How to support a Gifted and Talented child in the classroom in Essay

How to support a Gifted and Talented child in the classroom in Mathematics - Essay Example The common notion is that gifted children, having abilities superior than the rest, need less assistance in terms of education. However, what is often overlooked is the fact that these children are not necessarily, â€Å"academically gifted†, so to speak. Intelligence is not restricted to academics. As such, a gifted child may be exceptionally adept to reading but poor in arithmetic. In other words, giftedness does not encompass all fields, contrary to common belief. In fact, psychologist Howard Gardner has proposed Multiple Intelligence theory, postulating that there are actually eight intelligence domains – among them are music, linguistic and logic and mathematics (Visser, Ashton & Vernon 2006, p.487). Of these mentioned domains, an important subject of interest is Mathematics, which, as pointed by several researchers such as Mji & Makgato (2006, p.253), most students are poor at. Nevertheless, given that the aspect of giftedness in terms of intelligence is multi-fac eted, it is necessary to establish at this point how the concept of giftedness would be used in this paper. The subject of argument is the gifted children who, regardless of their astuteness in other aspects of intelligence, exemplify high prowess in Mathematics. Moving on, it was mentioned that a lot of students perform below average in Mathematics; thus, in response to this, various steps are taken to improve teaching skills of instructors in educating students in this subject. But then again, given the common misconception on giftedness, gifted children are often overlooked in the classroom, with their special needs neglected. Diversity of Experience & Learning In the book written by Kennedy, Johnson & Tipps (2008, p. 40), it was argued that the point in dealing with gifted children is not to make them reach an achievement level that is established for all average students. Instead, support should be geared towards meeting the needs specific to these children. This is to say that children have varying experiences which may affect learning and performance (Bowman 1994). Overestimating the abilities of gifted children which may lead to unintentional neglect of their needs may hinder them from achieving their full potential. The present curriculum in most educational system is designed for average students. In this scenario, the average students are benefiting more in the curriculum because they are learning things while the gifted students are just left listening to concepts that they have already mastered. The average students are compelled to study and practice in order to hone their skills. In contrast, the gifted students do not need to struggle to learn. In most cases, this experience has taught them that everything comes out way too easy; hence, they may not be as receptive to new ideas as average students do. Since gifted students can easily understand and acquire skills due to the average pace of teaching, they usually suffer from boredom and frustrat ion (Collins 2001, p.xiv). Further, since they are not challenged, most of them gradually lack motivation resulting to underachievement (Diezman, Faragher, Lowrie & Bicknell 2004, p. 8). As a matter of fact, there are gifted students who do not perform well simply because they lack interest or are occupied with perfectionism (CCEA 2006, p.6). In the long run, this lack of motivation may result to being left behind, achieving things below their levels. Therefore, it is important to

