability learners still needs to be examined. Replication studies also need to be conducted in different environments as the research findings and my experience would suggest that the reciprocal style is an effective style at promoting feedback. However, would it be as effective at facilitating learning with different aged pupils in different schools where behaviour management has a far greater emphasis in lessons. After reviewing the appropriate relevant literature and reflecting on my own personal experiences I feel that the use of appropriate teaching styles makes an important contribution to pupils learning in Physical Education and should not be left to chance. Physical Education can provide pupils with the opportunity to think critically, problem solve and to improve own learning. Pupils will be able to think about what they are doing and make decisions independently and know when to use principles such as choreography, games strategies and problem solving. If pupils are to access the full National Curriculum for Physical Education (NCPE) (DfEE/QCA, 1999) and to achieve the outcomes of high quality Physical Education (QCA/DfES, 2005), teachers must employ a variety of appropriate teaching styles to facilitate the opportunities that Physical Education offers. It is because of this that both reproductive and productive teaching styles should be used to enhance learning and motivation.

Seniors Driving Essay -- Elderly Drivers Dangers Driving Old

Seniors Driving   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Courtney Caldwell, a writer for Road and Travel Magazine, stated in one of her articles that, â€Å"My mother, insisted her driving skills were as sharp as ever. However, after a few life-threatening trips to the grocery store as her passenger, I knew she had to stop driving. She was driving dangerously close to the curb, her reaction time was poor and she was missing stop signs and traffic lights. Her driving was so bad that I forbade my 32-year-old adult daughter to ever ride as a passenger with her†. (roadandtravel.com) Ms. Caldwell is referring to her mother, an elderly widow, who must drive, as she has no other means of transportation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In America today, more and more people are driving each day. Currently, there are more cars on the road now, then at any point in America’s past. With all of this new traffic, more and more accidents occur everyday. The group second most responsible for these accidents is the group of drivers age fifty-five and older. â€Å"Currently these people make up twenty five per cent of the driving population, and account for eighteen per cent of current auto accidents†. (aarp.org) With all of these accidents, there is still no restrictions or limitations placed on a person, age fifty-five and over’s license. It is my opinion that, at the least, restrictions should be placed on licenses for all people age fifty-five and older.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Currently across the United States, there are very few laws regarding the elderly and driving. In Florida a new law states that people over the age of sixty-five must pass a road test. Florida is the only state to implement such a measure. With the exception of Florida, every other state still puts its elderly drivers at risk.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  John Nelson the president of the American medical association said that, â€Å"A woman in her eighties in good health may be a safer driver than her twenty year old grandson who happened to be on pain medication for an injury†.(aarp.org) As we age, our bodies age too, and as a result of that we lose some of the most important senses that we use to drive. The most important sense to drivers is vision. â€Å"More then fifty per cent of people age fifty-five and older have some sort of problem with their eyesight†.(aarp.org) These problems can make it difficult to see at night, and it can cause them to have difficulty judging distances. Another useful sense... ...is program might be successful at teaching senior citizens how to abide by the traffic law, that is all it does. It still does not prevent senior citizens from getting into accidents.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As more and more drivers are on the road each day, we need to be ever cautious of our fellow drivers. One such group of drivers is those who are aged fifty-five and older. Since they are getting older, their ability to drive safely has diminished. Senior citizens are also more likely to be severely injured or killed in an auto accident. By age, they are the second biggest accident group. Studies have proved that the 55 ALIVE driver-training programs were not effective in reducing the number of traffic crashes. Therefore, license restrictions are the answer. The times of day that senior citizens drive and the distances they can drive should be limited. Senior citizens that choose to continue driving should also be made to undergo routine medical exams to test their vision and hearing. An attempt should also be made to expand the ability and lower the cost of public transportation. By doing this, we can protect the lives of our senior citizens, and reduce the number of accidents on the road.

