Maggie Hobson Essay

Maggie’s personality in act one gives us the impression that she is very bossy and always wants her own way, â€Å"this is a shop you know, we are not here to let people go without buying†. She is bossing Albert Prosser into buying a pair of boots. I think that this makes her have an unpleasant appearance and is not the sort of person people like very much. During the play the author changes your mind by showing a different aspect to her personality. In act one, she acts very busy â€Å"she crosses and takes her place at desk†, â€Å"she busies herself with an account book†. This makes us think that she is the main boss of the shop. We also think that she does most of the work. The first thoughts of her is that she is anti-social. Alice : â€Å"oh it’s you, I hoped it was father going out†. Maggie : â€Å"it isn’t†. She is acting ‘businesslike’ and doesn’t seem to be acting very friendly to her sister Alice. Maggie is unromantic, she doesn’t think that there is any need for courtship before marriage, â€Å"See that slipper with the fancy buckle on to make it pretty ? Courting’s like that my lass. All glitter and no use to nobody. † This shows that she doesn’t believe in courting. Really courting is nothing like a slipper, but Maggie has a practical personality and doesn’t believe in wasting time. She is a lady who always get what she wants and doesn’t believe that you should waste time over courting when you can get married straight away. Maggie organises the household and arranges the dinner time, â€Å"so that, if you stay more than an hour in the Moonraker’s Inn, you’ll be late for it. † This show that she is trying to take over the main lead in the family role, when it should be her father’s role to say when the dinner should be ready because that was the norm in that era. Maggie has swapped roles with him. Hobson is very rude to his daughters, Alice and Vicky, about their delight in fashionable clothing and the idea of getting them married. Maggie is not included in the conversation of marriage. She then asks him what he thinks of her getting married. He lets her know he hasn’t given her any thought of marriage and is very rude giving his opinion of her, â€Å"but if you want the brutal truth, you’re pass the marrying age, you’re a proper old maid Maggie if ever there was one. † She reacts offended and upset to this remark and tells him that she is only thirty. We can tell that she wants to get married as well as her two sisters, Alice and Vicky.

Adolf Hitler Final

Adolf Hitler was born in 1889 on April 20th. He was a son to an Austrian customs official who was at the age of 52 at Hitler’s birth. His father was called Alois Schickelgruber Hitler and his mother who was a third wife of his father was called Klara Poelzi.Both were from lower Austria. Hitler was resentful and moody he was never contented with anything; he was argumentative and short tempered. In fact he was very hostile to his father who was an authoritarian but greatly attracted to his mother who was very hard working.His mother’s death of cancer was a very big blow to the adolescent Hitler whom he adored very much in fact he went with a photo of his mum wherever he went. His mother was loving, caring and she always sided with Hitler whenever his father’s bitterness got the better of him. Hitler and his father always crossed swords when his father insisted that Hitler should become a civil servant Hitler wanted to be an artist.In school (Ellis J., 1945, 198) H itler was unpopular and stayed aloof. He was an introvert and made very few friends.He was extremely lazy and performed dismally in school. In later years he claimed that history was his favorite subject and that he performed very well something that his teacher objected to. For example, the 1905’s Hitler’s final school report shown that in history results were rated only as ‘satisfactory’. Hitler was capable of performing well but never worked for it.When Hitler was only 13 years his father died and after that he dropped out of school as there was no strong influence to keep him in school. His mother supported him while he was in school though he performed poorly.Even after Hitler’s father died he never stopped his dream of becoming an artist and after he left school for Vienna he started to pursue his dream although his mother’s death shattered his life. He was affected psychologically by his mother’s death of cancer. Those who were close to Hitler said that he even spent hours gazing at the dead body of his mother and drawing the sketches of it.He had applied for a vacancy in Vienna so that he could pursue his goal of becoming an artist; his application to the Vienna academy of art was rejected. At that time he had no job and money. In the meantime, he used to sell post cards and clearing snow pathways in return for money. It is at this time that Hitler’s mind became warped.He developed very strong animosity towards Jews. This was because the Jewish professor at Vienna academy rejected his work, secondly he blamed the Jewish doctor for not preventing the death of his mother and third because he thought that it was only the Jews who were rich and stayed in those beautiful houses on whose snow bound paths he cleared. His hatred of the Jews was known as anti-Semitism.For the five years he stayed in Vienna he referred this time as â€Å"five year of hardship and misery† in his book â€Å"Mein Kampfà ¢â‚¬  he blamed his hardship and miseries to the Jews. In an attempt to run away from his trouble, he tried to join Austrian army but he failed medically because of eating poor food and lack of sleeping enough.According to the medical report he was too weak to carry weapons. This time he was leading a life of hand to mouth. He did occasionally odd jobs and hawking the sketches he drawn in the town.Hitler compensated for the frustrations of his bachelor life miseries by going to the cheap cafes where he made his political harangues on his dreams of a Greater Germany to anyone who would listen to him. (Ellis J., 1945, 220)While still in Vienna, he acquired his first education in politics by learning about the Christian social mayor’s demagogical techniques. It was at this time that he perfected his stereotyped obsessive ness in anti-Semitism. He accused the Jews of having a conspiracy to put down the German nation and the purity of the creative Aryan raceHitler left Vienna for Munich in May 1913 and when in the following year the war broke out he joined the 16th barbarian infantry regiment where he served as a dispatch runner. Here he proved to be an able and to brave soldier. He even won the iron cross title for bravely though he never rose beyond the rank of lance corporal.Before the end of the First World War he was wounded twice forcing him to a hospital bed in Pomerania where he spent three months recuperating.After the November 18th abortive German revolution, Hitler became furious with age after the Germany’s military was defeated, he strongly believed he was the fit one to rescue his ravaged and humiliated nations from the hell of troubles it inherited from the Versailles treaty from Jews and Bolsheviks.In 1924 Hitler said in a written document that he was fortunate to live at such a time. He was a regimental massager whose job was to convey messages to officers behind the front line and then back to the front line with new messages.This w as a dangerous job and proved beyond reasonable doubts that he was a brave solder. His fellow compatriots were not amused by how Hitler kept on bragging over the achievements of the trench warfare. They also hated him because he did not mix with them well. Later he was promoted to the rank of a corporal but this promotion was not fair to him taking in to consideration that after those four years he was given that simple promotion.His colleagues thought that his inability to socialize and mix with others well and his inability to sell his ideas well to the rest of the members comprised his promotion. They argued that why should you promote someone who was