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Romanticism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 0 views

  • Romanticism (also the Romantic era or the Romantic period) was an artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe toward the end of the 18th century and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate period from 1800 to 1850
  • Partly a reaction to the Industrial Revolution,[1] it was also a revolt against the aristocratic social and political norms of the Age of Enlightenment and a reaction against the scientific rationalization of nature
  • embodied most strongly in the visual arts, music, and literature, but had a major impact on historiography,[3] education[4] and the natural sciences.[5]
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  • effect on politics was considerable and complex; while for much of the peak Romantic period it was associated with liberalism and radicalism, its long-term effect on the growth of nationalism was probably more significant
  • The movement validated intense emotion as an authentic source of aesthetic experience, placing new emphasis on such emotions as apprehension, horror and terror, and awe—especially that which is experienced in confronting the sublimity of untamed nature and its picturesque qualities: both new aesthetic categories
  • r, and the distant in modes more authentic than Rococo chinoiserie, harnessing the power of the imagination to envision and to escape
  • made spontaneity a desirable characteristic
  • elevated folk art and ancient custom to a noble status
  • Romanticism embraced the exotic, the unfamiliar, and the distant in modes more authentic than Rococo chinoiserie, harnessing the power of the imagination to envision and to escape
  • argued for a "natural" epistemology of human activities, as conditioned by nature in the form of language and customary usag
  • the events of and ideologies that led to the French Revolution planted the seeds from which both Romanticism and the Counter-Enlightenment sprouted
  • vouched for the individual imagination as a critical authority allowed of freedom from classical notions of form in art
  • Romanticism assigned a high value to the achievements of 'heroic' individualists and artists, whose pioneering examples, it maintained, would raise the quality of society
  • In order to truly express these feelings, the content of the art must come from the imagination of the artist, with as little interference as possible from "artificial" rules dictating what a work should consist of
  • The importance the Romantics placed on untrammelled feeling is summed up in the remark of the German painter Caspar David Friedrich that "the artist's feeling is his law"
  • in the second half of the 19th century, "Realism" was offered as a polarized opposite to Romanticism
  • the influence of models from other works would impede the creator's own imagination, so originality was absolutely essential
  • The concept of the genius, or artist who was able to produce his own original work through this process of "creation from nothingness", is key to Romanticism, and to be derivative was the worst sin
  • romantic originality.
  • a strong belief and interest in the importance of nature. However this is particularly in the effect of nature upon the artist when he is surrounded by it, preferably alone
  • In contrast to the usually very social art of the Enlightenment, Romantics were distrustful of the human world, and tended to believe that a close connection with nature was mentally and morally healthy
  • in literature, "much of romantic poetry invited the reader to identify the protagonists with the poets themselves"
  • by the middle of the 18th century "romantic" in English and romantique in French were both in common use as adjectives of praise for natural phenomena such as views and sunsets, in a sense close to modern English usage but without the implied sexual element
  • only from the 1820s that Romanticism certainly knew itself by its name, and in 1824 the Académie française took the wholly ineffective step of issuing a decree condemning it in literature
  • Romanticism is not easily defined, and the period typically called Romantic varies greatly between different countries and different artistic media or areas of thought
  • Margaret Drabble described it in literature as taking place "roughly between 1770 and 1848"
  • In other fields and other countries the period denominated as Romantic can be considerably different; musical Romanticism, for example, is generally regarded as only having ceased as a major artistic force as late as 1910, but in an extreme extension the Four Last Songs of Richard Strauss are described stylistically as "Late Romantic" and were composed in 1946–48.[23] However in most fields the Romantic Period is said to be over by about 1850, or earlie
  • early period of the Romantic Era was a time of war, with the French Revolution (1789–1799) followed by the Napoleonic Wars until 1815. These wars, along with the political and social turmoil that went along with them, served as the background for Romanticism
  • t was part of the Counter-Enlightenment, a reaction against the Age of Enlightenment, is generally accepted
  • ts relationship to the French Revolution which began in 1789 in the very early stages of the period, is clearly important, but highly variable depending on geography and individual reactions
  • ost Romantics can be said to be broadly progressive in their views, but a considerable number always had, or developed, a wide range of conservative views
  • In philosophy and the history of ideas, Romanticism was seen by Isaiah Berlin as disrupting for over a century the classic Western traditions of rationality and the very idea of moral absolutes and agreed values, leading "to something like the melting away of the very notion of objective truth",[27] and hence not only to nationalism, but also fascism and totalitarianism
  • The painter, the poet, the composer do not hold up a mirror to nature, however ideal, but invent; they do not imitate (the doctrine of mimesis), but create not merely the means but the goals that they pursue; these goals represent the self-expression of the artist's own unique, inner vision, to set aside which in response to the demands of some "external" voice — church, state, public opinion, family friends, arbiters of taste — is an act of betrayal of what alone justifies their existence for those who are in any sense creative
  • An earlier definition comes from Charles Baudelaire: "Romanticism is precisely situated neither in choice of subject nor exact truth, but in the way of feeling."
  • The end of the Romantic era is marked in some areas by a new style of Realism, which affected literature, especially the novel and drama, painting, and even music, through Verismo opera
  • movement was led by France, with Balzac and Flaubert in literature and Courbet in painting; Stendhal and Goya were important precursors of Realism in their respective media
  • In literature, Romanticism found recurrent themes in the evocation or criticism of the past, the cult of "sensibility" with its emphasis on women and children, the heroic isolation of the artist or narrator, and respect for a new, wilder, untrammeled and "pure" nature
  • Joseph maintained that invention and imagination were the chief qualities of a poet
  • 1774 novel The Sorrows of Young Werther had young men throughout Europe emulating its protagonist, a young artist with a very sensitive and passionate temperament
  • Germany was a multitude of small separate states, and Goethe's works would have a seminal influence in developing a unifying sense of nationalism
  • Important motifs in German Romanticism are travelling, nature, and Germanic myths
  • The later German Romanticism of, for example, E. T. A. Hoffmann's Der Sandmann (The Sandman), 1817, and Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff's Das Marmorbild (The Marble Statue), 1819, was darker in its motifs and has gothic elements
  • The significance to Romanticism of childhood innocence, the importance of imagination, and racial theories all combined to give an unprecedented importance to folk literature, non-classical mythology and children's literature, above all in Germany
  • The first collection of Grimms' Fairy Tales by the Brothers Grimm was published in 1812
  • Unlike the much later work of Hans Christian Andersen, who was publishing his invented tales in Danish from 1835, these German works were at least mainly based on collected folk tales, and the Grimms remained true to the style of the telling in their early editions, though later rewriting some parts
izz aty

6 Women Scientists Who Were Snubbed Due to Sexism - 0 views

  • Several people posted comments about our story that noted one name was missing from the Nobel roster: Rosalind Franklin, a British biophysicist who also studied DNA. Her data were critical to Crick and Watson's work. But it turns out that Franklin would not have been eligible for the prize—she had passed away four years before Watson, Crick, and Wilkins received the prize, and the Nobel is never awarded posthumously.But even if she had been alive, she may still have been overlooked. Like many women scientists, Franklin was robbed of recognition throughout her career (See her section below for details.)
  • Pulsars are the remnants of massive stars that went supernova. Their very existence demonstrates that these giants didn't blow themselves into oblivion—instead, they left behind small, incredibly dense, rotating stars.Bell Burnell discovered the recurring signals given off by their rotation while analyzing data printed out on three miles of paper from a radio telescope she helped assemble.The finding resulted in a Nobel Prize, but the 1974 award in physics went to Anthony Hewish—Bell Burnell's supervisor—and Martin Ryle, also a radio astronomer at Cambridge University.The snub generated a "wave of sympathy" for Bell Burnell. But in an interview with National Geographic News this month, the astronomer was fairly matter-of-fact.
  • despite the sympathy, and her groundbreaking work, Bell Burnell said she was still subject to the prevailing attitudes toward women in academia.
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  • "[And] it was extremely hard combining family and career," Bell Burnell said, partly because the university where she worked while pregnant had no provisions for maternity leave.
  • Born in 1922 in the Bronx, Esther Lederberg would grow up to lay the groundwork for future discoveries on genetic inheritance in bacteria, gene regulation, and genetic recombination.A microbiologist, she is perhaps best known for discovering a virus that infects bacteria—called the lambda bacteriophage—in 1951, while at the University of Wisconsin.Lederberg, along with her first husband Joshua Lederberg, also developed a way to easily transfer bacterial colonies from one petri dish to another, called replica plating, which enabled the study of antibiotic resistance. The Lederberg method is still in use today.Joshua Lederberg's work on replica plating played a part in his 1958 Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine, which he shared with George Beadle and Edward Tatum."She deserved credit for the discovery of lambda phage, her work on the F fertility factor, and, especially, replica plating," wrote Stanley Falkow, a retired microbiologist at Stanford University, in an email. But she didn't receive it.
  • Lise Meitner's work in nuclear physics led to the discovery of nuclear fission—the fact that atomic nuclei can split in two. That finding laid the groundwork for the atomic bomb.Her story is a complicated tangle of sexism, politics, and ethnicity.After finishing her doctoral degree in physics at the University of Vienna, Meitner moved to Berlin in 1907 and started collaborating with chemist Otto Hahn. They maintained their working relationship for more than 30 years.After the Nazis annexed Austria in March 1938, Meitner, who was Jewish, made her way to Stockholm, Sweden. She continued to work with Hahn, corresponding and meeting secretly in Copenhagen in November of that year.Although Hahn performed the experiments that produced the evidence supporting the idea of nuclear fission, he was unable to come up with an explanation. Meitner and her nephew, Otto Frisch, came up with the theory.Hahn published their findings without including Meitner as a co-author, although several accounts say Meitner understood this omission, given the situation in Nazi Germany."That's the start of how Meitner got separated from the credit of discovering nuclear fission," said Lewin Sime, who wrote a biography of Meitner.
  • Chien-Shiung Wu overturned a law of physics and participated in the development of the atom bomb.Wu was recruited to Columbia University in the 1940s as part of the Manhattan Project and conducted research on radiation detection and uranium enrichment. She stayed in the United States after the war and became known as one of the best experimental physicists of her time, said Nina Byers, a retired physics professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.In the mid-1950s, two theoretical physicists, Tsung-Dao Lee and Chen Ning Yang, approached Wu to help disprove the law of parity. The law holds that in quantum mechanics, two physical systems—like atoms—that were mirror images would behave in identical ways.Wu's experiments using cobalt-60, a radioactive form of the cobalt metal, upended this law, which had been accepted for 30 years.This milestone in physics led to a 1957 Nobel Prize for Yang and Lee—but not for Wu, who was left out despite her critical role. "People found [the Nobel decision] outrageous," said Byers.Pnina Abir-Am, a historian of science at Brandeis University, agreed, adding that ethnicity also played a role.
  • Rosalind Franklin used x-rays to take a picture of DNA that would change biology.Hers is perhaps one of the most well-known—and shameful—instances of a researcher being robbed of credit, said Lewin Sime.Franklin graduated with a doctorate in physical chemistry from Cambridge University in 1945, then spent three years at an institute in Paris where she learned x-ray diffraction techniques, or the ability to determine the molecular structures of crystals. (Learn more about her education and qualifications.)She returned to England in 1951 as a research associate in John Randall's laboratory at King's College in London and soon encountered Maurice Wilkins, who was leading his own research group studying the structure of DNA.Franklin and Wilkins worked on separate DNA projects, but by some accounts, Wilkins mistook Franklin's role in Randall's lab as that of an assistant rather than head of her own project.Meanwhile, James Watson and Francis Crick, both at Cambridge University, were also trying to determine the structure of DNA. They communicated with Wilkins, who at some point showed them Franklin's image of DNA—known as Photo 51—without her knowledge.Photo 51 enabled Watson, Crick, and Wilkins to deduce the correct structure for DNA, which they published in a series of articles in the journal Nature in April 1953. Franklin also published in the same issue, providing further details on DNA's structure.Franklin's image of the DNA molecule was key to deciphering its structure, but only Watson, Crick, and Wilkins received the 1962 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for their work.
  • Nettie Stevens performed studies crucial in determining that an organism's sex was dictated by its chromosomes rather than environmental or other factors.After receiving her doctorate from Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, Stevens continued at the college as a researcher studying sex determination.By working on mealworms, she was able to deduce that the males produced sperm with X and Y chromosomes—the sex chromosomes—and that females produced reproductive cells with only X chromosomes. This was evidence supporting the theory that sex determination is directed by an organism's genetics.A fellow researcher, named Edmund Wilson, is said to have done similar work, but came to the same conclusion later than Stevens did.Stevens fell victim to a phenomenon known as the Matilda Effect—the repression or denial of the contributions of female researchers to science.Thomas Hunt Morgan, a prominent geneticist at the time, is often credited with discovering the genetic basis for sex determination, said Pomona College's Hoopes. He was the first to write a genetics textbook, she noted, and he wanted to magnify his contributions."Textbooks have this terrible tendency to choose the same evidence as other textbooks," she added. And so Stevens' name was not associated with the discovery of sex determination.
  • the first wife of Albert Einstein should be in this list. People know so little about her, and I think she deserves to be known. 
  • Vera Rubin, for accurate studies discovering dark matter.
  • How sadly ironic that the very woman who set the stage for the  DNA structure discovery, which in 1994 helped make it possible to genetically test and confirm BRCA carriers like Angelina Jolie and me (with familial cancer holocausts generation, after generation, after generation), did not have access the test that could have saved her life so she could go on with the research she loved and win a Nobel Prize.
izz aty

