Origins of Quinceanera Essay Example for Free

Origins of Quinceanera Essay Quinceanera cerebrations history is mainly found in the Aztec and Mayan cultures of the Latin American people with the roots in the ancient Mexican society. A girl approaching her fifteenth birthday would be taken from her home to be prepared on how to transcend from girlhood to womanhood and marriage. During this time, she would be taught about her traditions and history as well as being given instructions and guidelines through which she would learn to be a responsible adult and a good wife in her community. By the time she was returning to her family, a great celebration was launched that marked her womanhood (sexual maturity) status. The celebration is still held to this date in Latin and Hispanic families all over the world. However, the girls are no longer taken from their families but they rather get involved in group discussions and classes where they learn issues such as family, adulthood, and religion. In many cases, this goes on for a period of six months or even more as adopted by different communities around the world. Preparations for the major quinceanera celebrations often begin about two years before the actual date of the wonderful occasion. The major purpose for the quinceanera is to act as a right of passage or social initiation that is intended to teach as well as reinforce the important and valuable cultural values of the community. These days, the ceremony is conducted to acknowledge the young girl’s rite of passage to womanhood. Since many societies that practice this ceremony have turned it into a religiously oriented activity, the ceremony acts as reaffirmation of the baptismal vows the parents made on behalf of their daughter(s). The ancient Mexican quinceanera is equivalent to the sweet sixteen in many United States societies. At the age of fifteen, boys traditionally became warriors. This therefore necessitated the need for girls to be presented to their communities as a vital force of community’s future in the sense that their power to become mothers would ensure continued provision of more warriors for the tribe (http://kufflynx. com/historyofquinceanera. aspx) The history of quinceanera, unlike the sweet sixteen, has many religious components that make it more or less the same as the Bar Mitzvah which is held in the Jewish culture when their youth turn thirteen (Lankford, 1994, pp. 18). Before the celebrations commence, family members and guests accompany the quinceanera to a church service. The delivered sermon by the clergy is usually one whose main theme is the importance of growing up to be a responsible woman in the society. In the process, the young lady is given an opportunity to share her future hopes. Other family members and guests may also be allowed to speak too. After the service is over, people proceed to the party where under normal circumstances plenty of food, games, dance, and music take the order of the day. Quinceanera parties usually require a lot of preparation and planning. It is as thus a very big occasion for the young woman and sometimes it takes many years of saving to make the girl’s fifteenth birthday dream a reality. Due to the value attached to this event, it is very common to have live bands, catered food, superb location reservations, and photo sessions. The quinceanera girl will often have a lavish gown and the guest of honor will sometimes have one as well. This makes the birthday as elaborate as a wedding. The most crucial aspect of the quinceanera is invariably a thanksgiving Mass (Karen, 1996, pp. 76). Traditionally, the King conducted the girl’s exhortation, giving the relevant instructions related to the duties of the woman. In the Aztec tradition for example, if a woman died during child birth, she received funeral honors equivalent to the ones accorded a warrior who died in battle. During the whole session of the Mass, the girl remains specially seated at the altar’s foot. When the Mass ends, bolos or commemorative favors are passed out by cousins, younger sisters and close friends to those who have attended, while the quinceanera girl deposits her bouquet in a niche or on the altar honoring the Virgin Mary (http://kufflynx. com/historyofquinceanera. aspx) There is a traditional provision that the quinceanera, depending on the economic strength of the parents and the godparents, can further the celebration opulence by opting between a journey to a fancy city and a party with live band music. Today there is a general tendency of women from all social strata to opt for the later. Regardless of the magnitude of the opulence involved in the quinceanera celebrations, the highest goal of the event is to strengthen the social fabric and bonds that should remain firmly cemented not only among families but also at the societal level. This postulates the spirit of communal cohabitation, togetherness, and cohesiveness that must be maintained at all times. One uncertain thing is how far this norm is maintained in our â€Å"electronic† global community (Lankford, 1994, pp. 40). Learning from the importance that was, and to some extent is still associated to quinceanera or the sweet sixteen in most parts of the United States, we need to realize the significance of the social bonds that persist in our societies from ancient times to date. Beyond any reasonable doubts, there are certain stages and rights of passage that each one of us passes in life and which are given some form of communal responsibility, however little it may be compared to earlier times. These include similarly shared social functions such as child birth, the first marriage, parental responsibility, and lastly the final stage which is death. These are considered in different perspectives in different cultural backgrounds but the truth of the matter is that they are present in all communities in the world. Furthermore, the quinceanera topic is significant in the sense that it portrays the gender differentials were and are still seen in our societies today. Not many years have passed since women stated involving themselves in the disciplines which were traditionally regarded as masculine oriented. Examples of this can be found in cases where women were considered as child bearers and home keepers who were expected to be submissive to their husbands. In academic arenas, mathematics and science oriented subjects were gender-roles meant for men (Karen, 1996, pp. 45). The trend has fundamentally changed from women being submissive child-bearers, cookers, and weavers to equally productive citizens in the world. The political climate has also significantly changed since women engaged in politics. Further lessons from the quinceanera topic advocate for personal growth and development. The major reason I postulate this is because by learning of our cultural heritage and social institutions we find ourselves in, one is able to critically reflect on what needs to be reinforced and what should be abolished from our systems. On example is the fact that in many Mexican communities, women are still regarded as second-class citizens, even with the known fact that they are the best family maintainers as compared to their male counterparts (Karen, 1996, pp. 64). Some of these outdated opinions should be addressed with the most appropriate urgency if we are to claim of freedom from social segregations and inequalities. References: Karen Mary (1996). La Quinceanera: Making Gender and Ethnic Identities. Frontiers: A Journal of Women’s Studies, Vol. 16, pp. 45, 64, 76 Lankford, Mary D. (1994). Quinceanera: a Latina’s Journey into Womanhood. Brookfield, Connecticut: Millbrook Press, pp. 18, 40 The History and Meaning of Quinceanera.