not popular to his people. Though his colleagues never liked him he was much recognized by the officers for his bravely which worn him the Germany’s highest award-Iron Cross. In total he received six medals which were due in his bravery.Up to 1918 (Gilbert M., The Second World War: p 72) Hitler was still convinced that German y was winning the war but the war cost Hitler a lot in fact.In the same year just one month before the war ended, he was gas attacked at type and this made him to be temporary blind though for a period of three months he as in hospital bed, when he received the news that Germany had lost out of the hospital and his eyesight restored. He felt deeply convinced that Germany was defeated simply because of the Jews.It never occurred to him that Germany would have surrendered he felt that the Jews back stabbed Germany and it was a perfect idea if they were eliminated in Germany. Hitler had been temporarily blind because of the mustard gas attack he received in October 1918 in Belgium.While Hitler was recovering from the injuries he sustained in the war, the communities with the help from the Jews were trying to establish themselves and sell their ideas to Germany but their moves were abortive. They wanted to revolutionize Germany from capitalism to communism and from 9th November 1918 the socialists took control of the government.After Germany had lost the war the monarchy system came to an end and it become a republic and a constitution was made a slot for a president with political and military might.An election was done and the Centrist government took over and it came to be called the Weimar Republic. The German government on June 28th 1919 ratified the treaty of Versailles. It stated that Germany was responsible for causing the first thus it was required to pay the reparations to the allied powers or the victorious powers like Britain, France and Italy.The treaty was also required Germany to demilitarize the Rhineland, limit its army to only 100,000 army men and to control its military strength. These terms of the treaty were humiliating the Germans and they undermined the proper performance of the Germany’s government. These oppressive terms were used against liberating Germany from the humiliations caused by the treaty.Hitler especially used these term s as his campaign tool. He echoed the paining terms of the treaty and condemned it. By doing this, he was able to rally behind a big mass of supporters. He believed that Germany was a great nation and was not a simple country that could be subjected to humiliations of such magnitudes.  In 1923, Hitler sensing that Weimar government was on the verge of collapsing, General Ludendorff himself and the local nationalists tried to overthrow the Bavarian government. Hitler stormed in a bar at Munich and fired a pistol in to the ceiling; he shouted out that he was the head of the new provisional government that would bring a revolution to the â€Å"Reed Berlin†Thinking he had already overthrown the government he marched with about three thousand men but met a very strong police fire that saw 16men dead. He was captured and arrested. In 1924, February 26 he was tried and he somehow succeeded in convincing his accusers that he was pursuing the right goal.He shouted pronounce us guilt y a thousand time over the goddess of the eternal court of history will smile and tear to pieces the state prosecutors submission and the court’s verdict for she acquits us†(Morrow J., 1663; 234)Hitler was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison in Landsbergis fortress and nine months later he was released. He advanced his stereotyped and prejudiced views against Jews. The experience he acquired from the abortive power overturn transformed him from being unskilled adventurer to a wise politician.He realized that it is not a wise idea to face gun nozzles of the army unless he was in command. He also comes to know that Germany was not to be revolutionized through unlawful and powerful seizure of the ruling government but by the alteration of the Weimer’s constitution. He began mobilizing the mass which had become disintegrated to push for changes in the government.He drafted the party’s manifesto which comprised of twenty five points and on 24th Febr uary read the content to his followers .Those who opposed him and his ideas were crushed with whips and rubber truncheons by his royal supporters.Hitler was eloquent and new how to manipulate the population by employing his propagandas or what can be referred to as the demagogical skills, in his draft he openly criticized the Versailles treaty and leveled his anger on Jews.When Hitler was released from prison having only served for only nine months, he resolved using diplomatic means to seize power. He called for Germany to stand up to the yoke of Jews and communists and support an empire that would rule them for a thousand years. In 1929, the wall stock exchange collapsed, all the external grants and loans dried up and all the industrial production flopped and many people were rendered jobless.After the elections that were held (Adreas H, 1982; 91) Hitler’s party scooped 18% of the votes in 1930 and after two years Hitler won 30% of the votes as a president. In 1932 July the Nazi party which was the biggest than others did not get the majority.Hitler wanted to be the chancellor but was given the post of a vice chancellor in the government which was formed by different parties but he rejected. After that a deal was reached which saw him becoming the chancellor in 1933. After Paul von Hindenburg who had beaten him in the election died (Beevor A., 2002; 137)Hitler was agreed through a consensus to succeed Hindenburg. After Hitler took over he suppressed all the other political parties and become a dictator. With the improving economy he was able to advance his ideas he even build an industrial machine as a preparation for war. By 1937, he was ready to execute his ever dreamt of plans as were outlined in his book Mein Kampf.Those who objected to his master plans were thrown out of the way. In 1935, he refused to stick to the terms of the Versailles treaty and started rearming by recruiting five times contrary to the agreement and he pushed Britain to let h im increase his naval base. A year later he marched on to Rhineland which was supposed to be demilitarized. He met no resistance from the allied powers. Afterward, Luftwaffe was build. This re-armament created jobs and economic growth.According to (Adreas H. 1982; 78) Hitler forced France and Britain to break the Munich agreement and led to the eventual Czechoslovakia dismantlement in 1939. He executed the Jews and political extremists who opposed his ideas. In 1939, September 1st he invaded Poland.He applied his new war strategy which was called blitzkrieg which involved short quick attacks, fast mobile armor and ground men to wipe anything that might have been left by the bombs. Poland was defeated in less than a month. In 1941, he dishonored the non-aggression pact which he had signed with the Soviet Union.This made him to have two front wars. In December the same year, USA joined the war against him to join hands with the allies. In 1944, the allies had greatly advanced. They bo mbed Germany cities and crushed Germany’s friend-Italy.The war turned sour on his side because his soldiers started disobeying him and even mutinied. Also when his chosen lieutenants saw that they were about to be defeated, they started going against Hitler’s wishes although his dream of wiping European Jews had been realized. He had already killed 2/3 of the total; Jewish population.When he sensed defeat, he killed himself on 1945 April 30th. Later, Eva Brawn his wife who was a long time mistress and by then newly married committed suicide to follow his husband. Hitler committed suicide by shooting himself in the mouth with a pistol. Their bodies were taken to the Reich Chancellery Gardens where they were cremated in petrol fire. His death marked the end of unrealized legacy of Germanic Reich.