Zara A Business Overview With IT Recommendations Research Paper

Zara A Business Overview With IT Recommendations - Research Paper Example The way in which the company is designed supports a great deal of IT support, however, the IT that is currently being used is now out of date and the company is in danger of losing access to the necessary hardware it needs to operate. The operating system is out of date and may no longer be made by the manufacturer. Therefore, Zara is in need of an update that will provide the company with a more solid foundation from which to find continued success. Zara: A Business Overview With IT Recommendations Case study Zara is a clothing manufacturer and retailer that has taken a unique and highly successful approach to their creation, delivery and sales. Zara is a subsidiary of Inditex and is based out of Spain, having been founded by Amancio Ortega with over 800 stores worldwide. The success of the store has led to some amazing achievements, including the launch of a 20,000 square feet outlet in Dublin, Ireland (Hines & Bruce, 2007, p. 247). The business model has embraced the idea of the d isposability in combination with the speed at which trends shift, creating a system that delivers clothing to the stores in the quickest possible ways with volume created through a large number of styles with few of each style created. From the design room to the floor will average five weeks of production with a two week turnaround when a style is redesigned. The target markets for the retailer is women, men, and children - basically covering everyone who needs to wear clothing (Dickens, 2007, p. 267). Zara approaches their business model by equating clothing to food and giving it an expiration date. Through the way in which they designs are created, Zara has appeal to a broad variety of demographics with the designs crossing age boundaries and style boundaries, servicing the greatest number of people possible. The clothing was â€Å"not designed and manufactured to be highly durable; they were described as ‘clothes to be worn ten times’† (Through having a large number of styles and limiting the production runs on those styles, the theory is that one of the styles available will appeal to the consumer. In addition, through the limited number of each style and the high turnover, consumers feel encouraged to visit the store frequently. The profit margin is low on each garment, but because of the volume, the overall profit is high. In continuing the idea that the clothing is like food, the style can become stale, thus creating a short shelf life for each design. According to Dutta (2002), Zara changes its stock twice per week so that what is in the store is always new and fresh. Speed is the key to the model that Zara has been designed around. The first way in which the company creates quick turnover of its fashions is by having their manufacturing plants in Europe as opposed to Asia or Africa where the wages for workers would be lower. However, Zara considers the advantage of speed more important than the savings that would be seen from plan ts that were in lower wage countries. The salaries in Spain average around 2000 Euro per month, where in Asia the same worker would be paid around 300 Euro. Money is saved in shipping and in time, so the offset is considered worth the differences (Capell, 2008). An example of the problems that are solved by having plants near the outlets can be seen by the unusually warm autumn of 2003 when warmer clothing was not selling very well. While other companies were having problems with high levels of stock that was sitting on the shelves, Zara was able to quickly reposition its inventory and create new designs that were more appropriate to the weather (Tiplady, 2006). Goals and strategy If one

