Theodore Roethke, “My Papa’s Waltz” (999) Essay Example for Free

Theodore Roethke, â€Å"My Papa’s Waltz† (999) Essay Theodore Roethke (1948) My Papas Waltz The whiskey on your breath Could make a small boy dizzy; But I hung on like death: Such waltzing was not simple. We romped until the pans Slid from the kitchen shelf; My mothers countenance Could not unfrown itself. The hand that held my wrist Was battered on one knuckle; At every step you missed My right ear scraped a buckle. You beat time on my head With a palm caked hard by dirt, Then waltzed me off to bed Still clinging to your shirt. Summary A man recounts the childhood memories of his father coming home from work and dancing with him. They dance wildly; make a mess of the kitchen. Her mother does not approve. Next the father puts him to bed with the child tightly holding on to him. Paraphrase The smell of whisky on your mouth was strong enough to make a child like me giddy. However it did not stop me from keeping a tight grip on you as this type of rowdy dancing was not easy. We danced wildly till the utensils glide from the mantelpiece. My mother did not approve of our behavior and glared at us. The hand which supported my wrist had one knuckle tattered. Each time you put a wrong step, my right ear rubbed the hard surface of your belt. You hit me occasionally on my head with your palm which was covered with solid mud. Afterwards you dance me to my bed while I kept a firm hold on your shirt. Short Decision Part After reading the poem Theodore Roethke’s â€Å"My Papa’s Waltz†, for the second time I understood that the poem is a narration of the happy childhood memories of the author. The very title of the poem, â€Å"My Papa’s Waltz†, where the child mentions his father as ‘papa’ confirms the fact that the child has great affection for his father. The sentence ‘The whisky on your breath could mean that his father enjoys a drink before going to bed. The word ‘death’ means that the son enjoys but this rowdy dance is not easy so the son holds tightly to his father to avoid falling. When their wild dance made the kitchen untidy, his mother only frowned. Her silence shows that it is just a harmless dance between father and son. The sentence ‘You beat time on my head’ means that his father affectionately beat on his head with the rhythm of the dance.   I think that the last two lines, where the child tells that the father dancingly moved towards the his bed and put him to sleep, yet the child does not loosen his hold on his father’s shirt confirms that there is great and love and affection between the father and son. Reference Theodore Roethke, My Papas Waltz. 3 October 2007. http://gawow.com/roethke/poems/43.html

The Press Between Freedom And Privacy Media Essay

The Press Between Freedom And Privacy Media Essay The freedom of press has been chronologically developed from the subjection to the rulers and governments to the supervision on them. What does this freedom add to the press? Many authors believed that this freedom increases the important role of the press in democratic societies. Press protects human rights against unjust rulers and builds background information for the people about the events that happen through the world. Other authors view the freedom of press as a destruction of people privacy life. In the previous decades, press was under the control of rulers and government. In Richard Andersons article Freedom of the Press ( June 23, 2008), Anderson reveals that critical speech or papers about governments were subject to punishment by the English law whether the critic was true or not since governments believe that any critic would affect the honesty and integrity of politics. When the democracy shined in the world, the press breathed a quiet sigh of relief as its freedom became possible. The democratic society is based on the variety of ideas and concepts related to social and political life. As citizens, people need to share and receive ideas among each other and they need to express it in different forms such as printing it. This is the main reason that made freedom of press or speech under the protection of human rights (Valeria, 2010), but what does the term freedom of press mean? According to European Unions Chart of Fundamental Right, the freedom of press is directly r elated to media liberty in gathering different information whereas according to Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the freedom of press is defined as broadcasting information in print form (as cited in Valeria, 2010). The freedom of the press is not only considered as an individual right but also as an institutional one. It is characterized by the right to publish and print information (Anderson, 2008). With this freedom, thousands of magazines and newspapers were established over the world covering different domains such as: political, social, sport, fashion, etc. The freedom of press constitutes one of the important components in the democratic society on which it represents a supervisor on the government, protects human rights, and builds knowledge for people about the outside world events. One of the important roles the press occupied is the inspection of the governments. In Baldings article Press Freedom: Every Citizens Right (February, 2007), Balding acknowledged that newspaper among other media types conserves its work as a supervisor on the government and on any violence action in the society. European Court of Human Rights stated that press let people know and judge ruler attitudes where it represents a watchdog on the political officers (Valeria, 2010). According to Stewart (1975, as cited in Anderson 2008), maintaining the political systems honesty and detecting any corruption in society are among the important roles of the press. When the politicians feel that they are inspected from public, they tend to complete their duties honestly. Any suspicious work or corrupted act by politician will be spotted by the press and broadcast to the public to take the right decision for such act. Hence press allows people sharing the government its role in managing the affair of the society and thus satisfies the principle of democracy: The people are the source of authority. Anderson (2010) states that the press has an important role in checking whether the criminal justice system is working properly or not. This can be achieved when the press attends the court to record the trial and broadcast it to the people to know the reliability of the judgment, thus consequently obliging the justice system to be fair. An example about this press role is what happened in 2001when Estada the president of Philippines was ousted by people after the press broadcasted his corruption where most of public was displeased from his policies such as the removal of sovereign guarantees on government contracts. This role can be extended to a stage where journalist can ask about authority and honesty of politics (Valeria, 2010) and as a result of this role, the press is known as the Fourth Estate. Another role the press played after attaining its freedom is the protection of human rights. Valeria (2010) demonstrates that an important role of press is the protection of humans rights such as protection against racial discrimination. Press always tries to protect rights of people since protecting them