Grammar school Essay

From 1834, the year of emancipation of slaves in Dominica and the other British West Indian colonies to 1845, the popular education that was existent was really religious education. The concept of a state system of education in the West Indies emerged in Britain in 1833 as part of the act to emancipate slaves in British custody. Prior to that, the masses of the people had practically no formal education. In Dominica, from 1834 onwards, the British subsidized primary education through grants but basically, education was imported and promoted mainly by missionaries. The content of education was divorced from the interests and needs of the masses and the community. Emphasis was on the classics and the arts. There is little doubt that the churches original interest in education was the creation of influential educated elite. In practice, their interests were denominational, especially seen in the establishment of secondary schools. Proposed educational policies depended greatly on the availability of funds, which were always insufficient. Therefore, changes and reforms were minimal. The newly elected legislative councils and their leaders gave little support. In reality, education, in practice was for a privileged minority. The populace remained virtually ignorant and illiterate. The pre-emancipation society was therefore not in any sense an educated one. Where slaves received any instruction at all it was of a religious nature provided by the church at long intervals. The authorities had no aims or standards; hence there was no system of formal education. It was against this background that the British Imperial Government incorporated an education grant in the 1833 Act of Emancipation to assist in the educational development of the Negroes. Establishing schools for the masses was provided for by the Act, which included grant money from the imperial government to provide education in the ex-slave colonies. This grant money is known as the Negro Education Grant. It was regarded as an urgent matter. The total grant amounted to a mere ? 30,000 per annum for five years for all the BWI of almost one million people. The decision to allocate the grant was executed through the local legislatures and the religious bodies. The grant was decreased each year and ended in 1845. The denominations were offered financial help to build schools, and later to assist in the payment of teachers’ salaries as the best means of developing a system of education. Dominica’s share of the Grant amounted only to ? 600 to be spent on 14,000 ex-slaves. This amount was very insignificant and was spent mainly by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (SPCK). After two years it became apparent that the desired and intended results were not forthcoming because of the many difficulties faced. Some churches were unable to accept more grants because they could not bear the recurrent expenditure on their schools. In August 1837, the grant was switched to pay one-third of teachers’ salaries instead. This was insufficient, and the societies did not expand their operations further. As the expected expansion did not materialise the imperial government was disappointed. Hence, the union of the imperial government, local legislatures and the churches could not fulfil the early ambition to create a viable education system. Thus, in 1841, the imperial government started to withdraw the fund. The Mico trustees who had done the most protested, but to no avail. In 1845 it came to an end, and so the burden fell on the West Indian legislatures and workers to increasingly support the education of their own children. In Dominica, the drive towards education for the masses was assisted by the local legislature, thus complimenting the work done by charities and the churches so that by July 1840, Dominica had 20 schools, 10 teachers, 1,086 pupils and total average attendance was 750. The British Imperial Government gave two main reasons for ending the NEG: 1. English workers were said to be worse-off than West-Indian workers 2. The Baptists were said to be prospering – although they had refused all aid Both claims were false. The churches lacked both money and resources. The British felt in the case of Dominica that the Catholic Church could not and would not provide appropriate education. They therefore supported alternatives to church schools. They decided to provide secular schools and to withdraw grants to the church schools. This was strongly opposed until a compromise was reached. The main success of the period of the NEG was the idea of popular education. The Provision of Secondary Education in Dominica: Providers and Gender Issues From the foregoing, one can appreciate the fact that the provision of education was a task that involved the participation of several providers or stakeholders: The British Imperial Authority, the Local Legislature or Assembly, the Church (especially the Catholics) and the Charities (especially the Mico Trust). Prior to emancipation, the provision of education was the responsibility of the churches and the charities. Education was very limited and very few benefited. In reality, what ever was taught was basically religious education. With the passage of the Act of Emancipation, an attempt was made to establish popular education. The NEG thus provided the needed funds for this purpose but eventually ended in failure. These funds were channelled through the bodies mentioned above, especially through the charities and the churches. By 1868 the main providers were mainly the state (the Local Legislature) and the church. It must not be forgotten that the vast majority of the population were Catholics and therefore co-operation and compromise between the two bodies were of paramount importance. By that date, the majority of primary schools belonged to the state i. e. 18 out of 33 (54%). This was unique, for no other West Indian society had such participation by the state in educational provision. In the case of secondary education, the provision was by the Church (Catholic). The first establishment for the provision of secondary education was the Convent High School (CHS) in 1858. This was exclusively for the children of the local elite. The children of the rural peasantry and the working classes were excluded. The state provided some funds for the school. But there were no secondary education provided for the masses. It is again unique to Dominica in that early period that post-primary education was being