The Enron Disgrace Essay -- essays research papers

The Enron Disgrace: Abstract: Ray Bowen, a Citigroup banker at the time and now Enron's chief financial officer, once asked Mr. [Andrew Fastow] about a batch of complex equations that filled a whiteboard in the conference room next to the Mr. Fastow's office. "You can't tell me you understand those equations," Mr. Bowen commented to Mr. Fastow. Mr. Fastow replied: "I pulled them out of a book to intimidate people." The Fastows headed to Mrs. Fastow's native Houston in 1990, both taking jobs at a young company called Enron. Just five years old, Enron was starting to evolve from a natural-gas and pipeline company into a trading firm. Mr. Fastow was one of the first managers hired by Mr. [Jeffrey Skilling], who himself had only recently arrived, from management consultants McKinsey & Co. Brought into Mr. Skilling's inner circle, Mr. Fastow returned the loyalty, telling colleagues he had named a child after his mentor. When Mr. Skilling became Enron's president and chief operating officer in early 1997, he and Mr. [Kenneth Lay] promoted Mr. Fastow to lead a new finance department. A year later, Mr. Fastow became chief financial officer. LJM employees used Enron office space and were on its phone system. When a call came from LJM, Enron employees would have no reason to know the person on the line was representing LJM unless he or she said so. In mid-2000, as Enron Broadband Services was negotiating to sell some fiber-optic cable to LJM2, an LJM2 employee named Anne C. Yaeger called the Enron unit and grilled it about Enron's valuation of the cable, without identifying herself as an LJM staffer, according to a former employee familiar with the matter. Full Text: Copyright Dow Jones & Company Inc Aug 26, 2002 When Enron Corp. was riding high, Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow had a Lucite cube on his desk supposedly laying out the company's values. One of these was communication, and the cube's inscription explained what that meant: When Enron says it's going to "rip your face off," it said, it will "rip your face off." It was a characteristic gesture inside Enron, where the prevailing corporate culture was to push everything to the limits: business practices, laws and personal behavior. At Enron's London office, lavishly paid executives submitted blind e-mail bids for the 18 parking places. One of them paid $... ...FO at the Houston airport. While Mr. Fastow's parents were undergoing a random search, he stopped to chat with Mr. Schwieger. "I never got an opportunity to explain the partnerships to you," he said, according to Mr. Schwieger. Mr. Schwieger replied, "With everything that has come to light, I probably wouldn't like the answer I would have gotten." --- Fastow's Footsteps Tracing Andrew Fastow's career at Enronn 1990: Fastow joins Enron, an early hire by Jeffrey Skilling. -- January 1997: Chief Executive Kenneth Lay and Skilling, promoted to president, name Fastow head of new finance department. -- March 1998: Fastow named chief financial officer. -- June 1999: Skilling and Fastow tell board of plan for new partnership known as LJM Cayman. -- Late 1999 to early 2000: Fastow raises nearly $400 million for LJM2 partnership. -- Oct. 16, 2001: Enron says it will take $1.01 billion charge against earnings. -- Oct. 24, 2001: Fastow is put on leave. -- Aug. 21, 2002: Michael Kopper pleads guilty to money laundering and wire-fraud conspiracy, says he kicked back money to Fastow. Prosecutors seek order to seize $23.6 million from Fastow and associates.

Vietnam :: essays research papers

The ICP was formed in Hong Kong in 1930 from the amalgamation of the Vietnamese and the nascent Lao and Khmer communist groups, and it received its instructions from the Moscow-based Communist International (Comintern). Communist Movement The Vietnamese communist movement began in Paris in 1920, when Ho Chi Minh, using the pseudonym Nguyen Ai Quoc, became a charter member of the French Communist Party. Two years later, Ho went to Moscow to study Marxist doctrine and then proceeded to Canton as a Comintern representative. While in China, he formed the Vietnamese Revolutionary Youth League, setting the stage for the formation of the Indochinese Communist Party in 1930. French repression of nationalists and communists forced some of the insurgents underground, and others escaped to China. Other dissidents were imprisoned, some emerging later to play important roles in the anti-colonial movement. Ho Chi Minh was abroad at that time but was imprisoned later in Hong Kong by the British. He was released in 1933, and in 1936 a new French government released his compatriots who, at the outset of World War II, fled to China. There they were joined by Ho, who organized the Viet Minh-- purportedly a coalition of all anti-French Vietnamese groups. Official Vietnamese publications state that the Viet Minh was founded and led by the ICP. Because a Vichy French administration in Vietnam during World War II cooperated with occupying Japanese forces, the Viet Minh's anti-French activity was also directed against the Japanese, and, for a short period, there was cooperation between the Viet Minh and Allied forces. When the French were ousted by the Japanese in March 1945, the Viet Minh began to move into the countryside from their base areas in the mountains of northern Vietnam. By the time Allied troops--Chinese in