The Pedagogy Verses Andragogy

The Pedagogy Verses Andragogy Jarvis expanded theory of transformation of the person through learning prepositions an argument for the andragogical model and the way in which adults learn. Given the quality and extent of experiences an adult gains throughout life-span these experiences are shaped and molded by societal roles and tasks, and according to Knowles (1984) will be used as a source of learning. A desire for knowledge or to engage the learning process, often identified as eagerness to learn, is stimulated by experiencing motivating shifts in one developmental task to another or by an important life episode, creating an adjustment in behavior that leads to improvement in some characteristic of our personal being. Laher (2007) indicates that such movement on the individuals development, leads to a alteration from a subject-centered academic orientation to a problem-centered academic orientation to learning, due mainly in response to changing life occurrences. This paper will evaluate 1) the role that social change plays from an a anadragogical approach with adult learners, 2) the responsibility of higher education institutions in facilitating adult education, and 3) briefly discuss a comparison between the role of pedagogy and andragogy approaches. Social Change And Adult Learners In terms of social change and the adult learner several factors are to be carefully considered. These would necessitate attending to social recognition of learners and addressing barriers to the learning process, reaching disadvantaged learners, fostering critical reflection associated with the process and ensuring experiential learning, and preparation for social action and community development. All of these efforts would serve to contribute to the value of college education among adult learners. Mason (2003) notes that one assumption that should be considered is the readiness of learners to be self-directed, self-motivated, and personally resourceful. Those learners experiencing disadvantage or who lack social recognition, or experience inequality as to access to educational opportunities may result in feelings of insecurity or uncertainty when approaching self-directed academics thus resulting in feelings of inadequacy or low self-esteem, borne out by the extent of their disadvantage and the main motivation for learning. Therefore, Merriam, et al. (2007) and her colleagues suggest that empowering learners to act involves a number of tasks. Facilitating an environment for adult learners so that they could create a relationships of equality is key in developing skills needed to contribute to meaningful participation in adult curriculum programming at the university level. Having a role in collegiate democracy such as problem-definition, identification of adult student needs, problem-solving, and decision-making structures and the development of critical reflection allows adult students to become more invested in the educational pro cess and increases personal investment (pp. 23-27) Engagement at this level and the opportunities it provides will increase a sense of academic cohesion, groups of adult learners working to carry out social change actions and individual learners moving into opportunities for engagement that address this populations academic needs will help facilitate learning environments that provide academic experiences upon which adult students can obtain valuable successes, build confidence and reach academic goals. Experiential learning or education also helps adult learners identify their skills and strengths in order to devise progression options, and to become agents of their own learning (Connolly, 2002, p. 7). Such learning then is not only the responsibility of the individual learner, but must have a conduit by which learning is facilitated. The following section of this paper will address the responsibility of the higher education institutions role in adult education and the individual learner. Responsibility of Higher Education Institutions This section of the paper proposes the importance of institutions of higher education role in both providing and facilitating adult education with appropriate curriculum and strategies to enhance the adult learning experience. Higher education institutions goals and objectives could be adjusted to fit the learner and provide maximum opportunity to synthesize existing knowledge with new information by designing curricula that experientially relate to the learners developmental stage. The number of adults entering learning situations later in life is growing due to rapid displacement, advancements in shifts in the job market, technological demands, and movement of employment overseas. Merriam, et al. (2007) and her colleagues indicate that two best predicators of adult participation in a states higher education system were availability of undergraduate education (number of seats available, public and private) and educational attainment of the states adult population (percentage of adults with high school or higher) (p.69). Such responses to a voluntary or involuntary transition in their lives, such as seeking education to maintain current employment or to change careers, has necessitated a return to college for many older adults. It becomes the obligation of higher education institutions to adjust teaching strategies, curriculum, goals, and objectives to promote learning success in adult learners. To promote external social change and to provide optimum learning environments for older adult learners requires adjusting strategies in curricula and delivery of the curriculum. Therefore, the next section of this paper will address the important nature of the adult learner and the origins of the andragogical principles and theory. Pedagogy Verses Andragogy This section of the paper will briefly review insights with regard to the relationship between the pedagogy and andragogy principles and the adult learner. The leading form of teaching in America is pedagogy, or didactic, conventional, or teacher-directed method. A different method in terms of instructing adult learners is andragogy. The purpose of this section is to provide the reader with background information regarding both instructional forms. Pedagogical Assumptions. The pedagogical model of instruction was originally developed from Greek, meaning the art and science of teaching