provided only to girls when this gender was marginalized in the rest of the W. I and in Britain itself. Even today, in 2000, over 65% of secondary school students are girls. The figures for the Clifton Dupigny Community College, University of Technology (Jamaica) and University of the West Indies are roughly the same. In the case of Dominica, male marginalisation has had a long history, contrary to popular opinion. Due to mounting pressure and clamour for secondary education for boys and the children of the masses, the state established the Dominica Grammar School (DGS) on the 16th of January 1893, with a registration list of 25 boys under the headmastership of one tutor, Mr. W. Skinner (M. A – a graduate from Catherine’s College, Cambridge, England). It was to be run as a government school, with the aim to provide higher education for boys. The building being used was a personal gift from Mr. Dawbiney, a respectable Jamaican who had settled in the island. The DGS remained a boy’s school until 1972. This occurred at a time when the number of girls selected by the Common Entrance Examinations far surpassed that of boys. The first DGS girls came from the CHS and the WHS. The total number of girls on the roll for that year totalled 34 out of a total of 560 students. Thus a reluctant but necessary era commenced in that year – the DGS becoming a co-educational institution under the headship of Mr. J. K. Gough (B. Sc; Dip. Ed. from Scotland). In that same year there were 14 Dominican staff members who were university graduates. Not to be outdone by the Catholics, the Wesleyan Society (Methodists) following the tradition of their rivals, opened the second high school for girls in the island, the Wesley High School (WHS) in October 1927. By that year, 80% of the students accessing secondary education were girls. This again was a unique situation second to none in the W. I. This further marginalized the boys given the restrictive and limited nature of access at the time. At this juncture, it is necessary to appreciate the great effort expended by the churches in the provision of secondary education in the island of Dominica, albeit for denominational reasons. In 1932, the Christian Brothers (Catholics) opened the second educational establishment providing secondary education for boys, the Saint Mary’s Academy (SMA). By that year educational provision was roughly equal for both genders with boys now having the slight edge, notwithstanding the fact that the girls were doing better in entrance and scholarship exams. There were insufficient spaces available. An entrance examination would soon be rigorously applied to ration out, select and match the number of students to the available supply of places. This state of inequitable affairs became unbearable as the girls were now being marginalized in favour of boys who were securing less ‘passes’ than girls in the exams. In other words, the selection was a function of available places. The two boys’ schools had more places than the two girls’ schools. Therefore, fewer girls were selected although their average scores were higher than that of boys who secured places. In the1972/1973 school year, the Labour government of Mr. Edward Oliver Leblanc took the bold step to make the DGS co-educational. This occurred at a time when the number of girls who had succeeded at the Common Entrance Examinations far surpassed that of boys. Since then, girls have kept on increasing the education gap or divide to the extent that in Dominica and the West Indies this problem of ‘male marginalisation’ and ‘male underachievement’ and the like, have now become so serious that it threatens the whole concept of male patriarchy. The year 1972 has been regarded as a milestone in Dominica’s educational history as far as secondary education is concerned. From that year all new secondary schools have opted to become co-educational with the exception of the Saint Martin’s Secondary School in 1988. Another important milestone in our educational history is the year 1971. For the first time, secondary educational provision moved out of Roseau with the establishment of the co-educational Portsmouth Secondary School (PSS). This greatly reduced the cost burden to parents in the northwest, north and northeast of the island, who, hitherto had to make tremendous sacrifices to provide education for their children in the capital, Roseau. By 1974, the Common Entrance Examinations as a selector of educational life chances was psychologically so devastating to pupils that those who were not selected felt that they were ‘rejects’ and ‘failures’ with no hope or future. It was against this backdrop that a group of concerned persons headed by Ms. Jean Finucane-James decided to provide a ‘second chance’ to those pupils that was not based on a selective exam. This co-educational school was named the Dominica Community High School (DCHS). Apart from the PSS, the early 1970s were characterised for having secondary education concentrated in the capital city of Roseau. The ‘70s was a period of political upheaval. In August 1979, Hurricane David struck and the island was devastated: 43 deaths, massive destruction of crops and the forest, wildlife was decimated, schools and the social and economic infrastructure was destroyed. The economy came to a standstill. Educationally, the students suffered greatly. A large number of students from the northeast could not attend the Roseau schools. In the aftermath of the hurricane, two schools were opened in the northeast: St. Andrew’s High School (SAHS) in 1979, located in Londonderry which is run and operated by the Methodists and in 1980, the Marigot Foundation High School (MFHS) headed by Mr. Martin Roberts, a former Methodist minister. The last named school was eventually renamed the Marigot Secondary School (MSS) when in 1999 it passed over to the state. These two schools are co-educational institutions. In this catchment area the Common Entrance Exams consistently selects more girls than boys. In the 1980s four schools were established. In 1981, the Seventh-Day Adventists began to provide secondary education. The Seventh-day Adventist Secondary School (SASS) is located in the Portsmouth suburb of Granvillia. It is a co-ed school. In that very same year the co-ed St. Joseph Campus of the DGS was opened which later became a separate entity as the St. Joseph Secondary School. In 1996 it was renamed the Isaiah Thomas Secondary School. In 1988, two government co-ed secondary schools were established