Raising a Polite Child | Parenting With Love - 0 views

  • I’m not trying to ‘train’ him to have good manners, but if I want something from him, I always say ‘please’, and when he gives me something, I always say ‘thank you’. When he is older, he will automatically do those things too.”
  • Do as I say or do as I do?
  • trying to ‘train’ children to be polite can be counter-productive, especially if we begin when they are too young to do it naturally
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  • if we treat children with politeness and respect, and if they see us treating each other the same way, they will imitate us as they grow. They watch everything we say and do, and are learning, “Oh, so that’s how people are supposed to do it”!
  • “Said without feeling, these can be empty words. How often do we say thank you to the person at the supermarket checkout, without even thinking. It has simply become a habit. Rather we should teach children how to show genuine appreciation to people who give or share something with them. We can help them do this in age-appropriate ways right from the beginning, especially if we understand that young children show their feelings in non-verbal ways”.
  • each child shows their appreciation spontaneously in their own unique way
  • Positive non-verbal behaviours young children use to show appreciation: A smile A nod Direct eye contact Playfulness A physical touch they initiate Excited behaviour A shout of joy Skipping or jumping up and down
  • we should allow children to communicate their appreciation spontaneously. As they grow older and watch how we show appreciation to them and to other people, including words like ‘please’ and ‘thank you’, doing the same will come naturally
  • Though prompting children to be polite can be counter-productive, we can facilitate them showing appreciation by involving them when we are being polite or friendly to someone. “Lets go and wave goodbye to Granny”, doesn’t put the child on the spot like, “Say goodbye to Granny now”.
  • If we make it fun, the child will probably enjoy participating.
  • Rather than formal words like “Thank you, we had a lovely time”, he encouraged each child to share something they had done with the aunt or uncle at the beach-house, and draw a picture of it to show appreciation of something that was shared and enjoyed.
  • parents who prompt their children to say things they consider polite, are really feeling anxious. They see their children as an extension of themselves and want their children to act as they would, in case another other adult assumes they are not raising them with good manners. Thinking fast, I looked at the dad, smiled at him, and said, “Don’t worry. Big people find it easy to speak to little people, but little people find it hard to speak to big people”. He looked visibly relieved that I didn’t see him as a bad father.
  • Teaching children good manners begins with us showing them respect.
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    "Every parent wants to have polite, respectful children with good manners. Fortunately nature is on our side. Children learn by copying what we do and love to do everything 'just like mommy and daddy do', as it makes them feel they are being 'big'."
izz aty

A local's guide to the 50 best places to visit in London | Onestopenglish - 0 views

  • Favourite cafés
  • Safe havens
  • Veggie food
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  • Easy eating
  • For summer
  • Culture
  • Nature
  • 3. JOE & THE JUICE (69 Broadwick St, W1F 9QY) where you are served coffee, juices and paninis by good-looking young people. You can use the wi-fi and hang around either fancying them or feeling ugly – or both!
  • 5. TINA, WE SALUTE YOU (47 King Henry’s Walk, N1 4NH) which is cozy and welcoming, with great frothy coffee and tasty porridge.
  • 6. CURZON SOHO (99 Shaftesbury Avenue, W1D 5DY) for reading, working, coffee and maybe a film.
  • 7. FOYLES (113-119 Charing Cross Rd, WC2H 0EB), the best bookshop in London. There’s a coffee shop on the second floor and somehow it’s both a place to escape and filled with hustle and bustle.
  • 15. FOOD FOR THOUGHT (31 Neal Street, WC2H 9PR) is always tasty and healthy, sometimes excellent, never meaty.
  • There’s a lot more choice at 17. MILDREDS (45 Lexington Street, W1F 9AN). It has a dignified pace, it’s been around for ages and it still does great food.
  • 18. 19 NUMARA BOS CIRRIK (34 Stoke Newington Road, N16 7XJ) is our favourite Turkish joint in north London – perfectly cooked meat and the grilled onions with pomegranate molasses are so good that the memory will stay with you long after you’ve left.
  • 19. LEON – if you’re in central London and want to grab a tasty lunch, then go here. They have branches dotted about all over the place.
  • 29. CYCLING is without a doubt the best way to experience London. You can hire bikes on the street and you may be interested to find out just how close to each other some of those tube stops actually are!
  • 31. THE PHOTOGRAPHERS’ GALLERY (16-18 Ramillies Street, W1F 7LW) for a quick shot of culture away from Oxford Circus and the endless shopping.
  • 32. NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM (Cromwell Road, SW7 5BD) – OK, you’ve already heard of this one, but it’s really worth a visit. There are old animals, stuffed and boned, and so many weird and wonderful things: wildlife photography, butterflies and even an ice rink!
  • 39. TOWPATH (Regent’s Canal towpath, between Whitmore Bridge and Kingsland Road Bridge, N1 5SB) is a nice little place to get a coffee, play a board game or, in the evening, have a glass of wine and hope that the jazz musicians will rock up and start busking. The whole canal has plenty to offer though. Highlights include Little Venice, London Zoo, Camden Town, Angel Islington, Broadway Market and Victoria Park.
  • We would also recommend throwing bread or bird food at birds in the sky and trying to get them to fly for their dinner. There are of course plenty of parks you can try this in, but it works particularly well with the birds in 40. ST JAMES’S PARK (SW1A 2BJ).
  • 41. HAMPSTEAD HEATH is an essential visit, especially in the summer – but for all seasons it serves well to escape the city and to see Londoners pretending they’re country folk. (London may be a sprawling metropolis but, underneath, it’s still England’s green and pleasant land.)
  • Markets
  • 43. BRIXTON MARKET (Electric Avenue, SW9 8JX) is full of every fruit and vegetable under the sun (or at least available in London) and is a very authentic experience.
  • Check out 48. COLUMBIA ROAD for its quirky independent shops and buzzing marketplace atmosphere.
  • don’t miss out on its vibrant 49. FLOWER MARKET (E2 7NN) if you’re up for the crowds and the flowers.
  • 50. SPITALFIELDS MARKET, conveniently situated between the Square Mile and Brick Lane. Once a ‘free-for-all’ flea market, in recent years it’s been completely refurbished. There is a regular market almost every day but we particularly like bric-a-brac Thursdays, when the market comes alive with retro furniture and friendly stallholders. Once there, you are stone’s throw away from the famous curry houses, vintage clothing stores and boutique coffee shops of Brick Lane – where, on a pleasant summer’s evening, you’ll get a real glimpse into the London that we love so much.
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    Do you live or teach in London? Do you have students who are planning a visit to London? Here, a few members of the London Language Experience team behind our fantastic cinematic listening series A ghost's guide to London, Luke and James Vyner and Ben Lambert (the voice of Lord Jeffrey, the Ghost of London), share a list of their top 50 not-to-be-missed places in London. OK, we LOVE London, there's no hiding it. It's unique, exceptional, scary and exciting all at once and there's so much to do. When you're new in town and trying to decide where to go first, it can be pretty overwhelming and, like most big cities, you can never see everything. It's easy to be drawn to the big tourist attractions and, whilst you can have fantastic experiences in these historic and fascinating places, you won't get to see much of the real London - the London that hides down the myriad of backstreets and alleyways, the London you've always wanted to find, the London that us Londoners experience every day. So, with that in mind, here are our top 50 favourite places to go to in London.
izz aty

Independent school (United Kingdom) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 0 views