children. In the pedagogical model, the teacher has full responsibility for making decisions about what will be learned, how it will be learned, when it will be learned, and if the material has been learned. Pedagogy, places the student in a submissive role requiring obedience to the teachers instructions. It is based on the assumption that learners need to know only what the teacher teaches them. The result is a teaching and learning methodology that promotes dependency on the instructor (Knowles, 1984). The pedagogical model has been most used method applied equally to the teaching of children and adults and is seen as a contradiction in terms. As Knowles (1984) would suggest The reason this contradiction exists is as adults mature, they become increasingly independent and responsible for their own actions. They are often motivated to learn by a sincere desire to solve immediate problems in their lives. Additionally, they have an increasing need to be self-directing. In many ways the pedagogical model does not account for such developmental changes on the part of adults, and thus produces tension, resentment, and resistance in individuals (Knowles, 1984). According to Ozuah (2005), pedagogical theory emphasized five major points: the lack of experience, dependency (in terms of self concept), external motivation, content oriented learning, and readiness to learn. Due to their relatively short lifetimes, children do not have the opportunity to gain much useful experience from many life events or developmental tasks. As a result, children rely on teacher and/or adult guidance to fill the void and provide the information with predetermined course content, to create a frame of reference upon which to build new learning (Knowles, 1984). Furthermore, what little experience children do have is perceived within their limited cognitive abilities. Other factors of pedagogy are also in opposition to the nature of andragogical principles. Children are dependent upon adults for direction and guidance, in terms of learning, the dependent child looks to teachers for guidance as to learning needs, children are basically externally motivated to reach the goals set, not by them, but by teachers and parents. Berk (2004) insinuates that youth are concrete cognitive operational thinkers and operate in the here and now concept of achievement and notes until they are capable to thinking more in the abstract, they are not able to apply current learning to future experiences. In pedagogical methodology, a childs readiness to learn is driven by measurable achievement goals rather than developmental tasks. As childrens goals are externally pre-determined by teachers and parents, their readiness to learn aligns with adult expectations of them rather than their own. In other words, childrens readiness to learn is highly correlated with content achievement, as is their dependency on teachers to know what it is they need to learn. Imel (1989) suggest that Knowles strongly believed that through a comparison of pedagogical, teacher oriented methodology with andragogical, differences between adults and pre-adults would be clearly evident. Andragogical Assumptions. Andragogy as a system of ideas, concepts, and approaches to adult learning was introduced to adult educators in the United States by Malcolm Knowles. Knowles a professor of adult education at Boston University, introduced the term andragogy which he defined as the art and science of helping adults learn in 1968. By 1980 he suggested the following: . . . andragogy is simply another model of assumptions about adult learners to be used alongside the pedagogical model, thereby providing two alternative models for testing out the assumptions as to their fit with particular situations. Furthermore, the models are probably most useful when seen not as dichotomous but rather as two ends of a spectrum, with a realistic assumption (about learners) in a given situation falling in between the two ends (Knowles, 1980, p. 43 ). The andragogical model as conceived by Knowles is predicated on four basic assumptions about learners, all of which have some relationship to our notions about a learners ability, need, and desire to take responsibility for learning: Their self-concept moves from dependency to independency or self-directedness. They accumulate a reservoir of experiences that can be used as a basis on which to build learning. Their readiness to learn becomes increasingly associated with the developmental tasks of social roles. Their time and curricular perspectives change from postponed to immediacy of application and from subject-centeredness to performance-centeredness (1980, pp. 44-45). The growth and development of andragogy as an alternative model of instruction has helped to improve the teaching of adults. Andragogy as a concept and set of assumptions is a system subdivided into pedagogy (dealing with youth education) and andragogy (concerned with adult education). There is some variety, too, in the application of related terms. Some countries use adult pedagogy, one (the Soviet Union) uses the term auto didactic among others to refer to adult education activities, and a few countries use andragology to refer to andragogical science (Knoll, 1981, p. 92). Outside of North America there actually are two dominant viewpoints: . . . one by which the theoretical framework of adult education is found in pedagogy or its branch, adult pedagogy . . . and the other by which the theoretical framework of adult education is found in andragogy . . . as a relatively independent science that includes a whole system of andragogic disciplines (Savicevic, 1981, p. 88). Knowles (1975) in contrast to child learners suggest that adult learners evolve in the area of self-directed learning. One immediate reason was the emerging evidence that people who take initiative in educational activities seem to learn more and learn things better then what resulted from more passive individuals. He noted a second reason that self-directed learning appears more in tune with our natural process of psychological development (1975, p. 14). Knowles observed that an essential aspect of the maturation process is the development of an ability to take increasing responsibility for life. A third reason was the observation that the many evolving educational innovations (nontraditional programs, Open University, weekend