from what were formerly Junior Secondary Programmes: the Goodwill Secondary School (GSS) and the Grand Bay Secondary School (GBSS). In that same year, the Catholic–run St. Martin’s School for girls upgraded its technical/vocational wing into a fully-fledged secondary school called the St. Martin’s Secondary School (SMSS). With the opening of these new schools and the continued use of the Common Entrance Exams the gender balance continue to be in favour of girls to the detriment of boys. In October 1994 the Nehemiah Christian Foundation headed by Mrs. Rhoda George opened the Nehemiah Comprehensive School with 60 boys and girls. The school is located in Jimmit, Mahaut. In the financial year 1995/96 the government entered into a loan agreement  with the World Bank to fund the Basic Education Reform Project (BERP). One of the three main objectives of the project was to expand access to secondary education. Under the project, this objective was fulfilled in the co-ed Castle Bruce Secondary School (CBSS) in 1998. TABLE I DOMINICA: Academic Secondary Schools, 2002/03 |School |Year Founded |Boys |Girls |Total |Status | |Convent High School | | | | | | | |1858 |0 |493 |493 |Assisted | |Dominica Grammar School |1893 |518 |281 |799 |State | |Wesley High School |1927 |0 |287 |287 |Assisted | |St. Mary’s Academy |1932 |420 |0 |420 |Assisted | |Portsmouth Secondary School |1971 |402 |435 |837 |State | |Dominica Community High School |1975 |79 |46 |125 |Assisted | |St. Andrew’s High School |1979 |233 |292 |525 |Assisted | |Marigot Secondary School |1980 |86 |59 |145 |Assisted | |Isaiah Thomas Secondary School |1981 |312 |393 |705 |State | |SDA Secondary School |1981 |108 |87 |195 |Private | |St. Martin’s Secondary School |1988 |0 |306 |306 |Assisted | |Goodwill Secondary School |1988 |380 |262 |642. |State | |Grand Bay Secondary School |1988 |334 |343 |677 |State | |Nehemiah Comprehensive School |1994 |64 |73 |137 |Assisted | |Castle Bruce Secondary School |1998 |266 |291 |557 |State | |Orion Academy |2003 | | | |Private | |Total | |3 202 |3 648 |6 850 | | Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth Affairs, 2002/03 The School Curriculum Several factors impinge on the development of the curriculum in Dominica: slavery, colonialism, politics, economics, religion, socio-cultural biases, parents, teachers and the learners themselves. In the pre-emancipation era the curriculum that existed was of a religious nature. The society was largely illiterate and ignorant. There existed no notion or idea of popular or mass education. With emancipation in 1834, the rudiments of a system of education began to take shape. The limited curriculum was non-scientific and bookishly academic based on rote and memory teaching and learning. By 1868, as the primary system took root the three r’s were taught namely reading, writing and arithmetic. The system that was taking shape was one that would provide labourers and servants and no more. At the secondary level, the curriculum catered for the children of the elite: Maths, Science, Geography, English, Greek, and Latin. The colonial powers and the local legislatures controlled the educational system. In other words, the ruling elites/classes decided who should be taught, what should be taught, when, how and where. The entire process from start to finish was decided for the learner. In 1899, Agriculture was being promoted as a subject to be taught so that the learner would become an agricultural labourer or worker on an estate or join the ranks of the impoverished peasantry. So agricultural schools were encouraged. In this way the islands would remain as sources of primary agricultural produce. When the British abolished the local legislatures and imposed direct crown colony rule the curriculum again was being used as a tool to keep the masses in their place. It limited them to learn the basics and agriculture. Attempts were made to improve education at the end of the First World War (1914-1918): salaries to teachers, payments by results and attempts at compulsory education. The West Indian Conference in Dominica in 1932 urged the region to struggle for compulsory education among other things. This failed. In 1957, the ministerial system was brought to Dominica with some exercise of authority by the house of assembly. But power still lied with the British parliament. Budgets could be passed, but had to be approved by Britain. In 1967, Dominica became an associate state with Gt. Britain. All internal matters were under local jurisdiction, but foreign affairs, trade and defence resided with Gt. Britain. Dominica could now influence and shape educational progress, but very little happened. The primary system continued to develop. The high schools became stagnant. The last one to be established was in 1936 (SMA). Thirty-seven years passed before the next one, the PSS was established. By 1978, the curriculum at the primary was now being driven by the Common Entrance Examinations to the detriment of all else. The same thing could be found at the secondary schools. The entire curriculum was driven by foreign external examinations. The foreign element was removed in 1985 when we switched from the Cambridge and London GCE ‘O’ Levels to the regionally based CXC examinations. But the GCE ‘A’ Levels still continue to dictate the curriculum at the post-secondary level. In 1998, CXC began to test pilot its own ‘A’ Levels known as CAPE, which will soon replace the English-based GCE ‘A’ Levels. The School Curriculum and Examinations The CXC and the GCE curriculum dictate the locus and focus of secondary education in Dominica. These exams cater for the 30-40% of the ability range of secondary students. The entire curriculum was driven by foreign external examinations. The foreign element was removed in 1985 when we switched from the Cambridge and London GCE ‘O’ Levels to the regionally based CXC examinations. But the GCE ‘A’ Levels still continue to dictate the curriculum at the post-secondary level. In 1998, CXC began to test pilot its own ‘A’ Levels known as CAPE, which will soon replace the English-based GCE ‘A’ Levels. The HSC, LSC and GCE dominated the curriculum of secondary schools since the 1880s. The failure rates were very high at both the ‘O’ and ‘A’ Levels. It was also a drain on the scarce resources of the region. The minimum of 5 ‘O’ Level subjects were required to move into the sixth form and five subjects were needed of which 2 must be at ‘A’ Level for university entry. The Caribbean was