Student Democratic Party Platform Essay -- Political Science Politics

Preamble As we look back upon the 20th Century we see the birth of American prominence. The century is marked with glorious American achievements ranging from the birth of the Space Age to the development of the Information Age. Now, as we venture through the new millennium, the potential of further American prosperity is enormous. At times this journey will be a perilous quest, but with valiant leadership this nation shall flourish. Only the Democratic Party is prepared to guide America towards this future. Under the watchful guidance of President Bill Clinton and the Democratic Party, America is finally moving in the right direction. In 1996, we, the Democratic Party, adopted and enacted a platform that has reinvigorated the American spirit of opportunity, responsibility, and community within our national character. Along with the hard work and determination of the American public this nation has achieved an unprecedented level of prosperity. Currently, the American economy is on a record setting pace that is continuously strengthening our economic security. The level of unemployment in America is at a record low. Almost every able-body American is on the job working towards their American dream, and we, the Democratic Party, will not be satisfied until everyone can enjoy their American dream. Through Democratic leadership the quality of life in America has vastly improved. America’s education system is improving, the environment is cleaner, families are healthier, and our streets are safer. Today, any American can claim that their lives are better off than they were 8 years ago. All across America the success of the Democratic Party platform can be seen. But we want more. The Democratic Party is determined to giv... ... first two years of college are free at any State or City University. This will result in a stronger economy and nation because as a whole society, we are strengthening the knowledge of our youth. A substantial amount of Americans are without health insurance. We propose tax credits for small businesses that provide health insurance, retirement benefits, and employment and internships to students. We also propose that tax credits be given to businesses that practice clean air and environmental safety. We believe that our youth is a key concern of the nation and we need to set certain measures to make them feel safe and secure as Americans. A measure that we feel that needs to be taken is to raise taxes on such products as cigarettes and guns. The Democratic Party believes in helping American families economically and socially through more equitable tax benefits.