  • History
  • Edward Thring of Uppingham School introduced major reforms, focusing on the importance of the individual and competition, as well as the need for a "total curriculum" with academia, music, sport and drama being central to education
  • The Independent Schools Council say that UK independent schools receive approximately £100m tax relief due to charitable status whilst returning £300m of fee assistance in public benefit and relieving the maintained sector (state schools) of £2bn of costs
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  • They were schools for the gentlemanly elite of Victorian politics, armed forces and colonial government. Often successful businessmen would send their sons to a public school as a mark of participation in the elite
  • the public school system influenced the school systems of the British Empire, and recognisably "public" schools can be found in many Commonwealth countries
  • The Direct Grant Grammar Schools (Cessation of Grant) Regulations 1975 required these schools to choose between full state funding as comprehensive schools and full independence
  • Until 1975 there had been a group of 179 academically selective schools drawing on both private and state funding, the direct grant grammar schools
  • Both these trends were reversed during the 1980s, and the share of the independent schools reached 7.5 percent by 1991
  • 119 of these schools became independent.
  • share of the independent sector fell from a little under 8 percent in 1964 to reach a low of 5.7 percent in 1978
  • changes since 1990 have been less dramatic, participation falling to 6.9 percent by 1996 before increasing very slightly after 2000 to reach 7.2 percent, as seen at present.
  • England
  • As of 2011[update] there were more than 2,600 independent schools in the UK educating some 628,000 children, comprising over 6.5 percent of UK children, and more than 18 percent of pupils over the age of 16
  • According to a study by Ryan & Sibetia,[7] "the proportion of pupils attending independent schools in England is currently 7.2 percent (considering full-time pupils only)".
  • Most independent schools, particularly the larger and older institutions, have charitable status
  • Most public schools developed significantly during the 18th and 19th centuries, and came to play an important role in the development of the Victorian social elite
  • Independent schools, like state grammar schools, are free to select their pupils, subject to general legislation against discrimination
  • Selection
  • principal forms of selection are financial, in that the pupil's family must be able to pay the school fees, and academic, with many administering their own entrance exams - some also require that the prospective student undergo an interview, and credit may also be given for musical, sporting or other talent
  • Nowadays most schools pay little regard to family connections, apart from siblings currently at the school.
  • Only a small minority of parents can afford school fees averaging over £23,000 per annum for boarding pupils and £11,000 for day pupils, with additional costs for uniform, equipment and extra-curricular facilities.[2][12]
  • Scholarships and means-tested bursaries to assist the education of the less well-off are usually awarded by a process which combines academic and other criteria.[13][14]
  • generally academically selective, using the competitive Common Entrance Examination at ages 11–13
  • Schools often offer scholarships to attract abler pupils (which improves their average results)
  • Poorly-performing pupils may be required to leave,
  • Conditions
  • generally characterised by more individual teaching
  • much better pupil-teacher ratios at around 9:1;[16]
  • more time for organised sports and extra-curricular activities
  • longer teaching hours (sometimes including Saturday morning teaching) and homework, though shorter terms
  • a broader education than that prescribed by the national curriculum, to which state school education is in practice limited.
  • Educational achievement is generally very good
  • As boarding schools are fully responsible for their pupils throughout term-time, pastoral care is an essential part of independent education, and many independent schools teach their own distinctive ethos, including social aspirations, manners and accents, associated with their own school traditions
  • Most offer sporting, musical, dramatic and art facilities, sometimes at extra charges, although often with the benefit of generations of past investment
  • more emphasis on traditional academic subjects
  • Independent school pupils are four times more likely to attain an A* at GCSE than their non-selective state sector counterparts and twice as likely to attain an A grade at A-level
  • Some schools specialise in particular strengths, whether academic, vocational or artistic, although this is not as common as it is in the State sector.
  • A much higher proportion go to university
  • set their own discipline regime
  • In England and Wales there are no requirements for teaching staff to have Qualified Teacher Status or to be registered with the General Teaching Council
  • impact of independent schools on the British economy
  • 2014 a report from Oxford Economics highlighted the impact that independent schools have on the British economy
  • independent schools support an £11.7 billion contribution to gross value added (GVA) in Britain. This represents the share of GDP that is supported by independent schools
  • Independent schools support 275,700 jobs across Britain, around 1.0% of all in employment in Britain
  • the report quantified the savings to the taxpayer derived from c.620,000 British pupils at independent schools choosing not to take up the place at a state school to which they are entitled. This results in an annual saving to the taxpayer of £3.9 billion, the equivalent of building more than 590 new free schools each year
  • the report highlighted the additional value to Britain’s GDP that results from the higher educational performance achieved by pupils at independent schools
  • many of the best-known public schools are extremely expensive, and many have entry criteria geared towards those who have been at private "feeder" preparatory-schools or privately tutored
  • the achievement of pupils at independent schools in Britain results in an estimated additional annual contribution to GDP of £1.3 billion.
  • Criticisms
  • often criticised for being elitist
  • often seen as outside the spirit of the state system
  • the treatment of the state sector as homogeneous in nature is difficult to support
  • Although grammar schools are rare, some of them are highly selective and state funded boarding schools require substantial fees
  • Even traditional comprehensive schools may be effectively selective because only wealthier families can afford to live in their catchment area
  • may be argued that the gap in performance between state schools is much larger than that between the better state and grammar schools and the independent sector
  • Smithers and Robinson's 2010 Sutton Trust commissioned study of social variation in comprehensive schools (excluding grammar schools) notes that "The 2,679 state comprehensive schools in England are highly socially segregated: the least deprived comprehensive in the country has 1 in 25 (4.2 percent) of pupils with parents on income benefits compared with over 16 times as many (68.6 percent) in the most deprived comprehensive"
  • Every 2.3 pupils at an independent school supports one person in employment in Britain
  • large number (c. one third[citation needed]) of independent schools provide assistance with fees
  • The Thatcher government introduced the Assisted Places Scheme in England and Wales in 1980, whereby the state paid the school fees for those pupils capable of gaining a place but unable to afford the fees
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      1980 Assisted Places Scheme: financial aid
  • The scheme was terminated by the Labour government in 1997, and since then the private sector has moved to increase its own means-tested bursaries.
  • Some parents complain that their rights and their children’s are compromised by vague and one-sided contracts which allow Heads to use discretionary powers unfairly, such as in expulsion on non-disciplinary matters. They believe independent schools have not embraced the principles of natural justice as adopted by the state sector, and private law as applied to Higher Education
  • Nowadays, independent school pupils have "the highest rates of achieving grades A or B in A-level maths and sciences" compared to grammar, specialist and mainstream state school
  • pupils at independent schools account for a disproportionate number of the total number of A-levels in maths and sciences.
  • In 2006, pupils at fee-paying schools made up 43 percent of those selected for places at Oxford University and 38 percent of those granted places at Cambridge University (although such pupils represent only 18 percent of the 16 years old plus school population)
  • A major area of debate in recent years has centred around the continuing charitable status of independent schools, which allows them not to charge VAT on school fees. Following the enactment of the Charities Bill, which was passed by the House of Lords in November 2006, charitable status is based on an organisation providing a "public benefit" as judged by the Charity Commission.[23]
  • "ceteris paribus, academic performance at university is better the more advantaged is the student's home background".
  • In 2002, Jeremy Smith and Robin Naylor
  • they also observed that a student educated at an independent school was on average 6 percent less likely to receive a first or an upper second class degree than a student from the same social class background, of the same gender, who had achieved the same A-level score at a state school
  • The same study found wide variations between independent school, suggesting that students from a few of them were in fact significantly more likely to obtain the better degrees than state students of the same gender and class background having the same A-level score
  • Richard Partington at Cambridge University[29] showed that A-level performance is "overwhelmingly" the best predictor for exam performance in the earlier years ("Part I") of the undergraduate degree at Cambridge
  • A study commissioned by the Sutton Trust[30] and published in 2010 focussed mainly on the possible use of U.S.-style SAT tests as a way of detecting a candidate's academic potential. Its findings confirmed those of the Smith & Naylor study in that it found that privately educated pupils who, despite their educational advantages, have only secured a poor A-level score, and who therefore attend less selective universities, do less well than state educated degree candidates with the same low A-level attainment
  • Independent sector schools regularly dominate the top of the A-level league tables, and their students are more likely to apply to the most selective universities; as a result independent sector students are particularly well represented at these institutions, and therefore only the very ablest of them are likely to secure the best degrees.
  • In 2013 the Higher Education Funding Council for England published a study [31] noting, amongst other things, that a greater percentage of students who had attended an independent school prior to university achieved a first or upper second class degree compared with students from state schools
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State school - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 0 views

  • Education in Malaysia is overseen by two government ministries
  • Ministry of Education for matters up to the secondary level
  • education is the responsibility of the federal government, each state has an Education Department to help coordinate educational matters in their respective states
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  • Ministry of Higher Education for tertiary education
  • By law, primary education is compulsory
  • Education may be obtained from government-sponsored schools, private schools, or through homeschooling
  • Swedish state schools are funded by tax money
  • for both primary and secondary school (Swedish: grundskola), high school (Swedish: gymnasium) and universities
  • There are private schools as well who also receive funding from the government, but they may charge a fee from the parents.
  • Compulsory education starts at seven years of age, with an optional year in förskola (pre-school).
  • Swedish children take national exams at grades 3, 6 and 9.
  • Swedish primary school is split into three parts; Lågstadiet – “the low stage”, which covers grades 1 to 3. This is where you learn the basics of the three main subjects – in Swedish called kärnämnen – Swedish, English and mathematics. It also includes some natural science. Mellanstadiet – “the middle stage”, which covers grades 4 to 6, introduces the children to more detailed subjects. Woodwork and needlework, social and domestic science, and even a second, foreign language in grade 6, a B-språk (B-language). The languages available are usually French, Spanish or German depending on the school. Högstadiet, “the high stage”, is the last stage of the compulsory education, between grades 7 and 9. This is when studies get more in-depth and are taken to an international level.
  • When applying to gymnasium (high schools) or universities, a meritvärde (“meritous point value”) is calculated.
  • They first receive grades in grade 6. The grading system is letter-based, ranging from A-F, where F is the lowest grade and A is the highest.
  • Children not being approved in Swedish, English and mathematics will have to study at a special high school program called the “individual program”. Once they are approved, they may apply to an ordinary high school program. Swedes study at high school for three years, between the ages of 16 and 18
  • In the United Kingdom, the term "state school" refers to government-funded schools which provide education free of charge to pupils. The contrast to this are fee-paying schools, such as "independent (or private) schools" and "public schools".
  • In England and Wales, the term "public school" is often used to refer to fee-paying schools. "Public" is used here in a somewhat archaic sense, meaning that they are open to anyone who can meet the fees
  • Danish School system is supported today by tax-based governmental and municipal funding from day care through primary and secondary education to higher education
  • there are no tuition fees for regular students in public schools and universities.
  • Denmark[edit] Main article: Education in Denmark
  • Danish public primary schools, covering the entire period of compulsory education, are called folkeskoler (literally 'people's schools' or 'public schools'). The Folkeskole consists of a voluntary pre-school class, the 9-year obligatory course and a voluntary 10th year. It thus caters for pupils aged 6 to 17.
  • also possible for parents to send their children to various kinds of private schools. These schools also receive government funding, although they are not public. In addition to this funding, these schools may charge a fee from the parents.
  • France[edit] Main article: Secondary education in France
  • French educational system is highly centralized, organized, and ramified
  • hree stages: primary education (enseignement primaire); secondary education (enseignement secondaire); tertiary or college education (enseignement supérieur)
  • Primary Schooling in France is mandatory as of age 6
  • Many parents start sending their children earlier though, around age 3 as kindergarten classes (maternelle) are usually affiliated to a borough's (commune) primary school. Some even start earlier at age 2 in pré-maternelle or garderie class, which is essentially a daycare facility
  • French secondary education is divided into two schools: the collège for the first four years directly following primary school; the lycée for the next three years
  • baccalauréat (also known as bac) is the end-of-lycée diploma students sit for in order to enter university,
  • comparable to British A-Levels, American SATs, the Irish Leaving Certificate and German Abitur.
  • baccalauréat général which is divided into 3 streams of study, called séries. The série scientifique (S) is concerned with mathematics and natural sciences, the série économique et sociale (ES) with economics and social sciences, and the série littéraire (L) focuses on French and foreign languages and philosophy.
  • Education in Malaysia is overseen by two government ministries: the Ministry of Education for matters up to the secondary level, and the Ministry of Higher Education for tertiary education
  • Malaysia
  • education is the responsibility of the federal government, each state has an Education Department to help coordinate educational matters in their respective states
  • Education may be obtained from government-sponsored schools, private schools, or through homeschooling.
  • By law, primary education is compulsory
  • United Kingdom[edit] See also: State-funded schools (England)
  • In the United Kingdom, the term "state school" refers to government-funded schools which provide education free of charge to pupils. The contrast to this are fee-paying schools, such as "independent (or private) schools" and "public schools".
  • In England and Wales, the term "public school" is often used to refer to fee-paying schools. "Public" is used here in a somewhat archaic sense, meaning that they are open to anyone who can meet the fees, distinguished from religious schools which are open only to members of that religion
  • The National Curriculum is followed in all local authority maintained schools in England, Northern Ireland and Wales
  • he vast majority of state-funded schools are under the control of local councils
  • are referred to in official literature as "maintained schools".
  • exceptions are a minority of secondary schools in England funded directly by central government, known as academies and City Technology Colleges.
  • See Education in England.
  • Some maintained schools are partially funded by religious or other charitable bodies; these are known as voluntary controlled schools, voluntary aided schools or foundation schools.
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School Behavior Strategies: Helping ADHD Children with Impulse Control | ADDitude - Att... - 0 views

