Education Essays – Citizenship Education School

How Citizenship instruction is educated and implemented within Scots schools.1. Abstract This undertaking aims to look into how Citizenship instruction is presented and implemented within Scots schools. Scotland differs from the remainder of the United Kingdom in that citizenship as a topic has non been officially introduced, instead it is seen as being ‘active’ and should be taught in all topics across the school course of study, therefore impacting both inside and outside the school. The information presented I this undertaking was gathered during the six hebdomads of my 2nd arrangement in 2008 in a non-denominational province school in East Lothian and was carried out in the signifier of staff interviews and a pupil’s focal point group. During the staff interviews, their positions on the different elements of larning within Citizenship instruction ; knowledge & A ; apprehension, skills & A ; aptitudes and values, were discussed. A pupil’s focal point group was set up and the group discussed ; citizenship in the school: societal & amp ; moral issues, rights & A ; duties, the school & A ; wider community, political relations & A ; democracy and the environment. The consequences show that, the school are actively advancing the elements of citizenship in most countries of its subject’s course of study. Through such capable categories as societal instruction, chemical science and music, the school is supplying students with the cognition, consciousness and accomplishments to confront the usual ‘citizenship issues’ that occurred within it and the wider community. However, if the students are traveling to be led into become active citizens, more attempt demands to be made to do them cognizant of precisely what citizenship is and more significantly, why it is being taught to them. 2. Drumhead In September 2002 citizenship instruction was introduced through a Citizenship order to the National Curriculum in England. The order emphasised that â€Å"learning should guarantee that cognition and understanding about being informed citizens are required and applied when developing accomplishments of question and communicating, and engagement and responsible action.† ( Arthur and Wright, 2001:11 ) Rather than present citizenship instruction as a defined topic into its National Curriculum, Scotland has opted to do its results, cognition and apprehension ; accomplishments and competencies ; values and temperaments ; and creativeness and endeavor, an built-in portion of each topic taught. Thus citizenship accomplishments are integrated across the whole school. In the Scottish Executive’s 2004 paper, A Curriculum for Excellence – the Curriculum Review Group, schools and instructors are asked to bring forth a course of study that will cook the young person of today for maturity, which will â€Å"be less crowded† and will †offer more pick and enjoyment.† â€Å"Our aspiration is to enable all kids to develop their capacities as successful scholars, confident persons, responsible citizens and effectual subscribers to society† . ( Scots Executive, 2004:6 ) . The intent of this undertaking is to look into the execution of citizenship instruction in Scots schools at this minute. For this probe I used qualitative research ; this involved questioning members of staff at all degrees and interceding a pupil’s focal point group, The consequence of my undertaking implies that, whilst the consecutive authoritiess and educational constitutions gain the importance of citizenship instruction in givingâ€Å"pupils the cognition, accomplishments and understanding to play an effectual function in society atlocal, national and international degrees† , ( QCA, 1999 cited by Kerr, 2006: p5 ) most of the students who took portion in the focal point group had no cognition of the term citizenship or the constructs behind it and because of that they failed to recognize its elements within the schools course of study. The students besides showed that their cognition of political relations or democracy was unhappily missing. However when the assorted countries of citizenship were discussed with the students, they realised that they did recognize them and were actively involved in utilizing them. This suggests that, although the term citizenship has little or no conceptual significance to the students, they are deriving practical experience of it through topics in the schools course of study every bit good as through the school as a whole. 3. Statement of intents or aims In its paper; A Curriculum for Excellence – The Curriculum Review Group, the Scottish Executive provinces: â€Å"Our aspiration for all kids and for every immature individual is that they should besuccessful scholars,confident persons,responsible citizensandeffectual subscriberstosociety and at work. By supplying construction, support and way to immature people’s acquisition,the course of study should enable them to develop these four capacities. The course of study should complement the of import parts of households and communities† . ( 2004:12 ) Through the Curriculum for Excellence, the Scottish Executive suggests four capacities of instruction that will be the footing of Scots instruction. These are: Successful scholars, confident persons, responsible citizens and effectual subscribers. Since it is the duty of the whole school to develop the four capacities in all their students, the thrust toward constructing responsible citizens should non come on in isolation instead is should be presented across the whole course of study. â€Å"Activities such as endeavor, citizenship, sustainable development, wellness and creativeness, which are frequently seen as additions, can be built into the course of study framework† .( Scots Executive, 2006:8 ) . Because of these alterations instructors will necessitate to believe about the course of study and how they present it in a different manner. Reflection will be indispensable for their personal development. Teachers will no longer be able to be insular in their ain topic, for every bit good as retrieving to implement the four capacities in their ain topic, they must besides be cognizant of showing them across the school as a whole. Since the Curriculum for Excellence has still to be introduced, the chief intent of this undertaking is to look into how citizenship being presented and implemented in Scots schools at this minute. In order to turn to this inquiry, it was indispensable for me to besides look into the undermentioned sub inquiries:How the school presented citizenship?Did all topics in the schools curriculum do a part to citizenship?Were its students aware of the term â€Å"citizenship† and did they understand the construct behind it?Was citizenship promoted across the school as a whole?In making this undertaking the writer hopes that it will help him in the execution of citizenship instruction in his ain capable therefore bettering his ain instruction pattern. 4. Literature Reappraisal The inquiry of â€Å"what is citizenship? † is really hard to specify ; David Kerr argues that it â€Å" †¦is a contested construct. At the bosom of the competition are differing positions about the map and administration of society.†( Kerr, 2006:6 ) . Kerr’s definition of citizenship instruction is toâ€Å" †¦ encompass the readying of immature people for their functions and duties as citizens.†( Kerr, 2006:7 ) . Audrey Osler and Hugh Starkey province thatâ€Å"Citizenship is a site of political struggle.†( Osler and Starkey, 2005:11 ) . They go on to specify it as â€Å"holding two indispensable facets, foremost a position and a set of responsibilities and secondly a practise and an entitlement to rights†( Osler and Starkey, 2006:6 ) . Olser and Starkey besides argue thatâ€Å" †¦ citizenship is likely instantly experienced as a feeling of belonging.†( Osler and Starkey, 2006:6 ) . An account in a Scots Executive paper offers the account thatâ€Å"Everyone belongs to assorted types of community, both communities of topographic point, from local to planetary, and communities of involvement, rooted in a common concern or purpose.†( Scots Executive 2000:8 ) Concluding thatâ€Å"Citizenship involves basking rights and exerting duties in these assorted types of communities†( Scots Executive 2000:8 ) . Harmonizing to the Citizenship Foundation,â€Å"It[ citizenship ]refers non merely to rights and duties laid down in the jurisprudence, but besides to general signifiers of behavior – societal and moral – which societies expect of their citizens.†( The Citizenship Foundation 2006:2 ) . These different definitions do look to place a common subject of citizenship, viz. that, in order to be a viewed as a full member of their community, people need to actively exert their rights and duties in three countries ; civil, societal and political. ( Marshall, 1964 cited by Kennedy, 1997:67 ) . Historically the roots of citizenship can be found in Sparta, antediluvian Greece where â€Å"civilian responsibility scrupulously performed was besides expected of the good citizen. This would affect virtuous obeisance to the Torahs and engagement in the Assembly†( Heater, 2004:11 ) . This earliest signifier of citizenship, which was besides a characteristic of ancient Rome, may befar removed from the construct of it as we understand it today but it did signal a definite motion off from the old bossy signifier of regulating. Throughout the ages citizenship continued to develop and hold found look in many diverse societies and civilizations as far apart as post-revolutionary France and post-independence USA – where it was enshrined in the fundamental law and served as the accelerator for social alteration – to the European Union of today where the proposed individual fundamental law is to a great extent predicated on the thought of a ‘European citizen’ as a mechanism to startle the assorted disparate civilizations. Before Citizenship was debut into the course of study in England in 2002 as a discreet topic, it had been antecedently recommended for inclusion twice earlier. Both times saw Britain in crises of war. In 1918, at the terminal of World War 1, thePrimer of English Citizenshipwas published by Frederick Swannâ€Å" †¦ to back the moral character of the British Citizen.†( Brandom, 2007:269 ) . The Association for Education in World Citizenship, ( AEWC ) , was setup in 1935 to,â€Å"preserve the democratic cloth of society in response to the rise of totalitarianism† .( Brandom, 2007:269 ) . Despite the AEWC’s construct of citizenship being adhered to in schools in the post-war old ages, there was no official add-on of citizenship as a topic into the course of study. Harmonizing to Anne-Marie Brandom, citizenship was given â€Å"some signifier legislative recognition†( 2007:270 ) in the 1988Education Reform Actbut the course of study time-table was so overcrowded that it failed to be implemented. Recommendations were besides made in a 1990 study,Encouraging Citizenship, as to ways of â€Å"easing societal citizenship through schools, voluntary attempts and public services† ( Arthur and Wright, 2001:7 ) but once more there was thin application of it. In the latter portion of the 1990’s politicians were concerned with the gradual diminution of British civilization and society. This impairment was peculiarly prevailing amongst the states young person and because of it, there was a noticeable addition in anti-social behavior, hooky and high school exclusions. To counter this, an consultative group chaired by Professor Bernard Crick was formed toâ€Å"establish the purposes and maps of citizenship ion schools†. ( Brandom, 2007:271 ) The Crick study, ( as it became know ) , categorised citizenship in three lines: â€Å"understanding societal and moral duty ; going involved in the community ; developing political literacy† .( Brandom, 2007:271 ) The Crick study to a great extent relied on the antecedently mentioned Marshall definition of the three elements that make up citizenship ; the civil, the societal and the political. These elements were underpinned by the thought of thekid as a hereafter citizen. ( Brandom, 2007:272 ) One of the recommendations from the Crick study was that citizenship instruction should be given 5 % of course of study clip. That and other recommendations helped organize the demands for citizenship instruction in the Revised National Curriculum 2000. The Revised National Curriculum 2000 incorporates three strands:understanding societal and moral duty ; going involved in the community ; and developing political literacy† ( QCA/DfEE, 1999:6 cited in ( Brandom, 2007:272 ) . As a consequence of these three strands, students are to:become informed citizens ; develop accomplishments of question and communicating ; develop accomplishments of engagement and responsible action.†( QCA/DfEE, 1999:6 cited in ( Brandom, 2007:272 ) Unlike most England, most of Europe, North America and Australia, citizenship has non of all time been officially introduced into the Scots schools course of study. In the 2000 audience paper Education for Citizenship in Scotland stated that citizenship instruction in Scots schools wouldâ€Å"not affect the creative activity of a new capable ‘citizenship education’ – or the version of any individual bing country of the curriculum† .( Scots Executive 2000:16 ) Alternatively it would be done throughâ€Å"combinations of larning experiences set in the day-to-day life of the school, distinct countries of the course of study, cross-curricular experiences and activities affecting links with the local community.