Lifeboat Ethics Essay

Life is like a cruise ship†¦ or at least until the engine blows up and your oasis of luxury sinks. Before you know it, you find yourself sitting in one of the few lifeboats, surrounded by hundreds of people who are now accurately portraying survival of the fittest. They are treading water and fearing sharks, all because there are not enough rafts. You are grateful to be in your lifeboat and eventually question if everyone on this earth has an equal right to an equal share in its resources (Hardin 1). Well, if you were not wondering about that, Garrett Hardin was. In his essay â€Å"Lifeboat Ethics: the Case Against Helping the Poor†, Hardin compares the condition of wealthy nations to that of a lifeboat. Hardin’s main idea is that wealthy nations should not offer any kind of assistance or support to people in poor countries because the outcome in doing so would be a catastrophe. Although Hardin’s ideas accurately state the problems of over-population and supporting the poor, he fails to defend his logic by not stating a satisfying compromise between the two extremes of giving all of our resources to the poor and not helping the poor at all. He uses a lifeboat example to show the segregation to show the segregation of the rich people in the boat and the poor people swimming in the surrounding water. Natural instinct is to take in as many poor people as possible even if the raft lacks space, but Hardin argues that the result would be a sinking raft and a disaster. There would be no positive result. If rich people pull poor people in the raft, the raft would then lose its â€Å"safety factor†. In the end, there would be no positive outcome in helping the swimmers and the result would be â€Å"complete justice, complete catastrophe† (Hardin 1). â€Å"In a crowded world of less than perfect human beings, mutual ruin is inevitable if there are no controls. This is the tragedy of the commons† (Hardin 3). The tragedy of the commons is a perfect example as to why there is no advantage in helping the poor. A person’s property or possession is well taken care of because it is his or her own responsibility. But if it is available for everyone it would not be taken care of as much. Hardin uses air and water as examples of commons that have been taken advantage of. Since air and water are both treated as commons, they have become polluted and therefore endanger everyone. Another negative product of helping the poor is that they will never learn from their mistakes. Since poor countries know that the wealthy countries will be there to help and give them aide when needed, they will never learn to save themselves and prepare for future disasters. Why would they? No one would go out of their way to get something if they knew it would be handed to them when needed. â€Å"But they can learn from experience. They may mend their ways, and learn to budget for infrequent but certain emergencies† (Hardin 4). Hardin does not give a neutral idea to this problem. He basically states, either we give the poor everything or we give them nothing at all. This problem could easily be solved by limiting how much we give other countries in their times of need. If they are aware that they will only get x-amount of supplies from us, they will be more likely to stock necessities and other resources. Hardin’s argument is whether we should help poor countries and have them forever depend on us, or not help them and let them learn their lesson in the hopes that it will benefit them in the future. It is understandable that we should help them because we are a rich nation and should not be greedy with our wealth, but people are naturally careless and selfish when tragedy strikes. When people receive aide, they end up depending on it as long as they can. So the answer to the question asked earlier is no, not everyone is entitled to a fair share of resources. â€Å"For the foreseeable future, our survival demands that we govern our action by the ethics of a lifeboat, harsh as though they may be. Posterity will be satisfied with nothing less† (Hardin 8).