Effective Leadership and Teamwork in Nursing

Effective Leadership and Teamwork in Nursing Effective leadership and teamwork in nursing, with particular reference to psychiatric (mental health) nursing, within the context of professional practice and client (patient) perspectives As part of the campaign to deliver effective health and social care, the Government’s modernisation agenda focuses on strengthening nursing leadership and developing inter-professional teamwork. It is proposed that having good quality clinical leadership skills among all health professionals is perceived as vital to the provision of high-quality, effective patient-centred care, as well as for the development and future of the National Health Service (NHS) (Department of Health (DOH), 2000, pp59-71). Nurse leadership has developed significantly over the past decade and now nurses can become nurse consultants, nurse practitioners, and modern matrons or run nurse-led units. It is debated that high calibre nurse leadership can produce more motivated and effectual staff, reduce the risk of errors in drug management, decrease staff turnover and rates of sickness, result in fewer patient complaints and most importantly improve patient care (Williams et al, 2001, pp1-3). This essay wi ll critically analyse effective leadership and teamwork in nursing, especially within a mental health nursing context, with respect to professional practice and patient perspectives. As mentioned leadership skills have for a long time been acknowledged as a solution to the provision of good health care. In order to achieve first-rate health care, healthcare personnel especially senior nurses must be able to effectively lead teams, particularly across professional, clinical and organisational boundaries (Taylor, 2007, p30). Two of the key roles of a lead nurse or senior nurse manager are that of supporting staff and overseeing nursing in the provision of patient care (Castledine, 2004, p119). It is proposed that meeting staff needs improves satisfaction, productivity and efficiency and it is debated that productivity is now an important concept within health and social care sectors. It is suggested that productivity within the healthcare industry is defined by the quality of patient care. Arguably, productivity is not exclusively dependent upon how hard and well individuals work, but about meeting staff needs and support from leaders and colleagues (Moiden, 2003, p19). Debatably, where team leaders or managers are concerned about the needs and objectives of their staff, and are aware of the social and physical conditions that affect their working environments, productivity and efficiency will improve. It is possibly that a lack of working environments that support staff affects the quality of care for patients. It is suggested that it is vital that the nurse manager has leadership skills that allow a team to work together effectively (Moiden, 2003, p19). Nurse leaders sho uld be seen frequently by those they lead as high visibility could ensure that support is obtainable when most needed. Similarly, nurse leaders must ensure that staff skills are used in such a way that patients’ obtain the greatest benefit from their abilities. This can be achieved by the nurse leaders enabling others to act and giving positive responses to work-related performance. This will facilitate motivation, increasing job satisfaction and promoting better patient care (Clegg, 2000), p44). Within a psychiatric nursing environment whether it is in the community or in a mental health unit teamwork is imperative for both the staff and the service users. In the field of psychiatric nursing, nurses work as a team with other professionals such as psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, occupational therapists and social workers. Therefore, responsibility for the service users is shared across the whole multi-disciplinary team and each service user relates to several team members (Williams, 2005, p39). Arguably, the team approach to patient care within mental health nursing has advantages in terms of reducing dependency on team members, and reducing levels of burnout. It is debated that teamwork is vital in order to provide a safe and therapeutic environment that respects the service user’s dignity while promoting independence and preparation for life in society. The team approach can be supportive and creative but it is not without its problems (Machin, 1998, p17). Onyett et al (1997) studied a sample of four hundred and forty-five team members across various disciplines working in fifty-seven Community Mental Health Teams (CMHTs). Emotional exhaustion, low personal accomplishment, depersonalisation, job satisfaction and sick leave was examined in relation to the perceived clarity of the role of the team, personal role clarity, identification with ones profession and the team, caseload size, composition and the frequency with which users were seen. Excessive emotional exhaustion was reported, predominantly among consultant psychiatrists, social workers, nurses and psychologists. High job satisfaction, high individual achievement and â€Å"low depersonalisation† were also found. Job satisfaction was associated with â€Å"team role clarity† and identification with the team. Caseload size, assemblage and the frequency with which service users were seen were not associated with job satisfaction or burnout. Important disparities were f ound between disciplines on all variables except sick leave. Therefore, on the evidence presented it could be argued that team membership has different implications for different disciplines. Debatably, greater attention is needed to the composition, training and leadership of CMHTs rather than hope that the disciplines will spontaneously work effectively together. It is important to note that the research used here of evidence of effectiveness of teamwork has various limitations. Firstly, the small sample size makes it not viable to relate the findings to all CMHTs in the United Kingdom. Secondly, the questions asked in the study might be seen to be leading questions and this makes the study unreliable. Thirdly, this study does not take into account the personal views of the members of the team. The individual views on the effectiveness of multi-disciplinary teamwork from the nurses, occupational therapists and social workers could make this research more valid as relationships and issues of skill mix between the disciplines could have been explored within the context of patient care. Teamwork appears to be more effective in enabling first-class patient care within hospital based mental health units. Flockhart and Moore (2002, p96) assessed the effectiveness of teamwork on patient care at the psychiatric intensive care unit that is part of the Maudsley NHS Trust in South London. The unit admits some of the most challenging patients who cannot be safely managed on general wards. Many patients suffer from paranoid schizophrenia or bipolar affective disorder and can be violent or aggressive, suicidal, harming themselves or be abusing various substances. Patients are only admitted on the unit for clinical reasons, not for safety. The main ethos of the unit is to help the service users achieve their maximum level of functioning so that they can be cared for with the fewest possible restrictions. It is important therefore that in this unit and in others like it in the United Kingdom the nurses need to be good team workers and be able to deal with issues calmly. Patient involvement and collaborative working has been addressed by joint care planning with the family and other key disciplines such as social workers, probation officers and various psychiatric and psychology therapists and this had led to rapid improvements in patients’ mental state and behaviour. The collaborative teamwork that focuses on the patients’ safety has improved team communication and effectiveness. Arguably, this particular unit has an efficient team that has empowered and enabled the staff to provide the best and most effective care for the service users. This is because the team is organised, supported and valued by each of the other members and the skill mix is ideal for improving patients’ mental health. It is also important to note that this unit has one dedicated team leader or co-ordinator that provides a consistent approach that meets all the needs of the service users and staff. Routine physical proximity appears to contribute to constructive working relationships and this has been illustrated by the effective interprofessional working relationships observed in this unit. Debatably, in contrast, within a community setting each discipline will have its own team leader or manager and this might lead to inconsistencies, differences and confusion in policy and decision making. In reviewing the literature for this essay the author would like to propose the following recommendations. Debatably, more evidence based research is needed on how effective leadership leads to enhanced practice and improved patient care, especially within mental health nursing. There appears to be some literature on the effectiveness of teamwork within the mental nursing profession. Arguably, this is because the provisions needed by mental health service users are wide and varied and historically multi-disciplinary teams have always been the solution to providing care and support for service users whether that care was deemed to be of good quality or of inferior quality. However, there is room for more evidence-based literature on the effectiveness of teamwork within mental health nursing. Similarly, it is suggested that there is a need for more evidence-based literature on the effectiveness of teamwork in nursing in general. Correspondingly, there is little or no evidence-based lit erature that expounds service user’s perspectives about how efficient teamwork improves their care. From the evidence presented it can be said that many factors lead to better team performance and arguably, one of the most significant is that of team leadership. Good quality leadership skills are the solution to enabling teams to provide high quality effective patient care. Effective team leadership improves satisfaction among team members and patients and improves productivity. In order to be effective as a leader the team leader must be visible and approachable. Team working within a hospital setting is generally more effective in delivering good quality patient care than that often achieved within a community setting where multi-disciplinary teams are involved. The stress on team members in CMHTs is related to the standard of leadership as well as the composition and training of the team. Experience in the Maudsley NHS Trust illustrates the importance of good team working and leadership in determining the quality of outcomes for patients. Evidence in the literature studied is pr esented from the perspective of staff in healthcare teams while there is little or no evidence of the views of service users on the subjects of leadership and teamwork. References Castledine, G (2004) Nursing leadership must keep its roots in nursing, British Journal of Nursing, 12, 2, 119. Clegg, A (2000) Leadership: improving the quality of patient care, Nursing Standard, 14, 30, 43-45. Department of Health (2000) The NHS Plan. A Plan for Investment. A Plan for Reform. London, HMSO. Flockhart, G and Moore, S (2002) Teamwork is the key, Nursing Standard, 17, 3, 96. Machin, T (1998) Teamwork in community mental health, British Journal of Community Nursing, 3, 1, 17-24. Moiden, N (2003) A framework for leadership, Nursing Management, 9, 10, 19-23. Onyett, S, Pillinger, T and Muijen, M (1997) Job satisfaction and burnout among members of community mental health teams, Journal of Mental Health, 6, 1, 56-66. Taylor, V (2007) Leadership for service improvement, Nursing Management, 13, 9, 30-35. Williams, T, Taylor, S and Petts, S (2001) Assessing leadership development training, Nursing Times, 97, 42, 1-3, www.nursingtimes.net, date accessed 11/02/2007. Williams, C (2005) Assertive outreach: the team approach, Mental Health Practice, 9, 2, 38-40.