colleges, etc.) throughout the world require that learners assume a heavy responsibility and initiative in their own learning. Summary This paper has provided a review regarding the research on approaches to adult learning in theory and practice. Additionally, consideration was given to role social change has played in adult learning programming and community outreach opportunities for this population. Noted were both success in reaching disadvantaged learners and those under-represented. The review of literature also confirms community education works particularly well for those adult learners who have experienced educational successes in high school and who have access to college courses and affordable course work. However, it is clear that andragogy and Malcolm Knowles have brought considerable attention to the adult education field as a separate field during the past three decades. Applied correctly, the andragogical approach to teaching and learning in the hands of a skilled and dedicated facilitator can make a positive impact on the adult learner. Knowles introduction of andragogy was predicated on four basic assumptions drawn on the learning differences between adults and children. With maturity and age, an individuals self concept becomes less dependent and more self directed while accumulating a wealth of valuable experience that would serve the learner when readiness to learn is reflected. Additionally, Knowles notes that adults seek out learning when appropriate to fulfill societal roles, and orientation to learning represented the skills or knowledge sought to either apply to daily problems in fulfilling the societal roles (Lee, 1998). Finally, learning becomes less subject-oriented and more problem-centered (Lee, 1998). In 1984, Knowles added a fifth assumption that suggested that adults are internally motivated rather than externally motivated, and in 1990 a sixth: the need to know why something must be learned prior to learning it and its justification for being learned (Fall, 1998).

Story :: essays research papers

Terrorist actions, what exactly are they? Well just imagine yourself in a place where bombs can turn up in the strangest of places like inside a watermelon on the seat of a bus or inside a drink bottle being hurled at a pub. Malls getting bombed everyday and having to keep your child inside at all times because it seems to be the safest places, but it can still be bombed as well. This may not be an everyday thing in the United States but lately they happen to the people of Israel and Palestine almost every day. Lets us travel back to September last year with what started out as a disagreement regarding land became violent. The countries' leaders, Ariel Sharon of Israel and Yasser Arafat of Palestine, have made attempts at armistice, but both sides were unable to agree on anything. My essay is going to cover three major points: one, where the United States stands in this war that is being waged. Two, how this whole thing started and why, and finally how I believe this dispute is goin g to end. First and foremost, I am going to speak about where the United States stands amidst all this. Both the United States and the European Union believe that they share a common vision of the two states, Palestine and Israel, living side by side in peace and security. President Bush spoke at a White House news conference with European Union (EU) Council President Jose Aznar and EU Commission President Romano Prodi, after three and a half hours of talks with them. The talks were part of the annual summit between the United States and the European Union. President Bush also said that the United States wants to work with the Palestinian people "to build a Palestinian state that both lives at peace with Israel and lives up to the best hopes of its people." He said it was important for Arafat to show the world "that he's capable of leading" his people toward peace and away from violence. Secondly, how did this all start? Well, on one side (Israel) of the issue we have those who believe that God has given Palestine to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, a gift made in perpetuity. For believing Jews and Christians, Israel's original occupation of Palestine was commanded by God, as was the destruction of the original population.

energy :: essays research papers

First off I would like to Congratulate Ms. President on your second term, I have always supported you and what you think is best for this country. With you as president I feel that this country will be a lot safer and it will be better for the people. I also want to take the time to thank you Ms. President on picking me to help lead us out of this energy problem we are going threw. As the headman of the department of energy, I will lead us into a bright new future for this country. My plan will save us million, who knows maybe even billions down the line!   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The problem that we face know is that we are running out of oil, and fast. Oil has been a big part of our energy over the last 200 years, and it has worked great, by heating our houses and running out cars. But now with oil running out fast we need to turn to a knew source of energy. One that will be more efficient, one that will be clean, one that doesn't require to be thrown away after use, one that we can make free to the public at one point, one that we can use for the rest of out lifetime.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The sun has been a big par of life, no matter where you come from or what you believe in the sun is the most important thing to us. Without this big ball of fire, there wont be any light, crops wound not be able to grow, and those who eat the crops would die because they would have no food, and those who eat the animals that eat the crops would die because there wound be any animals left, and life as we know it would come to an end. This shows you how strong the sun actually is, it has the power to end life. The sun also creates so much energy on a bright, sunny day, the sun shines approximately 1,000 watts of energy per square meter of the planet's surface. What I am proposing is that we use the sun to run the United States of America. This will be a long plan and it will take a long time to complete its goal but with patience, and a good team to work with we can pull this plan together.