†( Scots Executive 2000:16 ) The documents rank of the reappraisal group was chaired by Professor Pamela Munn of Edinburgh University who supported the sentiment of a whole-school attack to citizenship instruction, noticing that: â€Å"To look to turn up ‘citizenship education’ in one peculiar post-14 class of survey would look to be inconsistent with the wide position of instruction for citizenship being advanced in this paper.†( Scots Executive 2000 cited in Arthur and Wright, 2003:16 ) The reappraisal group concluded that citizenship instruction in Scotland isâ€Å"integral to the instruction of pupils and dwelling in the whole course of study and ethos of the school.†( Arthur and Wright, 2003:16 ) . The shortly to be introduced course of study for excellence portions the same positions of the non-introduction of citizenship instruction as a discreet topic. In the 2004 course of study reappraisal group paper ‘a course of study for excellence’ , citizenship instruction is still presented as being a whole-school attack but it besides encompasses the household and the community: â€Å"They should be successful scholars, confident persons, responsible citizens and effectual subscribers to society and at work. By supplying construction, support and way to immature people’s acquisition, the course of study should enable them to develop these four capacities. The course of study should complement the of import parts of households and communities†( Scots Executive 2004:12 ) In 2006 ‘a course of study for excellence’ advancement and proposal was published. This paper was follow up to the 2004 course of study reappraisal group paper antecedently discussed. Again the whole-school attack is advocated, this clip with outside support fromother administrations, doing citizenship instruction wholly active non merely across the whole school or local community but globally. â€Å"The whole school has duty for developing the four capacities in every kid and immature individual. This has deductions for the parts of each grownup who supports kids and immature people, and for whole-school policies, planning and partnerships with other organisations.†( Scots Executive 2006:8 ) 5. Results The focal point of this undertaking was to look at how citizenship was both presented and implemented within my 2nd placement school. I farther investigated its execution within my ain topics section and besides looked for grounds of cross-curricular activities. For the intents of researching this undertaking, I conducted staff interviews and mediated a pupil’s focal point group. This allowed me look into which elements of citizenship were included by the staff whilst learning their ain topic. It besides provided me with every bit pot as to the extent of the staff and students cognition and apprehension of citizenship. In looking at learning citizenship within my ain topic I designed four lessons on universe music. This gave my category and I the chance to analyze other civilizations and their music. The stuffs produced which were specific to the civilizations we were look intoing ; Brazil, Cuba, Indonesia and Ghana. Through the lessons the category were able to ; discourse the background to the music and how the music made them experience, develop their practical accomplishments by playing the music both separately and as a group and larn how to listen efficaciously. ( To most pupils music is a background noise ; they ‘hear’ music in a lift, in a shopping Centre and on their MP3 participants as they study. ) Teaching music and citizenship in this ‘active’ manner allowed me much range for personal contemplation, inquiring myself ; what went good, what needed to be improved and what would make otherwise following clip? This in bend helped with my ain personal development no n merely as a music instructor but as a ‘whole’ instructor. 6. Methods In researching this undertaking I decided to utilize a assortment of different methods. My chief grounds for this was that in my old research undertaking I used observation as the chief line of my probe and I felt that if I used a assortment of research methods this clip I could anticipate better responses from both staff and students likewise. 6.1 Staff interviews Through the schools trustee, meetings were arranged with members of staff who were willing to notice on how citizenship has been implemented in their section in the school. The staff members I met up with were: the Citizenship Co-ordinator, the Head of the Department for Science, the Head of the Department for Social Education and a instructor from the music section. A meeting of 15 to twenty proceedingss with each of the above staff members was arranged. I had prepared and circulated a figure of cardinal inquiries in progress of the meetings. ( Appendix 1 ) . The inquiries focused on how citizenship is delivered in both their section and through the school as a whole. I asked each member of staff for permission to tape the interviews I conducted and all agreed. This enabled me to look into the inside informations I had written down against the recordings, therefore guaranting that my analysis was accurate and presented a true contemplation of their positions. what are the Advantages/disadvantages? The interviews with the staff members proved to be really successful, with all my purposes and aims being met. At the terminal of each interview they besides agreed to do themselves available by electronic mail to clear up any issues that might hold arisen whilst I was composing up the research. 6.2 Pupil’s focal point group With the schools permission, a focal point group dwelling of a cross subdivision of S1 to S6 students was arranged to take topographic point one lunch period. A sheet incorporating the chief subject headers of the treatment was given to the students taking portion in order to give them clip to fix for it. ( Appendix 2 ) . My undertaking as the go-between of the group was to maintain the treatment unfastened ended whilst maintaining it on the subject. To assist maintain them farther on topic and aid direct their thought I wrote the capable headers of the subjects to be discussed on the room’s whiteboard. A high degree of pupil interaction ensued, from which the information for this study emerged. This method of garnering informations from the students has it advantages and disadvantages. The advantages being that it allows for a non-threatening attack therefore ensuing in an unfastened uninhibited treatment. The usage of this method besides gave the students a manner to discourse and if need be, dispute each other’s positions in a safe, friendly, non-threatening environment. The Disadvantage of carry oning the focal point group was that a few of the stronger personalities began to act upon and take over group treatment thereby doing it hard for the quieter pupils to aerate their positions. Because of this I often asked the group if everyone agreed with a remark made or asked if that was what everyone idea. I besides called on a twosome of students by name to detect their sentiments on remarks made. I once more asked and received permission from the school and the students to enter the focal point group treatment ; this allowed me to intercede the group without holding to rapidly compose down what was being said. In making this I was able to accurately summarize the content of the treatment at a ulterior clip. Twelve students, two from each twelvemonth, attended the focal point group and their parts to it will be analysed in the undermentioned chapter. 7. Analysis From the beginning it needs to be recognised that with merely four staff members interviewed and one pupils’ focal point group conducted, the findings presented in this professional undertaking can merely be regarded as being preliminary, nevertheless, my research did bring out a figure of interesting findings refering the execution of citizenship within the school. The balance of this subdivision will analyze the positions and sentiments made during both the interviews with the staff members and the pupil’s focal point group. Because merely four staff members were interviewed, their positions are presented individually, therefore leting for a more elaborate geographic expedition of them. 7.1 Staff interviews Meeting One: Coordinator of Citizenship This staff member was honest in explained to me that he was new to the school and that although portion of his responsibilities included being the Coordinator of Citizenship he was still seeking to familiarize himself with the duties and responsibilities refering it. He is at the minute set abouting an audit on Citizenship within the school in which he was looking at ; where the school is at with it, what repeat between the sections there is and what the school demand to make more away. He knew from meetings he had attended within the school that all sections had Citizenship listed as something they were to look at in their betterment programs but until he knew the consequence of his audit he wouldn’t cognize if or how it had been implemented. He told met the school was seeking to incorporate Citizenship instead than hold it viewed as a â€Å"bolt on’ . Assorted schemes had been introduced this school twelvemonth such as junior and senior pupil councils, both of which had a budget, the re-establishment of houses and house captains and the execution of activity yearss such as â€Å"succeed and enterprise† through-out the twelvemonth. Meeting Two: Head of Department for Science This member of staff expressed that she was worried when she agreed to be interviewed that her section would be found to be missing in incorporating the elements of citizenship instruction into their instruction, nevertheless, the audit she did on her section proved these fright to be baseless. Knowledge and Understanding are promoted in Science utilizing subjects such as ; eco chemical science, genetic sciences and atomic chemical science. In eco chemical science the students study the environment, the effects of pollution on it and planetary heating. Geneticss trades with the ethical issues of familial technology. Nuclear chemical science looks at atomic power and what options are available. Skills and Aptitude: it was explained to me that the school ran their Higher course of study over two old ages, therefore gave the section clip to include developing the students accomplishments of presenting, treatment and debating. Through group work where the students are encouraged to believe critically about the subjects covered and the experiments they are asked to execute. They are encouraged to larn and happen out through research, analysis and geographic expedition after which their consequences are presented to the remainder of the groups/teams where they are argued, discussed and debated. An illustration of this is the genetic sciences unit in which familial technology and trial tubing babes are discussed. Informed statements are given for and against, the students are encouraged to gain that there is no right or wrong here merely their sentiment. Valuess: the scientific discipline section has a set of regulations for regard ; students are encouraged to esteem themselves and their equals and instructors. They are taught to esteem the schoolroom and the equipment within it. They are besides taught to value the sentiment of others, as all points of position are valid. Respect for the wider community, the environment and the planet are amongst other values taught. Meeting Three: Head of Department for Social Education This member of staff was really experient in showing and presenting the societal instruction programme, he demonstrated an obvious apprehension of how citizenship should be integrated in the course of study and across the school as a whole. Knowledge and Understanding: Social Education is timetabled for an hr a hebdomad for 1st to 4th twelvemonth students and for two hours a hebdomad for 5th and 6th. Within Social Education cognition and apprehension are promoted utilizing such subjects as ; money and the universe of banking, sex instruction, right and duties, equal chances, personal development, callings education, societal development, where the school sits within East Lothian, within Scotland and the universe as a whole, drugs and intoxicant instruction and maintaining safe. Within the rights and duties unit students are taught the schools anti-bulling policy, any major bulling incidents result in the issue of a rights and bulling contract, this has resulted in a 95 % success rate of them being resolved in school. Skills and Aptitudes: promoting and developing accomplishments in students to get by with a altering multi-cultural universe, being taught regard for others and acceptance through a partnership with themselves, the school, their parents and the constabulary, that their school is a contemplation of society – what they learn in school can model and determine society, communicating and group work/ teamwork, organic structure linguistic communication and get bying accomplishments for both the schoolroom and society – accomplishments and schemes are provided to assist the students cope within their equal group and besides assist them to avoid being coerced into sex, taking drugs or imbibing intoxicant, critical thought – students are encouraged to gain that during arguments there are no right or incorrect replies, they are given relevant information so that they can do an informed pick, they are taught to believe, brace