the north and British in the south--arrived to take the surrender of Japanese troops, the Viet Minh leaders had already announced the formation of a Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) and on September 2, 1945, proclaimed Vietnam's independence. Deep divisions between Vietnamese communist and non-communist nationalists soon began to surface, however, especially in the south, and with the arrival of Allied forces later in September, the DRV was forced to begin negotiations with the French on their future relationship. The difficult negotiations broke down in December 1946, and fighting began with a Viet Minh attack on the French in Hanoi. Civil War A prolonged three-way struggle ensued among the Vietnamese communists (led by Ho Chi Minh), the French, and the Vietnamese nationalists (nominally led by Emperor Bao Dai). Vietnam :: essays research papers The ICP was formed in Hong Kong in 1930 from the amalgamation of the Vietnamese and the nascent Lao and Khmer communist groups, and it received its instructions from the Moscow-based Communist International (Comintern). Communist Movement The Vietnamese communist movement began in Paris in 1920, when Ho Chi Minh, using the pseudonym Nguyen Ai Quoc, became a charter member of the French Communist Party. Two years later, Ho went to Moscow to study Marxist doctrine and then proceeded to Canton as a Comintern representative. While in China, he formed the Vietnamese Revolutionary Youth League, setting the stage for the formation of the Indochinese Communist Party in 1930. French repression of nationalists and communists forced some of the insurgents underground, and others escaped to China. Other dissidents were imprisoned, some emerging later to play important roles in the anti-colonial movement. Ho Chi Minh was abroad at that time but was imprisoned later in Hong Kong by the British. He was released in 1933, and in 1936 a new French government released his compatriots who, at the outset of World War II, fled to China. There they were joined by Ho, who organized the Viet Minh-- purportedly a coalition of all anti-French Vietnamese groups. Official Vietnamese publications state that the Viet Minh was founded and led by the ICP. Because a Vichy French administration in Vietnam during World War II cooperated with occupying Japanese forces, the Viet Minh's anti-French activity was also directed against the Japanese, and, for a short period, there was cooperation between the Viet Minh and Allied forces. When the French were ousted by the Japanese in March 1945, the Viet Minh began to move into the countryside from their base areas in the mountains of northern Vietnam. By the time Allied troops--Chinese in the north and British in the south--arrived to take the surrender of Japanese troops, the Viet Minh leaders had already announced the formation of a Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) and on September 2, 1945, proclaimed Vietnam's independence. Deep divisions between Vietnamese communist and non-communist nationalists soon began to surface, however, especially in the south, and with the arrival of Allied forces later in September, the DRV was forced to begin negotiations with the French on their future relationship. The difficult negotiations broke down in December 1946, and fighting began with a Viet Minh attack on the French in Hanoi. Civil War A prolonged three-way struggle ensued among the Vietnamese communists (led by Ho Chi Minh), the French, and the Vietnamese nationalists (nominally led by Emperor Bao Dai).

Advantages Of Playing Sports Essay

Improved self-esteem is another benefit of competitive youth sports. When a child wins a game with his team, he feels accomplished and recognized. However, though someone may argue that if he lost the game, it will reversely lower his self-esteem. But that may perhaps not the real case, even when he doesn’t win, he can learn a valuable lesson: that you can’t win every time. Conversely, losing with his team can also increase self-esteem, as he learns to hold his head high and feel proud for trying his best. HEALTH According the some scientific research, millions of American children and teenagers are overweight. This obesity epidemic has made the early onset of health problems such as diabetes more common. Participating in competitive youth sports burns calories and helps to prevent obesity. Additionally, many children who are active in sports are motivated to eat healthier foods, such as fruits and vegetables. Children who play sports are more likely to be physically fit, have a healthy weight and maintain a better body image. A healthy body contributes to a healthy mind, and regular exercise contributes to overall physical and mental health. Competitive sports are challenging for youth. They require kids and teens to cooperate, compete in a sportsmanlike way, use strategy and communicate with one another. All of these attitudes can be developed through playing sports. According to the University of Florida Extension, youth sports can enhance a child’s emotional and mental development, helping them to become mature in an accelerating rate. Youth who play sports form a good social circle. They will become better able to make friends, socialize with others and respond in constructive ways to conflict. Competition is a situation in which conflict and problems inevitably arise, and children who play sports are more likely to handle.