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    "For children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder who are ruled by their impulses calling out in class or pushing to the front of the line comes naturally. These kids live in the moment, undeterred by rules or consequences. Lack of impulse control may be the most difficult ADHD symptom to change. Medication can help, but kids also need clear expectations, positive incentives, and predictable consequences if they are to learn to regulate their behavior."
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11 Words You're Mispronouncing - Business Insider - 0 views

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    "With all its accents and dialects, the English language naturally includes variation in sound. But sometimes people just flat out mispronounce words.  Take a look at these 11 examples. We bolded the emphasized syllable and included links for audio (click the word to listen). While some words have multiple acceptable pronunciations, the audio links include the standard pronunciation. The true pronunciations might surprise you."
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Developing Countries and Problems They Face :: Papers - 0 views

  • 70% of the population in Third World countries do not have access to any organised health care.
  • four adults in ten who can read and write and less than one in four children go to secondary school
  • Work can give us identity, security and the means to meet many of our other basic needs
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  • world unemployment stands at around 500 millions, 300 millions of there are in the less-developed countries.
  • many LDCs suffer from wars
  • also force many people to leave their homes and become refugees in other safer countries
  • Wars destroy crops, homes, schools and Hospitals etc. causing even more poverty.
  • neighbouring countries may have been developing, but a sudden influx of refugees with no money or food can make that country poor again.
  • Natural disasters
  • a lot of natural disasters, such as floods, earthquakes, and droughts. Disasters like there destroy homes and crops, causing people to become poor again
  • All LDCs have had to borrow money from the banks of rich countries. They have to pay interest on these loans and this money could have been spent on development
  • because the interest is so high, in that case the LDCs will get poorer and MDCs will get richer
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    (clearly not well-proofread, but some points are worth considering I think)
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Issues about Outcomes Based Education - 0 views

  • Outcome-based education (OBE) is one of those that is new, even revolutionary, and is now being promoted as the panacea for America's educational woes. This reform has been driven by educators in response to demands for greater accountability by taxpayers and as a vehicle for breaking with traditional ideas about how we teach our children. If implemented, this approach to curriculum development could change our schools more than any other reform proposal in the last thirty years.
  • According to William Spady, a major advocate of this type of reform, three goals drive this new approach to creating school curricula. First, all students can learn and succeed, but not on the same day or in the same way. Second, each success by a student breeds more success. Third, schools control the conditions of success. In other words, students are seen as totally malleable creatures. If we create the right environment, any student can be prepared for any academic or vocational career. The key is to custom fit the schools to each student's learning style and abilities.
  • Outcome-based education will change the focus of schools from the content to the student
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  • The teacher's role in the classroom will become that of a coach. The instructor's goal is to move each child towards pre-determined outcomes rather than attempting to transmit the content of Western civilization to the next generation in a scholarly fashion
  • the focus is no longer on content. Feelings, attitudes, and skills such as learning to work together in groups will become just as important as learning information--some reformers would argue more important.
  • Where traditional curricula focused on the past, reformers argue that outcome-based methods prepare students for the future and for the constant change which is inevitable in our society.
  • Reformers advocating an outcome-based approach to curriculum development point to the logical simplicity of its technique. First, a list of desired outcomes in the form of student behaviors, skills, attitudes, and abilities is created. Second, learning experiences are designed that will allow teachers to coach the students to a mastery level in each outcome. Third, students are tested. Those who fail to achieve mastery receive remediation or retraining until mastery is achieved. Fourth, upon completion of learner outcomes a student graduates.
  • According to William Spady, a reform advocate, outcomes can be written with traditional, transitional, or transformational goals in mind. Spady advocates transformation goals.
  • Traditional outcome-based programs would use the new methodology to teach traditional content areas like math, history, and science
  • Many teachers find this a positive option for challenging the minimal achiever
  • An outcome-based program would prevent such students from graduating or passing to the next grade without reaching a pre-set mastery level of competency.
  • Transformational OBE subordinates course content to key issues, concepts, and processes. Indeed, Spady calls this the "highest evolution of the OBE concept." Central to the idea of transformational reform is the notion of outcomes of significance.
  • Spady supports transformational outcomes because they are future oriented, based on descriptions of future conditions that he feels should serve as starting points for OBE designs
  • little mention is made about specific things that students should know as a result of being in school.
  • The focus is on attitudes and feelings, personal goals, initiative, and vision--in their words, the whole student.
  • It is in devising learner outcomes that one's world view comes into play. Those who see the world in terms of constant change, politically and morally, find a transformation model useful. They view human nature as evolving, changing rather than fixed.
  • Advocates of outcome-based education point with pride to its focus on the student rather than course content. They feel that the key to educational reform is to be found in having students master stated learner outcomes. Critics fear that this is exactly what will happen. Their fear is based on the desire of reformers to educate the whole child. What will happen, they ask, when stated learner outcomes violate the moral or religious views of parents?
  • Under the traditional system of course credits a student could take a sex-ed course, totally disagree with the instruction and yet pass the course by doing acceptable work on the tests presented. Occasion-ally, an instructor might make life difficult for a student who fails to conform, but if the student learns the material that would qualify him or her for a passing grade and credit towards graduation.
  • If transformational outcome-based reformers have their way, this student would not get credit for the course until his or her attitudes, feelings, and behaviors matched the desired goals of the learner outcomes.
  • Another goal requires students to know about and use community health resources. Notice that just knowing that Planned Parenthood has an office in town isn't enough, one must use it.
  • transformational outcome- based reform would be a much more efficient mechanism for changing our children's values and attitudes about issues facing our society
  • the direction these changes often take is in conflict with our Christian faith
  • "Who has authority over our children?"
  • Outcome-based education is an ideologically neutral tool for curricular construction; whether it is more effective than traditional approaches remains to be seen. Unfortunately, because of its student-centered approach, its ability to influence individuals with a politically correct set of doctrines seems to be great. Parents (and all other taxpayers) need to weigh the possible benefits of outcome-based reform with the potential negatives.
  • who will determine the learner outcomes for their schools
  • consideration of what learner outcomes the public wants rather than assuming that educators know what's best for our children. Who will decide what it means to be an educated person, the taxpaying consumer or the providers of education?
  • If students are going to be allowed to proceed through the material at their own rate, what happens to the brighter children? Eventually students will be at many levels, what then? Will added teachers be necessary? Will computer-assisted instruction allow for individual learning speeds? Either option will cost more money. Some reformers offer a scenario where brighter students help tutor slower ones thereby encouraging group responsibility rather than promoting an elite group of learners. Critics feel that a mastery- learning approach will inevitably hold back brighter students.
  • With outcome-based reform, many educators are calling for a broader set of evaluation techniques. But early attempts at grading students based on portfolios of various kinds of works has proved difficult. The Rand Corporation studied Vermont's attempt and found that "rater reliability--the extent to which raters agreed on the quality of a student's work--was low." There is a general dislike of standardized tests among the reformers because it focuses on what the child knows rather than the whole child, but is there a viable substitute? Will students find that it is more important to be politically correct than to know specific facts?
  • whether or not school bureaucracies will allow for such dramatic change? How will the unions respond? Will legislative mandates that are already on the books be removed, or will this new approach simply be laid over the rest, creating a jungle of regulations and red tape?
  • although districts may be given input as to how these outcomes are achieved, local control of the outcomes themselves may be lost.
  • Many parents feel that there is already too much emphasis on global citizenship, radical environmentalism, humanistic views of self-esteem, and human sexuality at the expense of reading, writing, math, and science.
  • education may become more propagandistic rather than academic in nature
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Ready Classroom offers free K-8 resources teaching emergency preparedness for teachers,... - 0 views

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    Learn about severe weather that could hit a US area and how to prepare for it.
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Using Pictures for Lessons | Junk Mail Catalogs: A Treasure-Trove for Language Teachers - 0 views