Franklin, Rosalind (1920 - 1958) Essay -- Papers

Franklin, Rosalind (1920 - 1958) Franklin was a Londoner by birth. After graduating from Cambridge University, she joined the staff of the British Coal Utilisation Research Association in 1942, moving in 1947 to the Laboratoire Centrale des Services Chimique de L'Etat in Paris. She returned to England in 1950 and held research appointments at London University, initially at King's College from 1951 to 1953 and thereafter at Birkbeck College until her untimely death from cancer at the age of 37. Franklin played a major part in the discovery of the structure of DNA by James Watson and Francis Crick. With the unflattering and distorted picture presented by Watson in his The Double Helix (1968) her role in this has become somewhat controversial. At King's, she had been recruited to work on biological molecules and her director, John Randall, had specifically instructed her to work on the structure of DNA. When she later learned that Maurice Wilkins, a colleague at King's, also intended to work on DNA, she felt unable to cooperate with him. Nor did she feel much respect for the early attempts of Watson and Crick in Cambridge to establish the structure. The causes of friction were various ranging from simple personality clashes to, it has been said, male hostility to the invasion of their private club by a woman. Despite this unsatisfactory background Franklin did obtain results without which the structure established by Watson and Crick would have been at the least delayed. The most important of these was her x-ray photograph of hydrated DNA, the so-called B form, the most revealing such photograph then available. Watson fir... ...anklin's showing an image of the now famous Photo 51. Franklin, went on to study the tobacco mosaic virus, and continued her work in absolute dedication, despite having been diagnosed with cancer in 1956 (probably due to the chemicals she was using). She died two years later, 37 years old, never knowing how much her work had played a role in Watson and Crick's discovery. In 1963 they received the Nobel prize for their discovery, along with Wilkins, Franklin's collaborator. In 1968 Watson's popular book, The Double Helix, recounted the events leading to their ultimate discovery, making clear for the first time how critical Franklin's experimental work had been. Franklin's social isolation prompted by the contempt male scientists showed toward her as a woman-scientist, is one of the tragedies in the history of science.

Abridged Literature Review

Many institutions seek authentic and ethical leadership personalities, as a widening body of literature addresses the styles of leadership and their perceived outcome in institutional performance. Servant-leadership, coined by Robert Greenleaf (1970), has spanned a substantial amount of literal interest (SanFacon & Spears, 2010) but there lacks enough empirical evidence regarding the actual demonstration and utilization of servant- leadership in institutions (Crippen, 2005).Worth noting is that practices in most of the current organizations today are geared towards individual interests, and imbedding these profit goals with servant-leadership seems mythical. Various leadership models are applied in education and business institutions. These include servant-leadership, transformational leadership and business leadership models (Hawkins, 2009). Servant-leadership is the most desired model for educational leadership because education imparts the lives of people in all aspects in both in dividual and societal life (Crippen, 2005; Normore, 2010).While campaigning for board membership at schools, most aspiring leaders promise to give back to the society, an admirable quality of a servant-leader. However, as Cassel and Holt (2008) establish, servant-leadership exists only in a literal sense in schools, and there is still a lot to be done as far as actualizing servant-leadership is concerned. Currently, schools are out to seek ways of improving the quality of education and much faith is based on servant- leadership for this objective (Crippen, 2005b; Silva, 2010).Proprietorship in higher education is in existence today, compromising the quality of leadership, yet exemplified real life situations of servant-leadership can be demonstrated through educational leadership of outstanding, highly regarded leaders like Dr. Jim Otten. Concepts of leadership are taught and at the same time practiced in education, and therefore it is important to analyze how servant- leadership ar ticulates with leadership in the education sector. The servant-leadership traits coined by Spears (Crippen, 2005a.) include; listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to the growth of others and building community, and have been identified in various literatures. Cassel and Holt (2008) humorously point out that being an unpaid member of the school board does not guarantee one to be a servant-leader, as is the situation in schools, but the ability to exercise the ten innate qualities of leadership. These qualities have been defined by Crippen (2005b. ) through combining the description of other several authors.Listening involves paying a high level of attentiveness and commitment in listening. Boyum (2008) and Crippen (2005) draws the description of servant-leadership from the historical and philosophical works of Greenleaf whereby a servant-leader is described as one who has the innate value and desire to serve others. This indicates that a servant-leader would prioritize the needs of others before the individual self, with the desire to see the followers excel in body, mind and spirit, as a result of their leadership.The servant-leader therefore possesses one of the traits described by Spear (1998) and that is commitment to the growth of others. Additionally, Boyum (2008) highlights two distinguishing features of effective leadership, as being built on relational and interpersonal perspectives. Serving others mean that one has to relate with the followers at personal level, identify and meet their needs through the leadership process. Transformational, transactional and servant-leadership all meet the aspects of interpersonal and interrelation leadership (Boyum, 2008).However, while transformational and transactional leadership encourage interrelationships for the sake of achieving the goals of the leader, servant-leadership focuses on the goals of the followers (Buyom, 2008; Hawkins, 2009; Whale , 2004). How then can the model of servant-leadership be applicable in educational institutes considering that the control-kind of traditional leadership method is rooted in our systems, and that profit-making