Ethics in counselling Essay

Issue One: Breaching Confidentiality in Counseling Minors Before we move into the topic, we want to explore the issue of confidentiality in counseling. This is applicable to not just minors but also all age groups, religions, cultures and genders. Remley (1985) stated that confidentiality is an ethical standard that is a rule of practice set forth by a profession. The American Counseling Association’s (ACA) Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice require that counselors respect their clients’ right to privacy and avoid illegal and unwarranted disclosures of confidential information. The ACA code lists the exceptions to confidentiality as when disclosure is required to prevent clear and imminent danger to the client or others or when legal requirements demand that confidential information be revealed. When counseling clients who are minors or individuals who are unable to give voluntary, informed consent, parents or guardians may be included in the counseling process as appropriate. Counselors act in the best interest of clien ts and take measures to safeguard confidentiality. Confidentiality should exist for the benefit of the client be it whether the client is a minor or not. Should parents or guardians be involved in the counseling process, the counselor must act with exceedingly professional expertise when disclosing confidential information. There is an ethical responsibility to obtain the minor’s permission before releasing information. For counseling to be effective and to provide an environment in which the client feels free to share concerns, the counselor must be able to assure minor clients that personal information will be kept confidential to build trust between them. There are vacillating priorities between the rights of the child, school policy, guardians’ rights, and dictates of laws and ethical codes (Glosoff & Pate, 2002; Lawrence & Kirpius, 2000). There is a tenuous balancing act among the parents who desire autonomy in raising their children, the governmental agencies safeguarding public welfare, and the minor who deserves both privacy and protection. The ACA Code of Ethics (1995) highlights the needs for the counselor to clarify client relationships in  families to directly address any possible conflicts, and to promote flexibility in the decision to involve a guardian in the counseling process as long as confidentiality and the client’s best interests are safeguarded. Recognition of the need for a thorough understanding of ethical and legal requirements also applies to the issue of duty to warn. A counselor with a flexible orientation toward confidentiality will usually make an independent decision based on merits of each separate case that promotes the moral principle of fidelity in which the child’s trust is protected by keeping the promises inherent in confidentiality issues (Glosoff & Pate, 2002). An evaluation of what is in the child’s best interest will predominate, which underscores the moral principles of beneficence. This is seen as an ambiguous process that is influenced by the counselor’s cultural background and personal values and biases. Conversely, no guarantee of confidentiality erodes the foundation of trust in therapy, leading to increased client resistance and premature termination. In this situation, from the outset an adolescent will be reluctant to enter a counseling relationship with a professional who apparently views the referring agency, court, school, or guardian as the real client rather than the teen. An attitude of flexibility toward confidentiality offers the ability to be adaptable to various situations, but throws the counselor into the nebulous area of trying to negotiate the balance of ethical and legal dictates. A more moderate stance embraces the advice of the ACA Code of Ethics regarding clarification of counseling relationships and can draw the adolescent into the decision-making process, which strengthens therapeutic rapport. Similarly, a counselor asking the child’s permission before disclosure gives the minor a sense of control and helps diminish damage to trust when sharing informa tion is necessary. In the course of work when working with minors, I sometimes can be unclear about my ethical obligations concerning confidentiality, especially with adolescents. When they mention activities such as shoplifting, alcoholism, drug experimentation and the most tricky case of sexual habits, it becomes a difficult issue. The question of confidentiality in ethics come into question and the counselor, or myself in this case, will struggle with  building trust with the client and involving the parents in the counseling process. Let’s consider a case study. Joseph’s parents divorced when he was 5 and he has been living with his mother since. His mother used to attend therapy with him when she noticed he was very withdrawn and didn’t communicate very much since the incident. The therapy went on for a year. Now at age 16, he has been sent to his counselor after his form teacher has noticed his constant late coming to school and also looking listless and distracted during lessons. His grades have also taken a sharp dip. His close friend, Kenneth, tells the teacher that Joseph has been attending all-night parties and has started to experiment with drugs and alcohol. Joseph doesn’t say much during the counselling sessions except mentioning that he has got a girlfriend now, who is 7 years his senior, and wants to move in with her. They met at a party and got sexually involved with each other and he now feels responsible for taking care of her. He insists the relationship is built out of love and that his parents should no t hear or have a say in any of this. His counsellor has shared her concerns with Joseph and is struggling with whether she has an obligation to disclose anything to his parents. It would be helpful to consider this case from three perspectives: that of law, clinical practice and ethics. The law generally states that minors cannot consent to treatment and a parent or guardian will consent on the minor’s behalf. The parent who consents on the minor’s behalf generally has the right to know the content of the child’s treatment until the minor reaches the legal age of (usually) 18. From a clinical perspective, the situation is more complex. An