and portion – students are asked to belie ve of their ain sentiment on a topic, brace up with a spouse and discourse it, take portion in a group treatment, feed back to the category therefore advancing effectual part and critical thought. Valuess: within the Social Education lessons students are expected to esteem themselves, their equals and their instructors. They are taught to esteem the schoolroom and to make a safe environment for everyone within it. Through their partnership with the constabulary, the school and their parents they are taught to esteem the jurisprudence, democracy and justness. They are taught to stand up for themselves and support their ain point of position. Meeting Four: Music Teacher This member of staff was new to the section and radius of her experience both in that and her old school. Disappointingly, she expressed uncertainties as to why universe music should be taught as portion of the course of study. Knowledge and Understanding are promoted in music through utilizing such subjects as universe music. In universe music the students study music from Cuba, Brazil, Ghana, India and Indonesia, larning about their civilization, the instruments they use and the differences between their music and music from the West. Students are besides taught non to blow the planets resources by exchanging off electrical equipment when it is non in usage. Skills and Aptitude: a big portion of developing accomplishments and aptitudes in music is done through the engagement in different events with in the community. The music section has taken students to entertain the senior citizens at Christmas clip, had pupils participate in the Rotary club’s immature instrumentalist of the twelvemonth competition and has been invited to sing/perform at the gap of a new primary school and lodging association. Students are encouraged to fall in the assorted orchestras and bands that the school runs therefore giving them the chance to work in groups and construct squad work. Opinions can besides be communicated through vocal authorship. Valuess: students are taught to esteem themselves, their equals and both the schoolroom and instrumental instructors. The section besides teach students to esteem all genres of music and to hold regard for the schoolroom and the equipment within it. 7.2 Pupils focal point group As was outlined before in this undertaking, a focal point group session was carried out in order to find the pupils’ cognition and apprehension of citizenship and how it was taught to them both officially and informally. At the on-set of the session the significance of citizenship was briefly discussed with the group, after which there was a directed treatment on six different issues refering it. The treatment produced the undermentioned consequences: Issue One: Citizenship in the school The students highlighted a figure of activities that they though had helped them to develop both personally and socially. These included engagement in school trips to Germany and Switzerland, cultural visits such as a visit to the Royal Scottish Museum and a community committednesss plan, which involved picking up litter, endeavor, presentations and school shows. Issue Two: Social & A ; Moral issues The Pupils discussed their engagement in implementing the schools’ anti-bullying enterprises which ab initio had started as a 5th twelvemonth community undertaking. They felt that racism was non a job in the school. The students put frontward one point of grudge of non being allowed to run any fund elevation activities in the school. They felt they would wish the chance to raise money for worthy causes. Issue Three: Rights & A ; duties The students felt they had a voice in the school through both the junior and senior pupils’ councils. Their representatives were democratically elected and attended regular meetings of the councils provided a vehicle where pupil’s issues could be raised. Students are besides put into houses, which have house captains. The houses are awarded points for good behavior, attending, competition wins etc. Issue Four: The school & A ; wider community There was much grounds of an engagement in the wider community. As portion of the antecedently mentioned community committednesss plan some students had sang at the gap of a new primary school and had read poesy read poetry the occupants of an old people place. Issue Five: Politics & A ; Democracy There was small grounds of any cognition of political relations or democracy apart from the students who had or were analyzing Modern Studies. Issue Six: The environment Students noted that, the school runs an Eco Club in which both instructors and students discuss manner of salvaging the environment, ( local, national and universe ) . They felt that more recycling could be done within the school. There was merely one recycling bin and that was in the teachers’ auto park. The group had asked for money to supply sections with their ain recycling bin but their petition was denied. 8. Decisions In roll uping the grounds from students and staff and through observation of the bringing of citizenship at whole school degree, it is clear that the range of citizenship is far-reaching. Areas such as rights and duties, political relations and democracy, community public assistance, informed decision-making, regard for others and a scope of participatory activities, provided a rich beginning of grounds. The student focal point groups and teacher interviews revealed clear grounds that elements of the above subjects were covered through the bringing of distinct capable content. In peculiar, the content of Modern Studies included a more comprehensive survey of political establishments and political democratic procedures more finitely than any other curricular country. However, curricular topics such as English and History provided subjects which examined rights and duties and political relations and democracy through the survey of war and the moral issues involved. The survey of Geography and the distinct scientific disciplines besides provided survey of the environment. Religious and Moral Education explored societal and moral issues and encouraged thoughtful and responsible action and an grasp of developing states, analyzing poorness, dearth and drouth. Home Economics developed pupil cognition and apprehension of dietetic issues, healthy feeding and the importance of hygiene. Physical Education encouraged healthy life styles and the grasp of the construct of ‘healthy head, healthy body’ . Subjects included in the Business Education and Information Technology section, for illustration, Business Administration developed an grasp in students of money direction and endeavor and, besides, allowed students to reflect on the impact of engineering on day-to-day lives. Modern Languages developed consciousness of the importance of different civilizations and the installation to go abroad enhanced the development of foreign linguistic communication accomplishments and the grasp of foreign civilizations at first manus. Art and Design allowed pupils the chance to develop originative ability and provided an alternate agencies of look. However, although the above curricular topics delivered facets of citizenship through pervasion, the Personal and Social Development ( PSD ) programme allocated dedicated clip to many facets of citizenship, including rights and duties, for illustration, in relation to smoke, intoxicant, sexual issues and moral quandary. Furthermore, this topic provided the chance for unfastened treatment, promoting students to be tolerant of dissension and minority positions and to heighten their decision-making accomplishments through working with others. In add-on, the project of work experience arrangements promoted a direct nexus to the universe of work. This was further enhanced by the installation of mock interviews for students by representatives of the concern community prior to go forthing school. The aid of Careers Scotland besides impacted on pupils’ attitudes to go forthing school. My observations of citizenship at whole-school degree revealed citizenship in action to which the students involved seemed wholly committed. Activities observed included Education Action where representatives from developing states addressed whole-school assemblies. This was a consequence of a instructor at the school holding visited Uganda, which led to pupils going actively involved in fund-raising for Uganda. The assembly provided the chance for students to manus over a check as a consequence of their fundraising activities. A farther assembly demonstrated S4 students giving whole-school presentations on their work experience, leting them to develop their personal qualities and accomplishments and to do a utile part to their fellow students. The student council, to which category representatives were elected, besides provided the chance for students to take part and lend to the wider life of the school. Unfortunately, nevertheless, I was unable to detect meetings during my arrangement as these were postponed owing to preliminary scrutinies. Other whole-school activities included Young Enterprise, pupil engagement in assorted competitions, debating and Duke of Edinburgh Award, all designed to develop the accomplishments included in the development of citizenship. In decision, it is my position that students frequently did non appreciate when citizenship was being delivered. It was merely through treatment at focal point groups that they came to gain to the full what citizenship entailed. This possibly suggests that, in Scots instruction, citizenship is frequently inexplicit in its bringing through distinct curricular countries. As indicated earlier, PSD is much more expressed, in both content and bringing, yet pupil perceptual experience of this topic is possibly non every bit high as other topics, which are assessed at national degree. However, my overarching decision is that pupil engagement in citizenship was at its strongest through active engagement by students. When allocated a distinguishable undertaking or, so, when this undertaking was suggested by a student, and when given duty to see the undertaking through to a successful decision, students responded with motive, finding and enthusiasm. Such activities involved students in informed decision-making, demoing regard for others, being responsible and developing personal accomplishments and qualities. From my observations, nevertheless, I would reason that the greatest nothingness is the absence of developing political literacy in students. Unless pupils survey Modern Studies, and numerically really few bashs, so I fear many students will go forth school politically illiterate to a greater or lesser extent. This, I would propose, is an insufficiency in Scots instruction, which needs to be addressed. 9. Deductions and Recommendations This undertaking has investigated the presentation and execution of citizenship in Scots schools. The research gathered whilst analyzing citizenship in both the topic course of study and the school as a whole would look to back up the thought that citizenship is taught more successfully when it is spread through out the whole course of study instead than being presented as a discreet topic. Although most students did non cognize the term ‘citizenship’ , they gained practical experience of the elements of it through the schools capable course of study and through the school as a whole. The school course of study is already overcrowded ; a audience paper calledEducation for Citizenship in Scotlandconcluded on the challenges of capable pick in Scots schools that, â€Å"the response to this state of affairs should non be to qualify any individual class of survey of ‘citizenship education’ as portion of each pupils core programme.( Scots Executive, 2000: p26 ) . In reasoning this undertaking there are three recommendations its writer would do to assist take citizenship instruction frontward in Scots instruction:Students need to be actively involved in citizenship instruction, taking portion in arguments, treatments, enterprises and undertakings.Rather than go forth political relations and democracy to modern surveies, ( which after 2nd twelvemonth becomes an optional topic ) , some survey of them needs to be included someplace else in the course of study. Not to make so, will bring forth students who are politically uninformed.Rather than do citizenship instruction a discreet capable, as it is in England, Scotland should go on implementing it as portion of the ethos of the school and portion of the course of study as a whole.Bibliography Andrews, G. ( 1991 ) , Citizenship. Lawrence and Wishart Limited, London. pp. 21 – 26. Arthur, J. and Wright, D. ( 2001 ) . Teaching Citizenship in the Secondary School. David Fulton Publishers Ltd London. pp. 5 – 16. Cogan, J.J. and Derricott, R. ( 1998 ) . Citizenship for the twenty-first Century: An International Perspective on Education. Kogan Page Limited, London. pp. 2 – 4. Kennedy, K.J. ( 1997 ) . Citizenship Education and the Modern State. Falmer Press, London. pp. 67 – 69. Scots Executive Education Department Report. ( 2001 ) . Education for Citizenship in Scotland: A Paper for Discussion and Development. Scots Executive. ( 2000 ) . National Priorities in School Education. [ on-line ] . Crown Copyright, Scottish Statutory Instrument No 443. Available from: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.scotland.gov.uk/education/nationalpriorities/priorities.asp, ( p. 1 ) .