The Jesuit Legacy in India

The Jesuit Legacy in India Abstract: The Jesuits arrived in India in 1542 A. D. to carry out Christ’s command to â€Å"go and make disciples of all nations† (Matthew 28:19). Over the last 500 years, they have woven themselves into the very fabric of India with deep psychological, theological and sociological connotations. This article tells that story; highlights some noteworthy Jesuit influences on Modern India, particularly in the fields of education, medicine, social service and leadership training amongst the youth; and, draws leadership lessons from these Jesuit achievements.The Jesuits demonstrated servant leadership, transformational leadership, and transactional leadership qualities. Without the Jesuits, the article concludes, India would be a different country. The Jesuit Legacy in India Ad majorem Dei gloriam. For the greater glory of God. That’s the motto of a religious order of men called the Society of Jesus that has quietly influenced India, and pro vided understated leadership to the world’s largest democracy in many positive ways deserving of recognition.The influence of the Jesuits in India extends beyond just the spread of Christianity, weaving intricate psychological, theological and sociological patterns into the very fabric of modern Indian society. Professor George Menachery – appointed by Pope Benedict XVI as member of the Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great in early 2008, and editor of the St.Thomas Christian Encyclopedia of India and the Indian Church History Classics – writes in Volume III of the former publication: the â€Å"factor which has won the Society a lasting place in the minds of the people and in the history of the nation is the large number of spheres which it has penetrated and permeated,† and goes on to list religion, spirituality, politics, education, science, technology, meteorology, diplomacy, indology, culture, history, geography, language, literature, a rt, architecture, sports, medicine, healthcare, social reforms, leadership formation, tribal and aboriginal movements, and nation-building as some of the contributions of the Jesuits to modern India. Brief History The organization was founded in 1534 by St. Ignatius Loyola (1491–1556), and received papal authorization in 1540 under Pope Paul III. Amongst the original six members was St. Francis Xavier, who was an ardent missionary with the passion to take Christ’s message to the East. He arrived in India in 1542, almost fifteen centuries after St. Thomas the Apostle had brought Christianity to India.With the arrival of Xavier, began a saga of leadership by the Society of Jesus in India that continues to this day, almost 500 years later. Pre-British India The expanding influence on the Jesuits on 17th century pre-British India has been well documented by historians, among them Ellison Banks Findly, who writes in Nur Jahan, Empress of Mughal India (Oxford University Pres s) that Mughal Emperor Jahangir (1569-1627) granted the Jesuits many privileges, and spent â€Å"every night for one year†¦ in hearing disputation† amongst Christian and other theologians, and that his â€Å"most active interest in Christian doctrine was in the debates held at his court between the Jesuit fathers and the Muslim mullas. In fact, the Jesuit Mission of the Great Moghul was started at the request of Emperor Akbar, with Father Rudolph Acquaviva, the future Martyr, as its first Superior.The Jesuit Mission in Madura in the south was also begun at the request of the Hindu viceroy (nayakka) established in Madura, and later supported by Zulfikar Ali Khan (1690-1703), the first Nawab of the Carnatic. The Madura Mission counted among its members the celebrated Father Robert de Nobili, as well as Saint John de Britto. British India With the onset of British rule over India that effectively began in 1757 after the Battle of Plassey, the Jesuits found greater favor wi th the erstwhile powers. They began exerting increasing influence not only on the Christians in India, but also on the society at large.Even the Maharajas – whom the British allowed to reign as long as they paid their due taxes to the Crown – and their war councils and civil administrations, were positively influenced by the Jesuits, right from Goa to Cochin to Cape Comorin to Manapad to Mannar to Mylapore. Independent India By the time the British Empire was overthrown and independent India emerged in 1947, the Jesuits had entrenched themselves deeply into Indian society by way of leading and high-profile educational institutions, hospitals, charity organizations and other enterprises that became effective partners of the government in the young democracy in supporting growth.Professor George Menachery writes in The St. Thomas Christian Encyclopedia of India (Vol. III 2010): â€Å"the ubiquitous nature of the Society has through its varied missions become one of the most powerful influences in Indian history. Today there is hardly any Catholic ecclesiastical division in India or any revenue district in the country for that matter which does not boast some Jesuit enterprise or other, be it a school or a college, a technical training institute or an engineering establishment, a printing press or an infirmary, a seminary or a social service centre. † Psychological Influence on India Discipline positively impacted the Indian psycheThe Jesuit movement gathered force right in the middle of the Catholic revival called the Counter-Reformation that began with the Council of Trent (1545-1563) as a response to the Protestant Reformation, and ended with the Thirty Years’ War in 1648. Pope Paul III (1534–1549) led the Council of Trent, and tasked the attending cardinals with institutional reform to impact ecclesiastical (or structural) reconfiguration, religious orders, spiritual movements and political dimensions of the Catholic Church. New religious orders – such as the Jesuits, Capuchins, Ursulines, Theatines, Discalced Carmelites, and the Barnabites – were a fundamental part of this movement, and Jesuits in particular, greatly bolstered rural parishes, enhanced popular piety, succeeded in constraining corruption within the church, and played an exemplary role in overall Catholic renewal.These activities extended well into India. The Jesuit charter established by St. Ignatius Loyola was dictatorial and military-like (possibly emanating from the fact that Ignatius was a soldier before he became a priest); and, this iron discipline, rigid training and resolute character of the Jesuits created a deep psychological impact on the Indian psyche. Rev. Fr. Jerome Francis, a current Jesuit missionary in the Calcutta Province, opines that this perception of extreme discipline sat well with the general Indian populace and the rulers, and consequently boded well for the next phase of Jesuit growth in the count ry. Helped prevent Mysticism amongst Indian ChristiansAn example of rigid and inflexible discipline can be discerned in regulations such as Rule-13 of the Jesuit Charter that said: â€Å"I will believe that the white that I see is black if the hierarchical Church so defines it† (Jesuit Political Thought: The Society of Jesus and the State by Harro Hopfl, Cambridge University Press, 2004). Ursula King writes in Christian Mystics: The Spiritual Heart of the Christian Tradition (Simon & Schuster, 1998) that such rigid principles helped prevent the spread of mysticism amongst Christians in India, even while mysticism ran high in parts of Europe during the Catholic revival, with leaders like Teresa of Avila (1515-82) and John of the Cross (1542-91). The spread of mysticism made the institutional Church especially nervous because, carried to its logical conclusion, mysticism negates the need for priesthood and the sacraments.Since one of the central tenets of Hinduism is a formless God (â€Å"Thou art formless; thy only form is our knowledge of thee† – Upanishads), Christians exposed to Hindu thought were especially prone mysticism, as has been proven over and over again by later-day Christian mystics like Father Bede Griffiths (1906-1993) and Henry le Saux (1910-1973). Closer psychological integration with Hindu society The Jesuits also introduced to India the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius, which was endorsed by Pope Paul III in 1548, and exemplified the Society of Jesus in the way these exercises helped the Jesuits understand human relationship with God, and live a life of commitment to Christ. The Exercises were a set of meditations, prayers and mental exercises designed to be carried out typically over a four week period, aimed at helping individuals discern Jesus in their lives and commit to a life of service to Christ.This rigid Jesuit tradition has been compared with devotionalism, and provided close parallels to Hindu ritualistic tradi tions, and helped psychologically in the closer integration of the Jesuits into Hindu society. Theological Influence Setting up of Seminaries Jesuits believed in establishing seminaries for the proper training of priests in the spiritual life and the theological traditions of the Church. Consequently, they set up several seminaries in India to dispense theological knowledge. Styled after the successful seminary of the Malankara Orthodox Church that was founded by St. Thomas, the Apostle in A. D. 52, and the Rachol Seminary founded in 1521 by the Church of Goa, the earliest Jesuit seminary was the St.Joseph's Inter-diocesan Seminary, Mangalore established in 1763; followed by St. Joseph’s Seminary started in West Bengal in 1879; and, the Society of the Missionaries of St. Francis Xavier founded in 1887 in Pilar. Today there are at least 22 Jesuit seminaries, many of them degree granting institutions authorized by the Vatican and the government of India. The foremost example of Jesuit theological excellence is the Vidyajyoti College of Theology in Delhi that currently enrolls hundreds of students coming from some 70 religious congregations, dioceses, secular institutes and lay associations from every part of India and abroad. Setting up of ChurchesOne of the earliest Jesuit churches was established by St. Francis Xavier himself in Tuticorin. Originally called the Jesuit Church of Saint Paul, its status was raised to that of a Basilica by Pope Paul II to mark its 400th anniversary, and is now known as the Basilica of Our Lady of the Snows, Tuticorin. St. Paul’s Churchaty in Diu on the west coast of India dates back to 1610. In all, there are over 110 Jesuit Churches in India, and these churches have always integrated well with Indian society in general, and with people from other faiths, in particular. To cite one example of this integration: During midnight mass on Christmas Eve in St.Paul’s Cathedral in Calcutta, the rush of Hindus is so he avy that the Church installs a loudspeaker system in the large gardens surrounding the Church, so that hundreds of Hindus who could not gain entry into the Cathedral, can sit and listen to the rituals. Evangelism Jesus commanded his eleven disciples to: â€Å"†¦ go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. † – Matthew 28:19,20 NIV. The Jesuits had evangelism as one of their stated goals, and their efforts first spread Christianity along the western â€Å"Konkan† coast of India. The Jesuits then spread both southwards (towards Madura) and northwards (towards Agra), continually converting Hindus and Muslims to Christianity. Rev. H. Hosten, S. J. writes in Jesuit Missionaries in Northern India and Inscriptions on their Tombs (1580-1803): â€Å"Under (Mughal Emperor) Jah angir†¦ several Mohamedan Princes were baptized†, among them â€Å"Currown, another of Jahangir's sons, and other of his friends (to make his way easier to the Crown) prevailed with Jahangir that his kinsmen Shaw Selym's Brother's Sons might be Christened; which accordingly was done in Agra†¦ that year they also baptized another Grandson of Akbar's. † Until the Protestant Missionaries came to India in the 18th century, the Jesuits were the prime force of evangelism in India. Typical and often quoted, but not unique, proactive initiative to reach out to the Indian masses is practiced today by the Indian Theological Seminary (ITS).Founded by the Jesuits, ITS is now an interdenominational seminary located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, with Gilgal Gospel Mission as its missionary training arm. The Gilgal Gospel Mission trains men and women, and sends them out into the world at large in pairs, into Hindu villages, with a view to them establishing friendship in the villag es, and starting, first, Sunday Schools and, later, Churches. ITS prepares three types of Church planters (a) bare foot evangelists (C. Th), (b) Bachelor of Theology (B. Th), and (c) Master of Divinity (M. Div). Graduates who prepare at ITS fulfill its mission of â€Å"Preaching Christ and Planting Churches† in every village, town and city.Many return to their homes in the various parts of India to continue teaching, preaching, and planting churches. Today, Christianity is India's third-largest religion, with approximately 24 million followers, constituting 2. 3% of India's population. The popularization of Annual Retreats amongst Priests and the Populace As noted earlier, the Jesuits avidly pursued the implementation of the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius that were a set of meditations, prayers and mental exercises designed to be practiced in the form of a four week meditative retreat from normal life. The basic purpose of these retreats was to mediate the human-God relation ship; and, periodically re-examine and re-validate the nuances of that relationship.Such annual retreats became popular in India not only amongst the Jesuit priests, but even amongst priests from other faiths. The concept of retreats spread to the corporate world too, and Sunanda Dutta-Ray writing in The Statesman dated January 26, 2006, mention three instances where Chief Executive Officers of large Indian corporations – all Jesuit alumni – instituted the concept of a 3-day annual retreat modeled after their experience in school. Sociological Influence The largest visible Jesuit influence on India has been the wide and deep sociological impact – in terms of the development of the Indian people and societies – that is discernible everywhere.Jesuit Education With over 30 excellent high schools, over 10 high profile colleges for higher education, and innumerable elementary schools and vocational training centers all over India, Jesuit education is much soug ht after in the country. The foremost examples of Jesuit higher education are the Vellore Medical College and Hospital, one of India’s foremost teaching hospitals, Xavier Labor Relations Institute, one of India’s foremost business schools. Even St. Xavier’s College in Calcutta has produced many industry leaders, the foremost amongst them is Lakshmi Mittal, whose company – ArcelorMittal – is today the world’s largest steel producer.Loyola College in Chennai has similarly produced many leaders for the country, even a President (Ramaswamy Venkataraman) and a world chess champion (Viswanathan Anand). Most of these educational institutions date back to the earlier part of the 20th century, if not earlier still, and played a vigorous role in nation-building when India became independent. Former President of India, Abdul Kalam, lauded the Jesuits’ role in India education, while opening the 6th global meet of Jesuit institutions in Calcutta: â€Å"†Jesuit institutions have a big role in the spread of modern education in the country. Being a Jesuit alumnus myself, I'm aware of the great contribution of Jesuit education not only in India but around the world† (as reported by Krittivas Mukherjee for Indo-Asian News Service).Not content to be restricted to India alone, Jesuits from Calcutta recently gave education in Afghanistan a boost, when two of them – Maria Joseph and Sahaya Jude – recently travelled to the war-torn country and started training students and teachers (as reported in the The Telegraph, Jan 4, 2010). It should be mentioned in passing that all Jesuit education in India is completely secular. Catholic students are given additional training in Catechism, but students of other faiths are usually treated to a secular Moral Science lecture, or – at most – a watered down Bible History. Jesuit Social Work Jesuits have deeply been involved in social work and social reform.W hole books can be written on this subject alone, because these engagements have been – and continue to be – so numerous and so vigorous. Caritas India has been at the forefront of traditional social work, as the front organization for Catholic Charities, with thousands of people and hundreds of project sites spanning all across the country. It is only one of the more visible ones; in general, almost every Jesuit organization practices social work in its immediate vicinity, and engages the students of all its nationwide institutions in social activities. For instance, the Vidyajyoti College of Theology in Delhi has very active prison ministry, hospital ministry, slum ministry, tribal ministry, neighborhood ministry, and even a railway platform ministry.Many Jesuits ventured out into the villages and made a mark with their social activism. Just one such example is Father Michael Anthony Windey (1921-2009), founder of the Village Reconstruction Organization (VRO), who joi ned the Jesuits in 1938, traveled to India in 1946 and was ordained a priest in 1950. When he passed away in Belgium in 2009 while under treatment for cancer, he was mourned by the Church, social workers and villagers in India, because he had dedicated his life to using Gandhian methods to revolutionize village life in India. Said Father A. X. J. Bosco, a former head of the Jesuits? Andhra Pradesh province who has worked as VRO? operational director: â€Å"Father Windey was never bothered about the religion of the person he helped. While selecting villages, he always chose to help the poorest village. † Social Activism The involvement of the Jesuits extended to social activism, sometimes of a kind even questioned by the Vatican. Rone Tempest, staff writer, reported in the L. A. Times, Jan 21, 1986, on the Pope’s visit to India: â€Å"Significantly, the Pope will not visit the northern Bihar Muzafapur area, where radical Catholic priests have recently organized Hindu s erfs against powerful landlords, some of whom even maintain their own armies for private wars against their foes and bands of roving bandits, or dacoits.Similarly, when he visits the Catholic stronghold state of Kerala in southern India, he has no plans to visit areas in which radical priests and nuns, India's version of South America's â€Å"liberation theologists,† have organized sailboat fishermen, mostly Hindus and Muslims, against the motorized fishing trawler industry. † Leadership Training Service (LTS) LTS – short for Leadership Training Service – is a unique contribution by the Jesuits to Indian society. Initiated by five students of the Goethals Memorial School in Kurseong, West Bengal in 1959, Fr. Robert Wirth of St. Xavier’s School, Sahibganj, Bihar, was selected to lead the movement in 1970. Fr. Wirth did just that for the next 21 years from the LTS headquarter in Calcutta, and spread the movement to Jesuit educational institutes in 24 States. The LTS motto is: â€Å"For God and Country†, and resonated strongly with a developing India.The LTS vision involves the four-fold objectives of: (a) Personality Development; (b) Leadership Skills; (c) Social Awareness; and, Social Responsibility that leads to social development. The movement articulates this as â€Å"a journey from ‘I Consciousness’ (initiated through Personality development and mastering leadership skills) to ‘We Consciousness’ (achieved through inculcating social awareness and exercising social responsibility that leads to social development)† (as stated on its website: www. LTSworld. com). The LTS celebrated its Golden Jubilee in 2009, and brought Fr. Robert Wirth – who collaborated in the writing of this paper – all the way from Malta to the LTS headquarters in Calcutta.Today there are reportedly over 15,000 LTSers working towards India’s progress. Leadership Lessons from the Jesuits Consisten t and long-term success is never a result of accident or luck. The Jesuits have demonstrated strong leadership qualities throughout their 500 year history in India. Servant Leadership The Jesuits, through their disciplined and exemplary behavior, became role models for the Indian populace who observed them, interacted with them, and learned from them. Influencing through exemplary behavior is a fundamental tenet of servant leadership. The Jesuits also extensively and deeply served the people whose lives they touched, through social work, educational institutions, hospitals and other missions.This service was, and continues to be, in the best tradition of servitude demonstrated by Christ. Transformation Leadership Mark Pousson, Program Director for Service Learning at The Reinert Center for Teaching Excellence at the St. Louis University writes in The Notebook, a publication of the Reinert Center: â€Å"Historically, the Jesuits espouse the power of transformation through conversati on,† (Vol 11, Issue 4), and goes on to say that Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit order, readily engaged people in conversation about God and spirituality. It is from his value of transformation through experiences that Saint Ignatius companions infused transformation in what is known as the Jesuit tradition of education.Jesuits heavily utilized this power of transformation through pedagogy and education in India, and – as earlier stated in this article – has left an indelible mark on the Indian education landscape. The Jesuits also practiced transformational leadership by inspiring Indians to strive for something better than they were used to, to push the limit, and to aim for excellence. Evidence of this is plentiful, but particular note may be taken of the Jesuit’s LTS (Leadership Training Service) initiative described earlier, which was a totally new concept in India when it was started in 1959, and continues to inspire and build the current g eneration of young leaders in the 21st century. In fact, the LTS movement resonates strongly with one of the fundamentals goal of transformation leadership: the make leaders out of followers.The Annual Retreats that the Jesuits taught the Indians and popularized amongst people of faith as well as the corporate world, was another instance where people were inspired and motivated to implement and practice innovative leadership solutions for everyday problems. Transactional Leadership Transactional leadership was commonly practiced by the Jesuits. A very common example was the exchange of better medical care for conversion to Christianity. It was a subtle but effective message. When the Jesuits set up modern medical care facilities in rural India – especially in the Tribal areas where people were not even Hindus, but practiced some form of pantheism – it is widely believed that it was not so much the preaching as the access to modern medical care that converted lots of tr ibal people to Christianity. Social Learning TheoryJesuit social activism, social work and its military-like discipline – all widely admired by the Hindus of India – triggered the positive effects of the Social Learning Theory, which argues that people learn best through a 3-step emulation process defined as: (a) observation, (b) imitation, and (c) modeling. When people like behavior they would like to emulate, they are motivated to do so on their own without having to be compelled in some covert or overt manner to oblige. Social Learning Theory, therefore, has feeds into the Servant Leadership theory, because servant leaders aim to influence followers through exemplary action and self-motivated emulation. The Jesuits in India put both servant leadership and social learning theories to good use. Epilogue In closing, a short acknowledgment says it all: Without the Jesuits, India would be a different country.