important aspect of treatment is to foster an individual’s autonomy, and a great pleasure of treating adolescents is to watch as they come to enjoy their growing independence. One aspect of independence is privacy. As a child grows into adolescence and adulthood, the surrounding zone of privacy should increase, thus making room for a more defined sense of se lf and a greater sense of autonomy. A paradox thus arises: Good clinical treatment may require what the law generally refuses, that is, a zone of privacy. I feel that early in the relationship the counselor should make clear what relationship she will have to each of the parties (the minor and the parents/guardians). It should be accompanied by an explanation of how information-sharing will work, what  information will be shared, with whom and when, in a manner appropriate to the minor’s age and understanding. As the child develops and grows up, the structure of the therapy may change for clinical reasons and this will have ethical implications. The minor’s greater sense of self and enhanced capacity for autonomy may require greater respect for the child’s need for privacy. The counselor will thus need to revisit earlier discussions and explain that, for clinical reasons, the structure of the therapy should change. Such boundary renegotiation is clinically and ethically indicated. However, a coun selor cannot promise a minor that information will be kept from a parent who has legal custody. A parent with the legal right to treatment information may choose, however counterproductive in the counselor’s eyes, to exercise that right. Clinical judgement will also be able to indicate to what extent maintaining an adolescent’s privacy is central to the treatment. A counselor may conclude that an adolescent’s wish not to have information shared reflects an appropriate separation and so should be honored or he may also conclude that sharing certain information would be helpful. If so, the ethical standards from the section on â€Å"Privacy and Confidentiality† gives the counselor permission to do so. Nonetheless, regardless of whether an adolescent assents to have information disclosed to a parent, it makes both clinical and ethical sense to tell the adolescent beforehand, what information will be shared, and when. Ideally, the adolescent would be part of such conversations. There may also be times when a counselor will be mandated to disclose information. Serious threats of harm, neglect and abuse falls under mandatory reporting laws and must be disclosed in many states. Adolescents should be told that serious threats of harm to self or others will also not be kept confidential. A counselor may feel strongly that revealing information to a parent could harm the minor or be destructive to the treatment. Refusal to disclose in such a case, even in the face of a parent’s request, may be legally supportable. A counselor in this position should se ek both legal counsel and consultation from colleagues. Joseph’s therapist revisited the issue of confidentiality when Joseph expressed a wish that she not speak with his mother. A compromise was reached whereby the therapist would speak to Joseph’s mother only with Joseph present. The issue of confidentiality became more complicated when the therapist felt that certain information should be shared and Joseph  refused. The therapist should gently explore with Joseph the reasons behind this refusal. During some sessions, the therapist should be direct with Joseph about her discomfort with his behavior, especially the illegal activities, and point out the kinds of risks he was taking. Hopefully, over time, they would agree that Joseph himself would begin to speak to his mother about these issues, and that the therapist could follow up with a phone call. It is important to discuss each and every contact between the therapist and mother thoroughly with Michael, as well as to support his independent use of psychotherapy. Issue Two: Transcultural Issues in Counseling As a counselor, we will be working with clients from various cultures. In order to work effectively with culturally diverse individuals and groups, it is important to know what culture means in people’s lives and to recognise differences that might be culturally-based. The idea of culture is interesting and important, but can be very hard to define and understand. Culture is a set of meanings that provides a sort of blueprint for how we should think, feel, and behave in order to be a part of a group. It includes patterns of traditions, beliefs, values, expectations, and symbols; in fact, every aspect of who we are that isn’t biological in origin. Often people are part of more than one culture; for example, we may belong to a professional group, a religious group, and social groups each of which has its own way of speaking, dressing, and behaving. Often we don’t recognise aspects of our culture until we encounter cultural ideas or practices that are different from ours. Knowing our own culture is an important aspect of self-awareness, however, because we need to be able to recognise culturally-based differences. Some cultural differences that affect counselling relationships include communication styles, for example the way words and phrases are used, the degree of importance given to non-verbal communication, and the appropriate degree of assertiveness in communicating. Different attitudes toward conflict, for example whether conflict is positive or should be avoided, whether conflict should be resolved in face-to-face meetings. Different approaches to completing tasks, for example whether or not it is important to build a relationship with another person in order to work with him or her on completing a task. Different styles of decision-making, for  example majority rule or consensus. Different attitudes about open emotion and personal matters. Different approaches to knowing, for example through symbolic imagery and rhythm, library research, visiting people who have had similar challenges. As a counsellor, we will be working with children and families from various cultural backgrounds. One of the most important things to remember is not to assume that another person has the same values, beliefs, and practices that you do. We have to use our observation, listening, and questioning skills to learn what is