influenced by educational and curriculum developments in North America and Europe, especially Britain. Revolutionary curricular changes in maths and science were being undertaken in the USA as a result of the Russian success in Sputnik I. In the U. K, the Nuffield Foundation invested heavily in a science development project. In 1969-70, the West Indian Science Curriculum Innovation Project (WISCIP) began at St. Augustine, UWI, and Trinidad. It was a new approach with emphasis on enquiry and experimentation, understanding and constructive thinking. This was introduced in the DGS and the other high schools of the time. During that same period ‘New Mathematics’ was introduced in the schools’ curriculum. All five of the secondary schools in Dominica adopted it. The Convent High School had their first ‘O’ Level candidates in 1971, and the DGS in 1972. Results in all Caribbean schools were not so good at first because of the unfamiliarity with the new approaches and topics such as inverses, identities, algebra of sets and matrices, decimalisation and metrification, vectors, inequalities and topology. At first most of the schools used the School Mathematics Project (SMP) books, but these were replaced by the Joint Schools Project (Caribbean edition) series, as part of the CEDO/UNESCO/UWI Caribbean Mathematics Project. The CXC was established in 1972 to serve the Commonwealth Caribbean. The process took over 10 years. The CXC was to replace the GCE exams. It would develop syllabi, conduct exams and issue certificates. This was a form of asserting cultural and intellectual independence from our colonial past and from Britain. Politically, the Caribbean has eschewed integration. There was the West Indian Federation as colonies of Britain (1958-1962). It ended in failure due to insularity, nationalism and dependency. With independence, the nations can dictate their educational goals and match these to national needs. In Dominica, we have not had a long history of educational reforms established in law. In 1949 an Education Act was passed to regulate and govern the sector. This was changed in 1997 when the new Education Act was passed. This was part of an attempt to harmonise education legislation in the Eastern Caribbean. In 1995 the Basic Education Reform Project was launched (BERP). The Project had three main objectives: 1. to strengthen the management and planning capacity of the Ministry, 2. to enhance the quality of education, and 3. to expand and conserve school places. Economically, we live in an interdependent world, a global village. We are partners bargaining from a position of weakness. Unequal terms of trade, onerous foreign debts, trade deficits and balance of payment problems deplete our resources so that our educational budgets are severely constrained. In general (1999 – 2004), Dominica spends about 17% of its recurrent budget on education, 1-2% on materials and supplies and about 80% on personal emoluments. New Curriculum Developments. Primary schools follow a curriculum, which has recently been reviewed by the Curriculum Development Unit (CDU). Schools have been provided with curriculum guides for English Language, Mathematics and General Science for Grades K to 6. Curriculum guides for Social Studies, Mathematics, Science and English Language were to become available in September 1999 for grades K to 6. A curriculum guide for Social Studies has been prepared for Form 1 at the secondary level. Workbooks for Grades k to 3 for English were to have been made available from September 1999. In addition a curriculum guide for Health and Family Life covering primary and secondary age ranges is being monitored and supported in schools. A draft national policy for this was presented to Cabinet in August 1998 but has not yet been officially approved. The CDU has planned to review Music, PE, Art and Craft, and Agriculture in 2001 as well as to start writing and production of support materials for pupils and teachers. The revised primary schools curriculum appears to be appropriate at the national level. The main problem appears to be in its delivery. The main need at the primary level for curriculum development is in relation to adapting the teacher’s guides for multigrade teaching and provision of differentiated activities for all subjects and all classrooms. Dominica does not have a National Curriculum and therefore, the curriculum de facto is determined by each school and in practice is closely related to the requirements of the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) other external examinations and higher ability students. A balance needs to be struck between the academic and practical skills education in the secondary sector in any future national curriculum. The Ministry of Education has outlined the following process to arrive at the promulgation and implementation of the National Curriculum (NC): National Curriculum Committee (NCC) established in school year 1999/2000 NCC reviews existing curriculum: locally and regionally Under the NCC, Subject Teams and Subject Areas are established Development of Syllabi, and Curriculum Guides in Core Subject Areas Curriculum Training of Staff/Subject Team Members Resource Provision First Draft National Curriculum in Core Subject Areas Review of Draft Curriculum Development of Curricula in other subject areas. Establishment of National Norms and Standards for all subjects Piloting of National Curriculum in a cross-section of schools Promulgation of National Curriculum by Minister of Education Use by all schools of the National Curriculum as of September 2003 The Secondary Education Support Project (SESP) had been working with the Curriculum Development Unit (CDU) to write and pilot a revised curriculum for Forms 1 to 3 in the core subjects of English, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies, incorporating activities for average and below average ability pupils. Drafts of curriculum guides for Form 1 have been completed and were made available to schools in September 1999. All the guides for the four core subjects were made available in 2001. The CDU also has completed work in Music, Art, Craft, and Agriculture. However, the major curriculum need resides in the consideration of a curriculum which will meet the needs of all students – academic, technical/vocational, aesthetic, spiritual, moral and for citizenship and fulfill the ambitions set out in the 1997 Education Act. This would be especially so when Universal Secondary Education is achieved.