  • Teachers can easily use junk mail catalogs to create a picture file and then design lessons based on the pictures. This article briefly explains the benefits of using pictures, offers some suggestions for using pictures from junk mail catalogs, and describes three lesson plans
  • Pictures are a great incentive for language production and can be used in many ways in the classroom. "Specifically, pictures contribute to: interest and motivation; a sense of the context of the language; a specific reference point or stimulus" (Wright 19)
  • The lesson plans discussed below are for speaking, grammar, and writing activities
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    Focus on Speaking/Writing:          This is for students at beginning and intermediate levels. The objective is to practice asking and answering questions. Each student needs one picture. (Pictures of people from various ethnic, economic, age, and gender groups are particular]y useful. Fashion catalogs are good sources of such pictures.) The procedure is as follows: First, as a class, have the students generate a list of interview questions. Write them on the board. Then distribute the pictures to the students. Tell them they will become the person in their picture. The students must create a biography for that person. Give the students time to think. Next, divide the students into pairs. Tell them to take turns interviewing each other, using the questions generated earlier. Students should give answers based on the identities they created for the person in their picture. As a follow-up, students can write a one-paragraph biography of their person. Focus on Grammar: This works well with intermediate-level students. The objective is to practice using comparatives and superlatives. The materials needed are sets of pictures--one set per student--which show similar objects; e.g.,a set that shows different kinds of shoes, a set that shows different kinds of hats, or watches, or cars, etc. The directions for the activity are: Give one set of pictures to each student. Tell students they should use comparatives and superlatives (which have been taught prior to doing this activity) to describe the objects in their pictures. They should write as many sentences as possible. When students have finished writing, they should form small groups and read their sentences to each other. 'They should check for errors, both spoken and written, and discuss whether they agree or disagree with the statements made about the objects in the pictures. This activity also lends itself to a discussion of culture--for example, if the pictures present items of clothing, teachers can
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Inclusive Education in Finland: A thwarted development | Saloviita | Zeitschr... - 0 views

  • Finland differs in the amount of segregated education from its Nordic neighbours Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, where the proportion of segregated education is very low.
  • statistics collected by the European Agency of Special Education (2003), Finnish numbers are more comparable with the situation in Germany, Switzerland, and Belgium.
  • A simple explanation for the large percentage of segregated education is the models of financing. In Finland local authorities receive extra money for each student removed into special education. It has been shown that this kind of financing explains best the international differences in the number of students in special education (Meijer, J.W., 1999).
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  • second reason is linked with teacher professionalism. If a teacher can have a difficult student from her class removed, she can secure for herself a less stressful future in her work.
  • Finnish teachers have got a strong union, and it has taken a very negative stance towards educational integration (OAJ, 1989). Teachers, like all other professional groups, have step by step achieved more power in the affairs of local municipalities at the cost of local political process (Heuru, 2000). This has given teachers more influence in guiding schools in the directions they want schools to go.
  • third reason for the large proportion of segregated education lies in the Finnish set of values. In Finland, the shift from an agricultural to an industrial society occurred internationally quite late, during the late forties. The industrial phase remained brief, and the new post-industrial society began to emerge during the late sixties. This means that the traditional values of agricultural and industrial societies still prevail in Finland to a greater extent than in many other countries. These traditional values stress overall conformity and tend to reject people who are considered socially deviant. The Finnish traditional set of values also manifests itself in the internationally high proportions of past sterilization of people with disabilities, high proportion of disabled people in institutions, or in the exceptionally high frequency of fetal screening (Emerson, et. al., 1996; Meskus, 2003).
  • Traditional Finnish sets of values combined with strong teacher professionalism together explain the high legitimacy of segregated special education in Finnish society
  • increasing numbers of students in special education are interpreted by representatives of the government as a healthy answer to increasing pathological conditions of children.
  • nternational discussion on inclusion (UN, 1993; Unesco, 1994) was first met in Finland by silence, which continued for several years (e.g. Blom, et al., 1996).
  • At the political level, inclusion is not raised as a goal to be sought
  • it is understood as a state that has already been achieved, because all that is possible has already been done.
  • The main focus of special education policy is localized in the neoliberal philosophy of “early intervention”, where problems are found in the pathological conditions of individual children (Plan for Education and Research 2007-2011 by the Ministry of Education). This focus is evident also in the Special Education Strategy report of the Special Education Committee of the Ministry of Education (2007). Furthermore, none of the political parties have raised the issue of inclusive education, outside of the small left wing party, The Left Alliance.
  • Since the rehabilitation committee of 1966, the official documents of the National Board of Education have repeatedly stated that integration is a primary choice which, however, is not always possible to achieve. What is “possible” depends on the abilities of the person himself, and these limits are decided by teachers.
  • A popular scapegoat for the lack of integration is found in deficits in teacher education (Special Education Committee, 2007). According to this explanation integration is not possible because teachers have not acquired the necessary skills in their education. Antagonists of this explanation underline that current teacher education is fully adequate in this respect and gives readiness for all teachers to include students with disabilities.
  • The academic world of special education has traditionally taken a conservative stance towards inclusion
  • Very recently there has been observable some change in the discussion
  • First, some large disability organizations, e.g. the Parents’ Association for People with Intellectual Disabilities, The National Council on Disability, and the Finnish Association on People with Physical Disabilities have presented critical statements, not heard previously, on current policy which favours increased placement of students in special classes. These organizations have begun to refer to international goal statements on inclusive education, like the Salamanca statement.
  • Second, the academic field of special education has begun to experience some polarization in the question of inclusion, and more positive sounds are being heard in favour of inclusion. This argument is observed, for example, in a recent addition on special education of the Finnish educational journal “Kasvatus” (2/2009). Additionally, a current textbook written by leading special education professors (2009) refers to inclusive education in a cautiously positive tone of voice, even if traditional special education is in no way criticized. It also gives space to the presentation of the international inclusion movement and international statements.
  • More radical changes could be expected from a different direction. The preparation of new legislation concerning the state funding of local municipalities is currently taking place
  • If the change happens it, in all probability, will mean a free fall in the number of special class placements. Inclusive development may thus become materialized as an unintended consequence of a bureaucratic funding reform
  • Finland is a black sheep in the international movement on inclusive education.
  • The legitimacy of separate special education is strong and unquestioned. Since the mainstream in most other countries is towards inclusive education, the situation of Finnish school authorities is not always comfortable.
  • There is a continuous threat of a legitimacy crisis in special education. Until now the threat has been successfully handled first through the means of ignoring the international discussions, statements and policies, and lately by changing the meaning of the concept of inclusion. Instead of inclusion meaning desegregation it is increasingly defined by educational authorities to mean some kind of good teaching in general (Halinen & Järvinen, 2008; Special Education Committee, 2007).
  • In opposition to inclusion, the official policy promotes early intervention as a main area of development in special education.
  • There are no visible interest groups questioning this ongoing development.
  • The high legitimacy and constant growth of segregated special education can be understood as a consequence of the individual funding model, teacher professionalism and the Finnish value system originating from the late modernisation of overall society.
  • The idea of integration, or the principle of the primacy of mainstream class placement in the education of students with special needs, was first expressed in Finland in the report of the Rehabilitation Committee in 1966
  • the late sixties were, in many ways, an exceptional point in time. In the parliamentary election of 1966 the left wing parties achieved a majority in the parliament. This political change coincided with a turning point in Finnish society as a whole.
  • The process of modernization and urbanization had led to the point where the economic structure of the country was shifting that of an industrial to a post-industrial phase.
  • The shift was manifested in the numbers of people working in the service sector, which superseded the numbers of those working in industry. The concomitant cultural change was expressed in the upheaval of societal values seen in many “cultural wars” of the time.
  • The construction of a welfare society meant the widening of public services. A widening professional sector sought new customer groups as clients. One of these groups was people with intellectual and mental disabilities who, until that time, were mainly treated in institutions
  • ideas of “rehabilitation” launched during the fifties by the International Labour Organization (ILO) now found breeding ground in Finnish society. The change in ideology was revolutionary, and was also noticed by the contemporaries. For example, the Rehabilitation Committee characterized the ideological change as expressing “a new conception of civil rights and human value” (Rehabilitation committee, 1966, 9).
  • The structure of special education at this time contained two types of special classes: auxiliary classes for students with learning difficulties and other separate classes for students with emotional and behavioural problems. Additionally, there were a few state schools mainly for students with sensory disabilities. The number of students in special classes remained under two percent.
  • During the educational reform which took place from 1972-1977 the previous dual educational system was superseded by a unified and obligatory nine year comprehensive school, called “peruskoulu”, for all children
  • School began at the age of seven and continued until an age 16
  • School began at the age of seven and continued until an age 16. After completion of comprehensive school the voluntary school path continued either in vocational education or in a three year upper secondary high school.
  • Special education achieved great attention in this reform. The special education division was founded in the National Board of Education and two committee reports were published on the organisation of special education in Finland.
  • The forms of traditional special education were secured but, additionally, the principle of integration was launched. On one side the new concept expressed positive content of the occurring paradigm shift from institutional care to rehabilitation. On the other side it very early expressed its ideological nature as a concept that helped to legitimate the exclusion of disabled people. Integration was considered conditional and depended on the “readiness” of the person.
  • A new profession of special education teachers, professionals without a grade level class responsibility, was established.
  • In this so called “part-time special education” students received individual or group-based support without formal enrolment into special student status. This led to a conflict with the professional union of teachers, OAJ, which declared a lock-out for those positions in the schools which offered them. As a compromise it was at last agreed that the new profession was not allowed to influence reductions in the number of relocations into special classes (Kivirauma, 1989).
  • The number of special class students in the seventies had increased to about two percent of the overall student population in comprehensive schools (Statistics Finland, 1981).
  • From 1983 onwards, a new law concerning comprehensive schools changed the field of special education
  • The two older forms of special education classes, the auxiliary school (Hilfschule) for students with learning difficulties and the “observation classes” for students with emotional and behavioural problems were now superseded by a system which could be characterised as principally a non-categorical system of special education. Local municipalities were now allowed to categorize their special education classes as they wanted, though most of the older terms still survived.
  • There was not, however, a true change from categorical to non-categorical special education.
  • First, strong categorical features came from state funding, which portioned out state support on an individual basis in accordance with the level of disability.
  • Second, local municipalities began to develop new, more medical, special education categories.
  • Third, the special teacher education programs continued to use categorical labels such as “special teacher for the maladjusted”, “adapted education” or “training school education”. Training school education referred to students with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities which were now at last entitled to enter comprehensive school.
  • During the eighties the proportion of special class students in comprehensive schools grew approximately from two to three percent (Statistics Finland, 1989).
  • One consequence of the liberation from special class categories was the sudden emergence of new types of special needs categories.
  • For example, the proportion of students with dysphasia increased from 10% to 20% in just six years.
  •   Disability category 2002 2008 N % N %
  • Autism and Asperger syndrome 679 2.0 1408 3.0
  • An important characteristic of these new popular categories was their medical nature. New diagnoses such as “dysphasia”, “autism”, and “ADHD” attained popularity at the expense of older categories such as mental retardation
  • A common feature of the new popular diagnoses was their obscurity. Instead of a clear-cut collection of symptoms they resembled more vague metaphors.
  • This medical turn can be seen as the late fruit of the rehabilitation paradigm which was adopted twenty years earlier.
  • The new categorizations were more merciful as compared to the older ones because children were no longer seen as “bad” or “stupid” but as “sick” and in need of rehabilitation (Conrad & Schneider, 1980/1992). This change in perception from “badness” to “sickness” also helped to give new legitimacy to special education.
  • proportion of comprehensive school students transferred into special classes now grew up to four percent (Table 2). Students with severe and profound intellectual disabilities were now also accepted into comprehensive school in 1997 as the final small disability group thus far marginalized to the outside.
  • The last ten years have witnessed a rapid growth of segregated special education in Finland
  • Year   Total   SEN total % SEN total % Full time in mainstream class % Full time or part-time in special education class
  • 2008 561 061 47 257 8.4 2.3 6.1
  • 1998 591 679 21 826 3.7 0.3 3.4
  • Now the proportion of students in special schools and special classes has increased to over six percent, maybe the highest percentage reported anywhere in the world at the present time.
  • Other supports, such as the increasing use of part-time special education have not been effective in reducing this development
  • During the school term of 2006-2007 of the students in comprehensive schools, 22.2% received part-time special education (Statistics Finland, 2009)
  • the number of integrated students has also grown. This was due to a change in funding legislation in 1998, which also guaranteed additional state support for those special education students not removed into special classes.
  • The relative proportion of students in special schools was 2.0% in 1998 and 1.4% in 2007
  • The slight fall in special school placements seems to be mainly technical: many special schools have been administratively united to mainstream schools. The number of special schools has dropped to about 160. Most of them probably were schools for students with mild disabilities (former auxiliary schools).
  • Large towns slightly more often use special class placements than rural schools
  • While in 2005 a total of 5.6% of students were moved in special classes in the country as a whole, the average proportion in larger towns was at a higher percentage, 6 - 9%
  • Large towns also relied more on separate special schools (Memo, 2006)
  • In contrast, in sparsely inhabited areas, such as Lapland, special class placements have remained rarer than elsewhere.
  • The least number of placements are in the Swedish speaking part of Finland. This may indicate a cultural influence from Sweden where special class placements are much rarer than in Finland
  • The significant distances in the countryside of Finland explain why integration is more common in rural areas.
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Psychology Facts | Psychology and Handwriting Analysis: Margins - 0 views