will protect the press itself. An important right the press works hardly to protect it is the freedom of expression since this right is the basic of its existence and according to Valeria (2010), freedom of expression consists of three main interdependent parts which are: the freedom of opinion, the freedom of information, and the freedom of press. Press also sheds the light on the violation of human rights that some governments do. In 2005, U.S made a war on Iraq under the cover of protecting Iraqs people right but the press showed the criminal act of U.S military against Iraq people. As a result, many journalists were killed under the cover of belonging to terrorist parties. Anoth er example that reveals the importance of press is the broadcasting of the discrimination that black peoples suffered in the American society which ended finally by equality between black and white people and present president of U.S.A is a black person. All this events prove the great role of press in protecting human rights. The final role the press got it after the announcement of its freedom is the informing of people about the outside world events. According to Douglas (n.d, as cited in Anderson 2008), press give the public the right to know the information that are important to us. The idea that the press was built on when it is constructed is the broadcasting of information and events that happened among the world. The press builds an intercommunication bridge between people of different countries because it shows them the events that happens inside or countries or in the neighbor ones. With the help of the press, people know the major and international problems that the world faces. For example after the industrial revolution, a lot of factories and pollutant machines have been invented leading to an increase in the emission of CO2. This excessive emission leads to the presence of the global warming phenomena. Without the presence of media and press, people would not know about this serious problem that threatens the nature. Moreover, press shed the light on this problem and imposes some awareness messages about this problem in addition to some solution that are proposed by experts. In 2004, when Tsunami happened in Indonesia, press had an important role in broadcasting this human disaster to the world viewing the big destruction that Indonesia and Indonesians have due to this event. In this case, press not only played a role in broadcasting international event but promoting humanitarian feelings of people toward each other. With the development of media and means of communications, world has became as a global village where all peoples can know the events that walks around them. This thing decreases the isolation among people and improves their background information in the world they are living in. On the other side, to insure that the press can inform people about events happening in the world, the journalists sources should be protected. In Valerias article Freedom of the Press A Component of Freedom of Expression (2010), European Court claims that protection of the sources of journalist is necessary so the informers can supply the journalists with the sufficient information they need to cover the events but this protection should not be unlimited. On the other hand, many authors reveal that freedom of press violated the privacy of people. In Zhendong Suns article Balancing Freedom of the press and the Right to Privacy: Lessons for China (February, 2006), Sun claims that press broke the right of privacy of individuals with the help of technology. Journalists gather information about people secretly without any knowledge of them and they gather and print private information of people under fake names. The laws that were written to protect the press freedom and the use of technology by journalists such as recording machines and cameras made the illegal interceptions of peoples private life by journalists easier. Some newspapers disseminates wrong facts about politicians or famous persons without any consideration to the effects of such act just to attract more readers and to have high income (Sun, 2006). It is right that press concern is to report matters that attract people, but this does not give them the right to search in peo ples private life to fulfill their goals. The program Where Are They Now?, gives specific details about the position of a person who were in the past a popular one ignoring the persons agreement about such an act (Sun,2006). Names and pictures of people have been used by press for commercial purposes and for advertisements (Sun, 2006). Furthermore, journalists today are lying on the interviewers to get their needs. In 1971, two journalists claimed that they need a medical advice from a sorcerer but they record his diagnosis and used the video as a evidence in the court to prohibit sorcery (Sun, 2006). It is true that the press freedom with the help of technology made journalists violate people privacy in some cases but it is unfair to consider that freedom of press cancelled the right of privacy of people. First of all, the court considered that a person that accepts to converse with others should be responsible about his conversation since they have the right to repeat what he said (Sun, 2006). In other words there is no illegality behind the actions of the two journalists mentioned before. Also, press has the right to search for the true to satisfy justice even if this requires the seeking of persons private life. For example, journalists are allowed to attend lawsuits in the courts although it is considered private to insure that the judgment is fair and that the judge is honest. In many cases, journalists search in people life to check their living situation and if they have problems so they can inform the government to solve it. One of the known programs that shed the light on people life problems is the Al-nashr program in Lebanon. This program goes deeply into the people private life and presents their problems to the public to help those who need help. Because of this program, more than 30 personal problems were solved by governments or by charities. Without this program, Lebanese government and citizens would never know about these Private problems and they will not be solved. This contradicts authors opinions that press cancelled people privacy. As a conclusion, the freedom of press is considered as an essential part in the democratic society. Schmidt (2007) demonstrates that the freedom of press constitutes one of the important components in democratic societies. It develops the society and the government, provides people with information, and improves the governments efficiency. Also, press protects human rights from being violated by governments such as freedom of expression and right of equality among peoples. In spite of these important roles that are occupied by press, some authors criticize the freedom of press as being breaks peoples privacy. Nowadays, the wide variety of media made the people have the full control on the way and on the time of receiving information and whether they like to interact or not (Balding, 2007). For the press to be as useful as possible it should be restricted to its duties, both legal and ethical and it should respect peoples equally important right (Sun, 2006).