A study of the performance of the lucky plush dance in the product cinderbox 2.0

A study of the performance of the lucky plush dance in the product cinderbox 2.0 The Lucky Plush dance company graced the stage with their innovative and abstract performance of Cinderbox 2.0, a work that â€Å"explores reality television and the anxiety of hyper-networked America.† Although the term dance theatre has been mentioned in readings and lectures, never before has the literal combination of dance and theatre through choreography and text been seen on a live stage.The performance was rather complex, with several sensory media present at once to appeal to the audience. This essay will discuss the union of text, choreography, and multimedia in the piece, as well as the social commentary it attempts to make. Text and choreography creatively come together in Cinderbox 2.0 through the company’s twofold role of dancing and story telling. Throughout the work the performers switch off from dance to speech delivery; without one, the other would neither make sense nor be as effective to the audience. At the very beginning a female member delays the program by talking on her cell phone longer than expected, for example. After her monologue with the phone, she jumped right into her position (pushing someone out of the way in the process) and the dancing commenced. Near the end of the performance the company came together to lift one member at a time while that person spoke about a social issue in a lifted dancer’s position; this combination demonstrates another combination of text and choreography. The aesthetics of the movements complemented by the short monologues in succession augment the purpose of Lucky Plush’s performance. The structures of the text and choreography are both similar and different in the way that they were usually presented in a way in which they took turns dominating the stage at any particular moment in the piece; however they varied by length throughout and sometimes had no relation with one another. The ridiculous discussion of Fiji brand water, for example, would be separated from the dance and intertwined between the movements. Also, the moment in which the woman who always stops while attempting to sing a song (and asks to try again) occurred many times, but between dance breaks. Finally, a similarity in structure between text and choreography was that two or groups of two people usually performed both. The frequent pair work in the production further defines how it is indeed dance theatre. In addition, there were some moments in which dance and text were being performed at the same time on stage. An example of this is the illusion of the male and female dancer watching some sort of media(likely the television). Another male dancer was dancing in front of them, as if they were watching him; however the movements sometimes did not match up with what they were watching (although in the beginning there was a mention of fishing while the dancer was insinuating the activity). But every once in a while, when the female performer became excited at the sight of her favorite part of whatever she was watching, the dancer would correspond with her by shaking his head rapidly in front of her. There definitely was some abstract connection between the text and choreography here as well. All of these examples of the combination and connection of text and choreography compile into one thing: dance theatre. One cannot call Cinderbox 2.0 simply dance or theatre because aspects of each are seen within the performance; they function together to create modern dance with a purpose: in this case, a social commentary. At some points the dance and the theatrical pieces of the work do not appear to relate to one another, but at other points they would not be regarded by the audience as highly and mentally if they were not together. What is certain, however, is that dance and theatre are both used to entertain; therefore their combination into dance theatre augments the entertainment factor even further. This assists in conveying more prominently the ideas of the piece as a whole. Lucky Plush’s effort in displaying a seemingly chaotic performance does not go without purpose. The spectacle was a social commentary of a hyper-networked America, and how various media, especially television, plays a vital role. It all began with the woman on her phone, delaying the commencement of the dance. Later the pair watching ‘television’ becomes completely enthralled in the program by coming face to face with the dancer personifying said program. The Fiji water discussions and satirical individual interviews/commentaries (which were delivered while being lifted in a dancer’s position) expressed the characters’ self-appointed authority over the featured discussion of topics; they were only known as a result of the superficial information given by the various media to which they have been exposed. This moment in the performance was further highlighted with the singing of â€Å"We are the Champions† by Queen, increasing the idea that pe ople, as a result of media, develop a sense of false and undeserving pride. The performance ends with a fight in dance form: the result of empowerment by the media that leads to competition. Cinderbox 2.0 was a very difficult piece to decipher; it was filled with abstract and (at times) confusing details. Lucky Plush really succeeded in involving the audience by looking right at them and at one point in the production calling someone seated off stage amidst the crowd. They brought the spectators in to realize the consequences of being hyper-networked and excessively influenced by the media. It seems like the theatre-half of this work of dance theatre was more effective in conveying the underlying message. This performance demonstrates that any aspects of art can be combined to deliver something entertaining and insightful to an interested audience.