  • left represents the past
  • right represents the future
  • The ideal adult margins, based on graphology, would be to have the left margin a little wider than the right margin. This would be a healthy left/right balance, meaning you have a healthy relation to the past & future. 
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  • A. Margins Even All Around
  • Someone who is controlling his/her right margin must write more slowly.
  • people who keep their margins even all around are most interested in the visual effect. They actually see the paper as almost like a work of art. They are extremely appearance-conscious and interested in beauty, design, symmetry, order, and balance.
  • very detailed-minded, and, of course, to give up spontaneity in the process. Such people plan everything ahead to a great degree.
  • B. Overly Wide Left Margin
  • the person who has a very wide left margin is subconsciously putting up an imaginary barrier between himself and the past. This trait is almost always an indication of someone who’s had a terrible past from which he is eager to flee.
  • C. Overly Wide Right Margin
  • When you are moving to the right, you’re moving towards your goals and the future. When you stop too soon at the end of your lines, somewhere in your subconscious is a little voice saying, “Uh-oh. I have to stop. I have to return to the left, to the past and the familiar. This is as far as I can go.”
  • D. Margins Too Wide All Around
  • Writing with margins that are too wide all around is abnormal
  • . This sort of person needs to be protected by four solid walls. He cannot make it on his own. He doesn’t relate to his environment in a normal manner or fit into society in an average way. 
  • E. Left Margin Widening as It Descends
  • rapid and spontaneous writing. If you’re writing quickly and spontaneously, you will leave wider and wider left margins as you descend (down) the page.
  • F. Left Margin Narrowing as It Descends
  • a tendency to start out brave, going towards the future, but eventually retreating to the past and what is familiar.
  • G. Narrow Margins on Left & Right Side
  • Some people write all the way to the side on both the left and right, leaving no side margin whatsoever. This trait indicates one who leaves no room for other people. Such a person doesn’t see things from other people’s point of view
  • He takes up all the space and doesn’t see himself properly in relation to his environment, leaving no room for the rights and opinions of others. 
  • H. Uneven Left Margin
  • . The left margin represents “the line of society.” Thus, each time we return to the left, it’s up to us whether we’re going to align the next word, or we’re going to get “out of line.” That small percentage who do not have a straight left margin are those people who cannot conform to society’s standards. These are also people who, quite expectedly, would not do well in a strict nine-to-five job
  • I. No Margins at All
  • With no margins, filling every inch of the paper, indicates someone who feels he must fill every waking moment of his life with an activity. It means compulsively busy, leaving no stone unturned. Very such people have miserly natures as well. This person also leaves no room for the rights or opinions of others
  • J. Wide Upper Margin
  • The lower you start, the more you tend to have formal, respectful feelings toward the person to whom you’re writing, such as a letters/papers to teachers, businesses…etc. You waste more paper to show respect, and you “lower” down on the paper. 
  • K. Narrow Upper Margin
  • a narrow upper margin means you are feeling more familiar than formal toward the person to whom you are writing. By starting high on the paper, you don’t “bow down” or “lower yourself” to show respect.
  • L. Narrow Lower Margin
  • writing until there was no room left - until the writing is crushed. This means someone who delays the inevitable. Such a person is so eager to express himself that he feels it would take too much time to turn the paper over or get another sheet. 
  • M. Crushed Right Margin
  • dangerous impulsiveness. People like this bash their heads into the wall and do it again and again - (They don’t learn from their mistakes.) They don’t have the sense to say it to themselves, “Hey, wait a minute. You know, the paper ends, and I have to accommodate.” They don’t say it because they don’t care or think about it
  •  
    A blank piece of paper represents life itself, and what you do on that blank paper represents how you interact with other people and with life around you. 
izz aty

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‎"I think that making girls more like men is actually the wrong way to go, it's the other way around. It's like the men that need to learn how to be more like those natural qualities that women hav...

sheikh hamza yusuf hamza yusuf gender women islam faith religion human rights human society people community love school schooling education nurture quotes

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EFL/ESL Teaching Techniques from The Internet TESL Journal - 0 views