Contribution of Arts in the Uplift of Society Essay

The meaning of â€Å"art† has changed since the industrial revolution and a clarification has to come if we should be able to handle the problem from our own angle. First of all, the esotery of art must disappear; its limitation to specialists; the mysticism around it; the looking out for geniuses only. It is good to believe that in the future art may be explained in intellectual terms with greater clarity than it is possible today. Psychoanalysis already shows the mechanics of dreams, the role of the unconscious. The hope is justified that the mechanics of creative work and its sources will be unveiled one day as well. This may be the preliminary step to understanding its necessary community function and also its vital importance for the individual. He must be activized by doing instead of being merely a receptive participant. Our mass-produced civilization, the tiresome work at the conveyor belts, the cheap narcotics given in records, books, papers, magazines, cinema, radio and, of course, the disappearance of leisure killed folk art. The artist who already started to become a specialist in the craftsman-guilds of the middle ages took over every aspect of its functions. Specialization was forced upon us through hundreds of ungoverned happening and their mostly unforeseen effects; through hastened decisions in accepting and developing the machine as the only means of production; through a first unexpected but later forced gigantic growth of population, profit motives, etc., all claimed today as providential or â€Å"economic† necessities. For the time being, very few people know that the present form of specialization is a terrible weapon against us, against human nature. I am not speaking against the machine or the machine age. The machine is a splendid invention and will form the new basis for a more developed human society. But after the glorious technomania of the twenties, we know today that man cannot master the machine until he has leanred to master himself. But how can he achieve this when he even does not know what he possesses, what his abilities and capacities are? He has delivered himself to thoughtless specialization which results in the development of certain of his faculties and—as a consequence of this—in a rather unnatural passivity outside of his specialized work. People are taught that the best way of living is to buy other people’s energy, to use other people’s skill. In other words, a dangerous metropolitan dogma developed that the different subject matters are best handled by experts and no one should violate the borders of his specialized work of profession. So through the division of labor and the mechanized methods not only the production of daily necessities and goods has passed into the hands of specialists but almost every outlet for the emotional life as well. Today the artist-specialists have to provide for emotions. They are paid—if they are—for that. The sad consequence is that the biological interest in everything within the spheres of human existence becomes suffocated by the tinsel of a seemingly easygoing life. Man who has biologically the potential to comprehend the world with the entirety of his abilities, to conceive and express himself through different media, the word, tone, color, etc., agrees voluntarily to the amputation of these most valuable potentialities. Nothing proves better the lost feeling for the fundamentals of human life than the fact that has to be emphasized today: Feeling and thinking and their expression in any media belong to the normal living standard of man; to live without them means starvation of the intellectual and emotional side of life as missing food means starvation of the body. The non-verbalized expression of feeling is what we may call art, but not art on a pedestal. Art is a community matter transcending the limitations of specialization. It is the most intimate language of the senses, indispensable for the individual in society. Its function is to be a seismograph of the relationships of the individual to the world, intuitive re-creation of the balance between the emotional, intellectual and social existences of the individual. Everywhere in the world, since about 1910, young artists have tried to understand this. They searched for the best way to express themselves, to solve the problems which painting, sculpture, writing, composition brought to them. They did not search for â€Å"art†, but for sincere expression. Intuitively they returned to the fundamentals of the media—the painter to color and light, the sculptor to volume, the architect to space, the composer to tone, the writer to the word. Their work opens the way to the lost emotional sensorial sources and to a kind of socio-biology of the human being. But yet there is a great lag in the people’s mind concerning the benefits of this appro ach. Nothing more surprising has happened in the life of a nation, expcept perhaps in Russia, than the establishing of the Federal Art Project in the United States of America. Though it started as a part of the Social Security Act of the WPA it grew in a short time beyond this relief aspect. The Federal Art Project gave the country a new valuation of the arts, badly needed as the pioneers bringing civilization over a continent with audacity and hard physical work could not see in the arts for a long time anything but luxury. The Federal Art Project broke down this fallacy. It represented a gigantic educational work, not in the sense that it â€Å"brought art to the people† or created art for the people, but that it tried to anchor it in, with, among, and of the people. Since the Federal Art Project is liquidated, a greater responsibility lies with the educators of this country than ever before. It is up to them to see that art should be a part of life. This could be done early, but not as a timetable subject segregated from the other branches of the curriclum, but as an interpenetrating reality with all of them. If the unity of art can be established with all the subject matters taught and exercised, then a real reconstruction of this world could be hoped for—more balanced and less dangerous.

Effective Branding: Starbucks Essay

When thinking of a brand that I am loyal to the first brand that comes to mind is Starbucks. The Starbucks organization has done an amazing job of branding itself as the premiere coffee retailer worldwide. The Starbucks logo is widely recognized and is distinguishable even to non-coffee drinkers. The company has the advantage of commanding premium prices for their products that consumers are happy to pay on a daily, or even more frequent, basis. The ability to charge these premium prices resulted in 13.3 billion dollars in revenue in 2012 (The Wall Street Journal, 2013). Branding Oftentimes a successful marketing brand strategy involves consumer education (Grewal and Levy, 2012, p. 303). Starbucks did a great job of educating Americans on the coffee culture and the difference between the drip coffee made in our kitchens and latte’s or Americanos. Starbucks leveraged the consumer’s need to feel like a connoisseur and introduced them to different coffee products from around the globe (Stealing Share, 2013). Starbucks also did a very good job of making the product very visible. Starbucks stores started popping up all over Seattle first; the rest of the country was not far behind. Currently the company has 17,003 stores worldwide, with 10,787 of those stores in the United States (Statistics Brain, 2013). You cannot walk down the street in a major U.S. city without seeing a Starbucks store or a used Starbucks cup in a waste receptacle. This brand recognition happened very quickly and Starbucks didn’t have a whole lot of competition in these early days. The consumer coffee experience that Starbucks helped create could eventually lead to a need for a company brand redesign. Because coffee connoisseurs are now very knowledgeable about coffee products they expect continuous evolution. Starbucks has expanded their product line to include in-home coffee brewing products and stores located in supermarkets. This could lead to the consumer not valuing the Starbucks â€Å"experience† and turning to a lower cost competitor (Stealing Share, 2013). Packaging The most valuable asset that Starbucks has that relates to its packaging is the widely recognized Starbucks logo. The logo has evolved over the years, and was recently changed in 2011 (Corporate Eye, 2011). The logo that was used prior to 2011 included the words â€Å"Starbucks Coffee.† The redesign removes the company name entirely, and prominently features the picture that was in the center of the previous logo. Starbucks understands that their logo and brand are now recognizable without the company name similar to companies like Nike and Apple. The Starbucks cup is recognizable due to the Starbucks logo, but it also stands out for other reasons. The company was one of the first in the food and beverage industry to use recycled product in their packaging. This started with napkins and beverage sleeves, and continued with the actual cups that beverages were served in. Starbucks was one of the first companies to receive FDA approval to serve beverages in recycled paper (Food P roduction Daily, 2004). Comparison to Competitors While there a number of smaller specialty coffee retailers in the U.S., Starbucks’ most prominent competitors are Dunkin’ Donuts and McDonalds. These competitors started out as restaurants but quickly noticed the opportunities that the specialty coffee business presented. McDonalds is arguably the most recognized brand in the world and has worldwide brand recognition. The problem that McDonalds will have is educating its customers to the fact that they sell coffee. Also, McDonalds and Dunkin’ Donuts are both seen as budget-friendly companies, and this could also be a turnoff to customers seeking specialty coffee. References Grewal, D., & Levy, M. (2012). Marketing (3rd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Food Production Daily. (2004). Starbucks corporation joins recycled packaging reviolution. Retrieved from http://www.foodproductiondaily.com/Packaging/Starbucks-joins-recycled-packaging-revolution Statistics Brain. (2013). Company statistics: Starbucks. Retrieved from http://www.statisticbrain.com/starbucks-company-statistics/ Stealing Share. (2013). Lessons we can learn from starbucks. Retrieved from http://www.stealingshare.com/pages/Lessons We Can Learn From Starbucks Failures.htm The Wall Street Journal. (2013). Starbucks Corporation.