Enabling Learning and Assessment

Two of the assessment activities that I use are Worksheets (or written questions) and photographic evidence. These assessment activities are the most commonly found within my level 1 group. Worksheets within my area are a very versatile way of collecting information from the student, they can contain short answer questions, multiple choice questions etc. Worksheets are extremely valid because they are usually created by the awarding body of that qualification or by the teachers who have read through what the learners need to achieve. Because it is a direct way of assessing, the learners will not â€Å"go off task† as the worksheets are designed to be short, sharp ways of assessing that require the learner to answer two or three questions about a particular criteria. Ideally, the learner should be assessed on different occasions, and by different people on each criteria, so that this assessment becomes more reliable. Once the learner has answered these questions to show their understanding, and have had the criteria explained to them, they would have passed that one element within their criteria, therefore making it even more sufficient, fair and reliable. Worksheets are very easy to differentiate depending on the level of learners/ course/ certain individuals. If you have someone in your class who is dyslexic then you can differentiate a worksheet into more picture based learning where possible and also if you have someone who excels in lessons you can differentiate the worksheets to enable more information from the learner. The fact that this can be done so easily makes it fair. A question of authenticity can be raised with worksheets because answers can be very easily duplicated within the classroom, however, it is up to the teacher to recognise that this is happening and stop it. In my experience of using worksheets I have found that it is a very accessible way of teaching because if you need to add a question onto a worksheet, you just simply add it through Microsoft word. The learners enjoy worksheets a lot more than essays or assignments because it only requires them to focus for short periods of time, which means that they are not, distracted halfway through and can put 100% effort into that worksheet. Another positive for a worksheet is that it usually explains on it what the learner needs to do so the learner could arry on completing other worksheets if the rest of the class need more explanation for example. This could, however, be a bad thing in a higher level course as they may not include the correct amount of information within their writing, but for my level 1 course, and the worksheets that I create, I make sure that I have explained what the criteria is that the student needs to complete. For me, worksheets are one of the best ways of assessing students as they have many positives. Photographic evidence is a way of capturing evidence through photographs as opposed to writing, this way of assessing is good because it shows that the student can do what the criteria is asking and the proof is the photograph, for example in one of my lessons a criteria is to take part in a team activity, using photographic evidence shows the student in the moment and participating. This therefore shows both validity and reliability because a photo can cover a range of criteria not just one. However, there can be issues with photos reliability as it could easily be posed for, and would not be a genuine indication of the wok that is being completed. This work is very authentic because it cannot be used by anyone other than the student in the photo. This method is also very fair as there is little writing to be done on the photographic evidence sheet, the writing that the student needs to complete is just for added information that the student would like to add. This makes this process much fairer to students that have dyslexia, or any other form of learning difficulty that might affect their written work. In my own practice of using photographic evidence I found that the students enjoy it a lot more because there is less work for them to do, however making sure that everyone has a photo of them completing the criteria can sometimes be a negative. The other bad point to photographic evidence is that you may find yourself having to complete the session again as people may have been away for that session and not got themselves a photo. This can hinder your scheme of work etc. But I still feel that this is one of the best ways of gathering evidence, especially for the lower level groups as they not have the literacy levels to complete what the higher level groups will. Purpose of assessment For this part of the assignment I am going to describe and analyse summative assessment. Summative assessment can be described as: â€Å"†¦what students tend to focus on. It is the assessment, usually on completion of a course or module, which says whether or not you have â€Å"passed†. It is—or should be—undertaken with reference to all the objectives or outcomes of the course, and is usually fairly formal. (www. learningandteaching. info, 2010) Taking this approach makes the assessment very clear to the student, and not only confirms their overall mark, but also high lights what they have done well, and what they need to improve on; â€Å"Summative assessment is the process of evaluating (and grading) the learning of students at a point in time. † (www. qualityresearchinternational. com, 2010) Summative assessment also helps the assessor confirm that the student has an understanding of the topic, and has built upon their knowledge, as Wilson (2009) agrees; â€Å"Summative assessment is usually associated with tests and exams. It aids the assessment of learning and is quite formal. In summative assessment styles, a learner progresses through their qualification until the time comes that learning is complete and they are tested on their knowledge†. From my research I have found out that in most cases summative assessment is a test or exam at the end of a course to determine whether you have passed or failed what you have been studying. If you were to fail you would have to re-sit the exam or test. Students would normally get a period to revise for these tests to ensure that they pass. This is most definitely valid because it would be the awarding body that sets the exams. This form of summative assessment is also an extremely authentic and efficient way of assessing, as the room would be set up in exam conditions, with separate desks, no mobile phones or speaking so it’s guaranteed to be the individuals own work. There are some questions on the fairness of this though as everyone would get the same set of questions, written and presented in the same way without any kind of differentiation, so this may be unfair to those, for example, that struggle with reading, and is therefore putting that student at a disadvantage. However, those with learning difficulties who would have the greatest