The Articles of Confederation :: American America History

The Articles of Confederation During the Revolutionary period, the United States and Britain had many conflicts. Between 1763-1776, there were issues among these two countries. Between 1780-1789, there were issues about the federal government and the states under the Articles of Confederation. Two of these issues happened to be the foreign affairs between Britain and the United States, and the economy of the federal government. Subsequently following the French and Indian War, which happened to be where the British fought for the American colonies, Britain was in great need to pay its debts. Holding the war against the colonies, Britain decided to tax the colonies to pay for their large debt. Not being treated as members of the British Empire, the colonists were angered at the thought of being a source for Britain?s revenue. Acting in protest to what the colonies considered to be unjust laws, the colonists resisted attempts to be taxed, claiming as long as they weren?t allowed fair representation in the English Parliament, they would not pay. In 1650, a series of laws called the Navigation Acts were issued for the American colonies; although they did not come into full effect until after the French and Indian War. These laws prohibited the trade of certain items, which made it difficult for merchants who relied on French, Spanish, and other foreign countries for business. These restrictions angered the merchants, seeing as they were not allowed to make specific products in the colonies any longer, Heavy tariffs made trade nearly impossible and led the colonists to believe Britain was purposely doing this to hurt the economy of the colonists. England enacted laws to create trouble with trade between the colonies and other countries. In 1764, the Sugar Act was issued; this law taxed sugar, textiles, and other goods. One year following this the Stamp Act was put into effect, taxing all legal documents, newspapers, and playing cards. Shortly after, the Townshend Acts came into place, taxing lead, glass, iron, and manufactured goods within the colonies. The colonists became infuriated at these new laws stating they were too heavy and were levied without their direct consent. Britain thought it only necessary to place troops in America for the safety and protection of their colonies. They thought since they were doing such a great favor for the colonies, that it was only fair, and that the colonists would not mind providing the supplies needed to tend and care for the troops sent there.

The Awakening: Casting Shadows :: essays research papers

The Awakening: Casting Shadows Happiness; is it essential or is it a mere unimportant simplistic virtue in life's plans? Does everyone have the right to happiness? It is stated in the Constitution that we as Americans have the right to life, liberty, and the PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS. In the novel The Awakening by Kate Chopin the main Character Edna has the â€Å"perfect life†. The sweet loving husband, the cute children, enormous amounts of money and an extremely large house. Yet with all of this Edna is partially happy, but is not fulfilled. Since having a rushed marriage to spite her parents Edna never took time to examine her life to see what she wanted out of it. Edna late in the marriage wanted the freedom to explore her mind, find herself and find what this person liked. In the following I will defend the actions Edna took to find her happiness as irrational as they may seem. This story took place in the late 1800's when women's liberation was never heard of. In this era women were supposed to find happiness in serving their husbands and taking care of the children. There were no other options within the restrictive boundaries of marriage, and divorce was never an alternative. Women's lives were austere and self enrichment or self gratification were often times cast aside relative to the more mundane tasks of daily life. Most women accepted this but Edna did not. She figured that life was more than constantly doing for someone else. She wanted time for herself in order to figure out who she was. Some may see this as selfish but everyone is entitled to â€Å"me† time and space. Although I admit she did not go about it in the best way at times; Edna still was in going in the right direction. Edna's marriage to Leonce Pontellier was to spite her father the Colonel because Leonce was of a different religious faith. Also, Leonce was unceasingly devoted to Edna which was something that had never occurred in any other relationship. Edna, who had not experienced many male relationships before this was naive when it came to men. This naivetà © affected her in such a way that she neither knew love and it's limitations nor the experience it took to make it through a relationship. This showed Edna's immaturity which was a big issue in this story. This shown as the woman inside who had been asleep all those years. Her relationship with Leonce was what she sought to find happiness in. After six years of marriage to Leonce, Edna felt an ever-growing void in her The Awakening: Casting Shadows :: essays research papers The Awakening: Casting Shadows Happiness; is it essential or is it a mere unimportant simplistic virtue in life's plans? Does everyone have the right to happiness? It is stated in the Constitution that we as Americans have the right to life, liberty, and the PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS. In the novel The Awakening by Kate Chopin the main Character Edna has the â€Å"perfect life†. The sweet loving husband, the cute children, enormous amounts of money and an extremely large house. Yet with all of this Edna is partially happy, but is not fulfilled. Since having a rushed marriage to spite her parents Edna never took time to examine her life to see what she wanted out of it. Edna late in the marriage wanted the freedom to explore her mind, find herself and find what this person liked. In the following I will defend the actions Edna took to find her happiness as irrational as they may seem. This story took place in the late 1800's when women's liberation was never heard of. In this era women were supposed to find happiness in serving their husbands and taking care of the children. There were no other options within the restrictive boundaries of marriage, and divorce was never an alternative. Women's lives were austere and self enrichment or self gratification were often times cast aside relative to the more mundane tasks of daily life. Most women accepted this but Edna did not. She figured