George Orwells Animal Farm Essay -- George Orwell Animal Farm Essays

George Orwell's Animal Farm Mollie- Represents the rich and noble of Russia at the time (esp. the Czar and his family). Those who fled Revolutionist Russia, because they had had a better life beforehand, and were un-willing to accept change. The messages that Orwell is trying to express through Mollie are directly opposite to the actions which are displayed through Benjamin. Although they were both unwilling to accept change, their actions were very different. The message that Orwell is conveying through Mollie is that you shouldn't just quit because things get tough. Quotes- 'Mollie, the foolish, pretty white mare.' page2 'Will there still be sugar after the rebellion?' page10 'Mollie refused to learn any but the six letters that made up her own name.' page20 'In the end, however, she was found hiding in her stall with her head buried among the hay in her manger. She had taken flight as soon as the gun went off' page27 First page and a 1/4 of chapter five, page 28 Benjamin- No direct character link to the Russian revolution, but very closely linked to the members of the older generation who were suspicious of the revolution, and set in their ways. They had found that life was hard, whatever happened, and so did nothing to try and change it. Benjamin is the original stubborn mule, he is not fooled by Napoleons propaganda, or the promises that life will be better for him. He knows that life is tough, and nothing will ever change that. However, Orwell is trying to communicate that you shouldn't always say nothing, that when you really feel for a cause (e.g., Benjamin with the death of Boxer) you should always speak out. Quotes- 'Benjamin was the oldest animal on the farm, and th... ...the public, the government can control the country a lot easier. There are still examples of such extreme propaganda which have gone on in the recent past. For example, the Gulf war in the early 1990's escalated so quickly, mainly due to conflicting propaganda. The government of Iraq were telling it's public that the Europeans were on Kuwait's side, and that they were only doing it so that they could have Kuwait's oil. The Europeans didn't realise why having the land that Kuwait owned was so important to the people of Iraq. Another message conveyed by Orwell through Squealer is that everyone should have freedom of speech. By progressing the novel so that the animals eventually become slaves of the pigs, and don't have a say in their lives, Orwell is expressing his view that if only the strong get their voice heard, the weak will eventually loose out.