Mergers&Acquisitions (M&A) Simulation (1 page assignment) Assignment

Mergers&Acquisitions (M&A) Simulation (1 page ) - Assignment Example Active acquisition strategy enhances easy acquiring of companies (Ray, 2010, p.34). Private Limited Companies in United Kingdom are the potential acquirers of the client’s company. They include John Lewis Partnership, Stemcor private Company, McLaren Technology Group, Bakes Group, Arcadia Group, SCH Group, Monson Private Company, and Southern Water Company among others. These companies have various sectors that conform to the commodities of client’s technology business. John Lewis Partnership specializes in the retail sector. Its sales are 7,759 million pounds hence a possible acquirer of the client’s technology business (Brough, 2005, p.5). Mc Laren Technology Group specializes on television and consumer electronic industry, therefore, a potential buyer of client’s business technology. Besides, its sales are 554 million pounds. Bakes Group specializes in food industry. Arabica Group and Monsoon Company specialize in clothing industry, which relates to the same product offered by the technology business. Their sales are above 100 million pounds each hence convenient acquirers. The annual revenues of these companies are over 40 million pounds, and their gross margin is much higher than that of the client’s technology business. Therefore, they stand a better position of acquiring the technology business due to compatibility of their sectors and a strong financial base. Therefore, the above-illustrated UK companies are the most potential, possible and most interested in buying the client’s

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Cultural Retention in the Caribbean Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Cultural Retention in the Caribbean - Essay Example This paper tells that to Sheridan’s account, the sugar revolution, which was most evident in the history of Barbados, had caused the re-emigration of whites to other colonies and had brought in enslaved Africans in increased numbers. As oppressed peoples have always been able to retain aspects of their cultural traditions, perhaps, because it is their most basic way of resistance to oppression, African culture remains strong in the Caribbean despite the intrusive cultural forces of globalization – for example, â€Å"the massive influence of the US mass media†. As Hillman has described: â€Å"†¦ throughout history, the people of the Caribbean have been engaged in heroic struggles to liberate themselves from the structures and exploitation of colonialism, slavery, imperialism, neocolonialism, and dependency†. According to Brodber, the popularization of Justin Hinds’ ‘Carry Go Bring Come’ – a song of resistance against Western tyranny as background music at the political gatherings of the opposition party during the 1966-1967 election campaign - has demonstrated music can be an effective instrument for the reawakening of black consciousness. This has inspired young singers to fearlessly express their feelings leading to the popularization of ‘Africanized’ songs in Jamaica. What made these songs Africanized is not only their contents which openly persuade their listeners to accept the Rastafarian concept of black history – the dominant theme of Bob Marley’s music that has been gaining international recognition up till today – as well as their musical compositions, which are distinctively African: the beat (clave-rhythmic pattern), techniques (melisma and yodel), genres (blues, jazz, salsa, zouk, and rumba), instruments (drums, slit gongs, rattles, double bells) and style (festive and participatory). In his study of African music, Merriam attributed the most outstanding cha racteristic of African music to â€Å"its emphasis upon rhythm†¦ upon a percussive concept of musical performance†¦ simultaneous use of two or more meters†¦ use of hand-clapping as†¦ accompaniment to song†¦ presence of membranophones and idiophones as outstanding instruments of the orchestra, percussive intonation and attack†¦Ã¢â‚¬ 

External environment , business strategy Coursework

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The role of race in drug prosecutions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 7500 words

The role of race in drug prosecutions - Essay Example nd historical premises behind all the increasing tendency of South Asian men to be found in Britain’s prisons.The Paper concludes that given that it is true that the majority of offenders are Asian and are perceived as a threat to public order and drug prevention they should be understood for their relative economic and social conditions. This is particularly true for drug offences and acquisitive crime. The biases of the police and the ordinary public are accordingly reviewed with their reasons in this regard. Household crimes – For household offences, all members of the household can be regarded as victims, so the respondent answers on behalf of the whole household. The offence categories concerned are: bicycle theft; burglary; theft in a dwelling; other household theft; thefts of and from vehicles, and vandalism to household property and vehicles. Personal crimes – For personal offences, the respondent reports only on his/her experience to the BCS. This applies to the following offence categories: assault, sexual offences, robbery, theft from the person, and other personal theft. Information is also collected on threats. Sampling error – A sample is a small-scale representation of the population from which it is drawn. As such, the sample may produce estimates which differ from the figures which would have been obtained if the whole population had been interviewed. Statistical significance/Weighted data – Raw data from the survey is adjusted in various ways at the data processing stage to correct for imbalances introduced in sampling and by the design of the interview. The overall aim of this study is to provide an understanding of how violence and drug crime has been understood from the perspective of race particularly for South Asian offenders in England. Therefore this study will aspire to enhance current explanations, and explore connections between various forms of violence and race, with a view to aid prevention, reduction and eventual

INFORNO operating system Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

INFORNO operating system - Research Proposal Example Here, the term varied computing systems involves not just desktop computers but a range of devices such as palm tops, laptops, set-top boxes and other communication equipment. The challenge in writing applications for a distributed and hybrid environment is threefold: firstly, the development environments vary greatly, secondly, systems and the way these systems present resources vary greatly and finally a varied network has varying security and authorization policies that may not necessarily synchronize across the network (vitanuaova.com, nd). Inferno was developed as a successor of Plan 9 OS primarily with the help of Dennis Ritchie and Ken Thompson in the Bell Labs computing Sciences research centre in New Jersey, USA in 1995 (operating-system.org, 2008). The entire team of INFERNO includes Sean Dorward, Rob Pike, David Pressotto, Dennis Ritchie, Howard Trickey and Phil Winterbottom. The primary motivation behind INFERNO is generating the capability to include a range of everyday use hardware devices into a distributed network. INFERNO OS facilitates the creation and support of distributed services in the new and emerging world of network environments, such as those typified by CATV and direct satellite broadcasting systems, as well as the Internet (Dorward et al 2002). Inferno is designed to accommodate the diverse providers of content and services from equally diverse transport and presentation platforms. From the above discussion it is evident that the main strength of INFERNO lies in its portability across several dimensions. Primarily, it is portable across various processor architectures. Currently it works with Intel x86, Intel XScale IBM Power PC, ARM, SunSPARC and MIPS (vitanuova, nd). Secondly INFERNO is portable across platforms. It can run as either a stand-alone operating system or as an application under the regular operating systems such as Window s and Linux (Dorward, Pike, Pressotto, Ritchie, Trickey and Winterbottom, 2002). Inferno's underlying architecture, the STYX protocol is the reason behind Inferno's interoperability. The protocol has been designed such that all communication is essentially handled through the file system which is very similar to UNIX OS (electronicdesign, 2000). Almost all of the INFERNO's capabilities and functionalities are based on Limbo, which is the programming language of Inferno. The primary reason for choosing Limbo to support INFERNO is because of its ability to support distributed computing. Multi-tasking is supported directly by the Limbo language. It supports multi-tasking with the help of independently scheduled threads that can be spawned, and coordinated which enable communication between tasks. It supports modular programming, strong type checking, interprocess communication, automatic garbage collection and simple abstract data types (Ritchie, 2005). Another motivation behind Limbo is its similarity to commonly used languages such as C and PASCAL (Dorward et al, 1997). So, if one needs to port INFERNO from one hardware or a system to another all one has to do is to modify a few hardware dependent functions. This is how it turns out to be an excellent operating system for all types of hardware and distributed computing. The system can be used to build portable client and server applications