that life was more than constantly doing for someone else. She wanted time for herself in order to figure out who she was. Some may see this as selfish but everyone is entitled to â€Å"me† time and space. Although I admit she did not go about it in the best way at times; Edna still was in going in the right direction. Edna's marriage to Leonce Pontellier was to spite her father the Colonel because Leonce was of a different religious faith. Also, Leonce was unceasingly devoted to Edna which was something that had never occurred in any other relationship. Edna, who had not experienced many male relationships before this was naive when it came to men. This naivetà © affected her in such a way that she neither knew love and it's limitations nor the experience it took to make it through a relationship. This showed Edna's immaturity which was a big issue in this story. This shown as the woman inside who had been asleep all those years. Her relationship with Leonce was what she sought to find happiness in. After six years of marriage to Leonce, Edna felt an ever-growing void in her

African-American Street Gangs in Los Angeles :: Gangs Crime Essays

African-American Street Gangs in Los Angeles In Los Angeles and other urban areas in the United States, the formation of street gangs increased at a steady pace through 1996. The Bloods and the Crips, the most well-known gangs of Los Angeles, are predominately African American[1] and they have steadily increased in number since their beginnings in 1969. In addition, there are over 600 active Hispanic gangs in Los Angeles County with a growing Asian gang population numbering approximately 20,000 members. Surprisingly, little has been written about the historical significance of black gangs in Los Angeles (LA). Literature and firsthand interviews with Los Angeles residents seem to point to three significant periods relevant to the development of the contemporary black gangs. The first period, which followed WWII and significant black migrations from the South, is when the first major black clubs formed. After the Watts rebellion of 1965, the second period gave way to the civil rights period of Los Angeles where blacks, including those who where former club members who became politically active for the remainder of the 1960s. By the early 1970s black street gangs began to reemerge. By 1972, the Crips were firmly established and the Bloods were beginning to organize. This period saw the rise of LA’s newest gangs, which continued to grow during the 1970s, and later formed in several other cities throughout the United States by the 1990s. While black gangs do not make up the larges t or most active gang population in Los Angeles today, their influence on street gang culture nationally has been profound. In order to better understand the rise of these groups, I went into the original neighborhoods to document the history which led to these groups. There are 88 incorporated cities and dozens of other unincorporated places in Los Angeles County (LAC). In the process of conducting this research, I visited all of these places in an attempt to not just identify gangs active in Los Angeles, but to determine their territories. Through several weeks of field work and research conducted in 1996, I identified 274 black gangs in 17 cities and four unincorporated areas in LAC. Post WWII to 1965 The first major period of black gangs in Los Angeles began in the late 1940s and ended in 1965. There were black gangs in Los Angeles prior to this period, but they were small in numbers; little is known about the activity of these groups.

Did Anyone Benefit from the Cultural Revolution? Essay

Few people would deny that the Cultural Revolution is one of the most significant events in China’s history, with its extraordinary effects on many groups of the population. The main aim of the revolution was simple: having risen to power, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) wanted to reform the Chinese population so that they followed the communist ideology – the favour of absolute social equality. While the initial impression of this aim seems positive, many people nowadays consider that there were few benefits of the Cultural Revolution, due to the turbulence that it caused between 1966 and 1976. Whilst it could be considered that there was initially some reform of the Chinese people, it is now widely considered that these reforms did not bring about benefits. The group that the CCP wanted to help most was the lower class, especially the peasants in the countryside. Meisner (1986, p.373) points out that initially, the Cultural Revolution hardly affected the countryside , with the Red Guards banned from entering the peasant villages, presumably because virtually all peasants were already loyal followers of Mao. Mao tried to restore peasant associations in an attempt to bring more political power to rural areas. Nevertheless, in general, if these peasant associations tried to participate in their villages, higher powers intervened. Therefore, all in all, peasants did not really gain power from the Cultural Revolution (Meisner 1986 p.375). Some argue that there were benefits of the Cultural Revolution for rural areas. Meisner (1986 pp.376-378) states that a main aim of the revolution was to promote rural industrialisation to narrow the gap between urban and rural living and to make use of the local labour forces. Thanks to this project, almost 20 million peasants became industrial workers. However, one aspect that certainly did improve in rural areas was the availability of health care. According to Byong-joon Ahn (1976 p. 155), in the early 1960s, more than 200,000 health clinics were closed in rural areas of China. However, as Meisner (1986 p.379) mentions, Mao changed this by reducing the program of study of doctors from six years to three in order to encourage more rural students to join the health care. In spite of the decrease in the number of study years, the knowledge and ability of the doctors was generally sufficient, as they were only trained to deal with the most common problems. It is worth considering the changes in the education system in rural areas. According to Meisner (1986 p. 380), Mao’s attitude was that the book-learning technique that had been used before the Cultural Revolution should be replaced by a system which combined education with productive labour. Additionally, monetary aid given by the state to richer areas was cut and more support was given to rural areas, thus increasing the number of primary school students from 116 million to 150 million and secondary school students from 15 