  • Adults
  • Adapting the L2 Classroom for Age-related Vision ImpairmentsBy Jessica A. ThonnTeaching Adult ESL LearnersBy Yi Yang
  • Authentic Materials / Realia
  • ...53 more annotations...
  • Effective Ways to Use Authentic Materials with ESL/EFL StudentsBy Charles Kelly, Lawrence Kelly, Mark Offner and Bruce VorlandAuthentic Materials and Cultural Content in EFL ClassroomsBy Ferit KilickayaUsing Creative Thinking to Find New Uses for RealiaBy Simon Mumford
  • Autonomy
  • My Philosophy for Teaching English for BusinessBy Lawrence BaronUsing Authentic Business Transcripts in the ESL ClassroomBy Jonathan CliftonTeaching Business Communication to LEP StudentsBy Ken LauFrameworking in Business English ClassesBy John AdamsonTeaching Tips for ESL University Business English InstructorsBy William BrooksMethodology for Using Case Studies in the Business English Language ClassroomBy Peter Daly
  • Becoming a Better Teacher
  • Matching Teaching Styles with Learning Styles in East Asian ContextsBy Rao ZhenhuiTeam Teaching Tips for Foreign Language TeachersBy Rebecca Benoit and Bridget HaughThe Importance of Eye Contact in the ClassroomBy Robert Ledbury, Ian White and Steve Darn
  • Business English
  • Three Activities to Promote Learners' AutonomyBy Galina KavaliauskienëGetting Students Actively Involved Using "The Mistake Buster" TechniqueBy Hai K.P. Huynh
  • Classroom Management
  • Perpetual Motion: Keeping the Language Classroom MovingA technique that allows students to practice with as many different partners as possible.By Christopher KelenInteresting Ways to Call Roll in JapanBy Lawrence KlepingerLet Your Students Teach Their ClassBy Naoyoshi Ogawa and Dennis WilkinsonEncouraging Students to Interact with the TeacherBy Roger NunnWhat to Do with Failing StudentsBy Marty DawleyCultural Kickboxing in the ESL Classroom: Encouraging Active ParticipationBy Jan Guidry LacinaA Group Introduction Activity to Create a Safe AtmosphereBy Clay Bussinger
  • Computers
  • Using Presentation Software to Enhance Language LearningBy Miriam Schcolnik and Sara KolQuick Tips for the CALL LaboratoryBy Brian Cullen and John MorrisUsing PowerPoint for ESL TeachingBy Don L. Fisher
  • Culture
  • Encouraging English Expression through Script-based ImprovisationsBy Manette R. BerlingerTeaching Conversation Skills With Content Based MaterialsBy Greg GoodmacherUsing Pair TapingBy Peter H. SchneiderTeaching Conversation Strategies Through Pair-TapingBy Nancy Washburn and Kiel ChristiansonBoosting Speaking Fluency through Partner TapingBy David E. Kluge and Matthew A. TaylorOvercoming Chinese-English Colloquial Habits in WritingBy Ted KnoyCommunicative Language Teaching in a Multimedia Language LabBy Shih-Jen Huang and Hsiao-Fang LiuIt's on the Cards: Adapting a Board-game Communicative ActivityBy Bob Gibson Leaving the Room: An Introduction to Theme-Based Oral EnglishBy Stewart Wachs
  • The Talking Stick: An American Indian Tradition in the ESL ClassroomBy Kimberly FujiokaRole Playing/SimulationBy Patricia K. TompkinsBrainstorming Before Speaking TasksBy Brian CullenTeach Students to Interact, Not Just TalkBy Gerard CounihanFive Steps to Using Your Textbook to Build a More Dynamic EFL Conversation ClassBy Stephen B. RyanDialog Performances: Developing Effective Communication Strategies for Non-English Majors in Japanese UniversitiesBy Susan Gilfert and Robert CrokerOvercoming Common Problems Related to Communicative MethodologyBy Stephen B. RyanDesigning Simple Interactive Tasks for Small GroupsBy Roger NunnTips for Teaching Conversation in the Multilingual ESL ClassroomBy Cara PulickTeaching "How are You" to ESL StudentsBy Brendan DalyUsing Games to Promote Communicative Skills in Language LearningBy Chen, I-JungFacilitating English Conversation Development in Large ClassroomsBy Gerry GibsonHelping EFL/ESL Students by Asking Quality QuestionsBy Nasreen HussainSuccessful Classroom Discussions with Adult Korean ESL/EFL LearnersBy Hye-Yeon Lim & W. I. GriffithIncreasing Authentic Speech in Classroom DiscussionsBy Georgia SmyrniouDesigning Simple Interactive Tasks for Small GroupsBy Roger NunnA Practical and Effective Way to Enhance the ESL Students' Oral CompetenceBy Yichu Qi
  • Conversation / Oral English
  • Practical Techniques for Teaching Culture in the EFL ClassroomBy Brian Cullen and Kazuyoshi SatoRole Play in Teaching Culture: Six Quick Steps for Classroom ImplementationBy Maria A. KodotchigovaCompliments: Integrating Cultural Values into Oral English ClassesBy Chou, Yen-LinRole Play in Teaching Culture: Six Quick Steps for Classroom ImplementationBy Maria A. KodotchigovaGuidelines to Evaluate Cultural Content in TextbooksBy Ferit Kilickaya
  • Drama
  • Drama Techniques for Teaching EnglishBy Vani Chauhan
  • Four Skills
  • Using Picture Dictation Exercises for Practising All Four SkillsBy Sylvia Sao Leng IeongTeaching the Four Skills in the Primary EFL ClassroomBy Marcos Peñate Cabrera and Plácido Bazo
  • Ideas
  • The Structural Drill in Remedial TeachingBy Felix MosesClassroom Techniques for Contextualization:How to make "This is a pen." a pragmatically motivated utterance.By Yoshinori SasakiA Technique for Practising Conditional SentencesBy Galina KavaliauskieneGrammar Correction in ESL/EFL Writing Classes May Not Be EffectiveBy Ronald GrayDoing Things with Sentences in the ESL ClassroomBy Simon MumfordTeaching ESL Students to "Notice" GrammarBy Francis J. Noonan IIIUsing Simple Poems to Teach GrammarBy Hawanum HusseinCommunicative Grammar -- It's Time to Talk.By Noriko NishiguchiEmpowering English Teachers to Grapple with Errors in GrammarBy Caroline Mei Lin HoHelping Students with ModalsBy Michael ThompsonA Technique for Practising Conditional SentencesBy Galina Kavaliauskiene
  • Humor
  • Using Humour in the Second Language ClassroomBy Paul-Emile Chiasson
  • Grammar
  • Using the Internet in ESL Writing InstructionBy Jarek KrajkaSome Possibilities for Using On-line Newspapers in the ESL ClassroomBy Jarek KrajkaGetting Your Class ConnectedSome ideas on using e-mail and homepages.By Dennis E. WilkinsonActivities for Using Junk Email in the ESL/EFL ClassroomBy Suggested ways to use junk mail and some ready-to-use handouts for the classroom.By Michael IvyLet the E-mail Software Do the Work: Time Saving Features for the Writing TeacherBy Ron BelisleDiscussion Forums for ESL LearningBy Peter ConnellReport on a Penpal Project, and Tips for Penpal-Project SuccessBy Vera MelloUsing E-mail in Foreign Language Teaching: Rationale and SuggestionsBy Margaret Gonglewski, Christine Meloni and Jocelyne BrantHow to Build a Multimedia Website for Language StudyBy Randall S. DavisMaking Chat Activities with Native Speakers Meaningful for EFL LearnersBy Jo MynardInteractivity Tools in Online LearningBy Chien-Ching LeeTeaching Search Engines to ESL Students: Avoiding the AvalancheBy Kirsten LincolnTeaching EFL/ESL Students How to Use Search Engines and Develop their EnglishBy Rupert HeringtonInteractivity Tools in Online LearningBy Chien-Ching LeeMaking Chat Activities with Native Speakers Meaningful for EFL LearnersBy Jo MynardHow to Build a Multimedia Website for Language StudyBy Randall S. DavisQuick Tips for the CALL LaboratoryBy Brian Cullen and John MorrisCreating a Learning Community Through Electronic JournalingBy Anne BollatiA Model of Team Teaching in a Web-mediated EAP CourseBy Mihye Harker & Dimitra KoutsantoniUsing LiveJournal for Authentic Communication in EFL ClassesBy Aaron Patric CampbellWeblogs for Use with ESL ClassesBy Aaron Patric Campbell
  • 75 ESL Teaching IdeasBy Hall Houston
  • Redesigning Non-Task-Based Materials to Fit a Task-Based FrameworkBy Kevin RooneyA Holistic Classroom Activity - The Class SurveyBy Roger NunnThree Activities to Promote Learners' AutonomyBy Galina Kavaliauskienë
  • Music and Song in DiscussionBy Brian CullenSong DictationBy Brian CullenTeaching Phrasal Verbs Using SongsBy Subrahmanian UpendranHelping Prospective EFL Teachers Learn How to Use Songs in Teaching Conversation ClassesBy Natalia F. OrlovaFocused Listening with SongsBy Isaiah WonHo Yoo
  • Getting the Most from Textbook Listening ActivitiesBy Thomas LavelleTraining for Impromptu Speaking and Testing Active Listening With a Focus on Japanese StudentsBy Cecilia B-IkeguchiDictation DrawingBy Brian GroverReal Audio to Augment Real Listening in the ESL ClassroomBy Frank TuziSelf-Instruction by Audio CassetteBy John SmallDictation as a Language Learning DeviceBy Scott AlkireFocused Listening with SongsBy Isaiah WonHo YooListening Activities for Effective Top-down ProcessingBy Ji LingzhuDictation as a Language Learning DeviceBy Scott Alkire
  • Material Development / Activity Ideas
  • Internet
  • Motivation
  • Sustaining an Interest in Learning English and Increasing the Motivation to Learn English: An Enrichment ProgramBy Supyan Hussin, Nooreiny Maarof, and J. V. D'CruzHelping ESL Learners to See Their Own ImprovementBy Upendran SubrahmanianCommunicating SuccessBy Trevor SargentCreative and Critical Thinking in Language ClassroomsBy Muhammad Kamarul KabilanLearner Training for Learner Autonomy on Summer Language CoursesBy Ciarán P. McCarthyEncouraging Students to Become Stakeholders in the ESL ClassroomBy Karen BordonaroMotivation in the ESL ClassroomBy William T. Lile
  • Music and Songs
  • Listening
  • Pronunciation
  • Some Techniques for Teaching PronunciationBy David F. DaltonTesting Some Suprasegmental Features of English SpeechBy Mehmet CelikTeaching English Intonation to EFL/ESLStudentsBy Mehmet CelikReverse Accent Mimicry: An Accent Reduction Technique for Second Language LearnersBy Laurence M. HiltonA Quick Way to Improve /r/ and /l/ PronunciationBy Tim GreerTeaching English Intonation to EFL/ESLStudentsBy Mehmet Celik
  • Teaching Debate to ESL Students: A Six-Class UnitBy Daniel KriegerGuiding ESL Students Towards Independent Speech MakingBy Françoise Nunn and Roger NunnA Genre Approach to Oral PresentationsBy Fiona Webster
  • Public Speaking
  • Teaching EFL/ESL Students How to Read Time and NewsweekBy J. Ignacio BermejoGraffiti for ESL ReadersDescribes an activity using content-based articles.By Brent BuhlerReading and Writing through Neuro-Linguistic ProgrammingBy Tom MaguireHow to Read Nonfictional English Text Faster and More EffectivelyBy Helmut StiefenhöferWhat Do We Test When We Test Reading Comprehension?By Akmar MohamadTeaching ESL Reading Using ComputersBy Saad AlKahtaniAn Integrated Approach to Teaching Literature in the EFL ClassroomBy Christine SavvidouA Fun Reading Quiz GameBy Madhavi Gayathri RamanReading Aloud (Out Loud) in Conversational English Classes By Derek KellyUsing Children's Literature with Young LearnersBy Eowyn BrownUsing News Stories in the ESL ClassroomBy Robin Antepara
  • Reading
  • Testing
  • A Method for Oral Testing in University English Programs at Korean UniversitiesBy David B. KentMeasuring Word Recognition Using a PictureBy Jungok Bae
  • Video
  • Developing Film Study GuidesBy Donna Hurst TatsukiDeveloping an English for Specific Purposes Course Using a Learner Centered Approach: A Russian ExperienceBy Pavel V. SysoyevVideotaping an English Mini-drama in Your ClassroomBy David G. MagnussonUsing CNN News Video in the EFL ClassroomBy Alan S. MackenzieContent Video in the EFL ClassroomBy Michael FurmanovskyCaptioned Video: Making it Work for YouBy Randall S. DavisUsing Movie Trailers in an ESL CALL ClassBy John GebhardtVideo Production in the Foreign Language Classroom: Some Practical IdeasBy Sebastian Brooke
  • Vocabulary
  • Personal Vocabulary NotesBy Joshua KurzweilLearner-centered Vocabulary Building PracticeBy Sadia Yasser AliA Learner-Centred Approach to Vocabulary Review Using BingoBy Galina KavaliauskienëSongs, Verse and Games for Teaching GrammarBy Arif Saricoban & Esen MetinDeductive & Inductive Lessons for Saudi EFL Freshmen StudentsBy Mohammed Y. Al-KharratWarm-up Exercises in Listening ClassesBy Zhang Yi JunGetting Japanese Children to Make Use of Naturally-sounding English in the ClassroomBy Junko YamamotoVocabulary Teaching Using Student-Written DialoguesBy Alice Dana Delaney WalkerTeaching Vocabulary to Japanese Students: A Lexical ApproachBy Kwabena AsareDrilling Can Be FunBy Simon MumfordThe Use of Corpora in the Vocabulary ClassroomBy Yu Hua ChenBuilding Vocabulary Through Prefixes, Roots & SuffixesBy William PittmanPersonal Vocabulary NotesBy Joshua KurzweilTeaching Vocabulary to Japanese Students: A Lexical ApproachBy Kwabena AsareMeasuring Word Recognition Using a PictureBy Jungok Bae
  • Writing
  • Secret Partner Journals for Motivation, Fluency and FunBy Timothy StewartReading and Writing through Neuro-Linguistic ProgrammingBy Tom MaguireA Peer Review Activity for Essay OrganizationBy Bob GibsonMaking Jigsaw Activities Using Newspaper ArticlesBy David DycusUsing Postcards in the ClassroomBy Peter LobellLess Is More: Summary Writing and Sentence Structure in the Advanced ESL ClassroomBy George L. GreaneyTeaching Integrated Writing SkillsBy Cecilia B-IkeguchiCorrecting Students' WritingBy Bryan MurphyUsing E-mail in EFL Writing ClassesBy Eui-Kap LeeApproaching Writing Skills through Fairy TalesBy Silvia BrutiTeaching ESL/EFL Students to Write BetterBy Yesim CimcozEnglish Writing Program for Engineering StudentsBy Hui Mien TanFreewriting, Prompts and FeedbackBy Kenneth J. DicksonPortfolios and Process Writing: A Practical ApproachBy Simon ReaInteractive Writing in the EFL Class: A Repertoire of TasksBy María Palmira Massi
  • Using Cooperative Learning to Integrate Thinking and Information Technology in a Content-Based Writing LessonBy Gabriel Tan, Patrick B Gallo, George M Jacobs and Christine Kim-Eng LeeEncouraging Engineering Students to Write Simple EssaysBy Thevy RajaretnamIntegrating Writing with ReadingBy Yang ShuyingThe Process Writing MethodBy Daniel J. JarvisSuggestions for Evaluating ESL Writing HolisticallyBy Matthew W. CurrierDeveloping Writing Skills in a Foreign Language via the InternetBy Roger C. KenworthyCreating a Writing Course Utilizing Class and Student BlogsBy Andrew JohnsonA Fun Way to Generate Ideas for Comparison ParagraphsBy Melodie CookSeeing is Understanding: Improving Coherence in Students' Writing By Chien-Ching LeeDeveloping Task-based Writing with Adolescent EFL StudentsBy Maria CabralProviding Feedback on ESL Students' Written AssignmentsBy Jason Gordon WilliamsSimple Steps to Successful Revision in L2 WritingBy Catherine ColemanTeaching TESOL Undergraduates to Organize and Write Literature ReviewsBy Roberto CriolloThe Process Writing MethodBy Daniel J. JarvisIntegrating Writing with ReadingBy Yang ShuyingEncouraging Engineering Students to Write Simple EssaysBy Thevy Rajaretnam
  • Other
  • Maximizing Study Trips AbroadBy Howard HigaThe Application of Universal Instructional Design to ESL TeachingBy Kregg C. StrehornBaFa BaFa: Does it Work with University EFL Learners?By Donald Glenn CarrollA Tutor-Guided Learning Scheme in a Self-Access CentreBy Lai Lai KwanImproving Science Students' Fluency through Project WorkBy Nebila Dhieb-HeniaUsing Service-Learning as Part of an ESL ProgramBy James M. MinorIncorporating Critical Thinking Skills Development into ESL/EFL CoursesBy Andy HalvorsenHelping ESL Learners to Minimize Collocational ErrorsBy Rotimi TaiwoUsing Concept Maps to Gauge Students' UnderstandingBy Lee Chien ChingContent Based ESL Curriculum and Academic Language ProficiencyBy Clara Lee BrownUsing Pictures from MagazinesBy Joep van der WerffEnhancing Critical Thinking with Structured Controversial DialoguesBy Hanizah Zainuddin & Rashid A. MooreUsing Expectations to Improve LearningBy Gena BennettIntegrating Language Learning Strategy Instruction into ESL/EFL LessonsBy Catherine Y. KinoshitaUsing Checklists to "Standardise" ContentBy Chien-Ching LeeGames in the ESL and EFL ClassBy Angkana DeesriOvercoming Common Problems Related to Communicative MethodologyBy Stephen B. Ryan
izz aty