struggle with this form of assessment, often have Exam Access Arrangements, granting them with special permissions such as extra time, rest breaks, or a scribe. Also with regards to preparing, some students may have a computer at home that may help them to gain a greater advantage than those without this technology. Some people from other cultures may have some other things that are more important to them at home, for example, praying. Some of these people may also not speak English and that disadvantages them straight away. â€Å"Assessment is a socially embedded activity which can only be understood by taking account of the cultural, economic and political contexts within which it operates† (Stobart, 2005) Within my area however, it is not a pass or fail exam which is the summative assessment. The summative assessment in my area is completed in a much smaller scale throughout the year in the form of portfolio evidence. The course that I teach is a yearlong course for level 1 students wanting to be in the public services (police, royal marines etc). The entire course consists of 7 units which range from map reading to team building and physical fitness. The evidence that we use in these portfolios is also varied including witness statements, photographic evidence and short answer questions on worksheets. Due to the varied methods of evidence collection it is difficult to individualise each one for validity and reliability etc. But generally because there is that varied style the students always look forward to the theory side of the sessions. As I make the worksheets for this course, I know that they are reliable, valid, fair and current because I have differentiated almost all of them for higher level learners and lower level. I know what the awarding body is looking for in terms of work so have structured the worksheets around that. My only concern for this type of assessment is authenticity, as it would be easy to replicate a friend’s answer without understanding it yourself. We summative assess like this because it is an NCFE qualification that is determined and assessed on a completed portfolio of evidence rather than an exam at the end of the year. This is useful for us as teachers, and a less stressful experience for our learners, because if a learner does not understand then we can explain it in different ways until they do, so they keep getting to try and try again, rather than try once and they’ve passed or failed. This also helps us target their areas of concern, and we can therefore plan accordingly. Reflection The biggest single source of feedback is from the learner themselves: from their internalised judgements† (www. psy-gla. ac. uk, 2010) The above comment is very true in the case of one of my students, he was his biggest critic, he was home schooled and really didn’t like the idea of education as a whole never mind being told what to do, this same student also has been diagnosed with aspergers and ADHD. The first day he came into college he was on extension studies and I was his support worker at the time. Trying to get him to do any work was near to impossible. He had a real problem with authority and lacked the confidence to ask for help from either myself or the teacher. During my time with this student I soon realised that he would use conversation as a way of distracting himself from learning. I adopted a strategy that allowed him to talk and get his work done at the same time, this was after I had a 1:1 with him and discussed to him that he was only making his college life difficult for himself and he would get much more done if he listened to the staff and then, once his work is complete, he can talk to me about other things. I then moved to the sports and public services department, to find that this particular student had in filled to one of my lessons that I would be teaching. Without a support worker I thought that this student would struggle with the content within the class as he wasn’t used to working without a supportive voice, giving him feedback where it counted. I kept him behind the first session and asked how I could improve to help his learning, and he gave me some ideas which I used the next session, such as short hands on activities to break up the sessions, and his general behaviour and attitude flourished. I also had a system in place that we set up together, if he was struggling with a piece of work he would put his pen down and fold his arms, which gave me the signal to come over and assist him. A year after that, this student enrolled on the course that he was infilling last year (where he is now). And with regular tutorials and setting up of SMART targets for him, for example â€Å"show up to lessons with the correct equipment on time and if you are going to be late phone up in advance and let us know†, he is one of the high achievers in the class and will be moving on next year to a level 2 course. So had it not been for feedback with this individual I don’t feel that he would have made it within the education system but due to good sources of feedback around the college he is now achieving a lot higher than he would have hoped and that I would have expected when he first came to college. (ecologyofeducation. net) Feedback has helped me develop as a teacher in many ways, the first micro each of the PTLLS course gave me great confidence and enthusiasm towards being a teacher as my general peer and tutor feedback was extremely positive and not much went wrong. I have also had some constructive feedback throughout my observations from both Barbara Roche, Rob Gray and the students in my class that have given me some great ideas for the future, such as keeping motivation high by switching tasks quickly so that people do not find the lesson boring. Keeping tasks into bite size pieces to not confuse the learner. I have received feedback from my manager on my lessons after an observation and the feedback was to be more academic within the classroom and try to understand the difference between being too friendly towards students and not achieving the respect that a teacher needs. Due to this feedback I made sure that I was still friendly towards the students but not too friendly and within a few weeks I had the respect and rapport that I expected. Feedback has helped me reflect more as it’s a great tool to use, I give positive feedback to myself and, as long as I’m honest, constructive feedback too. As seen above reflection enters Kolbs feedback cycle just after the concrete experience and just before the abstract conceptualisation, where one would discover what learning actually took place. Overall, without feedback there would be no active learning, students wouldn’t know how well they had done, teachers wouldn’t know if they are doing their job correctly. You understand and gain confidence or know where to improve because of the feedback you get, whether this is in a one to one basis with a manager or work colleague, or in a classroom full of students.