Strengths and weaknesses of Wal-Mart's entry strategy into Mexico Coursework

Strengths and weaknesses of Wal-Mart's entry strategy into Mexico - Coursework Example Antoni, (2007) suggested that despite the fact that Wal-Mart has been condemned for their low wages, they are truly doing various good for lower income individuals. Wal-Mart can punch out many competitors with their belligerent pricing approach. They have the capability to slash prices on some goods, such as toys, by twenty percent in order to motivate sales. The provision that Wal-Mart proffers to its clients is a vast benefit, as well. They have a sturdy figure that it is pleasant to shop where persons are all the time enthusiastic to make their occurrence a good one. The added enticements are the steady price rollback, in addition, to the store-within-a-store. An immense treaty of Wal-Mart’s achievements can be accredited to the reality that the corporation was based on recognizing, knowing, and accepting what exactly clients want from a vendor. These led to their accomplishments in enterprising in Mexico, as the consumers were contented with the services they received. The business in one store presents a massive selection of merchandise at extremely affordable, prices in a one-stop stockpile. Because of their magnitude, they can get vast discounts from dealers and so pass these investments on to the consumers. They produce their own branded goods and, in addition, to supply goods from confined suppliers and other main brands. Their extent and buying authority is immense strength. They also are careful in their managing approach, where they are extremely cautious with how they use their funds and control their assets. This went on well while in Mexico, and they succeeded. Finally, Wal-Mart’s economical benefit is their noteworthy logistics structure. They are able to distribute goods from any of their abundant supply centres in order to offer the cheapest and most proficient route. Expertise in general is an incredible power that Wal-Mart advances in to perk up their corporation. This not only offers expediency for clients, but also with a log istics structure like the one Wal-Mart has in position, online remissions are a breeze to stuff. Weaknesses In the eyes of a number of the community, Wal-Mart has limitations that involve not only their reflection, but also the survival of other individuals. Because of Wal-Mart’s stumpy prices and famous name, they have been capable to confine the sales of an incredible number of customers, and have, as a result, made it tremendously hard for small retailers to continue. Principled shoppers, those who are apprehensive with the comfort of small retailers are annoyed at the monopolizing authority Wal-Mart has been capable of gain. Most minute shops have been required to close up because of lack of sales. Some individuals say no to shop at Wal-Mart because of these matters. Many conservationists get concerned with the comprehensive buildings that are not susceptible to the surroundings. These constructions also cause a trouble of interchange pollution and obstruction, which can spoil small neighbourhoods. The workers of Wal-Mart can endure a tremendous deal, as well. Many obtain only poverty-level earnings and terrible wellbeing care reimbursements. Troubles with these healthcare reimbursements lead to workers applying for community help, which in turn signify that taxpayers would pay for Wal-Mart members of staff healthcare expenses. Because of these condemnations, worker confidence is reduced. Price devaluation is a severe

Inadequacies of the traditional historic cost accounting method in Essay

Inadequacies of the traditional historic cost accounting method in times of changing price levels and the alternative methods - Essay Example Inadequacies of Traditional Historic Cost Accounting: Based on the traditional historic cost accounting method, financial accounting of any business is done considering the earnings and costs that are associated only with the internal of the organization. Decisions are taken based on such measures that exclude economic transactional information without having any market value. With this technique only those external financial factors are taken into considerations that have some effects on the overall financial outcome of the business. Thus other social, economic or environmental factors are not considered in this method of accounting (Bailey, Harte and Sugden 2002). For any business organization, accounting method needs to realize the changes in prices in the market and be feasible in the process of accounting accordingly. The inadequacies with the traditional historic cost accounting method arise since the accountants used to measure transactions related to finance in terms of monet ary unit. The method proved to be unstable as the monetary value keeps changing with conditions in the market. With changes in the value of the rupee or dollar or any other unit, financial statements would reflect distorted amounts. For example if acquisition costs of assets are added to the statements, it does not prove to be rational since the value of the monetary unit is different at different points of time (Gupta 2004). The change in price levels reflects that when there is a rise in price, there is an increase in the prices of all items. The value of assets during these times may also increase, but the rates of increase may not be the same for all items. Thus general price rise and specific price rise are two forms of rise in prices requiring inflation accounting methods for business organizations to achieve accurate financial accounting. The historic cost accounting proved to be adequate to measure these prices changes thus requiring new accounting techniques for businesses (Dutta 2003). The major problem with the traditional historic cost accounting in regard to changing price levels is that it depends significantly on volume of output that an organization achieves. The categorization of costs may be done into four classes – variable, fixed, step fixed, and mixed – that may prove to be inappropriate. Considering the present day business performances, life cycles of product are short and there are higher levels of automation. This makes the above mentioned classification of costs less relevant for the organization and leads to satisfaction of the team simply counting on the costs and not managing them well (Adler 2013). Alternative Methods: With the problems and inaccuracies of the traditional cost accounting method proving to be inadequate for the present day business financial accounting, management teams had to plan for alternatives to replace the historic cost accounting method. Focus on strategic cost drivers has been considered as o ne of the steps of measuring costs effectively. This process allows an organization to divide its costs into structural and executional costs. While the structural costs allow the measurements of the costs related to the designs of the organization, the executional costs allow the organization to realize the post-design costs (Adler 2013). Alternatives to the historic cost

Computer System Crash Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Computer System Crash - Assignment Example If this occurs, and the computer user has stored information on their machine’s hard drive, but has not backed it up in any other way, the consequences can clearly be serious. In some cases data is recoverable from the hard drive when it has been removed from the computer, but this is not always possible. A student might lose all of their research data for an assignment, project or dissertation; a business person might lose data vital to the day-to-day running of their commercial operations. It is true that more recent operating systems, including Linux, and newer versions of Windows, are more likely to recover after a crash, when the machine’s hard drive has been scanned, errors have been repaired, and the system rebooted. Even if this all goes smoothly, data which was unsaved at the time of the crash may not be recoverable. However, there are several means by which data can secured, so that even if it cannot be recovered after a system crash, it can be accessed on a different machine. The most popular forms of external storage are USB mass storage devices, and external hard drives. The latter are usually able to store as much data as a PC, but the device can be connected and disconnected from a computer, and so data backed up using such devices will be safe in the event of a

Corporate Governance Within Privately Held Firms Research Paper

Corporate Governance Within Privately Held Firms - Research Paper Example According to Durand and Vargas (2003), four distinctive characteristics make private held companies receive less attention in comparison to public companies (p. 667). The first amongst these characteristics is the isolation of private firms from the pressures of capital markets. Secondly, private firms have a less efficient labor market from that of public companies, which is a result of the frequently observed disconnect between the expected performance of an individual and their employment contract. The third distinct characteristic of private held companies is that, they do not offer a similar palette in terms of incentives to their employees in comparison to public companies. Finally, private held companies have a different definition of performance usually shaped by the missions and goals of the firm (Durand and Vargas, 2003, p. 668). As a result, these distinct characteristics make private companies receive less attention from the media and government agencies. Nevertheless, it is essential for private held companies to institute reforms aimed at corporate governance. ... According to Keasey and Wright, accountability involves â€Å"monitoring, evaluation and control of organizational agents to ensure they behave in the interests of shareholders and other stakeholders† (as cited in Uhlaner et al., 2007, p. 226). In effect, private held firms should also implement corporate governance reforms within their operations in order to ensure accountability and avoid conflicts between the management, the owners, and any other stakeholder in the firm. Keasey, Thompson, and Wright (2005) noted â€Å"that the problem of diffuse ownership are absent as there is typically still a major ownership interest of the founders or their families† (p. 213). In this regard, corporate governance in private held firms failed to drive the need of change in such firms. On the other hand, management’s failure in private held firms to adopt corporate governance arises from the owners’ fears that some change amount to a usurpation of powers. In this case , accountability involves delegating and decentralizing operations and responsibilities, which some owners might interpret as a usurpation of powers and oppose any means to implement adoption of such routines. However, firms need external financing in order to expand their operations in the global economy. Therefore, the augmented need for external finances and funding make private held companies become more accountable to their financiers. In effect, since corporate reforms have a basis on accountability, private held firms implement corporate governance to ensure effective use of resources and more so the externally sourced finances. According to Uhlaner et al. (2007), ownership characteristics within private held firms â€Å"influence the quality of the two functions of governance – i.e., the monitoring and