important to the other person and how they see the world. We need to be open to learning about other ways of seeing and living in the world. Counselors need to be aware of their own ethnicity and how it influences their interactions with other cultural groups. Problems need to be understood within the context of the person’s ethnicity. We learn from our culture, appropriate ways of responding to illness. For example, one group of people may tend to complain about their physical problems, while another may deny having any pain and see it as a form of punishment. Attitudes towards seeking help also vary from one ethnic group to another. It is important to clearly spell out the tasks of the first session to all family members and explain in detail the client-counselor relationship. The expectations the family may have about the encounter might be based on its experience with the medical profession. The family may expect the counselor to take charge and provide advice. By being direct, active and using a structured approach, the counselor establishes rapport with the family. The ethnic group may perceive the family as the primary source of support for its members. If this is the case, the family may be experiencing shame and guilt for not being able to solve its own problems. For example, an individual may turn to the family for support and seek our outsiders for support as a last resort. In some cultures, it is not acceptable to express personal concerns with a stranger; therefore, the clients adopt the counselor into their family. There may be fears and embarrassment about not being able to speak the language of the dominant culture well enough to express difficulties. As a result the counselor may view the client as passive and resistant. Culture influences the family’s orientation toward being internally or externally controlled. An internally oriented family has the belief that their achievements, or lack of achievements, are determined by their own actions, thus shaping their destiny. On the other hand, an externally oriented family has the belief that achievements and non achievements occur independently of their actions and that the future is predicated on chance. An externally oriented family may be interpreted by an internally focused counselor as procrastinators. Another important dimension when working with the people who are from cultures different than our own is the locus of responsibility. Locus of responsibility assesses the amount of responsibility or blame given to the client or the clients system. Determining if the individual or the system is the cause of the behavior is important when making an assessment and determining interventions. In Canadian culture often the individual is seen as being responsible for his/her actions. Racial and ethnic minorities whose behaviors deviate from the middle class are labeled as deviant. Be aware of ethno cultural roles and hierarchy. If the father is considered the authority figure, make sure you address him, first showing respect for his cultural positions. In attempting to seek information from the children, it is important to acquire permission before proceeding with the interview. Inquire about issues that may be specific to a particular ethnic group. Family members are often delighted to teach counselors about the key â€Å"insults† of their cultural group. If you experience resistance, check to see if you have violated a culture norm. We need to take note when the counselor becomes overly concerned about the family’s ethnicity to the point where one loses perspective as to their reason for seeking help. A major assumption for culturally sensitive counseling is that counselors can acknowledge their own tendencies and the limit of their cultures on other people. Thus, it is essential for counselors to understand their cultures and their worldviews before helping and assisting other people. According to Padilla, Boxley, and Wagner (1973), there is increasing evidence that the trained counselor is not prepared to deal with individuals who are culturally different from them. Cultural sensitivity remains as one of the  important characteristics of effective counseling. Padilla et al’s writing also shows that one of the characteristics of an effective counselor is the ability to recognize diversity and cultural differences. It is undeniable that the need to attend multicultural diversity of clients is more obvious when counselors and clients have different cultural backgrounds. Culture is the core of internal ways in which human beings develop their sense of self, including values, beliefs, thought patterns, perceptions, and worldviews. All these qualities help determine and shape one’s external culture – the ways in which one establishes and maintains a relationship with the environment and others through implicit norms, language, traditions, rituals, and loyalties that influence attitudes, behaviors, and customs (Gushue, 1993). While it is true that Singapore is a mix of different ethnic groups, each group has retained much of its individual unique cultural character. This is because Singapore’s policy has always been geared towards multiculturalism, where every ethnic group is allowed to preserve its own culture while peacefully interacting with others. In the light of this, counselling and intervention is always presented within the cultural context and constraints inherent in our cosmopolitan society. The understanding of a clientà ¢â‚¬â„¢s unique culture is necessary in order for a counsellor to effectively help the former behave and feel differently in a trusting relationship so as to achieve their goals. Psychological judgments are never free from the influence of therapist’s own cultural values. In intervention, counsellors need to be knowledgeable of the culture of their clients because each culture holds different ideas about what constitutes problems in living. As we have grown up in a cosmopolitan environment, we are immersed in various orientations of different ethnic groups. Our awareness of our own culture only increases when we go to places where our culture is not the norm. Similarly in a counselling room, when we are with our client from a different culture, our awareness of our own culture tends to increase too. We are aware too of the diversity existing within the same