million to 58 million (Pepper 1986 pp. 6-7). â€Å"Tuition fees, entrance examinations and age limits on student attendance were abolished† (Meisner 1986 p.381), thus making education more accessible for those of lower social classes. However, in spite of these changes, Meisner (1986, p.382) also points out that the living conditions and incomes of the peasants in rural areas showed little improvement. Therefore, it is questionable whether the improvements made brought true benefits to society. The Cultural Revolution was frustrating for many as China underwent turmoil and disruption to industry and education, yet without much positive change. As Meisner (1986 pp.382-385) states, during the Cultural Revolution, many demands were made by the wor king class which were not responded to. For example, producers, who were frustrated by the dominance of the state which prevented them from making their own decisions, demanded more control over the means of production. However, there was little change, even with the new factory revolutionary committees. What happened was that factory revolutionary committees were given less importance than the factory party committees, meaning that the state continued to make the decisions in these industries. Prior to the Cultural Revolution, there was a â€Å"highly exploitive system of temporary and contract workers† (Meisner 1986 p.383). This system was denounced for being capitalist and for not promoting the egalitarian state that the CCP desired. Thus, both the workers (who would have been better off with permanent jobs to guarantee a constant income) and the CCP suffered because of the fact that this system remained (Meisner 1986 p.383). It is also worth considering the state and government workers. Initially, these had more privileges than the average Chinese person, with much higher salaries and meals provided and some even had houses, servants and personal drivers (Meisner 1986 p.391). However, Mao wanted change this as it was preventing the country from achieving egalitarianism. He therefore ordered government officials to engage in productive labour in order to narrow the gap between classes. Whilst this did happen, all in all, the officials were still treated as officials, having higher salaries and official titles (Meisner 1986 p. 391). Therefore, these officials did not benefit from the Cultural Revolution, as their status and standard of living remained the same. Few would disagree that the most harmed individuals during the Cultural Revolution were the intellectuals. Meisner (1986 p. 386) points out that Maoism was particularly anti-intellectual, as it was these intelligent people that were considered the most â€Å"bourgeois† in society, with their superior knowledge and possessions. Meisner (1986 p.387) describes the suppression that these intellectuals underwent: â€Å"their homes (were) frequently ransacked, their books burned and manuscripts destroyed†¦they themselves were often subjected to physically as well as psychologically agonizing â€Å"study and criticism† sessions†. Like the state workers, many were sent to the countryside to carry out menial work or were arrested. Due to this maltreatment, many feared to continue with their studies and research, which led to a dampening in the Chinese intellectual level. Whilst it could be argued that rural students benefited from the Cultural Revolution, few would deny that urban students suffered. In fact, Mao sent them off to the countryside to be educated by the peasa nts, whose knowledge was inferior to the intellectuals in the cities. Again, the aim was to narrow the gap between the city and the countryside by putting all members of society on a similar level. But by doing so Mao harmed the future of these youngsters by refusing them a good education (Meisner 1986 p.388). Meisner (1986 p.389) states that this generation of urban youngsters regarded themselves as â€Å"the lost generation†. Likewise, those that worked for the arts, such as writers, painters and playwrights, suffered in the Cultural Revolution. Very few writings were accepted, except those of Mao, and there were declines in the number of paintings produced and in the number of actors and musicians performing. The only accepted art forms were those that were considered â€Å"revolutionary†, such as Chiang Ch’ing’s ballets and operas (Meisner 1986 p.388). However, one person who did benefit from the Cultural Revolution was Mao himself. Previously, Mao’s reputation was weak due to the failure of the Great Leap Forward, when he â€Å"moved too fast†, for example, with his optimism in the peasants to produce high-quality steel without good-quality resources (Spence 1990 pp.550-1). Many people disapproved of his lifestyle, as he seemed to be living like an emperor. His doctor Li Zhisui (1994) provides details, describing Mao to have a personal swimming pool (p.132) and to indulge in sexual pleasures with multiple women (p.358). However, the views of Mao significantly changed in the years ahead. Timothy Cheek (2002 p.229) describes how Mao was viewed like a god during the Cultural Revolution, saying that people â€Å"paid homage to his image, sang Mao quotation songs, chanted his sayings, performed the Loyalty Dance†. Additionally, the Cultural Revolution solidified Mao’s power. During the Great Leap Forward, Mao was marginalised by the CCP while Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping rose to power. Another key figure was Lin Biao, who Mao originally trusted with the role of Minister of National Defence, but who became an enemy. However, his death in a plane crash helped Mao to eliminate this enemy. As for Liu and Deng, Mao removed their threat to his power by removing them from the communist party. Therefore, the Cultural Revolution allowed Mao to grasp more power. In conclusion, few would deny that the Chinese Cultural Revolution was a period of turmoil in so many ways. For many, the standard of living remained unchanged, even if certain aspects, such as the availability of education and health care in rural areas, were improved. For some, such as intellectuals, urban students and those who worked for the arts, the situation was dampened, with their activity disrupted and many were subjected to violent torture or imprisonment. The only person who definitely benefited was Mao himself, as he gained power and popularity. All in all, it is no wonder that Chinese people regard the Cultural Revolution as a period of disaster. Reference list Books: Byong, J.A. 1976. Chinese Politics and the Cultural Revolution. Seattle: University of Washington Press. Cheek, T. 2002. Mao Zedong and China’s Revolutions. New York: The Bedford Series in History and Culture. Li, Z. 1994. The Private Life of Chairman Mao. New York: Random House. Meisner, M. 1986. Mao’s China and after: A History of the People’s Republic, 1st Edition. London : Collier Macmillan. Spence, J. 1999. The Search for Modern China, 2nd Edition. London: W.W. Norton & Company Ltd. Journals: Pepper, S. 1980. Chinese Education After Mao: Two Steps Forwards, Two Steps Back and Begin Again. The China Quarterly. 81 (March 1980) Word count: 1484 words (excluding reference list)