Environment and Health Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Environment and Health - Essay Example Furthermore, the measures to be adopted in the future, for ensuring the sustainability of the environment of this area, have been discussed. The development of cities, across the world, has been phenomenal during the past two centuries. In 1800, the proportion of urban residents was 5%, which increased to 50% in 2000, and is projected to reach 66% in the year 2030. However, a comparatively larger increase, in the number of urban residents is expected to transpire, with regard to the developing nations. Urbanisation is engendered by certain elements, such as industrialisation, lifestyle compulsions, and in order to circumvent political strife (Friis, 2011 , p. 11). During the latter half of the 1990s, it became evident that the ‘health for all’ initiative was not going to emerge successful, by the year 2000. This resulted in the renewal of the policy strategy of the World Health Organization (WHO). This renewed policy strategy was accorded minimal attention by the national governments. At that juncture, another issue was identified, which was being recognised as being correlated to issues of health. This issue was the deterioration of the environment. In order to address the issue of environmental harm, governments participated in the Rio Earth Summit. During the meeting, Agenda 21 was formed, which constituted a plan for sustainable development. (Sim & McKee, 2011, p. 5). On 25 November 2011, the Canterbury City Council declared an Air Quality Management Area (Canterbury City Council, 2011). It encompassed 17 streets of Canterbury. The first of these areas had been designated in the year 2006. The law mandates the declaration of such areas, whenever the air pollution of that area violates the objectives of air quality. This region has become home to severe air pollution. As is well known, air pollution is extremely harmful to health (Abreu, 2012). Several research works, such as the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment of 2005, established

The Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Research Paper

The Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki - Research Paper Example Hiroshima underwent the massacre due to the weapon titled ‘Little Boy’ on the 6th of August whereas the ‘Fat Man’ was dropped on Nagasaki three days later. In order to let peace prevail after, Japan sent an instrument of surrender after almost a week of the bombings which marked the end of the Second World War. Prior to the surrender of the Nazi army in Germany, the Allies of World War II had already made plans to go ahead with Operation Downfall which was supposed to be the invasion of Japan. In 1945 when Germany was defeated, the Allies turned their attention towards Japan. Under the guidance of Major General Leslie Groves, U.S Army Corps of Engineers, the first atomic bombs were finally designed. Even though preparations were going on since 1939, fearing the Nazi army to build worse nuclear weapons kept the Allies in check and made them not reveal their weaponry. Both the Little Boy and the Fat Man were implosion weapons designed as gun type fission weapo ns; Little Boy was made of a rare isotope of uranium-235 and the Fat Man formed its base in plutonium-239. On receiving the Potsdam Declaration, the Japanese government decided to ignore it or kill it by silence and despite being given an ultimatum to surrender and told by the Allies that the consequences of non compliance with the same would result in the complete destruction of the Japanese Armed Forces as well as proper devastation of Japan on the whole, a clear rejection of the Declaration was provided by the then Prime Minister, Kantaro Suzuki. Hiroshima was of prime importance to the Japanese because its strategic location made the city a backbone for developing industry, trade and commerce. The city also had attached towards itself a great amount of military significance. The Allies had decided that in case the bombing of Hiroshima did not go as planned, they would target the cities of Kokura and Nagasaki alternately. The point which was aimed from the craft, Enola Gay, (whic h was the craft used to drop the bomb on Hiroshima), was the Aioi Bridge however, it missed and landed on the Shima Surgical Clinic, blasting at least 12km2 of the city and spreading fire everywhere. 30% of the population of the city at the time was killed immediately, with the effects ranging on another million or so that were riddled with the gases and fumes and burns due to the fire of the blast. Many people were affected by cancer and leukaemia due to the after effects of the blasts, which led to their death eventually as well. The Hiroshima Genbaku Dome is one of the few known surviving ruins post the attacks and in 1996; it was termed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO which followed repeal from countries like US and China. Nagasaki was one of the largest ports that Japan had and thus it was vital to the country’s growth and development because of its connection with overseas routes which were especially of use during the time of the war in order to import and export ma terials, keep an eye on invading foreigners, as well as produce and distribute military equipment

Deborah Moggach uses humour to address social issues consider how she does this, paying particular attention to her use of language Essay Example for Free

Deborah Moggach uses humour to address social issues consider how she does this, paying particular attention to her use of language Essay n this essay I will look at how Deborah Moggach uses humour to address social issues. I will give my own opinion and I will also pay particular attention to her use of language. In this essay I will focus on ‘fool for love’ by Deborah Moggach, she addresses the social issues of older women having a relationship with younger men. In this story there is a middle age mother with two teenagers and she found a 26 year old man for a relationship through her day time job in a dispatch room. Deborah Moggach uses humour to address a social issue a number of times throughout the story. The first time we see this is when Deborah Moggach the 26 year old man ask Esther out, ‘want to help me buy a Christmas present for my mum’. This is used as a social issue as he is asking to spend time with her. However the humour comes in later when Deborah Moggach says ‘but did he just want the advice of mature woman’. This makes the audience think and brings reality into the story and reminds us of Esther’s age. We are reminded by the young man’s age later on in the story through humour when Esther is telling him about the state of her son’s bedroom until she realise he is young himself ‘you couldn’t complain about adolescents to somebody who was practically one himself’. This humour is shown as it is as if Esther is relating the young man of her dreams to her son. Deborah Moggach then uses humour when she gets into how Esther feels about how long it had been since she had fallen in ‘love again’ and ‘Since she had shaved her legs every single day’. This humour is shown to emphasis what it is like to fall in love and what ladies do on a daily bases to show that they care top their man. This is also linked to a social issue as it is the reason she is ‘shaving her legs on a daily bases’ for the social aspect of seeing the man. In the sixth paragraph of ‘fool for love’, Deborah Moggach uses humour by saying ‘she had lent him  £10-he never had any money-and he still paid her back’. This is used in a social issue as they are socialising together more carefully now as the story goes on. This is also humours’ as people can relate towards it and it shows that he cares for his feelings and cares for her. ‘Fool for love’ by Deborah Moggach is a story that people are able to relate to well. It seems to be that everyone has fallen in love and had ups and downs, whether they would die to be with them for the rest of their lives or be with them for a period of time. ‘Fool for love’ emphasises just how strong love can be and how powerful it is to some people and this is how people are able to relate towards the story. Humour for a social issues is used a lot of the time throughout the story as a mature woman with a younger man does happen it is not too common which gives Deborah Moggach the perfect chance to play with the writing and ass humour into the story. ‘Fool for love’ is all about social issues with Esther meeting a new young man at work to meeting her son from the airport. I lot of the things that Esther does is because of a social issue and how she wants to come across to people when being social able.