has become the main center of focus in the institutions? According to Crippen (2005b.) the answer lies in Greenleaf’s philosophy where teachers are cited to have sufficient latitude to nurture the model in young people. Higher education institutes have been faced with leadership crises over the years. According to Normore (2010), environmental pressure changes brought about by globalization, competition and technology among other aspects warrants the change in leadership tactics at the higher education institutes. However, higher education institutes have been at the forefront in teaching and recommending leadership practices, but reluctant in embracing favorable leadership models for their own practice.Normore (2010) reviews the work of Michael Fullan and Geoff Scott ( 2009) who assert that cultural change in the institutions and capacity of leadership must mirror each other. It is only through proactive leadership that the higher education institutions can effectively handle the growing challenges facing the institutions. A proactive leader is one who takes part in the leadership process through subjectivity in the activities of the followers. On the other hand, transactional kind of leadership involves control and creates a sharp distinction between the leaders and the subordinates.Transactional leadership therefore, does not involve being proactive because all the leader has to do is command or give orders of which the subordinates must follow without questioning or doubt, despite whether the outcome is beneficial or disastrous. This kind of leader as cited by Normore (2010) through the works of Fullan and Scott is not equipped to handle the current challenges facing the higher education learning institutes. Unlike the traditional control kind of leadership that gets followers to work through fear and obedience, servant-leadership achieves the same outcome through trust and respect.The leader’s ability to relate with followers and empathize in their situation enables a bond of trust to form between the two parties. People who trust their leaders are able to share openly on information and ideas that will enable development of the society (Shugart, 1999). Notably, transformational leadership also creates a bond of trust where the leaders can delegate duties to the employees while they explore other opportunities for success (Hawkins, 2009). The employees work on the basis of trust and loyalty irrespective of the gain.Trust as cited by Cassel and Holt (2008) can be achieved where the leaders avoid micro managing all aspects in the organizations and let the followers develop through decentralization of leadership. Thomas and Wohlstetter (2010) compare the development progress of various district schools in relation to the community, and their findings reveal that leadership determined the success of the projects a lot. Success was observed where the leaders participated on a hands-on basis rather than control and micromanaging.The society needs people who are empowered to get involved in successful ventures and is only through being led by a servant-leader. The educational institutes need leaders who have the ability to listen, lead and link (Normore 2010). This is also in accordance to the leadership trait outlined by Spear (1998). Listening to subordinates requires a leader with humility, and the trait of humility is associated with servants, unlike in the much upheld transactional leadership where commanding authority is preferred to humbleness.Shugart (1999) highlights the unfortunate situation where transactional leadership has borne egocentric leaders who lead, not on a visionary basis but by their ability to force their own thoughts on followers; a dictatorship kind of rule. Basing in thi s century where transfer of knowledge and innovation are the order of the day, it will be difficult for a powerful authoritative leader to encourage the followers’ thinking into substantiality, and this means that other than the theoretical aspect, the students in universities are not equipped with self- innovative skills where servant-leadership is lacking.Leading entails that the leader is a steward. A steward, according to Shugart (1999) is one who leads the college thoughtfully through challenging times, with the future in focus. A steward ensures that the vision of the college comes to life and is felt at both institutional and societal level. Similarly to Normore (2010), Shugart (1999) agrees that change and continuity should be in coexistence. A steward therefore is responsible in linking the university to the larger society through coherence in terms of communication, diplomacy, persuasion and pubic advocacy (p. 1).According Boyum (2008), values are incorporated in st ewardship. A servant-leader is grounded in values, manages by values and has vision or foresight just as implicated in Spear’s traits of servant- leadership. The issue of values is significant in the context of educational leadership. Familiarly, there have been concerns about practices of turning institutions into business ventures. Earning from an investment cannot be considered evil as such, but it is the practices behind the venture that raises eyebrows; and this entails venturing in both ethical and non ethical practices as long as money is forthcoming.This is one issue that calls for quality management of educational institutions, and it is time that academic institutions face a turnaround in leadership. Normore (2010) highlights that higher education institutes hold greater influences on the lives of students in the future, in relation to the university academy and the society at large. Therefore, leadership practices considered to be ethical and of value should be tau ght and implemented at this stage of the students lives (Herman &Marlowe, 2005). Normore’s (2010) observation aligns with that of Boyum (2008) and Shugart (1999) concerning service to the individual and the society.The component of service to the society was stressed by Robert Greenleaf (Boyum, 1998) an outstanding philosopher in the work of servant-leadership. If these qualities of leadership can enable the higher education institutes to overcome challenges in the 21st century, and place themselves in better positions to achieve their visions in the future; and if these qualities are innate in the servant-leaders, (Wis, 2002) then it is time that higher education institutions embrace servant-leadership in actual practice.Many educational leaders admit that these are tough economic times, and coping with such time require a change of management styles at the institutions (Negron, 2010). However, there are no significant changes embraced in