culture as people may communicate and interact in a whole range of ways. Our worldviews as ethnic majority are highly correlated with cultural upbringing and life experiences. There is a tendency to take for granted that the ethnic minority has full knowledge of our culture since it is pervasive in  the society. On the other hand, some of us harbor tinted views of the ethnic minority that cause us to unwittingly impose upon them stereotypes and preconceived notions. In my opinion, sensitivity includes respect and acceptance of who they are, the way they are and the ir beliefs. People of the minority race should be treated fairly and equally. There isn’t a need to treat them with sympathy; otherwise, it would only remind them that they are being differentiated. I learned from my Indian and Malay friends at school about their feelings as minority races in Singapore and that they prefer to be seen as equals. To be more effective counsellors, we have to first examine ourselves or be aware of our personal values, beliefs, prejudices and motives for helping people. For instance, my own cultural beliefs that men should be stronger and be able to take on the world and solve their problems rationally and efficiently make me more sympathetic toward my female clients. The curiosity to explore the deeper meaning of our own cultural behavior will certainly enlighten and make us more sensitive to the differences or similarities existing in different cultural groups. A wise counsellor would always try to transcend such barriers and enter into the frame of referenc e of his client and operate from there. The clients we see include students from as young as 6 years old, elderly patients at Nursing Homes/hospital. We also have couples with marital, family and financial issues. Their age group ranges from early 20s to the 70s. They are a mix of Singaporean Chinese, Malay, Indian and some immigrants. Our clients are mainly from low to average income group with basic education. English and Mandarin are the main languages used. Dialects are used when counselling the elderly folks. Each member in the group shared both common and unique cultural issues they face in counselling. The sexism issue Annie regularly encounters involves female victims of domestic violence in Indian family whose men predominate in positions of power. Most oppressed Indian women inevitably choose not to react for fear of being ostracized by their own family and community. According to Yeo (1989), Asian derives their identity from membership in a family and a community and focusing on the individual might well alienate the person from the family. Peter and Juliet shared about the common gender issue where parents think they must stay with sons only, while conflicts with daughters-in-law are common issues too. Some parents choose to stay on their own to avoid humiliating their sons. Medical and emotional problems may result from loneliness, poor self care and diet. Jennifer related her early experience: I’ve encountered difficulties on many occasions with clients of a different race, particularly Malay clients, in dealing with issues on pregnancy crisis. My early impression was that they were either not willing to share nor receptive to explore other options and alternatives pertaining to their decision to terminate their pregnancy. The session became more fruitful only after I acquired greater understanding of the Malay culture. For Magdalene, while she is competent in conversational skills with some dialects, attempting to apply counselling techniques or skills present a real challenge. Majority of the counselling approaches are western in origin. The concepts and explanation are all in English. It is easy to miss the deeper nuances when she attempts to apply or translate them into dialect or language which she is not fully competent in. Both Magdalene and Ruth observed that it is culturally the norm of the older generation to attribute crisis to some external causes and to seek help from temple mediums. The words of the mediums will then be accepted as truth. It can be a real challenge to counsellors from a different faith. Ruth, the youngest member in our group, perceives age as a stumbling block to effective counselling when her clients are much older. In the Asian context, age is a sign of maturity and wisdom. With elderly clients, we are expected to show respect and humility, not as someone to solve their problems. Annie faced the social-economic issue when she encountered Singaporean men who resorted to increase their socio-economic status by taking wives from the poorer ASEAN countries. The wives function more as domestic helpers or care providers to the elderly/invalid parents or young nephews and nieces within the extended family. The relationship is further strained by language barrier and other cultural issues. Western Counselling Models in Singaporean Context The group is pragmatic in our counselling approach, integrating different therapy models to meet the client’s unique needs. With cross-cultural interaction comes the possibility that the client’s intentions and actions may be misperceived, misinterpreted, and misjudged notably, when we employ the western counselling models on culturally different clients. We are aware that some of these models may not even fit people from western cultures due to within-culture diversity and other diversity factors beyond culture. (Egan, 2005) The second theme that emerged was the need to understand the worldview of culturally different clients in order to know how best to integrate the western counselling models in our counselling work. Magdalene commented that the concept of individuation in Bowen Theory is culturally not in tandem with many elderly Chinese clients, who come from an environment where the family, community, or clan takes precedent over self; hence differentiation of self can be alien to them. A person’s identity is formed and continually influenced by his or her context. Working effectively with clients requires an understanding of how the individual is embedded in the family, which in turn requires an understanding of how the family is affected by its place in a pluralistic culture. (Sue, Ivey & Pedersen, 1996). Bowen Theory encourages the therapist to look into the Family of Origin to examine the interlocking relationships. This