Model of Professional Enhancement and School Leadership

The intent of this survey is to research the ‘Model of Professional Enhancement and School Leadership in a Pakistani Context ‘ . This research will depict the effects of different signifier of professional development on instruction and acquisition in Karachi, public and private Primary Secondary schools, utilizing study methodological analysis. This chapter discusses, the design of the survey include a description of research hypothesis, instructor and decision maker population and samples, study instruments, instructor and decision maker treatment processs, independent variables, method used for aggregation and intervention of informations, and the statistical techniques used. 3.1 RESEARCH Design: This research involves a descriptive statistic research survey, researching the bing accomplishments, properties and behaviour. It describes the development of coordination analysis with the behaviour of the LPI and the relationship among the variables of school professional acquisition communities. Two study instruments, LPI and SPSLC were used for roll uping informations. During Aug and Sep 2006 a study entitled Leadership Practice Inventory ( LPI ) was structured for school principals, based on 30 separate statements, refers five of the patterns such as: Challenge the procedure, Inspire a Shared Vision, Model the Way, Enables others to Act, Encourage the Heart, in the account of the instrument. The statements were indiscriminately placed within the context of the Likert Scales are as follows: About Never, seldom, Seldom, Sometimes, Normally, Very Frequently and Almost Always. The ( SPSLC ) School Professional Staff as a Learning Community will supply, an apprehension of instructor ‘s brooding perceptual experience on professional acquisition influenced by leading pattern stock list. The statements depicting instructor ‘s perceptual experiences were coded utilizing 17 forms of five dimensions. SPSLC labeled as: dim 1a Autocratic Style, 1b Participatory Management, dim 2a Positive and Shared vision for staff, 2b Positive vision for scholar, 2c Positive Vision for Learning Process, dim 3a Collective Learning and Share Information, 3b Consideration and Learning Issues of Staff, 3c Teaching and Non Teaching Issues, 3d Improvement and Implementation of Learning Staff, 3e Assessment and Revision of Teaching Staff, dim 4a Vision and Observation of Classroom Teaching, 4b Class room Observation and Interaction of Learning Staff, dim 5a Agreement of clip for Staff Interacting, 5b School Condition and Capacity of Structure, 5c Staff ‘s Communication and Trust, 5d Positive Relationship Among Staff, 5e Isolated and Collaborative behaviour, stand foring each of the 17 forms from the SPSLC. 3.2 SAMPLE Population: The population of this survey comprised of 20 authorities and 20 private schools in Karachi. This was a group survey of instructors and principals practising in public and private schools of Karachi, metropolis territory authorities schools are include. These schools had a combined sum of about 80 principals and 80 instructors. The leading pattern stock list ( LPI ) was asked to finish the questionnaire to each take parting school principal as a ego perceiver for their establishment. The school professional staff as a acquisition community ( SPSLC ) questionnaire was filled by the take parting school instructors. 3.2 CENSUS INSTRUMENT ( a ) LEADERSHIP PRACTICE INVENTORY ( LPI ) : â€Å" The leading pattern stock list ( LPI ) has its beginning in a research undertaking Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner began in 1983 † . LPI is one of the most celebrated of the shelf instrument which is used universe broad by research worker researching the of import properties and behaviours of leading. The importance and significance of LPI can be judge easy by the fact that it has the use of more than one million people all over the universe since past two decennaries. The consequences which are driven from LPI have proven it, a dependable and valid instrument used to mensurate leading effectivity. Furthermore, the consequences have besides shown that leading accomplishments and behaviours can be easy understood and learned. An instrument is considered to be a good, if it possesses sound psychometric belongingss, the consequence should be dependable and valid. The cogency of an instrument can be judged by its truth of foretelling a public presentation. LPI has two cogencies i.e. menu and prognostic. Fare cogency shows that the consequences are significantly correlated with public presentation steps and can be usage to foretell effectivity of leading patterns easy. This instrument is comprised of 30 statements to measure, the five patterns of model leading model and the LPI contributed amply to our apprehension of the leading procedure and in the development and unleashing of leading capablenesss. The proof of LP can be judged by look intoing the tonss of LPI between high and low acting steps. This peculiar issue was examined by implementing favoritism analyses as categorization technique to find the consequence of LPI tonss on group directors which are classified under legion public presentation based cl asss. The public presentation classs of the directors on LPI observer leader ‘s effectiveness graduated table can be formed by puting the highest and the lowest tierce of the director in a sample population. ( B ) SCHOOL PROFESSIONAL STAFF AS A LEARNING COMMUNITY ( SPSLC ) â€Å" The school professional staff as a acquisition community ( SPSLC ) was developed by Dr. Shirley Hord ( 1997 ) of the south west Regional Educational Development Laboratory, in concurrence with the staff of the Appalachia Educational Laboratory. Originally designed as an assessment tool for a school that reinvented itself over several old ages, the SPSLC was created to â€Å" measure globally the adulthood of a schools professional staff as a acquisition community. † ( Mohan and Iestsky & A ; Sattes ; 997, p. 4 ) . The SPSLC will demo informations on the organisational