terms of attaining a leadership styl e that can enable higher education institutes cope with the situation. Negron (2010) reviews the quotations of various personalities like policy makers, philanthropists and university presidents among others where the common agenda was to initiate campaign leadership that calls for structures which fit in today’s society.A 2008 study by Waks is illustrated by Ellet (2010) which involved two dozens of influential educational philosophers who were willing to write about their early and current experiences in the field of education, through a semi-structured and open-ended questions interview prepared by Waks (2008). The purpose was to find out the rationale under which a concept is determined through empirical research. The educators point on the importance of using conceptual analysis through critical thinking for the purpose of developing and defending educational goals that are of importance.This means that the students’ rights to quality education despite the proprie ty expectancy of the institution must be upheld. Students need to be equipped with knowledge and skills that will enable them to survive well in the society as well as contribute to the society’s development. Importantly, students need to be equipped with good leadership skills to enable them become good leaders after their teachers (Moore & Berry, 2010; Bowman, 2005). This can only be achieved if there a high coordination and mutual corporation between the associates, superiors and subordinates of the institution.Together they can identify the requirements of the students at the present era and sort out the kind of curricular to be incorporated in the education system. However, where self-interests exceed the societal expectation, it will be difficult to come up with honest, visionary strategies that will benefit students and the community. Servant-leadership therefore requires that the leader be grounded in values (Boyum, 2008) as already stated. A leader who foregoes his d esire to make a lot of money at the expense of the kind of education delivered on the universities.A leader filled with awareness and is able to reconcile the education system with the changing environment. A leader who empathizes with the followers’ situation and is able to make it up to them, that is a leader who is proud to see others excel as a result of the leadership tactics. Hawkins (2009) reports that there is a demand for new community college leaders as the elder ones retire, but the issue of contention is, how well are these new leaders prepared for the task of quality leadership (Moore & Berry, 2010).Although servant-leadership has not garnered substantial empirical evidence to showcase its utilization in educational leadership, there are existing isolated cases of servant- leadership, known to benefit the institution and therefore highly regarded. Richardson (2008) records an interview that reflects a servant-leader. Lisa Harrold, an emerging leader in Steger Sch ool District indiscriminately engages both teachers and students towards attaining their goals. Teachers are provided for all the requirements needed to help students achieve their goals at high levels despite the students’ weaknesses.Crippen (2005b. ) points on the changed leadership style in University of Manitoba. Servant-leadership as indicated by the author can enable schools attain democratization which many schools are adopting. Crippen (2005a, b. ) recommends that schools incorporate servant-leadership through first, reading, discussing and analyzing Greenleaf’s concept of a servant-leader. Secondly, those schools can incorporate the ten qualities of servant-leadership in the development of the school plans. Importantly, the society should be considered in the leadership and development programs of schools.SanFacon and Spears (2010) are proprietors who value servant-leadership. In their work, they describe, three domineering components of servant-leadership; fi rst, the motive behind the leadership process (what is the intention of serving people? ). Second, they state that servant- leadership is defined by the means of achieving the intentions, and third; servant-leadership focuses on the end (that is, the outcome of the leadership process). Changes bring the desire to change leadership styles in the organizations depending on the prevailing circumstance.Globalization and general advancement in knowledge and technology require that educational systems impart students with skills and knowledge that will enable them suit in the current society and meet its needs. Greenleaf’s model of servant-leadership is believed to include the necessities that higher education facilities require to educate the future generation. However, schools have been known to literally propose servant-leadership for their organizations but never practice it in reality. Servant-leadership is based on moral authority, and unlike transactional leadership, servant -leadership warrants a proactive rather than a control leader.Servant-leadership is based first on serving others before self, unlike in transformational leadership. Teachers who are servants are highly regarded because of the transformation of their quality work to their students and the society at large. Changes are taking place, and the old generation of teachers is going into retire. The society is at risk of losing virtuous leaders if servant-leadership is not embraced in reality in the school curricular. There is a wake up call for school leaders to stimulate the innate leadership qualities in teachers and students.The ten qualities of servant-leadership were described to be innate in all individuals by Greenleaf. Further research should focus on determining the quantity of these innate values in the population. References Bowman, R. (2005, July). â€Å"Teacher as servant-leader. † Clearing House, Vol. 78 (6); 257-259. Boyum, G. (2008). The historical and philosophical influences on Greenleaf’s concept of servant- leadership: Setting the stage for theory building. University of Minnesota. Cassel, J. & Holt, T. (2008). â€Å"The servant-leader: Mature and thoughtful board members work for the common good-not for individual gain.† American School Board Journal. Crippen, C. (2005a. ). â€Å"Inclusive education: A servant-leadership perspective. † Educational Canada, Vol, 45(4); 19-22. Crippen, C. (2005b. ). â€Å"The democratic school: First to serve, then to lead. † Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy, Vol, 1(47); 1-17. Ellet, F. (2010). â€Å"Leaders in education: Intellectual self portraits. † Ed. Leonard, Waks. Stud Philos Educ, Vol, 29: 315-320. Hawkins, C. (2009). Leadership theories-managing practices, challenges, suggestions. Michigan: The Community College Enterprise. Herman, D.