Archives | The Star Online. - 0 views

  • It does not matter if you are top of your class or have a string of degrees, that dream job will not be yours unless you can speak and write well in English.
  • 68% of the companies surveyed named communication skills as the top quality required in job applicants, followed by working experience (67%), interpersonal skills (56.2%) and passion and commitment (55.7%).
  • The MEF Salary Survey for Executives 2010
  • ...9 more annotations...
  • MEF executive director Shamsuddin Bardan said globalisation had changed the nature of jobs, making communication skills, specifically in English, a valuable asset for today's worker.
  • He added that this was an essential criterion even for professions traditionally seen as “backroom” staff such as engineers, technical personnel and scientists. “It is especially so for those working in multinationals and bigger firms,” he said. “Today, our clients are worldwide. In factories, for instance, engineers are a different breed from the past,” said Shamsuddin. “Now, they have to be involved in various aspects of business and interact with clients.”
  • Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers President Tan Sri Mustafa Mansur said the young ones who could not communicate in English were unable to negotiate the best deals in business transactions or investments. “We need to send people out to market our products, negotiate deals or get contracts signed. If they cannot communicate well in English, we will lose out,” he said.
  • Shamsuddin expressed concern that many local graduates today could not speak or write proper English, saying this was a reason why they faced difficulties getting jobs in the private sector.
  • Norman said it was important to master English as it was widely used among the business community, both in Malaysia and internationally.
  • Various industry and business leaders also warned that the decline in English was affecting Malaysia's global competitiveness.
  • Kelly Services (M) Sdn Bhd managing director Melissa Norman concurred, noting that six in 10 graduates who attended its interviews could not communicate effectively in English.
  • Pemudah co-chair Tan Sri Yong Poh Kon pointed out that, contrary to popular belief, it was important for civil servants to have a good command of English due to a growing borderless world. “The standard of English also affects the quality of the public sector as civil servants have to interact with international citizens and the business world as well as articulate Malaysia's stand on issues to the international community. These include negotiations on important agreements such as trade agreements.”
  • Noting that the quality of English in the country had declined over the last two decades, former Human Resource Minister Tan Sri Fong Chan Onn warned that the country would lose out to its neighbours that did not teach English in schools previously. “Thailand, Indonesia and China are making efforts to improve their English through their education system,” he noted.
  •  
    "Feedback from local and international employers shows that verbal and written communication skills in English remain the most sought-after attribute in prospective employees. According to a recent Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) survey, it is the most important trait employers look for when recruiting graduates."
izz aty

Problems of Development Today | Globalization101 - 0 views

  • the problems facing developing countries revolve around what are generally called “structural constraints” to development
  • a modern economy cannot function without a division and diversification of labor. Thus, countries with small populations may have trouble developing and gaining access to markets, while landlocked countries may struggle to integrate with global markets and expand their economies.
  • Other common constraints on development are high economic poverty, hunger, high mortality rates, unsafe water supplies, poor education systems, corrupt governments, war, and poor sanitation. These factors all combine to create what the World Bank calls “poverty traps”—cycles that must be broken for countries to develop
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • geographic advantages do not always result in sound development in cases when governments squander valuable natural resources. The World Bank, therefore, recommends that countries focus on six areas of policy to improve chances of development: Investment in education and health Increasing productivity of small farms Improving infrastructure (for example, roads) Developing an industrial policy to promote manufacturing Promoting democracy and human rights Ensuring environmental protection
izz aty

What People Don't Realize About Publicizing Their Sins Online - FiqhOfSocial.Media - 0 views

  • “The internet is a reflection of our society and that mirror is going to be reflecting what we see. If we do not like what we see in that mirror the problem is not to fix the mirror, we have to fix society.” Vint Cerf, one of the ‘fathers of the internet’
  • Islamically, there are two hadith of the Prophet (s) that govern the publicizing of sins.
  • Principle 1: Don’t Publicize Your Own Sins
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  • Principle 2: Don’t Publicize the Sins of Others
  • Privacy Settings Are Not a Veil
  • Who Do You Follow? It’s really awkward when you meet a brother at the masjid who is married with kids, follow him on Instagram, and then see that while he posts normal pictures, he is following 200 swimsuit models on Instagram.
  • Unseen Consequences In the book It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens, the author makes a point about how teens consider their public spaces private. In other words, if they’re posting goofy photos with their friends and leaving comments, they can’t fathom why a random adult who has nothing to do with them would view it. While logically that may be true, it’s just not the case. The internet is forever.
  • Your profile is not limited to just a Facebook page. Your profile encompasses the sum of what you post, people you follow, and pages you’ve liked. Two questions that are great points of introspection: Would I be ok with how my social profiles look if I were to suddenly pass away? Would I be comfortable with my profile if I was “friends” with the Prophet (saw) online? Or if he was to see my Snapchat story history?
  • go out of your way to cut off even the smallest of doubts about your behavior.
  • Societal Pressure
  • Embarrassing Others
  • Indeed, those who like that immorality should be spread [or publicized] among those who have believed will have a painful punishment in this world and the Hereafter. And Allah knows and you do not know (24:19).
  • We have a natural curiosity to find out what others are up to, but it is part our faith to leave this alone. There is a story about the Prophet Musa (as). During a drought, he went out to the desert with 70,000 people and supplicated for rain. Nothing happened. Musa was expecting the supplication to be answered, and then Allah (swt) revealed to him that among them is a person who has been challenging Allah with sins for the past 40 years, and to call out on that person to repent because the rain is withheld due to him. So Musa called out to the people for this sinner to repent. The sinner looked around and saw no one coming forward, and he realized this was about him. He did not want to go forward and expose himself. So he put his head down and said, “My Lord I have disobeyed You for 40 years and You have always given me respite. I come to you in obedience so accept it from me.” He had barely finished this supplication when a cloud appeared overhead and rain started pouring down. Musa then called out to Allah confused – no one came forward, yet the rain was sent down. Allah (swt) told him, “O Musa, I did not expose him when he was disobeying Me, then do you expect Me to expose him while he is obedient to Me?”
  • A Muslim is a Muslim’s brother: he does not wrong him or abandon him. If anyone cares for his brother’s need, Allah will care for his need; if anyone removes a Muslim’s anxiety, Allah will remove from him, on account of it, one of the anxieties of the Day of resurrection; and if anyone conceals a Muslim’s fault, Allah will conceal his fault on the Day of resurrection (Abu Dawud).
  • “Oh you who have believed with their tongues yet faith has not entered their hearts! Do not back-bite the Muslims, and do not seek to discover their faults, for whoever seeks after their faults, Allah will seek his faults. And if Allah seeks after someone’s faults, He will expose him even (what he committed) in his home.”
  • Every one of my followers will be forgiven except those who expose (openly) their wrongdoings. An example of this is that of a man who commits a sin at night which Allah has covered for him, and in the morning, he would say (to people): “I committed such and such sin last night,’ while Allah had kept it a secret. During the night Allah has covered it up but in the morning he tears up the cover (sitr) provided by Allah Himself (Bukhari and Muslim).
  • The meaning of this Name is that Allah (swt) is aware of our sins, and yet He covers them up. He does not allow our embarrassing actions to become known to others. He protects us by keeping our faults from becoming public. He keeps even our largest sins hidden from those closest to us.
  • He is Al-Sitteer, and He covers your sins, asks you to repent, and He loves that you cover the sins of others
  • O Allah, I ask You for pardon and well being in this life and the next. O Allah, I ask You for pardon and well-being in my religious and worldly affairs, and my family and my wealth. O Allah, veil [sitr] my weaknesses and set at ease my dismay. O Allah, preserve me from the front and from behind and on my right and on my left and from above, and I take refuge with You lest I be swallowed up by the earth.
izz aty

Apprentices are highly employable | Randstad.co.uk - 0 views

  • job candidates who have trained through this route are seen as being “more employable” than candidates with different experience, qualifications, and even degrees.
  • job candidates who have trained through this route are seen as being “more employable” than candidates with different experience, qualifications, and even degrees.
  • job candidates who have trained through this route are seen as being “more employable” than candidates with different experience, qualifications, and even degrees.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • The nature of the world’s workforce is changing, and employers are paying attention and modifying their recruitment and training schemes accordingly.
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