image of the school territory from the place of the staff members. This information will be used in developing a coordination analysis with the behaviour of the LPI. Further more, it will supply an apprehension of instructor ‘s brooding perceptual experiences on professional acquisition as influenced by leading patterns. This questionnaire is dwelling of 17 forms grouped in to five major dimensions of professional acquisition communities. â€Å" The field-testing on the SPSLC was conducted by the Appalachia Educational Laboratory corroborating that the instrument was dependable in distinguishing modules of 20 one schools â€Å" in footings of their adulthood as learning communities. † ( Meehan or Iestysky & A ; Sattes, 1997, p. 4 ) . Observations and many treatments accent on the credence of every sort of, which is an of import feature of productive larning community to work towards betterment. Many other qualities required to cut down isolation among staff such as: trust and regard, supportive conditions, cooperation and coaction, increasing staff capacity, supplying a productive environment, sweetening of effectual communicating and shared personal patterns by decision makers and comparatively intensive socialisation procedures. Supportive conditions play a dynamic function to promote staff members, which are non interested with the undertaking given by the organisation or decision maker. 3.3 INFORMED Consent: Each principal and instructor who agreed to take portion in the research survey was provided with an informed consent signifier sing this research survey. The informed consent signifier described the intent of the survey, processs, possible hazards and expected benefits associated with this research. Further, participants were assured confidently of the research records. To the best of research worker ‘s cognition, the research activities involved with this survey posed no more psychological hazard of injury than participants would see in every twenty-four hours life. 3.4 DATA COLLECTION AND RESEARCH PROCEDURE: To comprehend the wide vision of professional development and the theoretical account of school leading in a Pakistani context, permission was granted to carry on study by Board of Advance Study and Research, University of Karachi. As the informations aggregation processs requires, census instrument to be filled by the instructors and school principals of assorted schools which are included in sample population. The population consists of 20 public and 20 private schools. Ten towns out of 20 were selected from Karachi metropolis including Gulshan town, Jamshed Town, Saddar Town, North Nazimabad Town, Shahfaisal Town, Liaqatabad Town, Gulberg Town, Lyari Town, Malir Town and Korangi Town. Out of these 10 towns, 40 schools were selected among which 20 schools belongs to the private sector and 20 were of authorities sector. Researcher visited each school to carry on the study as the informations were meant to be collected from learning staff and principals on an single footing, for that purpose some instructors demanded a limited clip span to supply sufficient feedback and some of them responded blink of an eye. An introductory missive, every bit good as a missive of informed consent, sing the nature of this survey had been showed to the principals, to take permission for the distribution of nose count instruments among learning staff. The missive of informed consent contained elaborate information about the research worker and the doctorial plan that was approving this research undertaking was besides presented by the research worker along with questionnaires to each principals. The overseers and principals who agreed to take part were asked to finish the Leadership Practice Inventory ( LPI ; Kouzes & A ; Posner 1997 ) and principal the school professional staff as a acquisition community ( SPSLC ) que stionnaire ( Hord, 1997 ) to all professional i.e. certified staff members assigned to their schools. Principals were asked to supply a missive of verification of their willingness to take part in the survey. The research explained the study instruments verbally and besides frontward a screen missive repeating the intent if the research and the exact informations aggregation procedure proposed along with a transcript of the instrument to each principal. The research worker sought permission to carry on research in each several school. Each high school take parting in this survey was coded as its consecutive Numberss. To continue namelessness, each school was coded with a figure. Information packages including the followers: A cover missive explicating the process and study disposal An informed consent signifier for finishing the school professional staff as larning community ( SPSLC ) questionnaire and the leading pattern stock list ( LPI ) questionnaire. The topics which were invited to take part in the study were learning at least one secondary and one primary degree class in a public and private school in Karachi that had grade constellations of Grade 1 to 5 and Grade 6 to 10. The participating schools were requested to return the studies within 10 yearss. Telephone calls were made to each take parting school to corroborate reception of the packages and to emphasize the timeline for return. While engagement was voluntary, staff members were promote for the engagement and support in order to supply a clear representation of their learning professional community. Principals were sent a transcript of each study instrument to be completed and returned under separate screen of the study instruments, each school returned the complete study instruments. After carefully reexamining and discoursing the study instruments during squad planning meetings one school territory selected elected non to take part in the research survey. A combined s um of 80 study instruments from respondents were returned by Feb 18, 2007. Participants were instructed to make full in their gender and school name on the questionnaire. Rather they will be offered drumhead informations bespeaking where their school was positioned for each dimension on the graduated table of a acquisition community. After the clip period of six months informations had been collected successfully which leads to the procedure of aggregation, choice and filtration of conducted information for the use of several statistical trials to obtained, cardinal findings and consequences of the survey from the sample population. 