Representing Prostitution In Victorian London

Representing Prostitution In Victorian London Nineteenth century England is commonly characterised by the successful expansion of an industrial society. Industrial growth defined the geography, economy and society of Victorian Britain, allowing for further establishment of the British Empire as a controlling and comprehensive Empire. The expansion of the urban society and the migration from rural life to that of the city worked to create a new public, with new social and economical opportunities. From the embers of the Industrial Revolution emerged a new middle-class. Complied of persons from varying economical heritages the new middle-class, those who had achieved significant financial success during the revolution placed themselves under a capitalist philosophy but defined themselves by their strict codes of morality. Such importance was placed upon social morality and respectability that was further clarified by domestic ideologies and clearly defined gender roles. The population of London was five times greater at the end of the nineteenth century than it was at the beginning and at its most explosive nearly tripled in two generations  [2]  . This influx of people moving from rural England to the urban environment of London had a resounding affect on the establishment of the city, socially, economically, politically and geographically. The industrialisation of the city provided many with new opportunities, which were not previously attainable and resulted in the rose of the new middle-class, the effects of which were polarized for many. Despite the vast expansion of other British cities as a result of the Industrial Revolution, namely Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield and Birmingham, London was targeted in contemporary literature as the prime example of an immoral urban environment. London was overwhelmed by the increased population, her foundations struggled to uphold the lifestyle migrants expected, and more often than not they were resolved to a life of hard labour, crime, disease and pollution.  [3]  Images of the lives of the lower and working classes were frequently depicted in the publications of the day, The Illustrated London News, The Graphic, The Saturday Review, The Illustrated Police News and the satirical Punch to name a few. One such image is Houseless and Hungry, 1869 by Samuel Luke Fildes, which, when published in the first edition of The Graphic, depicts a group of poverty stricken Londoners queuing alongside a large brick wall collecting tokens allowing them to stay in the Victorian workhouses overnight.  [4]  This image is in stark contradiction to MIDDLE CLASS ILLUSTRATION. Whilst these images show a distinct extreme in class identity, one can begin understand the varied social identities that circulated within London City in consideration of the following citation; ruling-class debauchee, masturbating adolescent, frigid middle-class housewife, precocious and depraved slum-child; the factory girl with her easy morals, the prostitute, the violated virgin, the lubricious working-class housewife, the incestuous alcoholic, the mothering pimping for her daughters; and more idealised types: fulfilled wife, attentive husband, chaste and informed student, innocent child.  [5]   Barret-Ducrocqs suggestion of Victorian characters shows how varied Victorian London was, and how class and gender affected the roles, which one could adopt within society. It was scarcely unexpected that representations of socially controversial figures found their way into prominent publications and paintings of the day. Chapter Two: The Women of London To understand the anxieties surrounding the figure of the prostitute in Victorian London one must first appreciate how women were regarded during the nineteenth century. Being that nineteenth century society was dominated by the middle-class, a result of the industrial revolution, one must account for social life before the arrival of the Victorian bourgeoisie. Before the development of the middle classes in the mid-early nineteenth century ideologies surrounding domesticity and moral responsibility were less prolific. It was the development, most prominently, of domestic ideology, which resulted in the significant decline of freedom available to women, Women enjoyed considerable freedom, status and authentic function during a golden age for women in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.  [6]  Mid-nineteenth century society, induced by the industrial revolution, was dominated by the concept of separate spheres. The prevailing ideology of separate spheres placed the man in the public environ among industry and politics, while the woman was resided to the private sphere. Thus women, mainly those of the middle classes, were expected to partake in the activities predominantly designated to domesticity. George Hickss triptych Womans Mission, 1863 narrates the concept of the separate spheres in a series, which follows the adult life of a moral and respectable middle-class woman. The use of the triptych form allowed Hicks to portray the varying roles associated with the nineteenth century feminine ideal. As previously stated the feminine ideal was, during the Victorian ear, rooted in the middle-class ideology of domesticity and moral responsibility. Entitled Womans Mission: The Guide to Childhood an image of a young woman partaking in the role of the doting mother begins Hickss series. As the title projects, The woman is defined as both physical and spiritual guide to childhood.  [7]  Neads statement is further encouraged by the symbolism of the woodland pathway along which the mother is tenderly leading her child and the manner in which she protects the child by sheltering him from the brambles. The central, and most well known, image of the triptych reveals a scene of the dedica ted wife tending to her grieving husband. This image known as Womans Mission: Companion of Manhood discloses the expected dynamic between husband and wife of the middle-class. His masculinity is represented as prominently within the image as her femininity is. The husband shows his character to be a moral and respectable male as he shields his weeping eyes from both the audience and his wife. Nineteenth century medical studies on the differences between male and female anatomy cited that women, as a result of their finer nerves, were more sensitive than men. Thus the archetypal Victorian man was widely represented as having control over his emotions and sensitivity.  [8]  The ornaments on the mantelpiece and the silverware on the nearby coffee table coupled with the fine and traditional Victorian middle-class interior support the feminine ideal, of a respectable wife dedicated to the pride of keeping her husbands house within this painting. The woman herself is portrayed as a fi gure of the feminine ideal; she is modestly dressed, in neutral and earthy tones, and leans upon her husband signifying the importance of the male figure within the domestic constitution.  [9]  The final image in the series Womans Mission: Comfort of Old Age shows the same woman as in the previous two scenes, this time, tending to an elderly relative. The prominence of this image is to show the continuity of the feminine ideal as it was expected during the period. The concept of the feminine ideal required at every stage of a middle-class womens life as, a mother, wife and daughter. Originally a doctrine of the middle-class alone, domesticity and the concept of the separate spheres began to infringe the boundaries of the working class. Hicks again narrates this concept in The Sinews of Old England, 1857. This image is similarly composed to Hickss later images Womans Mission where the female also stand alongside her husband leaning upon his left shoulder. Whilst this image shows the concept of the separate spheres in working-class circumstances it does not depict the domesticity and feminine ideal. The woman is decidedly different to that depicted in Womans Mission, her dress alone shows she is not of the middle-class ideal, the front of which is hitched up at the knee and she wears her sleeves rolled to the elbow suggesting she is ready to partake in the manual work common to those of her class. To support the differences suggested by dress are the physical attributes of the women. The lower-class woman reveals strong muscular arms as she rolls up her sleeves an d her complexion suggests someone who partakes in manual, possible outdoor, labour. This is in stark contrast to the petite frame of the middle-class woman who leans upon her husband for support. There are certain similarities between the paintings however. In both images the woman is shown as the keeper of the house, and in both it is the domestic accruements that highlight this ideal, behind the lower-class woman the audience is able to see the interior of the house in front of which she is stood. The similarities between the two images further stretch to the depictions of the men as the stronger gender. While in Womans Mission his masculinity it supported by his hiding tears from the public, the lower-class mans masculinity is show by his facing away from his wife and the domestic sphere and, as critics presumed, towards his source of work.  [10]   With such importance placed upon domesticity, moral responsibility and the feminine ideal by the middle-class it was not surprising that anything or anyone distancing themselves from what was often conceived as the norm or expected was called in to quested by Victorian moralists. The most questionable figure of nineteenth century urban society was that of the prostitute. The figure of the prostitute was not an uncommon one during the nineteenth century, as Dr Ryan, Campbell and Talbot citied, the number of prostitutes within the city was expected to be somewhere close to 80,000.  [11]  A wood engraving from Henry Mayhews London Labour and the London Poor, 1862 entitled The Haymarket-Midnight depicts a scene of London, at the Haymarket, where prostitution and deviant behaviour is plentiful. A social investigation by George Augustus Sala commented on the nocturnal activities of London, when among the socially deviant; A new life begins for London at midnight. Strange shapes appear of men and women who have lain a-bed all the day and evening, or have remained torpid in holes and corners. They come out arrayed in strange and fantastic garments, and in glaringly gaslit rooms screech and gabble in wild revelry. The street corners are beset by night prowlers. Phantoms arrayed in satin and lace flit upon the sight. The devil puts a diamond ring on his taloned finger, sticks a pin in his shirt; and takes his walks abroad. It is a stranger sight than even the painter Raffet imagined in his picture of Napoleons midnight review, and it is, I think, a much better thing to be at home and in bed, than wandering about and peeping into the mysteries of this unholy London night life.  [12]   What must be understood is that not all prostitutes were deviant figures for comparable reasons. The definition of prostitution was vast and varied according to where in society the figure was operating. Henry Mayhew in London Labour and the London Poor cites six different categories of prostitute; kept mistresses and prima donnas, convives who were separated into those subject to a mistress and those independent, low lodging house women, sailors and soldiers women, park women and thieves women.  [13]  Each of which, whilst remaining a deviant and immoral figure, certified their own social interpretation. Victorian representation of prostitution primarily focused on the lower class women of the city, however certain attention was given to women of the middle-classes who by some form of bad fortune found themselves in the world of prostitution. Known as fallen women those who transgressed the conventions of the middle-class, who negated domesticity and whose moral identity was dam aged caused particular anxieties for contemporaries. Known to be a society of sexual prudery, in reaction to the foundations laid by the new middle-class, Victorian society had to find a method of understanding and representing this ever developing social evil. Abraham Solomons representation Drowned! Drowned!, 1860 eloquently epitomises the varying discourses surrounding the figure of the mid-Victorian prostitute. Drowned! Drowned! was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1860, the year of its execution. Having previously painted two social commentaries, which were also exhibited at the Royal Academy, Solomon hoped that this work would finally acclaim his name as a prominent painter of social modernity.  [14]  The work however received a number of reviews, which frequently shifted between positive and negative. At one end of the scale his work was championed, receiving awards for its contemporary relevance, while at the other it was seriously criticised. Originally created as an oil painting, Drowned! Drowned! is now only in existence as a wood engraving. The image depicts a woman, whom one immediately associates with prostitution, being pulled from the River Thames. Solomon has provided viewers with an easily interpreted image portraying the devastating effects of social immorality. The environment around the prostitutes body is laden with symbolic imagery devoted to offering viewers an enveloping narrative of the circumstances in which the woman fell to such a degree of demise. The image illustrates the prostitutes body now settled on the riverbank at Westminster, easily identified by the commonly represented Bridge of Sighs in the background. Her body is laid up against that of a lower-class woman, who in reaction gazes down at the lifeless body, an expression of grief across her face. The prostitutes figure held in the womans arms emulates the form of the Pieta  [15]  . This traditional symbolism is pivotal in representing th e prostitute as a victim within the picture. By admitting moral symbolism into the image, Solomon portrays the representation of juxtaposed morals within Victorian society. The prostitutes social and moral downfall is highlighted prominently in the figures surrounding her dead body, which further act as instruments in this depiction of juxtaposing morals. To the right of the dead prostitute is a group of lower-class citizens, whilst to the left of the dead figure stand a group from middle-class boasting costumes from a masquerade ball. Here we see two groups of stereotypical Victorian characters, which seen together increase the power of the image by allowing not only a statement of the importance of morality but also providing the scene with a full narrative. The left-handed figures represented aspects of the immorality within society, they stand for indulgence, extravagance, corruptness and disorder. This is contradicted prominently in the morals shown by the group of lower-class characters, whose hard work and responsibility is given as an example of respectability.  [16]  The left-hand group of figures are understood to be travelling home from a masquerade ball, a popular event among the higher classes. Their clothing suggests such an outing has occurred, they are dressed in seventeenth century attire with aspects of the fanta stical added through masks and capes. The use of masqueraders as a representation of higher-classed figures encourages the audience to consider their immorality. The word masquerade can be attributed to the concept of deception, to faà §ade ones identity and thus can be applied to the female figures on the left of the image. To contemporaries this symbolic meaning highlighted the immortality of such activities, the true class identity of the figures is hidden from the public, and thus the women featured may be little more than kept mistresses or highly risen prostitutes. This is again polarized against the image of the lower class women, who do not attempt to hide their social identity, these women, despite their lower class, were considered respectable within Victorian society. The immorality of the deviant middle-class is further exhibited in the image portrayed by the most forward male masquerader who contemporary audiences interpreted to be the fallen womens seducer. The narrat ive surrounding this figure arises from his surprised expression as he stares at the dead prostitutes body. The placement of the seducer within the picture enhances the idea of the prostitute as a victim of society. VICTIM OF SOCIETY WHY WAS SHE CONSIDERED SO? The concept of the prostitute as a victim of society at, is promoted in other Victorian imagery, however it remained that as a patriarchal society the promotion or display of male sexuality did not act to destabilise the morality of society. Ford Maddox Browns painting Take Your Son Sir, 1851-6, has occasionally been referenced with the theme of social immorality, though others believe it to be a purely representation of a wife holding a child out to her husband. The painting uses a traditional Madonna and Child composition, however shows the mother and child within a contemporary Victorian interior, which negates away from the concept of traditionalist imagery. The woman holds the child out in front of her, whilst the image of a male can be seen in the mirror behind the mother and child, a mirror which acting as a nimbus continues the theme of traditional Madonna and Child imagery, on initial viewing the woman appears to hold her child toward the audience. On considering the contemporary environment the figures are situated in, the absence of the father and the uncomfortable expression across the womans face interpretations emerged that this was in fact the depiction of a kept mistress holding a child out to her seducer .  [17]   Chapter Three: Representation in Paint Much like Drowned! Drowned! Augustus Leopold Eggs 1858 painting known as Past and Present provides audiences with a prominent narrative. However in Eggs work the tale is generally considered indisputable. Accounting for this definite narrative is the triptychs official title; August the 4th. Have just heard that B. has been dead more than a fortnight, so his poor children have now lost both parents. I hear she was seen on Friday last near the Strand, evidently without a place to lay her head. What a fall hers has been! The language within the title is fundamental in initialising the symbolism within the images. Aside from securing the narrative, the inclusion of such a citation allowed audiences to clearly understand the issue of morality within. The images tell of a man, known to us only as B, who has died and untimely death leaving two orphaned children. As the passage continues it becomes clear that his orphaned children are at the mercy of an immoral mother, who having fallen into the destitute world of prostitution has become a social outcast. The theme of the deviant woman is continued in her reference only as she and her, she has, as a result of her adultery, has forcefully become anonymous loosing both her class identify and social standing.  [18]  Completed as a triptych Past and Present was not displayed chronologically. When on display the first part of the series, Past and Present No 1 the scene of the husbands discovery becomes the central segment flanked either side by scenes year s after the central episode. When considered together this imagery allows an insight into a possible, and frequent, reason for a womans decent to prostitution. Adultery, during the nineteenth century was considered the most serious form of female deviancy. Whilst the image of the fallen woman or prostitute was frequently represented as a victim of society that of the adulteress was not permitted sympathy. Whilst is it entirely possible that other women depicted as prostitutes suffered similar experiences to that of the woman in Past and Present there is rarely any symbolism suggesting such disgrace. Naturally the Eggs image is occupied with symbolism hinting at her adulterous activities. The woman is seen sprawled across her floor, her arms are outstretched, almost reaching the lower right hand corner of the image; her fists are clasped together in a motion to suggest begging, though it is unclear who this is aimed at as her body is forced away form that of her seated husband. The womans face is hidden from the viewer, perhaps in tune with the use of pronouns to remove her social and class identity. Above the woman sits her betrayed husband . He is posed, with one hand clenched upon the tabletop the other grasping a single piece of paper. The audience cannot but assume the possibilities of what is on this piece of paper. Beneath his left foot one can just make out the image of a broken photograph frame, perhaps their wedding photograph or an image of her lover? From the figure of the betrayed husband the viewers eye is encouraged towards the presence of two paintings on the wall behind him. The upper painting is a print of Clarksons The Shipwreck, which debuted to a great response in the Royal Academy exhibition of 1856.  [19]  The lower painting shows the portrait of a man, suspected to be the husband, this mirrors a similar portrait on the left of the painting this time assumed to portray the wife. The individual portraits can be seen to show division within the marriage, a statement of what is to follow this scene of discovery. The most symbolic painting within the image is that above the portrait of the wife. T his frame is representative of Eves deviancy and expulsion from Eden. Symbolism reverting to womans first incident of violation is again referenced in the half eaten apple next to the womens strained body. Problematic for the viewer is the depiction of the couples two daughters within the scene. Whilst the younger appears oblivious the elder is distracted from the card tower they are structuring resulting in its collapse. The tumbling cards are balanced upon a book by the French novelist Balzac. French society was regarded as unstable and dangerous, its literature was believed to be a source of corruption and immorality and many contemporaries were concerned about the harmful reverberations of French morality in England.  [20]  The inclusion of this work of literature is used as method of anchoring the infidelity to a modern and believable cause. The second and third sections of Past and Present illustrate the lasting implications the scene of discovery had upon the women of the family. Past and Present No 2 shows the hardship the daughters suffer as result of having a deviant and adulteress for a mother, while Past and Present No 3 exemplifies the immoral and sorrowful existence the adulteress has succumbed to. As previously mentioned female deviancy in the form of adultery was considered the most severe, from 1854 this was the only clause in the initial divorce bill taken to Parliament, which entitled a husband to divorce his wife.  [21]  Though it was possible for women to divorce their husbands from 1854 onwards incest was the only grounds accepted, it was not considered indecent for men to continue seeing prostitutes or to have extramarital sex, partly due to the vast number of years their wives were expected to be with child. As Nead cites a female who commits adultery was condemned so on the grounds that it was see n to have the most serious social consequences not only in relation to their own social position but also, and more critically, in terms of its effects on husband, children and home.  [22]  Past and Present No 2 shows the two daughters, seen in the first image, sitting together gazing out of an open window. From their surroundings one immediately understood that the downfall of their mother had also resulted in their own fall from society. They sit in an attic room away from the new middle class and bourgeoisie lifestyle they were born into. Women who were charged with committing adultery were forbidden to claim custody and more extremely to see their children as stated in the Custody of Infants Act, 1839.  [23]   Critics generally understood Past and Present No3 as being set around the same time as the second instalment of the triptych. The third image represents the fate of the adulteress. Again the environment in which she is depicted suggests a lot about her social standing. Sitting beneath the Adelphi arches, an area between the Strand and the River Thames and a well-known dwelling for streetwalking prostitutes. The figure of a woman, the adulteress, is scarcely seen for the vast shadows and poor lighting beneath the arches, again immorality is referenced through the use of darkness, on first glance it would be easy to miss the child she is holding upon her lap. Nevertheless a pair of legs emerge from the confines of her dark shawl. Understood to be an illegitimate child we again see how the actions of the deviant woman can affect the life of her family. Whilst it was common practice to publicly condemn the adulteress, the figure of the prostitutes and very often that of the fallen woman was represented to society as a victim of the deviant seducer. As Egg manipulates the way in which his female character is depicted, that being from adulteress to homeless prostitute, he manages to produce imagery, which as in many images of the same topic, particularly Drowned! Drowned!, evokes the ideal of the victim. Where Solomon has applied religious iconography within him image, relating to that of Christs dead body so too has Egg. Thomas brings to light the reference to religious imagery by citing that Eggs image goes as far as to employ iconographical details usually associated with the Virgin Mary to transform this sinful woman into a type of Madonna. Thomas continues to note that the adulteresss change of clothes and environment seen to symbolize not only her tragic fate but a spiritual rebirth.  [24]  This can further be supported by the use of light within the image, potentially acting as a halo to secure her repentance. While Past and Present highlighted a scenario, which enlightened audiences to why a woman might end up working as a prostitute, William Holman Hunts The Awakening Conscious, 1853 focused more forcefully on the ideas of regret and remorse. The theme of the regretful prostitute was a common representation during the latter nineteenth century, particularly among the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. The most prominent of these images are, The Awakening Conscious by Holman Hunt, The Gate of Memory, 1857 by Rossetti and Thoughts of the Past, 1859 by J.R. Spencer Stanhope. These three images congregate contemporary symbolism to tell their respective tales. As previously noted when discussing both Drowned! Drowned! and Past and Present a narrative that was accessibly to the contemporary audience was a primary factor in the painting of socially controversial images. While all three images provide audiences with a depiction of remorseful and regretful women they do so in varying manners. Both Hunt and Stanhope proceed with similar methods of symbolising the women within their images as prostitutes, showing various accoutrements associated with such a profession. Stanhopes womans profession is defined by the details upon her dressing table prominently the money and jewellery, which contradicts her shabby appearance and dockside residency.  [25]  Her profession is further hinted at in the inclusion of a males walking stick and stray glove. Hunt, in The Awakening Conscience, also uses the inclusions of such accessories. The composition of Hunts image encourages the audiences eye toward the clasped hands of the woman where one instantly notices the lack of a wedding band, a roughly discarded gloved and the unravelling of a piece of embroidery advance theories of her profession. The models loosely flowing hair suggests her intimacy with the male as does her close proximity to him, his arms circled around her waist. A stream of light flows through a nearby window, which lights up the lower portion of the painting. It is this stream of light, again as an allegory of Christian morality, which contemporaries understood to have induced the prostitutes moment of remorse and regret. The remainder of the paintings symbolism is dedicated to the further development of the female as a figure of remorse. Behind the figures we can see a wide-open widow, from which the light entered the darkened environment. The window provides the possibility of escape from this life of immorality; encouraged in the painting of the natural world this could be considered an ode to the morality of rural life. However the possibility of escape is then contradicted in the imagery of a cat toying with a bird just as the male figure has done with his mistress. Although the issue of morality was extensive in the painting of prostitutes so too was the subject of disease and infection. Dante Gabrielle Rossetti in his 1857 painting The Gate of Memory allows a manifestation of the Victorian Prostitute through association with dirt and physical impurity. Whilst the painting shares compositional similarities with formulaic interpretations of the topic such as the separation from a more innocent and honourable lifestyle and the use of light against dark as an allegory for moral verses immoral, though Hunt and Stanhope refer to the conflict between natural and unnatural light, Rossetti furthers the use of symbolism as a means of defining the prostitutes immorality alongside that of the cities. While there are no si