& Marlowe, M. (2005). â€Å"Modeling meaning in life: The teacher as servant leader. † Reclaiming Chil dren & Youth, Vol. 14(3); 175-178. Moore, R. & Berry, B. (2010). â€Å"The teachers of 2030. How will the teaching profession change in the next 20 years? † Educational Leadership; 36-40 Negro, M. (2010). â€Å"Campaign leadership: New heights for summit. † Currents, Vol, 36(5); 49. Normore, A. (2010). â€Å"Michael Fullan and Geoff Scott, turnaround leadership for Higher Education. † Higher Education, Vol, 59(6); 801-803 Richardson, J. (2008). â€Å"Emerging leader engages students, teachers.† Phi Delta Kappan intenational. SanFacon, G. & Spears, L. (2010). â€Å"Servant-leaders: Embody motive, means and ends. † Leadership Excellence. Michigan: Executive Excellence Publishing. Silva, E. (2010, May). â€Å"Rebuilt it and they will come. † Educational Leadership, Vol, 2: 60- 64 Shugart, S. (1999). A brief philosophy of community college leadership. Florida: Valencia Community College. Thomas, A. & Wohlstetter, P. (2010). Six keys to success: Districts attempting urban reforms can learn from these strategies that work. † American Sch

Characteristics of Developing Countries Essay

Characteristics of Developing Countries BY Hafeez260 The theme of this essay is: the importance of a study of other semi-developed countries as they struggle for economic growth, the elimination of mass poverty and, at the political level, for democratisation and the reduction of reliance on coercion. New countries are finding their voices in all sorts of ways and are managing to interest an international audience. South Africa is not least among them; contemporary international consciousness of the travail of our particular path towards modernity testifies at least to a considerable national talent for dramatic ommunication and (for those who care to look more deeply) a far from extinct tradition of moral conscientiousness. One aspect of this flowering is a rapidly growing crop of social scientific studies of semi-developed countries of which this university is fortunate to have a substantial collection, contained mainly in the library of Jan Smuts House. From this literature, one can extract five themes of particular interest. The first is the problem of uneven development and effective national unification, especially in deeply divided societies. Capitalist development has mpinged on semi-developed countries from outside rather than transforming slowly from within, incorporating different groups in different ways. Particular problems arise when differential incorporation coincides in substantial measure with boundaries between ethnic groups. If Donald Horowitz’s remarkable study of ethnic groups in conflict is right, more energy goes into attempting to maximise differences in the welfare of in groups and out groups than into maximising their Joint welfare, with adverse consequences for the possibilities of building the national political and economic institutions required for development. Gordon Tullock has argued that this is an additional reason for preferring market-based rather than state-led economic growth in deeply divided societies. In itself it is, but the secondary effects of different paths on distribution have to be taken into account. In so far as they lead to worsening differentials between groups, the possibility of heightened conflict is created. The only long-term hope is to make ethnic boundaries less salient; the happiest outcome would seem to be when ethnicity becomes decorative in a high income economic environment. This is likely to be the work of decades, perhaps of enturies; even so, appalling retrogressions always seem to remain possible. The consequence of deep divisions is that there is likely to exist an unusually large number of prisoner’s dilemma situations. The prisoner’s dilemma arises when partners in crime are apprehended and held separately. The prisoners will be Jointly better off if they do not inform on each other, but each prisoner will be better off if he informs on the other, while the other does not inform on him. Attempts at individual maximisation may lead to both prisoners informing on each other which leads to the orst Joint outcome. The dilemma arises because of the absence of the opportunity for co-operation. ) Under such conditions, negotiation skills are at a premium. There are also advantages in the acceptance of a deontological liberal philosophy which (in the shorthand of political philosophers) places the right over the good. This involves seeking to regulate social relations by Just procedures while leaving individuals as free as possible to pursue their own, diverse conceptions of the good life. Such an attention should be paid simultaneously to the reduction of poverty. The analytical Marxist, Adam Przeworski has analysed analogous problems which arise in the case of severe class conflict. In his view, social democratic compromises are held together by virtue of the propensity of capitalists to reinvest part of their profits with the effect of increasing worker incomes in the future. Class compromise is made possible by two simultaneous expectations: workers expect that their incomes will rise over time, while capitalists expect to be able to devote some of their profits to consumption. In conditions of severe class conflict, these expectations about the future become ncertain, time horizons shorten, workers become militant, capitalists disinvest and political instability results. Three forms of resolution are available: stabilising external intervention, negotiation or renegotiation of a social contract or the strengthening of the position of one or other class by a shift towards conservatism or revolution. Przeworski’s sternest warnings are to Marxists who assume that revolution and the introduction of socialism is the inevitable outcome of a crisis. The second theme in the literature on semi-developed countries has to do with their position within the world economy. Three related sub-themes can be identified. Firstly, there has been a debate about the forms and limits of the diffusion of industrialisation. Dependency theory – now somewhat out of fashion, since its predictions of severe limitations on industrialisation in developing countries have been falsified – asserted that relationships between developing and developed countries are such as to keep the latter in perpetual economic subordination. The contrary thesis – that advanced industrial countries have had to deal with increased competition arising from quite widespread diffusion – now seems more plausible.