The Representation of Mental Illness Within Film Dissertation

The Representation of Mental Illness Within Film - Dissertation Example The popular cinema happens to serve two important purposes that are projecting the salient mass perceptions towards some individuals or groups and on the other hand informing the target audience regarding the factual information pertaining to some sections of the society. In that context, when it comes to people suffering from mental illnesses, the cinema has certainly furnished the masses with the content associated with these two expectations. That is on the one side cinema has served an important role regarding informing the masses about the facts associated with mental illnesses and on the other hand cinema has also played a big role in ossifying the stereotypical notions pertaining to the individuals and groups suffering from mental illnesses (Wahl, 1995, p. 5). It goes without saying that the way mental illnesses get represented and reflected upon in films is an issue of paramount importance as it pertains to the well being and representation of a salient section of the human p opulation (Hinshaw, 2007, p. 202). In that context the role played by cinema in the representation of mental illnesses has been mixed and ambivalent. Mental Illnesses and Expectation from Cinema It is a fact that cinema does play a pivotal role in constructing and shaping the popular mass perceptions (Rafter, 2000, p. 62). Hence, before delving on the larger issue of the representation of mental illnesses in cinema or films, I will be more appropriate to delineate the ideal expectations that an informed individual could have when it comes to the representation of mental illnesses in films. It is a fact that there is a dire need to change and alter the public perceptions about people suffering from mental illnesses, if one goes by the general public attitude towards mentally ill people. Thereby, it is expected from cinema to give way to a salubrious climate in which not only the issues related to mental illnesses get openly discussed, but which also comes heavily on the generalized s tereotypes usually associated with people ailing from mental illnesses (Rogers & Pilgrim, 2005. P. 36). For the first appropriate step in this direction will be to enhance public knowledge regarding the mental illnesses. This is because people tend to garner the knowledge and information regarding the issue of mental illnesses from a wide range of sources that could be the first hand experience, news media and print literature and the characters suffering from mental illnesses as they are represented in films or stage presentations. It is also true that it gets really difficult for cinema to facilitate a factual portrayal of the characters suffering from mental illnesses, when the popular perception tends to be so replete with standardized stereotypes. Hence, many a types, the films are in a way pushed into perpetuating the negative stereotypes about mental illnesses, shaped to a large extent by the already existent popular stereotypes and the audience expectations about the way the y want to see mentally ill people being depicted in them (Paquette, 2003). Yet, it is also true that all the creative professionals actively associated with film making, are they directors, producers, actors, script writers or editors, could indeed play a positive and realistic role in reframing the way people think and perceive mental illnesses (Chinball & Petley, 2002). By doing so they will not only be setting the scores correct regarding an issue that is of immense public importance, but as have many films shown, the films could still accrue box office records by depicting the mentally ill

Rhetoric & Sterotypes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Rhetoric & Sterotypes - Essay Example 1996). However, it seems that stereotypes have become woven into the human mind because no matter how insignificant, everyone has stereotypes formed about someone. In particular, the stereotypes of politicians, people with tattoos, feminist, and senior citizens are worth discussing. Politicians help run our legislative system. They are elected by the general public to represent their interest in the government on both the local and federal levels. Sometimes we elect representatives that represent our interest, while other times they represent â€Å"the highest bidder†. I have grown up hearing that politicians are corrupt and greasy; the power ends up corrupting their purpose. This can be seen with all the lobbying and special interest groups that now play a role in our representative democracy. When talking about politicians, stereotypes usually reflect a negative outlook with conversations mostly talking about political corruption and shady dealings with corporate owners for tax breaks. Tattoos are a form of body art that have foundations across most of the cultures of the world. The art of tattooing has been around since ancient times. Some of the common stereotypes held about people who have tattoos are: â€Å"being unsuccessful in school, coming from broken homes, having an unhappy childhood, rarely attending church, having poor decision making skills, usually obtaining further body modification while inebriated and being an easy victim of peer pressure† (Martin & Dula 2010). Many people have learned to associate tattoos with â€Å"destroying your body.† Due to the conflicting nature of tattoos, a generalized consensus would be hard to draw due not only to the popularity of tattoos, but their glorified nature in Hollywood as well as on television. The Feminist Movement focuses on the gender inequalities that exist in society and promotes women’s rights in every aspect of life. Radical feminism has lead to feminist having a negati ve appearance especially when talking about men. â€Å"People imagine a stereotypical image of an angry, man-hating, unattractive woman with hairy armpits screaming irrationally about imagined insults† (Gladen, 2008). The biggest component of the stereotype is male bashing and women supremacy. What started as a genuine movement for gender equality developed into a movement in which radical women wanting to become superior to men and have them feel the way women have been treated for ages. Gerontology is a specific study in psychology which deals with the aging process of the elderly. Across the world, there are many different views about the role of the elderly in society. In the western hemisphere, it is a common practice for the offspring to put their elderly parents in a nursing home once they are unable to care for themselves. In some eastern cultures, it is customary for the elderly to live with the parents throughout their lives. Elderly people are often viewed as ineff icient in society due to the lack of mobility and self reliance from biological and psychological aging. This negative stereotype about being a burden on their families often leads to depression and other psychological illnesses in the elderly which could eventually lead to suicide. There is some truth to all of the stereotypes. Stereotypes are ways for us to self associate/disassociate from people that are similar/different. Like all things in society, some stereotypes will hold true, even with some people conforming to that

Compare Social Control Methods Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Compare Social Control Methods - Essay Example Additionally, Geert Hofstede’s Cultural Index has also been applied while making the comparative analysis of the societies under examination. Social control is viewed to be the system applied for regulating the activities of the individuals within a political set up. In simple words, it is the mechanism observed by the political authorities for the eradication of individual and collective criminal behavior and deviancy for the protection and welfare of the citizens. Actually crime is aptly stated as a social phenomenon that exists in every social establishment of the world since the known human history. Theories have been articulated and researches have been conducted in order to explore the reasons behind committing of crimes on the one hand, and devising the methods to purify the society from offences on the other. Though theorists suggest political, social, economic, psychological and ethno-racial motives behind the involvement of the individuals into offences of different kinds, yet no society could be able to eliminate such harmful activities from the very face of its culture. Somehow, different societies have established different social control methods for the maintenance of peace and order. ... 07: 231) Thus, fear of being cursed, rebuked, penalized and punished serve as powerful social control; the same is applied to Pakistan and Israeli cultures. Social, political and religious institutions including family, peers, church/mosque, classrooms, workplace, cultural values, religious faiths and law enforcing agencies are the methods of social control in the contemporary era. Pakistan is a south Asian Muslim state, where an overwhelming majority claims to be following the Islamic cult, laws and norms. Though the Pakistanis cite religious beliefs in everyday activities, yet they seldom observe these teachings in their true spirit. On the contrary, western statutes of law have been in vogue to formally regulate the activities of the people. Moreover, social norms, cultural values, taboos, traditions, customs and conventions are also prevailing as the regularity authority for the informal social control. These traditional institutions, including arbitrary councils work at local le vels, which are headed by the religious and political personalities, and determine the punishments for the law breakers. Hence, in the societies where the individuals observe strong family and tribal bonds, the crime rate observes significant decline. Social control theory aims to state that strong social bonds cause the inhibition of delinquency, whereas weak social bonds offer little resistance to offending. (Booth, Farrell and Varano, 2008:1) The same is the case with Pakistani society, where women involved into extra marital sexual union and adultery have fear of being killed at the hand of one or more male family members including father, brother, husband, in-laws and tribe. Similarly, provincial and linguistic affiliations and bonds forbid the people to inflict offensive attacks upon

Federal Legalization of Recreational Marijuana Research Paper

Federal Legalization of Recreational Marijuana - Research Paper Example Proponents argue that legalizing marijuana would increase revenue, lower burden on law enforcement, increase national security, safeguards individual rights, and make consumption safer. Opponents on the other hand, argue legalizing marijuana would create a gateway for harder drugs like cocaine, emergence of black markets, create new users, cause health problems, and loss of productivity. The issue is thus a headache for the federal and state governments bearing in mind the public support that legalization has been getting over the years. Leaders and mostly governors are also at a loss whether to succumb to people’s needs or use their discretion or moral values in deciding whether to support or not. The issue is thus becoming a great concern not only for law enforcement officers but also parents, educators, health care workers, government and the public as a whole. This paper is to discuss the debate surrounding federal legalization of recreational marijuana to get an insight i nto its complexity. Whilst Hanson et al, Donovan et al, Rushefsky, and Fox et al argue that legalization is necessary for a safer society; Martel is against such a move. Morgan on the other hand, gives a balanced view on the subject. Martel argues that it is the media especially print media who constructed the problem of recreational marijuana in the 1960s, reported on it and mobilized groups around the issue by creating a moral panic (Martel 11). Moral panic in this case refers to â€Å"sudden rise of an issue, often out of proportion with reality, and it is more or less equally rapid disappearance from public agenda† (13). This moral panic created fear in the public that their social values are being threatened by drug use giving rise to Pro-marijuana groups in its defense to the public and also law governing bodies. This Martel believes should be rejected at all cost. He agrees with Blanchard the Attorney General’s sentiments that it is time to take into account