All students with special education needs

All students with special education needs 1.0 Introduction: This paper explores an ongoing debate in the educational field; should all students with Special Educational Needs (SENs) be included in mainstream educational provisions? To fully understand the issues involved, the paper will begin with an introduction to SEN and historical developments that have shaped SEN as we know it today. An investigation into inclusion will follow evaluating current issues that will help to determine whether inclusion for all SEN is possible or not. An analysis of SEN pupils will highlight strategies that may allow teachers along with organisation to implement inclusion along with its limitations. A conclusion will finalise the paper evaluating key findings. 2.0 Special Educational Needs (SEN) An Overview In order to assess whether students with SENs should be included in mainstream educational provisions, one must first understand what SEN means. Under the 1944 Education Act, children with special educational needs were categorised by their disability defined in medical terms. This meant that some children were considered to be uneducable and pupils were labelled into categories such as maladjusted or educationally sub-normal and given special educational treatment in separate schools. The Warnock Report in 1978, followed by the 1981 Educational Act, radically changed the conceptualisation of special educational needs. It introduced the idea of special educational needs (SEN), statement of SEN, and an Integrative which later became known as inclusive an approach based on common educational goals for all children regardless of their ability or disabilities: namely independence, enjoyment and understanding. For purpose of this paper the definition proposed by The Special Educational Needs Code of Practice (2002) is taken into account stating that children have SEN if they have a learning difficulty that calls for special educational provisions to be made for them. However, the difficulty with such definition, and the issue arising from The Warnock Report, was the unforeseen consequence that the term SEN has become to be the name of a single category which has led to some conflicting issues. Quarmby (2006) reiterates that government has been using it as if it is the same problem to include a child in a wheelchair and a child with Aspergers, and this is conspicuously untrue This category within the SEN umbrella help to understand students with special needs, and ascertains the fact that certain students may need different special educational provisions to be made for them. But whose responsibility is it to provide the necessary provisions for students to learn? The paper asks a deliberate straight forward question should all students with SENs be included in mainstream education? If yes, does this mean mainstream schools would be expected to include pupils with Cognitive and Learning Needs; Behaviour, Emotional and Social Development Needs; Communication and Interaction Needs and Sensory and/or physical needs? At what level do we need to include them? Is it just sharing time, socialising, sharing tasks or is it the active participation in-class activities following the same curriculum. This leads to the unenviable task of evaluating inclusion. 3.0 Inclusion Over the last 30 years, policies about integration and subsequently about inclusion have been the subject of much controversy. Much has been written about efforts to include pupils identified as having special educational needs (SEN) in mainstream schools and classrooms. Inclusion reflects the idea that it is not for SEN children to be somehow fitted in or integrated into the mainstream but that education as a whole should be fully inclusive of all children (House of Commons Report, 2006). Until the 1990s the term inclusion was rarely used and instead we referred to integration or mainstreaming meaning the placement of pupils with disabilities or special needs in mainstream schools. Integration was the term first introduced in the 1978 Warnock Report referring to the concept of integrating children with SEN into a common educational framework. There were different integration, from full-time placement in a mainstream classroom (functional integration) to the placement of a pupil in a special class or unit attached to a mainstream school (locational) (Hegarty, 1991). The aim to end segregation was gathering momentum and from a human rights approach, it was certainly a requirement. However, there was often little difference between locational integration and a traditional special school, which can be seen as equally segregating experiences (Jupp, 1992). Indeed, even pupils placed in mainstream class may be isolated from their peers, particularly if they work with a support worker in one-to-one sessions for the majority of each day. Integrated placements, therefore, still leave many pupils segregated (Harrower, 1999). Partly for this reason, the term inclusion came to describe the extent to which a school or community welcomes pupils identified with special educational needs (SEN) as full members of the group and values them for the contribution which they make. Their diversity of interests, ability and attainment should be welcomed and be seen to enrich the life of the school. In this sense, as Ballard (1999) argues, inclusion is about valuing diversity rather than assimilation. This general movement towards inclusion was also (In addition to The Warnock Report) strongly influenced by the Salamanca Statement (UNESCO, 1994) which had a major impact on shaping policy developments in many different countries. In England this is evident in various government initiatives since the late 1990s including, for example, the statuary Inclusion Guidance (DfES, 2001a), the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act (DfES, 2001b) and the Removing Barriers to Achievement strategy (DfES, 2004) each providing a further impetus towards inclusion (Hick et al, 2009). Overall, after an extensive literature review it was evident that three main strands have developed relating to inclusion. One is about equal opportunities and right to education for all. It argues that any form of segregation on the basis of disability or learning difficulty is morally wrong (Jordan and Goodey, 1996; Lindsay, 2003). A second strand is based on a re-conceptualisation of the special needs issue as part of the process of school improvement (Ainscoq, 1999). This idea is based on the argument that it is the structure of schools as organisations rather than differences between individual pupils that creates special educational needs (Tomlinson, 1982). The third strand of literature has been concerned with questions of pedagogy. Though some have focused on the development of inclusive practice from the outset (Forest and Pearpoint, 1992), others have considered whether or not teaching practices and methods can be implemented in mainstream schools and classrooms in order to meet the challenge of inclusive education (Cook and Schrimer, 2003). Inclusive practice is therefore concerned with actions and activities that staffs in schools do that give meaning to the concept of inclusion. These 3 main strands will be used as a framework in deciding whether students with SEN should be included in mainstream education provision. In addition it is essential to understand and apply the SEN Code of Practice principles that support inclusive education as a framework in achieving inclusion. The five fundamental principles that support inclusive can be observed in Table 2: As with any change, the inclusion of all students with SENs in mainstream education provisions may bring both positive and negative impacts within schools and pupils. 3.1 The Good and the Evil Although inclusion is seen as a very positive strategy by some, it is considered idealistic and impractical by others. Some critics have argued that inclusion happens at the expense of good and appropriate education for the other children in the class; in other words, if a student with special needs is taught within a mainstream class, they might need extra attention from the teacher, or may be disruptive or difficult in class, and this could harm other childrens education. On the other hand it can be argued that the other children in the class benefit a great deal from working with students with special educational needs and that inclusive education helps to remove stereotypes and ignorance. It is also argued that children with SEN are better off in segregated classrooms as this enables them to gain social support from others with similar difficulties. It also allows opportunities to concentrate specialist teachers and resources in one place. The objection to this is that the disadvantage of keeping children with certain difficulties together is that it makes it harder for them to integrate fully into society once they leave school. 3.2 Inclusion in Practice The Government recognised the barriers to inclusion that exist in schools in its statement in 2004(DfES, 2004) and set out a proposal about how the barriers should be tackled. OFSTED, in its report in 2004, found that more mainstream schools saw themselves as inclusive, but only a minority met special educational needs very well. Members of the SENCo Forum responded to the Governments Special Need Action Plan by stating that schools would have to provide much higher level of flexibility in the way that learning and teaching take place, if the aims of inclusive education are to be realised (SENCo Forum, 2003). In addition, MacBeath et al (2006) concluded that some of the problems in schools attempting to implement inclusion were that the current education system itself made it difficult to implement inclusion. Gillinson and Green (2008) argue that it is essential to regard children and young people themselves and their parents as normal practice. They conclude that the issue is not about treating everyone as the same- what is important is that everyone should be treated equally. Gross (2001) also comments that what young people most want is the right to belong. Belonging brings along a morale issue with regards to inclusion. It is therefore imperative to understand what characterises these pupils with SEN and understand better what makes them unique. 4.0 Special Educational Needs Pupils At heart of all the discussion are the actual pupils who suffer special needs. In light of the extensive research, proposals by government, frameworks and guideline and committee reports one inevitably raises the question of their effectiveness. Are mainstream schools performing? Are pupils experiencing inclusive education? Are these guidelines and proposals effective? Unfortunately the overall answer may be unsatisfactory. The Audit Commission found that the vast majority of permanent exclusions in the 22 local authorities surveyed related to pupils with SEN: 87% of exclusions in primary schools and 60% of exclusions in secondary. In addition, pupils with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism and mental health problems made up significant proportions of these pupils. At this stage one wants to highlight that it is not the purposeful intention to only focus on pupils with Autistic and Social, Emotional, and Behavioural Difficulties but data does demonstrate that with regards to inclusion of sensory and/or physical needs pupils, some success in mainstream education provisions are beginning to develop. The House of Commons Report (2006) cites the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) recognising, there has been major progress in providing disabled children and young people with more equitable educational opportunities and a steady improvement in educational outcomes, which show a faster annual increase in achievement of GCSE grades A-grades, A-C and equivalent over the last six years by disabled people than non-disabled people In addition, the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) highlights that not all disabled pupils and students have learning difficulties. Similarly, pupils and students deemed to have learning difficulties or SEN are not disabled. In light of the above finding, as well as the overwhelming data demonstrating that the majority of the of exclusion in primary and secondary are pupils suffering from ADHD and autism, specific effort has been given to address the inclusion of these in mainstream educational provisions. In addition, the Gibraltar Educational Schooling Structure limits the contact of mainstream teachers with pupils with severe/profound and multiple needs, as well as multi-sensory impairments. These pupils enrol in special school environment. Being exposed to pupils with ADHD and autism (in the organisation) will also aid in supporting some answers with research evidence. Increasing knowledge in these groups will also is beneficial for CPD purposes. 5.0 Behaviour, Emotional and Social Needs and Autism Young people with emotional and social development difficulties and autism are the fastest growing categories of SEN. This is having repercussions for schools, and more so for pupils. In addition as the parent representative group Network 81 describe: the lack of understanding of conduct disorders, behavioural, and emotional needs is quite unbelievable. Many children are labelled as naughty, badly brought up, and defiant by teaching staff who group all bad behaviour together. This serves to highlight a possible issue where pupils are being misunderstood and labelled by those who may impact significantly their future teachers. Furthermore, The House of Commons Report (2006) states it is widely recognised that there is a strong correlation between exclusions and children with SEN-particularly those with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties and autistic behaviour. The Committee finds it unacceptable that such a well known problem continues to occur and quite frankly from a teacher point of view, one can only agree. This indicates that schools need better guidance and staff training, particularly with Autistic and social, emotional, and behavioural difficulties. This leads to the inevitable argument on whether SEBD pupils should be included in mainstream educational provisions. In order not to fall into the generalisation trap, one has focused on the main groups of exclusion at the current moment. These are pupils suffering from ADHD and autism. An evaluation of the 3 strand mentioned prior will determine whether inclusion should be possible or not. 5.1 Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) ADHD has been a topic of heated discussion within the educational world. For some, it is considered to be a medical condition, characterised by inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity (APA, 2000). However, according to others (e.g. Humphrey, 2009) there has been no biological marker identified that can reliably distinguish between children with and without the condition. Estimates though suggest that between 2% and 6% of students are affected by ADHD (Cooper, 2005) and still growing. From a mainstream school provision, and more so from a teachers perspective, it is generally accepted that students with ADHD are considered among the most difficult to include effectively. Lack of knowledge about disorder end up with teachers frustration towards students (SCOtENS, 2008). It is therefore important to consider what we mean when we say we are helping to include them. Mainstream teachers report a lack of appropriate training as a key barrier to success in this area (West et al, 2005). If inclusion means meeting the childs needs in mainstream schools and settings, have the child views sought and taken into account and having full access to a broad, balanced and relevant education as suggested in The Special Educational Needs Code of Practice (2001), then it must go beyond general questions of the presence of children with SEN in such schools, and as