3.5 Restrictions: This survey is non without restrictions, the most obvious restriction is the little figure of schools that participated in the survey. The survey is besides limited in that the nature of the survey will non supply a full image of the grade of long term alteration that may happen in instructor ‘s brooding patterns. Another restriction is that instructor concerns, decision maker concerns, and professional development activities were step by self-report through the usage of a study based on instructor ‘s perceptual experiences and a record of professional development hours log provided the private and public schools of Karachi. This information aggregation carries with it the hazard that respondents are non wholly candidly in his or her responses. 3.6 Boundary lines: The population of this survey was delimited to a big Numberss of schools. Center of focal point in this survey is schools of Karachi. Schools of different metropoliss in all over the state were excluded. The clip span for completion of the questionnaire by participants was one hebdomad in order to analyze, the in depth observation of instructors easy, every bit good as to cut down the clip span during which alterations in sentiment sing principals behavior might happen. 3.7 Statistical Procedure: The information from the LPI and the SPSLC will be evaluated utilizing: descriptive statistics, including frequence distributions including mean, average, standard divergence and analysis of discrepancy for each school and matching superintendent informations. A individual with a 2-tailed non-directional trial will be used with the LPI profile informations and the SPSLC profile informations by utilizing Pearson ‘s correlativity coefficient ( i.e. , relationship between two or more variables ) across the dimensions of the leading manner of the school overseer and their several schools with the learning staff capableness to go a professional acquisition community. 3.8 RESEARCH Question: 1: How do school decision makers perceive their leading manner in the selected schools? This research inquiry was designed to qualify the leading manner of the school principal or overseer and his or her relationship with their staff. This inquiry was designed to qualify the leading manner of the overseer and principals of the sample schools. This information will be obtained from the overseer ‘s and principal ‘s completion of the LPI. Scoring and suggested contextual definition foe an appropriate leading manner is suggested by Kouzes & A ; Posner ( 1997 ) . 2: How do school instructors perceive their contemplation on professional acquisition? Using informations procured from the SPSLC completed and submitted by the take parting instructor ‘s of the schools, a information analysis was conducted to utilizing these variables with the SPSLC informations from each school. 3: How does teacher ‘s contemplation on professional acquisition differ by administrator leading manner? This inquiry intends to compare whether instructor ‘s contemplation on professional acquisition differ by schools with decision makers of different leading manner. 4: What are the relationship between decision maker ‘s leading manner and instructor ‘s contemplation on professional acquisition? This inquiry will be defined from the correlativity processs described utilizing the school overseers and school principal ‘s LPI information with the corresponding school ‘s SPSLC information. Table 3.4: Research Questions and the Descriptors and Dimensions used Research Questions Descriptive / Dimensions used How do school decision makers perceive their leading manner in the schools? Leadership Practices Inventory ( LPI ) Dimensions 1 – 5 How do school instructors perceive their contemplation on professional acquisition? School professional staff as a acquisition community ( SPSLC ) Dimensions 1 – 5 Forms 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b, 2c, 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, 3e, 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d and 5e How does teacher ‘s contemplation on professional acquisition differ by decision maker ‘s leading manner? School professional staff as a acquisition community ( SPSLC ) dimension 1 – 5 Forms 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b, 2c, 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, 3e, 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d, and 5e What are the relation ship between decision maker ‘s leading manner and instructor ‘s brooding perceptual experience on professional acquisition? Leadership Practice Inventory ( LP I ) Dimension 1 – 5 school professional staff ( SPSLC ) Dimension 1 – 5 Forms 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b, 2c, 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, 3e, 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d, and 5e 3.9 Summary: The intent of this survey is to measure the educational leading pattern that impact teacher ‘s contemplation on professional acquisition and the capablenesss of their school ‘s to go professional learning communities. Chapter III described the general research design and qualitative methods used in the survey. The school professional staff as a acquisition community ( SPSLC ) and leading Practice Inventory ( LPI ) study instruments were used to place schools as instance surveies were described in item. The site of this survey is 20 private and 20 public primary and secondary schools of Karachi. The questionnaire of LPI and SPSLC concerns instructor ‘s perceptual experiences about school staff and the principals as instructional leaders. LPI assessed the five major patterns exemplified by transformational leaders LPI 1-5 dimensions observed the qualities of principals. Each point of the 30 statements contained in the instrument was scored utilizing a seven-point Likert Scale. In this chapter we have discussed the cogency and dependability of LPI, sing different tabular arraies with their dimensions and forms to cognize how much LPI effectual as an instrument. On the other manus SPSLC continuously gives attending to five properties which are organisational agreements of school comprised of 17 forms and helps to alter school organisation into a acquisition community. It provides a powerful communicating to measure a relationship between instructors and principals. Calculated Dat a identifies the important relationship by utilizing Pearson ‘s coefficient correlativity. LPI and SPSLC will be evaluated descriptive statistics ( mean, average, standard divergence, analysis of discrepancy ( ANOVA ) and determine average differences among LPI groups and relationship between two or more variables which are leading manner of the school principals and their professional staff ‘s part as a acquisition community.