PSY 435 Full Course Material Essay Example for Free

PSY 435 Full Course Material Essay

The UK Construction Industry: Impact of the Recession

The UK Construction Industry: Impact of the Recession INTRODUCTION Chapter 1: Background Information According to the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR), the UK construction industry has 250,000 firms employing 2.1 million people, and contributes 8.2 percent of the nations Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Construction companies provide employment for every skill level from labourers to architects as well as the opportunity to work for every size of firm from family run businesses, to major contractors. Its efficient operation and competitiveness is also essential to the fulfilment of the Governments commitment to improve public services and infrastructure. The delivery of new schools, hospitals, affordable housing, eco homes, all depend on the success of the construction sector to deliver. Key issues the construction industry is facing in 2009 With cut-backs, uncertainty and more red tape it looks as if 2009 will be a challenge. To say the year has been one of turmoil and change is an understatement. The reeling financial markets and the swelling sense of gloom overshadowing the general economic outlook have, naturally, a corollary in the construction industry always a lag barometer for the economic climate. And the uncertainty is far from over. If some experts are correct, we may be witnessing just the initial battering of the storm. Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England, has admitted it is likely that the country is heading for a â€Å"prolonged and painful recession†. In the last twelve months, the national and global situation has worsened. So in this light, below are the authors predictions for the biggest issues that UK construction will face. Skills The recession is forcing employers to look at restructuring and, ultimately, redundancies. For an industry that has enjoyed a boom for years, this is going to be a massive change of mindset employers need to be very careful they manage any redundancies properly or we will see an increase in litigation in this area. However, and perhaps perversely, the industry will continue to suffer major skills shortages, particularly in the South-east, where 2012 is a tremendous opportunity, but one which casts a skills shadow. This time, project management skills will be in short supply, due to lack of training facilities or lack of investment in education sponsoring from construction companies, rather than labour, where the situation regarding migrant workers who may be returning to their native countries will continue to remain unclear into 2009. Sectors like caring, which still needs a lot of people will attract all the labour force. Temporary workers Agency workers are soon to be given similar rights to permanent staff. It is proposed that the law will change in 2010. The new law will mean that after 12 weeks on assignment, an agency worker will be entitled to ‘equal treatment meaning the same basic working and employment conditions as a comparable permanent employee, including equal pay, notice and holiday entitlement. For an industry that employs a large volume of temporary workers, this is going to be an administrative and financial challenge that will really make itself felt in 2009. Health and safety The recent downward trend in construction-related injuries may well be over, and 2009 could see a significant increase since contractors will be looking to cut down costs on training and overlooking basic safety measures. There are suggestions that considerably different levels of adherence to health and safety rules are due to the rapid influx of migrant workers. Different people behave and act in different ways although all working for UK construction companies. There are some people who are very meticulous about their work and adhere to each and every smallest safety precautions while there are others who can consider petty measures as time wasting. If evidence of this emerges in 2009, we could expect the industry to experience a crackdown from the HSE. We expect to see increasing postponement of Local Authority maintenance work, which will hit small contractors and subcontractors the hardest. The Government is talking about major investment in new schemes. The consequence is that, even allowing for more lending, spend will have to be clawed back from somewhere. It seems inevitable that this will be from maintenance. This will be counter-productive, as maintenance work which puts money into the pockets of smaller contractors, quickly is usually the fastest way to stimulate the economy. House building For what seems like forever, the Government has been hugely vocal about its target for three million new homes by 2020 and 10 ecotowns by 2020. As Construction News reported, housing minister Margaret Beckett is already re-articulating these as â€Å"ambitions† and â€Å"hopes†, rather than firm commitments. (from www.cnplus.co.uk/story.aspx) It would seem inevitable that â€Å"ambitions† might be downplayed further and become â€Å"future aspirations† before long. This will provide more worry for subcontractors who rely on the house-building sector for some of their work. The fact that the UK is still suffering a major shortage of housing particularly affordable housing, regardless of falling house prices does mean, however, that this semantic juggling will only be a 2009 phenomenon. Top 20 Construction Companies Q2 2009 The Top 20 construction companies league table, by construction news, ranks the UKs 20 biggest construction companies by turnover and profit, as follows. The table is updated quarterly, and was last updated inJune 2009. New Infrastructure New infrastructure output in the 12 months to the first quarter of 2009 was 7 per cent higher compared with the previous 12 months and the first quarter of 2009 was 2 per cent higher compared with the previous quarter. The outlook is becoming increasingly gloomy as the worsening economy hits the capital. London escaped the worst of the construction slowdown for much of 2008. Indeed, the value of underlying work starting on site fell by just 3 per cent in 2008. But construction starts in London fell sharply in the fourth quarter of 2008 as the worsening economic conditions took hold. The value of underlying construction starts has continued to slide during the opening months of 2009, with starts during the three months to February 35 per cent down on a year earlier. With financial and property related firms reducing their workforces, many developers have put planned construction projects on hold. The value of underlying office starts, which accounted for about a quarter of the value of underlying construction starts during 2007, fell 21 per cent last year. That said, some developers are still pressing forward with major office projects. Tighter mortgage conditions and sustained pessimism in the residential housing market are now severely impacting private housing construction in London. Having held up well during the first half of 2008, sector starts in the capital are now following a similar trend to the rest of the country. The value of underlying construction starts was  £150 million in the fourth quarter 2008, down 73 per cent on a year earlier. Construction prospects in London are becoming increasingly gloomy. The value of projects in the pre-construction pipeline has fallen away sharply, with underlying planning approvals falling by 36 per cent in value during the fourth quarter of 2008. Large projects are a significant feature of construction activity in London. At first glance the preconstruction pipeline for large projects looks promising. However, given the current economic climate, there is likely to be a higher than normal proportion of planned large projects to be either delayed or abandoned. This is due to the fact that the government is planning to spread its restricted allowable budget across several other vital sectors such as education and health. Nonetheless we should breathe a sign of relief when looking at big projects such Cross rail where preliminary works have begun this year and construction starting in 2010. We should also be looking at temporary relief projects such as the Olympics which need to be completed by mid 2012. These important projects are acting like a lifeline for major construction companies, while waiting for the bad economic climate to change a bit. Overall, construction starts has significantly deteriorated in 2009, which has affe cted small contractors a lot but there is still a glimmer of hope for major firms with very few massive projects. Chapter 2: History of recession The word recession has several meanings. The simplest one could be, a recession happens when our neighbour losses his or her job, and it is a depression when we are made redundant. Economic textbooks tell that a recession is what happens when the economy shrinks for six months on the trot. GDP is used to measure the size of the economy, and when the figures go negative for two successive three months periods (or quarters) the technical definition is met (from http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/article5753844.ece). When recessions are prolonged past several months, they become depressions. Unlike recession there is no widely accepted textbook definition of a depression, although some say it comes when GDP shrinks by a total of 10 per cent. It will feel distinctly like a depression if a recession goes on for more than a year. After two years, talk of recessions is sure to be replaced by ultra-glum references to depression. Credit crunch timetable Year 2007 In February HSBC gives an early sign of the crisis to come when it warns of higher than expected mortgage defaults in its US business. In August BNP Paribas suspends three funds exposed to sub-prime mortgages. European Central Bank pumps â‚ ¬95 billion into the markets. In September Northern Rock seeks emergency funding. First run on a UK bank for more than 140 years. In October UBS, of Switzerland, is the worlds first major bank to announce losses from sub-prime-related investments, totalling $3.4 billion. Year 2008 In February Northern Rock is nationalised. In March Bear Stearns, the US investment bank, seeks emergency funding and is sold to JP Morgan in a cut-price deal, sparking week of turmoil in stock markets. In April Nationwide records first annual house price fall for 12 years. In September Lehman Brothers, the US investment bank, goes bust. Bradford Bingley is nationalised. In October The Icelandic banking system collapses. Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds TSB and HBOS are partly nationalised. Year 2009 In January UK officially enters recession. In March Base rate cut to 0.5 per cent. The credit crunch refers to a sudden shortage of funds for lending, leading to a resulting decline in loans available. A Credit Crunch can occur for various reasons: Sudden increase in interest rates (e.g. in 1992, UK government increased rates to 15%) Direct money controls by the government (rarely used by Western Governments these days) A lack of liquidity in the capital markets The recent credit crunch was driven by a sharp rise in defaults on subprime mortgages. These mortgages were mainly in America but the resulting shortage of funds spread throughout the rest of the world. Steps to 2007 / 08 Credit Crunch US mortgage lenders sell many inappropriate mortgages to customers with low income and poor credit. It is hoped with a booming housing market, the mortgages will remain affordable. Often there was lack of controls in the sale of mortgage products. Mortgage brokers got paid for selling a mortgage, so there was an incentive to sell mortgages even if they were too expensive and high chance of default. To sell more profitable subprime mortgages, mortgage companies bundled the debt into consolidation packages and sold the debt on to other finance companies. In other words, mortgage companies borrowed to be able to lend mortgages. The lending was not financed out of saving accounts, for example. These mortgage debts were bought by financial intermediaries. The idea was to spread the risk, but, actually it just spread the problem. Usually subprime mortgages would have a high risk assessment rating. But, when the mortgage bundles got passed onto other lenders, rating agencies gave these risky subprime mortgages a low risk rating. Therefore, the financial system denied the extent of risk in their balance sheets. Many of these mortgages had an introductory period of 1-2 years of very low interest rates. At the end of this period, interest rates increased. In 2007, the US had to increase interest rates because of inflation. This made mortgage payments more expensive. Furthermore, many homeowners who had taken out mortgages 2 years earlier now faced ballooning mortgage payments as their introductory period ended. Homeowners also faced lower disposable income because of rising health care costs, rising petrol prices and rising food prices. This caused a rise in mortgage defaults, as many new homeowners could not afford mortgage payments. These defaults also signalled the end of the US housing boom. US house prices started to fall and this caused more mortgage problems. For example, people with 100% mortgages now faced negative equity. It also meant that the loans were no longer secured. If people did default, the bank couldnt guarantee to recoup the initial loan. The number of defaults caused many medium sized US mortgage companies to go bankrupt. However, the losses werent