Gender Role

Darla Anne Nocom Prof. CortezEng 1AApril 7, 2018Why gender equality ruining everyone's happiness?The â€Å"Is equality ruining your marriage?† by Suzanne Venker is a news article how the traditional gender roles still exist in our society today and how it ruins the freedom of everyone to do each other's roles. Venker used the new research of University of Illinois to back up her article. Reading this article can open our mind to see what is the effect to everyone or marriage couple to be exact if they oppose the traditional gender roles. It's interesting to see how gender equality can ruin a happy marriage couple life and how mental health can take over this. I am here to take closer of the rhetorical devices the author used and how the devices took a certain effect on the audience. Also, to explain how each device links to what the author is trying to achieve. The author's effect is to change the traditional gender roles and the rhetorical devices that were used to support it were Ethos, Logos, and Pathos. The first device that supports the article is ethos. The researchers in University of Illinois examined men and women to do this research and support their argument on how marriage couples are less blissful if they struggle on traditional gender roles. The research they did suggested, â€Å"When females were the main breadwinner in the family, they reported more symptoms of depression; but men's psychological well-being was highest when they were the primary wage earners† (Venker). This is to say that our human nature hasn't change much about gender equality issue. We still have the belief that men can only support the family and should have a higher wage than women. Gender roles should not have a damaging impact to everyone because this is a start for gender equality. Earning a higher salary for men is very important and there is no surprise there but giving women a chance to help is a good way for family to have a content life. Men working while women stay at home has been part of our â€Å"culture† and it can't change just because society changed. It will take time but giving it a change can't harm anyone because our generation is way different than before and many people are more open now than before. Even now, guys' weakness is when girls are a lot more up in the game when it comes to any field and to anything men do. The author's influenced for this effect is that it is time for us to experiment in gender roles because many single parent can be a mom and dad at the same time while for marriage couple, it is still unusual for their role to change. Seeing everyone in this nature for generation has been stuck to us and hard to adjust if we want gender equality in and out of our homes. What important is for everyone to open up and try to change this nature and gain self-confident in each other. Doing what you want to do in life can gain as a self-worth and can make us feel worthy in life. Putting our emotion to something occasionally can be bad and good sometimes because emotion is a feel that we can't control from time to time. The pathos for this is, â€Å"Americans are forever being told that â€Å"gender equality†- which is no longer defined as equal opportunity but as male and female interchangeability- is the only road to a happy life† (Venker).

By the Way and Mother

It is often said that life is about dreaming, and hoping and learning. As a child, I dreamed of only one thing – to be successful in everything- to be successful in everything I do to make everyone proud of me, especially my mother. But later I realized that I, just like most children, do not have to do anything to win my mother’s heart. Back in 70’s my father was diagnosed with lung cancer resulting in a very difficult, prolonged treatment that did not save him, after all.This was a cruel blow to our family, especially to my mother who has understandably at a loss, left with nine children to raise all by herself. She was young at 39 when she was widowed but she never entertained the thought of marrying again because she wanted to give her children her undivided attention. Now we are professionals in our own field but we know we can never repay our mother’s for all that she has done for us to be where we are now.Words will never be enough to honor a hero l ike my mother whose silent, endearing ways have given us the best of life, peace, joy, love and the security of knowing that even if we should fall in any way at any time again and again, she would always be by our side to be what she has always been to us- our certainty is the most uncertain times; the true hero who knows how to live her life to the fullest by doing the supreme sacrifice of living for her children. Even now at 68, she still amazes me by the way she manages the great and minute details of motherhood.Whenever I feel some doubts about my worth before God, I only have to think of how worthy I am to my mother according to the way she accepts me even if I had done something wrong. Yes, through my mother I know there is God. Thank you mama- for being all too human. You have led us to discovering that which is divine! And as a true hero you have freed us from the tyranny of ignorance by educating us beyond the corners of a formal school, for even in the comfort in our home you have always served as the light of our lives.