Current legislations, guidelines, policies and procedures for safeguarding the welfare of children and young people Essay

Identify the current legislations, guidelines, policies and procedures for safeguarding the welfare of children and young people including e-safety. Legislation covering child protection can be divided into two main categories : civil law and criminal law. The Children and Young Persons Act 1933 – This is an older piece of legislation of which some parts are still in forced today. It includes a list of offences against children, these are referred to as Schedule One offences. The Children Act 1989 –The current child protection system is based on the Children Act 1989. The introduction of this act was intended to be the most compressive and far reaching reform in child law in parliamentary history. The main aim of this law is to ensure that the welfare of a child is always considered as the most important factor when making any decisions about the upbringing of a child. The act also considers the thought and feelings of the child in a situation and bases decisions on whether the outcome would be better or worse for the child. It introduced the concept of parental responsibility. Two guidance documents are available to help professionals to identify children that may be at risks and the steps to take to help prevent this occurring. These documents are intended to be used with The Children Act 1989. The first is called, Guidance on interagency cooperation under the Children Act 1989, which was first published in 1991. The second which was published in 2000 was titled The Framework for the assessment of children in need and their families. Below are listed the variations of the policy throughout the UK. Safeguarding children: working together under the Children Act 2004 – This is the current guidance for Wales. The Children Order 1995 – Northern Ireland. The Children Act 1995 – Scotland. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 – This includes the right for a child to be protected from abuse, the right to express their views and have them listen to and the right to care and services for disabled children or children living away from home. The Human Rights Act 1998 – This protects the rights of all human beings, in the eyes of the law children are seen as human beings and therefore the Human Rights act covers their rights as well. The Education Act 2002 – This was introduced to ensure that a schools governing body and LEA make arrangements for the safeguarding and welfare of children. The Adoption and Children Act 2002 – This expands on the Children Act 1989 by including domestic violence in the definition of harm. The Children Act 2004 – This new act didn’t replace or amend the Children Act 1989, instead it set out the process for integrating services to children. Further acts that followed the 2004 Children Act include – The Children and Adoption Act 2006, Children and Young Persons Act 2008, The Boarders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 and the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009. Legislation to protect children from adults that pose a risk. The 1997 Sex Offenders Act – Requires sex offenders to have their names and addresses added to the sex offenders register. The Sexual Offences Act 2003 – This was introduced to update the legislation relating to offences against children. It included the offences of grooming, abuse of position of trust and trafficking. Further policies include – The Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003, The Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 and the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005. E-Safety A School’s e-Safety Policy reflects the importance it places on the safe use of information systems and electronic communications. e-Safety encompasses not only Internet technologies but also electronic communications via mobile phones, games consoles and wireless technology. It highlights the need to educate children and young people about the benefits, risks and responsibilities of using information technology. * E-Safety concerns safeguarding children and young people in the digital world. * E-Safety emphasises learning to understand and use new technologies in a positive way. * E-Safety is less about restriction and more about education about the risks as well as the benefits so we can feel confident online. * E-Safety is concerned with supporting children and young people to develop safer online behaviours both in and out of school. The Internet is an unmanaged, open communications channel. The World Wide Web, email, blogs and social networks all transmit information using the Internet’s communication infrastructure internationally at low cost. Anyone can send messages, discuss ideas and publish material with little restriction. These features of the Internet make it an invaluable resource used by millions of people every day. Some of the material on the Internet is published for an adult audience and can include violent and adult content. Information on weapons, crime and racism may also be unsuitable for children and young people to access. Pupils need to develop critical skills to evaluate online material and learn that publishing personal information could compromise their security and that of others. Schools have a duty of care to enable pupils to use on-line systems safely. Schools need to protect themselves from legal challenge and ensure that staff work within the boundaries of professional behaviour. The law is catching up with Internet developments: for example it is an offence to store images showing child abuse and to use email, text or instant messaging (IM) to ‘groom’ children. Schools can help protect themselves by making it clear to pupils, staff and visitors that the use of school equipment for inappropriate reasons is â€Å"unauthorised† and ensure an Acceptable Use Policy is in place. E-Safety training is an essential element of staff induction and part of an on-going CPD programme. However, schools should be aware that a disclaimer is not sufficient to protect a school from a claim of personal injury and the school needs to ensure that all reasonable actions have been taken and measures put in place to protect users. Legally an educational institutions e-safety policy ties into multiple laws and legislation.

The Sloth

Sek Budapest International School English Work no. 1 Poetry analysis Song Yuan Shan 15. 01. 10 The poetry analysis of The Sloth by Theodore Roethke The title of the poem ‘the sloth’ tells us that the poem is probably about the animal, that lives in South America. It’s probably a poem for kids to read. In the first stanza the poet is talking about slowness. If you ask him something it takes him a year to realize that he’d been asked something. Next it says that all he does is hang on a tree upside down. Then it says that no matter you call him smug or insult him, he doesn’t care. He will still continue doing what he did before. In the last stanza he’s sleeping again swaying by his toes and just won’t bother to answer your question. But you just know that he knows he knows. Every poem has another meaning beyond the literal one. In this poem the poet writes ‘he’ for an animal and not ‘it’, so actually he’s not really talking about animals. He’s referring to lazy humans. Throughout the whole poem the poet was describing a lazy person. They’re self-satisfied, that’s why they never change their behavior. One way of achieving the qualities and making the words poetic is through poetic devices. It’s the technique or strategy a poet uses. It can help the poet or writer in developing cogent, e. g. the figures of speech. The poet was criticizing lazy people but he didn’t write it so obviously. He used metaphor. The poet also gives human characteristics to the sloth which is personification. For example: â€Å"he says, he thinks†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . â€Å"He thinks about it for a Year†. The poet is exaggerating here, which is a hyperbole. He also uses capital letters. This makes a rhythm, patterns of sound. In addition the word EX-as-per-at-ing is divided into syllables to emphasize the word and call special attention to it. All lines rhyme in the poem. The sound of the last part of the word is identical in each stanza, so it’s a perfect rhyme. The tone of the poem could have been mean but he made it funny and friendly. The poet compared the lazy people to the lazy animals. The image I got after reading it a couple of times, is a stinky person watching TV on the couch while drinking coke and eating popcorn. They won’t even do the basic things for living or to stay clean. They’re too lazy to do anything. They’re happy with the way they are. So the theme of the poem is laziness. Bibliography http://ezinearticles. com/? Poetic-Devices-in-Poetry&id=110584 Total number of words : 438