Marketing Myopia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Marketing Myopia - Essay Example A growth industry builds its success by replacing a previous utility or product and it is at risk of such same risk of replacement by future innovations. Thinking outside the box is not some initiative to make a difference or of being creative. Rather, it is a crucial component of every organization’s attempt for competitive advantage and survival. Levitt argued that there is really no such thing as a growth industry because everything works within a cyclical process. Here, an industry or a business may assume its strength because of the unchallenged superiority of the product, which displaced another that it has substituted. His evidences are legitimate and numerous. He cited the experiences of many industries that were considered boom sectors but eventually declined after several years. The cycle features organizations and products constantly replacing another because of wrong management perspective. The examples provided were the dry cleaning industry, the railroad industry and the grocery stores. Levitt also predicted that the electric utilities and gadgetry is in danger of the same trouble because technologies will then be discovered to offer newer and more efficient products. The idea is that when managers fail to think outside the box – beyond the periphery of their visions, their products tend to be swallowed by the cycle. On the other hand, once management think about the future and the decline of their product so that they are able to provide solutions and new innovations that will replace their own, competitors will have less opportunities for competitive advantage. Much of Levitt’s arguments are anchored on one simple principle – that survival for industries rests on perspectives. There are industries that are focused on their products and, hence, myopic in their management models. For example, the railroad company was focused on their product, which is the railroad. Had they opted to adopt a perspective that went beyond it, they would have thought about their business as that of transportation and, hence, was able to prevent the decline of their profits. Personally, I have experienced this myopia on account of my work experiences with three industries. For example, I worked for an Auto dealership several years ago. Now the management of this organization has been focused much on automobiles. For several months of my stay, I saw how such singularity in objective has hurt the sales of the organization. Clients are not only interested in cars but they look for things and services that go with it. For example, when sales people have everything there is to know about cars, we cannot answer questions about technology like how their mobile phones can be integrated with car accessories, for example. This is because we did not have them – no products offered beyond cars and, hence, we cannot offer services, much less the know-how. So fewer clients came to visit because we cannot offer more. The clien ts did not come because they did not want to. There was no reason to. This was also the same with some companies in the moving and storage company, which I was connected with for a time. There was a lot of opportunities either as additional services within moving and storage and related and new products and services that could have been served and provided customers the value and convenience of having many services at one outlet or in a single transaction. I can see many other industries not cited in the article that display marketing myopia. For example, there is the

Affirmative action- Trials within human resource management Term Paper

Affirmative action- Trials within human resource management - Term Paper Example The term â€Å"affirmative action† was first mentioned in the United States when President John F. Kennedy signed the Executive Order 10925 on March 6, 1961; this was then used to refer to initiatives that aimed to attain equality and prevent discrimination By 1965, the Executive Order 11246 was implemented, requiring all national contractors to make use of affirmative action when hiring employees, regardless of national origin, culture, and religion; in 1968, gender was then included in the anti-discrimination list. Aside from the US, other countries have taken similar approaches to promote equality in the society, such as Canada’s employment equity or the United Kingdom’s positive discrimination. Affirmative action is known to be a set of policies that consider gender, race, culture, religion, and national origin for an underprivileged or underrepresented population to obtain equal rights and benefits, thereby contradicting the outcomes of discrimination that h ave been passed down from every generation . Such policies emphasize a wide range of aspects, from health programs and social services to education and employment opportunities. Because affirmative action aims to encourage equal opportunities, it is typically applied in government actions and educational settings to make sure that all groups in the society are involved in such programs. Affirmative action can be exemplified through different forms, such as rigid quotas or encouragement of members of minority groups to apply for employment. Similarly, each intends to increase the number of underrepresented groups in the workplace, educational settings, or in any societal context. Programs that demonstrate affirmative action vary in terms of the extent to which they consider race as an important factor in making decisions and obtaining results. In 2001, representatives from the Americas gathered together to establish policies and implement strategies to combat racial discrimination. I n order to adopt affirmative and positive actions, paramount importance was attached to the creation of conditions for every individual to become involved both in decision making and realizing civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights with regards to all aspects of life on a foundation of non-discrimination (Global Rights, 2005). Such ideas acquired considerable support in the World Conference against Racism with which the Declaration and Programme of Action points out affirmative action as fundamental factor for the global struggle against discrimination. Due to the fact that international law promotes affirmative action, national and international treaties along with regional and global institutions have attempted to integrate countless norms that support equality and non-discrimination; more states are also being required to take on active roles in guaranteeing such rights. While a number of norms state that affirmative action is permissible, this form of positive a ction can be made mandatory by others. While the form and outline of such norms may slightly vary, nonetheless, international law requires that all states be involved in promoting affirmative action. Guidelines for Affirmative Action Plans and Programs Affirmative action should be supported in all contexts, such as in educational and workplace settings; therefore, educational institutions and organizations have proposed guidelines to promote equality among all individuals (Kravitz, Bludau, and Klineberg, 2008). For instance, American universities, in their intentions of seeking employees, have established guidelines for their affirmative action programs, directed towards women, minority groups, people with disabilities, and veterans, to which academic and staff members should comply. For instance, university policies that affect staff members should be reviewed to ensure the provision of equitable treatment for every employee, compliance with the legal requirements for avoidance of discrimination and equal employment opportunity, as well

Chinese and Comparative Company Law Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Chinese and Comparative Company Law - Case Study Example Nowadays, globalization has become a trend. If we want to develop our economy, we'd better cooperate with others and adjust ourselves to the environment. In such a situation, more and more foreign companies have swarmed into China and become one of the strong strength to support the development of the economy. In our country, there are also many aspects of company law in order to protect people's legal profit. For instance, there is an established system of the company, the capital system of the company and the restructuring system of the company. Company law is concentrated on the management of the companies. It is helpful for all of the stuff to get equal chances and gain equal treatment. For the head of the companies, it is good for them to organize and manage the whole company much better. "The company law is just like a pair of glasses for the shortsighted. Putting on it, you can see much clearer and strengthen your judgment. Without it, you shall not have sharp insight. "2 It is a good metaphor. If there is no law for a company, we have no way to protect people's legal right and the equal computation will get nowhere. Besides, it also can limit some people's right who are in high position. "If a member of a liquidation group is found to have abused his or her power to seek personal g ains by resorting to deception, or speculated the company's property, he or her shall be ordered to return the property to the company, have the illegal proceeds confiscated and be imposed a fine one time to five times the amount of the illegal proceeds. If the case is serious enough to constitute a crime, criminal responsibility shall be affixed according to law."3 Aim at not abusing the right, the law has made out the punishment. If anyone confirms it, they will be punished undoubtedly. Although the company law is just one part of Chinese law, it also promotes Chinese law's development. In worldwide, merger&acquisition companies have become one of the most popular forms. However, the complicated work model must be under the control of sound law. Merger&Acquisition Company is considered as a kind of system to welcome winners and eliminate losers in nowadays economical condition.