can present itself negatively as in-laws or family members may not be forthcoming when it comes to talking about sensitive and conflicting issues inflicting the family. Juliet presumed Bowen Theory will be better understood and accepted by the  English-educated clients, but she found out to her dismay that some concepts contradict their cultural beliefs. Peter found Rational-Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT) to be too confrontational in style. Telling a client that he is â€Å"horriblising† and â€Å"catastrophising† his life issues when he is seeking understanding from a counsellor in his moments of anxiety is not going to be welcomed. Asians generally seek familial help when they have problems. The concept of going to a counsellor who is a stranger is already a major deviation from their social norms. Facing a challenging counsellor may pose as a humiliating experience for some. Annie’s observation: Solution-focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) focuses on what clients want to achieve through therapy rather than on the problem(s) that made them seek help. The approach does not focus on the past, but on the present and future instead. This goes down well with the clients she sees who are pragmatic and time-conscious. However, Magdalene observed that asking the miracle question to a pragmatic elderly client may pose a challenge. Some of them have mindsets that have been deeply entrenched in their being; they do not see the need to change. Similarly, to challenge the Irrational Beliefs (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) of the elderly whose sense of self has been conditioned to adopt a resigned disposition can be an uphill task. The use of `hot-seat’ fantasy technique to help clients express their feelings where there is unfinished business may not be favored by the more ‘conservative and traditional’ clients as unleashing negative emotions towards the deceased is considered a taboo. Magdalene related her encounter: Using Gestalt approach, I encouraged him to imagine that the mother was present at the moment, and for him to tell her what was on his mind. He responded, ‘she is already dead, what is there to say?’ I realized later that while he might be bad mouthing and blaming her for his current plight, it was culturally not appropriate for him to confront her. Ruth felt incompetent when she encountered elderly people who often interrupted her during conversation to correct her. Her age and lack of knowledge in dialects made it difficult for her to express herself aptly. But she found Carl Roger’s Person-Centered therapy useful when working with clients who question her abilities. Multi-cultural Competencies The challenges we face as counsellors in a multicultural environment require that we know and understand the client’s culture so as to be congruent with the frame of the world that the client is in during counselling, i.e., individuals are best understood by taking into consideration salient cultural and environmental variables. Regardless of the therapist’s orientation, it is crucial to listen to the clients and determine why they are seeking help and how best to deliver the help that is appropriate for them. (Corey, 1996) In this pluralistic and post-modern age, no one helping approach has all the answers for the clients we see due to the complexity of human beings, as expressed by Sue, Ivey and Pedersen (1996). The third theme that emerged was the need for therapists to create therapeutic strategies that are congruent with the range of values and behaviours that are characteristic of a pluralistic society. Jennifer had this to say: Without a deeper understanding of the Malay culture and religion, my counselling sessions with the Malays would certainly be unfruitful. There are family and social pressure to learn within the context of religion and culture. The Malay clients who are pregnant out of wedlock find themselves opting for abortion as the only way to avoid violating family tradition. I have to work on interventions that are congruent with the values of the clients. It is a sign of respect that counsellor refrains from deciding what behaviour should be changed. Through skilful questioning on the counsellor’s part, ethnic minority clients can be helped. The process of internalizing a new culture is an on-going undertaking. Generally the group is willing to be exposed to all kinds of clients so as to open up our own world views of the different cultures in our society. This includes interacting with people of different races at social events and festive celebrations. We recognized that with the culturally-constraint client we have to go slow during the first counselling session. The clients can be invited to teach the therapists about the significant parts of their cultural identity. We all acknowledged the importance of supervision and guidance when we are unsure and need clarification. We also will be seen as more professional if we master the basic terminologies of counselling approaches in other languages/dialects. Having an enquiring and inquisitive mind about the different cultures will help broaden our perspectives. Formal education on the multicultural aspects of counselling will help to hone our skills. We can also gain insights by reading articles and books related to multicultural counselling. There are hefty handbooks offering the theoretical background, practical knowledge, and training strategies needed to achieve multicultural competence. (Pope-Davis, Coleman, Liu, & Toporek, 2004). In addition, there are highly detailed research studies offering further insights in multicultural competence. (Darcy, Lee, & Tracey, 2004). The greater our depth and breadth of knowledge of culturally diverse groups, the more we can be effective practitioners (Corey, 2001). Conclusion In summary, the qualitative inquiry has promoted self-awareness of our own personal culture as we develop a sense of the world. Courage, openness and humility are some important elements we identified to secure trust and acceptance by our clients of different cultures. Our group will certainly strive to integrate appropriate counselling approaches to create therapeutic strategies that are congruent with the client’s range of values and behaviours, without abdicating our own deepest beliefs and values.