Norwich and Lewis (2005:2) explain, we need to address the question of classroom teaching and curriculum in considering inc lusion and inclusive practices. There is the suggestion that the needs of such learners dictate that they require distinct kinds of teaching in order to learn the same content as those without special needs. If not, pupils with ADHD are more likely than others to experience social isolation, with fewer reported friendships and greater levels of rejection (Bagwell et al, 2001) inevitably leading to disruptive behaviour. Norwich and Lewis (2005) argue that pedagogic needs can be addressed by thinking about the needs that are specific to all; thinking about those needs that are specific to a certain group (such as students with ADHD); and thinking about those needs that are unique to the individual. The strategies are based upon the principle that by creating a better fit between the school environment and the student, we are creating opportunities for pupils to succeed. The question now lies in determining whether these strategies can be implemented in mainstream provisions and whether they will conflict with good an d appropriate educational strategies that other children in the class already experience. Students with ADHD often experience difficulties in mainstream classrooms and schools because the emphasis on meeting common needs mean that their specific group needs are not being addressed (Cooper, 2005). However, these common needs may come about due to the National Curriculum. One of the major concerns about the National Curriculum has been that it does not address the breadth of education necessary to meet childrens and young peoples educational needs. So is the curriculum in its present form a contributory cause of poor behaviour? A further concern about the National Curriculum is the current approach to assessment. Research from the perception of students themselves suggests that many experience confusion, anxiety, blame and guilt (Hughes, 2005) in relation to their education, which is not exactly surprising considering the struggles they need to deal with. However, as a mainstream teacher, one is fully aware that change in the National Curriculum cannot be proposed and overcome easily therefore an alternative strategy must be investigated to create a better fit between school environment and the student. The strategy may lie in pedagogy. In achieving the necessary learner aware pedagogy, the problem for the classroom teacher concerned with the SENs of a pupil lies in identifying the nature of the learning difficulty or disability, and assessing the implication for its consequences (Levine, 2002b). The Special Educational Needs Code of Practice refers to the awareness as the point at which a teacher has a concern about an individual pupil (DfES, 2001). A crucial prerequisite for any teachers subsequent decision for action is a clear understanding of the nature and the consequences. It is important then to recognise that a given learning difficulty or disability may or not prevent or hinder an individual from making use of educational facilities of a kind provided in schools (Education Act, 1999). Once the teacher is aware action may take place to meet their needs. Pedagogy takes an important role as it represents the interaction between the learner and the teacher with respects to curricular aims and objectives. This issue therefore concerns the central operation in education, and, in principle, should specify the optimal circumstances in which successful learning and teaching can take place Research into the typical learning styles of students with ADHD suggests that they learn more effectively when they are able actively to experiment and are presented with concrete examples that are visual in nature (Cooper and Ideus, 1996). In addition, students with ADHD are said to be somewhat verbose, talking at inappropriate times; an aspect that can be exploited by designing lessons that allow increased opportunity for verbal participation. Research also shows that this kind of approach can lead to decreases in disruptive behaviour (Levine, 2002b). This strategy will welcome pupils with SEN as full members of the group and will help to value them for the contribution they make. This will develop their feeling of belonging and their ability to participate in a mainstream school environment. Better staff-student relationships and a positive classroom ethos is also said to be essential when dealing with pupils with ADHD. Such a change may be difficult to achieve but recent research by Ghanizadeh, Bahredar and Moeini (2006) demonstrated that more tolerant and positive attitudes towards students with ADHD are associated with levels of knowledge of ADHD among teachers. This suggests that training to increase teachers knowledge of ADHD may need to be a priority if inclusive practice is to consolidate. Breaking down tasks into small, manageable chunks will also facilitate to accommodate the shorter attention span of such students. In addition by highlighting key information where possible will help students who experience difficulties in selective attention (Levine, 2002a). Over time, students can be taught to practise drawing focus to key information themselves (Humphrey, 2009). These strategies are said to help to create a better fit between the class environment and the students and are things that staffs in school do that give meaning to the concept of inclusion. However, many of the strategies proposed are appropriate and should be an integral part of any lesson regardless whether children with SEN are present or not. Another approach as a tool to promote and achieve inclusive practice is what Humphrey (2009) refers to as Cognitive-behavioural approach. Cognitive-behavioural approaches emphasise the use of reinforcement principles to alter thoughts or cognitions related to ADHD behaviours. Simple examples of the application of such techniques in the classroom include teaching children to use self-testing strategies (e.g. when reading, students are encouraged to stop at key points and ask themselves questions about what they have just read) and use self-reinforcement (such as giving themselves praise for achieving targets, such as staying on task for a period of time). A review of cognitive-behavioural approaches by Ervin, Bankert and DuPaul (1996) concluded that they can be successful in achieving behaviour change, but they are more effective when combined with behavioural contingencies in the natural environment. Startling statistics show that up to 75% of students with ADHD are prescribed stimulant medication, with Ritalin being the most important commonly used drug (Department of Health, 2003). If specialist knowledge and understanding is important in promoting inclusive practice, teachers knowledge with regards to the use of medication within this group is essential. It is crucial for teachers to understand the role it plays in students lives, and the implications it may have for education. Teachers may take an active role here in monitoring the effects of medication observed in the classroom (Cooper and Ideus, 1996). Having an understanding of the effects of stimulant medication will enable the teacher to plan for specific pedagogical strategies in a way that takes these factors into account and allow full access to education. Stimulant medication takes effect very quickly, but its influences may not last throughout the school day. For instance, their effect on behaviour (in terms of activity levels) typically lasts longer than its effects on cognition (in terms of attention). As a result, even though students may not be up and out of their seats or blurting out answers, they may still not be accessing the curriculum because they are struggling to maintain their focus on the material presented. In addition, even though medication may be effective in managing the core difficulties experienced by those with ADHD, it is less useful in alleviating secondary problems such as social isolation and academic underachievement (Dogett, 2004), therefore limiting the active participation of the child in both class and school environment. In addition, inflexible staff and lack of inventiveness in some schools have been reported by OFSTED (2004) as factors affecting the development towards effective inclusion. From a personal perceptive ine can concur with OFSTED;s statement. Within ones organisation, teachers overall consensus is one of frustration and guilt when dealing with pupils with SEN in not being able to help them. An SEN register is distributed to every teacher with pupils name and their areas of need well into the 1st term. This result with the teacher suddenly realising that pupil X and pupil Y might be experiencing a range of difficulties due to their needs not being taken into account, resulting in disruptive behaviour. In addition, an organisation where teachers SEN knowledge and understanding is limited brings in another issue. Teachers find themselves wondering what can be done to help these pupils with limited success. Within the organisation there is a SEN Coordinator position, but in the past, when approached and asked for am expert opinion, the answer was you can look it up in the internet and find out further information. This barrier is significant as Wedell (2008:131) rightly states Consultation with the schools SENCo may be required, and this may extend to the involvement of support services from outside school, as indicated in the successive stages of the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice all in effort to make sure the students actively belongs and participates in mainstream school settings. This is currently non existent within the organisation. Furthermore, learning support classes are timetabled for children with SEN, but these take form more as a homework club rather than a structured learning support session. Teachers have no influence in what get taught in these classes resulting in the possibility of pupils doing something that not necessarily links with what is being taught in mainstream class. The students find themselves in an inclusive mainstream sett ing in curriculum subjects and in a segregated setting with regards to learning support. This may result in confusion and frustration, especially with pupils who are said to benefit from being provided with a clear structure to each day lesson and task. With regards to medication, throughout the 4 year career in teaching, there have been a number of students diagnosed with ADHD. However, up until today, there is no awareness or knowledge whether they were on medication or not. Overall, within the organisation it is clear that it is unrealistic to expect teachers and other members to be able to properly fulfil requirements such as differentiating the curriculum for all children, including those with SEN, without receiving the appropriate support and training to enable them to do so. In some cases as mentioned above, the teacher may require a detailed knowledge of child development psychology to equip them to do so to the greatest effect and of equal importance, to understand why the pupil acts and behaves the way they do. 5.2 Autistic Spectrum Disorders According to Jordan (2008:1) education can be, and perhaps should be, an effective treatment for autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) in the sense that, there is so much that individuals with ASD have to learn that is just intuitively grasped by the non-autistic, learning may best be enhanced through high-quality teaching. But education is more than just another treatment. It is the way that citizens are taught the values, understanding, knowledge and skills that will enable their full participation in their community in a way that welcomes full their values and contributions they make. The first battles for those with ASD were fought for the same purpose as the battles for any special educational need: the right to be included at all. As with SEN there was recognition that degree of autism can occur across the full ability range. ASD inclusion has been based on the entitlement view of education as the only way of becoming a full member of society. The bases of most programmes for inclusion for pupils with ASD were not inclusion at all, but form of integration (Jordan and Powell, 1994). As previous research demonstrates (Ainscoq, 1999) the issue with regards to ASD pupils has been that the content and the teaching approaches of the National Curriculum in mainstream schools were not changed to accommodate children with ASD It was assumed that the content was of equal relevance to all children, requiring modification and breaking down curriculum content into smaller steps (which is often effective for some children with learning difficulties) is not appropriate for ch ildren with ASD, where the development and learning patterns are different. There is even problem with the main purpose of mainstream education, which in terms of inclusion, is surely to gain from co-operative and collaboration with typical peers. Yet many of the supports to enable inclusion of children with ASD serve to make the child more isolated from peers, and support assistance are seldom given training (or a role) in enabling such children to have positive contact with their peers (Jordan, 2008), thus being more an organisational constraint rather than a pupils. Jordan (2008) also state that is a child is different, or has special needs, extra resources are provided to enable the child to have access to other children, even though the success of those resources in bringing that about has never been tested. So is inclusion possible for pupils with ASD? In order to include ASD students there needs to be a flexible education system. Teachers must know about learning and teaching and about the diversity that exists in teaching. If educators teach in a way that attains diversity, then more children with different SEN will be able to manage in mainstream settings becoming full members of the group. This will also benefit disruptive students and those with ADHD, dyslexia and so on. Once again the statement made by OFSTED (2004) that effective inclusion was frustrated by rigid timetabling and inflexible staffing is relevant. Rigid class grouping is associated with high pupil-teacher rations, which clearly make it difficult to give personal attention to individual pupils. In addition, successful learning opportunities in inclusive settings will require radical school reform, changing the existing system and rethinking the entire curriculum of the school to meet the needs of all children (Mittler 1994), what Norwich and Lewis (2005) explain as the curriculum dilemma. In addition, and similar to ADHD, the current approach to assessment needs to be addressed if inclusion is to prosper as the House of Commons Report for Children, Schools and Families (2008:3) reports that: we find that the use of national test results for the purpose of school accountability has resulted in some schools emphasizing the maximization of test results at the expense of a more rounded educational for their pupils Inevitably, one must be aware that there will be some individuals with ASD whose autism is so severe that they will need specialist support, but that does not need to be in a segregated setting if inclusion is desired. Resources based are the best model (Hesmonghalgh and Breakley, 2001), where the child with ASD belongs to his peer group teacher but has support staff with expertise and a haven in which to recover when needed (Jordan, 2008). This is a perfect example on how a child with SENs may have their needs met in a mainstream provision (following point 1 of the SEN Code of Practice) and is not segregated. Pupils with severe ASD will need special support and it is here where there is a role for specialist schools. Special schools should be seen as centres of excellence, pioneering new ways of working with ASD and dealing with the most extre