Role of Public Health Practitioners Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Role of Public Health Practitioners - Essay Example The main priorities of public Health policy in 2011 and 2012 includes controlling of death and dying, countering depression to promote emotional well being, achieving sexual and reproduction health and ensuring health at work. Through public health, the government in conjunction with the public health practitioners share the goals of giving every child the best start in life and enabling the children, the youth and the old people to utilise their potential and have control over their lives. It also plans to boost ill-health prevention and develop healthy and sustainable communities. The fair society healthy lives also seek to create fairness in accessing jobs and ensure healthy living standards for every citizen. Public health practitioners are the key implementers of any given health policy that is laid down. During their call to duty, they under go various challenges, rewards and experiences depending on a number of circumstances. This paper discusses the role of three public healt h practitioners Lucy Smith a public health manager in charge of mental well wellbeing, Sue Levi a consultant in public health medicine and Thara Raj a public health manager in sexuality and immunisation. ... s out time to time evaluation on the level of implementation of the public health policy on mental wellness and measure it outcomes after the implementation period. She organises, supervise and conduct trainings and meetings for local agencies, employers and school management teams to educate them on ways of improving and promoting the mental well being within their institutions. She continuously conducts research to find new ways of engaging the local authorities and agencies on ways that reduce health risks and promote the mental well being of the Lambeth residents. Some of the challenges that Lucy Smith faces as the one in charge of mental well being include failure to comply with the set down policies that promote a culture of participation, equality and fairness by employers and some learning institutions. This is because most employers are profit oriented and some of the policies designed do not work in support of making fast money. There is also limited number of psychological institutions that can offer counselling and mentorship advice to institutions and individuals in to promote mental wellbeing (Rowitz, 2009). Some of the approaches that are applied by Lucy Smith are through collaboration and the use of social media in promoting well being. One of such groups is â€Å"Mind Apples†. She clearly shows her support by saying that "We are thrilled to be working with Mindapples in our GP practices to get people talking about mental health in a positive way.† (Lucy Smith) Through this media, people are able to share positive thoughts on how they can stay positive in life and healthy too. Smith also promotes teamwork and collaboration among all the stakeholders in promoting mental well beings .For example, allocating specific topics of discussion to specific

Stakeholder Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Stakeholder Theory - Essay Example Stakeholders include shareholders, employees, suppliers, customers, and the communities in which the firm operates-a collection that Freeman terms the "big five." The very purpose of the firm, according to this view, is to serve and coordinate the interests of its various stakeholders. It is the moral obligation of the firm's managers to strike an appropriate balance among the five interests in directing the activities of the firm. This understanding of the firm's purpose and its management's obligations diverges sharply from the understanding advanced in the shareholder theory of the firm. According to shareholder theorists such as Nobel laureate economist Milton Friedman, managers ought to serve the interests of the firm's owners, the shareholders. Social obligations of the firm are limited to making good on contracts, obeying the law, and adhering to ordinary moral expectations. In short, obligations to nonshareholders stand as side constraints on the pursuit of shareholder interests. This is the view that informs American corporate law and that Friedman defends in his 1970 New York Times Magazine essay, "The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits." (Thomas. J. Donaldson, 1994) Stakeholder theory seeks to overthrow the shareholder orientation of the firm.

Essentials Mangement (report) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Essentials Mangement (report) - Essay Example The Essentials Management is all about finding solutions to help the organisation to improve efficiency, reduce costs, decrease cycle time and push up strategic initiatives. What are the issues before an ambitious management and an expanding organization? Find solutions to short term and long term problems, lookout and seize the opportunities well in time in this fast moving age of industrial and internet revolution, tackle critical issues posed from time to time and improve effectiveness in functions and crucial programs. Of the four important factors of production, land, labor, capital and organisation, labor (workforce at all levels) is important. The employees can build an organisation just as sometimes it is claimed that the employees can break it. For the organisation to become prosperous and grow employees (including officials of the top management) need to be basically sound and industrious and basic conditions and favourable atmosphere need to be created for them to become b asically sound and industrious. â€Å"If everything is important, then nothing is†¦.Whether it is a multinational corporation, a department within a larger company, or a small entrepreneurial venture, every organisation provides its leader with more distractions and concerns than one person can handle. The key to managing this challenge, of course, is to identify a reasonable number of issues that will have the greater possible impact on the success of your organization, and then spend most your time thinking about, talking about, and working on those issues.†(Lencioni, 2006, introduction. xi) The phrases like decentralization, delegate responsibility etc. often find favor in an expanding organisation. The modern management science favours these techniques. But the critical point for the success of organization is somewhere else. The growth of an organization needs to be a healthy growth. None but the head of an organisation can make it healthy. To delegate responsibility for