confined to mortgage lenders, many banks also lost billions of pounds in the bad mortgage debt they had bought off US mortgage companies. Banks had to write off large losses and this made them reluctant to make any further lending, especially in the now dangerous subprime sector. The result was that all around the world, it became very difficult to raise funds and borrow money. The cost of interbank lending has increased significantly. Often it was very difficult to borrow any money at all. The markets dried up. This affected many firms who had been exposed to the subprime lending. It also affected a wide variety of firms who now have difficulty borrowing money. For example, biotech companies rely on ‘high risk investment and are now struggling to get enough funds. The slow down in borrowing has contributed to a slowing economy with the possibility of recession in the US a real problem. Credit Crunch in the UK UK mortgage lenders did not lend so many bad mortgages. Although mortgage lending became more relaxed in the past few years, it still had more controls in place than the US. However, it caused very serious problems for Northern Rock. Northern rock had a high percentage of risky loans, but, also had the highest percentage of loans financed through reselling in the capital markets. When the subprime crisis hit, Northern Rock could no longer raise enough funds in the usual capital market. It was left with a shortfall and eventually had to make the humiliating step to asking the Bank of England for emergency funds. Because the Bank asked for emergency funds, this caused its customers to worry and start to withdraw savings (even though savings werent directly affected) As a result of the credit crunch, the UK has seen a change in the mortgage market. Mortgages have become more expensive. Risky mortgage products- like 125% mortgages have been removed from the market. UK Banks continue to face problems. HBOS (Owner of Halifax) struggled to finance its balance sheet. Like Northern Rock, it financed an expansion of lending by borrowing. Now money markets have frozen up, they couldnt raise enough money to maintain liquidity. Falling House prices. Now that mortgages are difficult to get, demand for houses has slumped. Therefore, house prices have fallen. Lower house prices mean many face negative equity. Therefore, mortgage defaults now cost banks even more (because they cant get back the initial loan. Bradford Bingley was nationalised because it couldnt raise enough finance. The BB had specialised in buy to let loans, which are particularly susceptible to falling house prices. How long will the Credit Crunch Last? The credit crunch could last a long time. This is because: House prices are still falling in the US, reducing the value of mortgage loans Many homeowners still face rising interest rates, when their introductory periods come to an end It can be difficult to regain confidence in the financial markets A recession in the US and global downturn could cause a further rise in bad loans The cheerfully named Profile of Depression shows the fall in UK economic growth, as measured by GDP, following some ofthe key slumps of the past century. It compares these to todays crisis. It illustrates the level of fear among experts about the financial hurricane that has disabled Britain -the ‘Noughties bust had, until very recently, actually been worse than the Great Depression of the 1930s (although it was less ‘Great in Britain than it was in the US, where GDP shrank by more than 25%). LITERATURE REVIEW Chapter 3: Effects of recession on UK construction Industry First of all, some uncomfortable facts and figures: 4,500,000 people on council house waiting lists 300,000 construction jobs in danger across the sector 90,000 predicted job losses for Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) builders 71 percent fall in workload for the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) private house builders 61 percent FMB companies expecting lower workloads in 2009 quarter one 60 percent FMB companies reporting fall in workloads for fourth consecutive quarter 52 percent FMB builders warning they will be making staff cuts over the coming months 16 percent house price fall to date 8 construction companies going into insolvency every day 7.5 percent fall in building prices in the last quarter of 2008. The construction industry has been particularly badly hit as a result of the credit crunch and the down turn in the housing market. The industry is facing its biggest challenge for many years. The indicators are that many will struggle to survive in the current market, with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) predicting the loss of over 300,000 jobs within the industry and with 52 percent of FMB members warning that they will be making staff redundant over the coming months. There is currently a crisis in the housing market with many first time buyers unable to get a mortgage let alone afford a first home. Alongside this there are more than 90,000 families living in temporary accommodation and 1.6 million families on council house waiting lists; the case for building new homes is therefore very clear. However, news from the National House Building Council shows new home starts being at their lowest level since 1924. The authors feel that current proposals to deal with this desperate situation dont go far enough in tackling the real problems affecting the UK construction industry and the wider housing sector. If the UK construction industry is to have any realistic chance of surviving this recession, these 10 key issues need to be addressed to kick start the building industry. The effects of the recession are affecting all aspects of the UK national economy. In December 2008, the construction sector shrank at its fastest pace since records began. The most considerable decline was registered in house building, while the civil engineering and commercial sub-sectors also fell at record rates during that month. As well as the decline in the housing construction sector, the housing market has also slumped. According to the Halifax, house prices fell 16.2% in 2008, the biggest annual decline since it began keeping records in 1983. This has made buying a home more affordable when set against earnings than at any time since April 2003. However, getting a mortgage is difficult for many. Data from the Bank of England showed the number of mortgage approvals fell to 27,000 in November 2008, representing at least a nine-year low (from BBC News, 2 January 2009, www.news.bbc.co.uk). Roy Ayliffe, Director of Professional Practice at the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply, said: Once again, the housing sector bore the brunt of the crisis as purchasing managers reported significant reductions in new business. Amidst a climate of doom and gloom, firms were forced to axe more jobs in preparation for what is set to be another year of trouble and turmoil. (from Times Online, 5 January 2009, www.timesonline.co.uk) The UK government has plans for public spending and it is hoped that these will include major construction projects, such as roads, schools and other public buildings. This would help the construction industry and those companies that supply the construction industry to ensure continued employment for many. Businesses in the construction industry therefore need to ensure they remain competitive during this difficult economic climate. At the same time, they need to prepare the business to be able to take advantage of any future upturn in the market. Everyone knows the downturn has hit the industry badly. But research commissioned by The Construction News from Emap Glenigan shows the true extent of the contraction, how it breaks down by sector and region, and what the likely outcome for the rest of the year will be. Parts of the industry private housing, offices and industrial are badly affected by the deteriorating economic conditions and the credit crunch. The situation is brighter for those with jobs in infrastructure and the Olympics, although neither of these will be enough to sustain overall industry activity. Historically, economic growth below two per cent has been associated with falls in construction output. Last month, GDP growth for the second quarter was revised down to zero. Consensus forecasts suggest prospects for growth will slow even further in 2009. The gloomy economic conditions have led to a sharp fall in the flow of new projects in the pre-construction pipeline. Glenigan expects construction starts in the UK will fall by five per cent in value during 2009. Private housing has been most affected by the credit crunch. The reappraisal of risk by the banking sector has arguably led to more appropriate criteria for accessing credit. However, as a result the asset price bubble in the housing market has burst. This is causing a long-term contraction in demand since prospective buyers can no longer borrow as much to finance house purchases. Inevitably, those in private housing construction will have to find a way to either cut per unit costs or, more likely, adjust to a new, much lower, level of housing demand. The impact of the credit crunch on other private sector parts of construction industrial, offices, retail and hotels is different. These sectors have not suffered from the asset price bubble evident in private housing. However, investment in each of these sectors is affected by the prevailing economic conditions. As such, the immediate outlook is bleak but, with the Olympics on the horizon, construction prospects for the sector should start to improve in the latter half of 2009, when all major works will need to be started in order to be ready for 2012. The Government has had an ambitious construction-related spending programme across a number of sectors. Education and health in particular will benefit from an increase in the value of construction projects this year. But the Government is not immune to the economic slowdown. The absorption of Northern Rock has already put the Governments finances under pressure. Falling retail sales, rising unemployment and a decline in the profitability of UK firms will reduce tax receipts and add to its difficulties. Looking forward, the poor state of Government finances may jeopardise some of its proposed construction schemes. Major infrastructure projects will continue to help buoy the UK construction industry. Projects such as the widening of the M25 motorway and Crossrail are set to provide a boost to the sector. Ongoing projects such as Thameslink and the Edinburgh tram line will continue to contribute to the sectors workload for some time yet. Outside transport, the sector should also benefit from increased capital expenditure by water and electricity utilities. At present, the macroeconomic and sector-specific conditions are having a much bigger impact on the UK construction outlook than regional factors. Regional variations Differences in the composition of construction sectors within each region explain much of the variation in the regions respective prospects. For instance, regions where industrial construction is relatively significant, such as the West Midlands and Yorkshire and Humberside, will see the value of construction starts contract this year. The North-east, which has relatively less exposure to private housing than other regions, is faring better. Construction orders down 9% as property market slumps New orders in the British construction industry have continued to plunge as building firms are battered by the credit crunch. The Office for National Statistics said that orders fell by 9% in the three months to November, compared with the previous three months. They were 27% down on a year-on-year basis. The figures showed that new construction orders were particularly weak in November itself, diving 38.6% year-on-year. The private housing sector was a major casualty, with new orders down by 55% compared with a year ago. All the UK house builders have dramatically reined in their activity and cut jobs as the housing market has slumped. Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight, said the data showed that the construction sectors recession deepened markedly in the fourth quarter of 2008. He sees little prospect of conditions improving soon. â€Å"With housing market activity and prices likely to remain depressed for some considerable time to come and the commercial property sector in dire straits, the construction sector looks set for extended weakness, despite some support from the government bringing forward some public construction activity and infrastructure spending as part of its fiscal stimulus package,† Archer said. Accountants Grant Thornton said that the construction and property sector was set to be the worst casualty of the economic downturn in 2009, plummeting by 75% in profitability and 71% in turnover from the same period last year. Clare Hartnell, head of property and construction at Grant Thornton, said: â€Å"Profitability and turnover within the construction and property sector are significantly driven by sales and market value; 2008 was a turbulent year as credit dried up and confidence plummeted, causing house prices and the number of properties sold to fall sharply. The decline in the residential market consequently has had a knock-on-effect on the construction sector, where problems have been exacerbated by huge debts as many proposed developments have been put on hold.† http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tnuPqsRPvjute_-qBacPptQoid=4output=image The year 2009 is set to be a trying year to say the least. Part of the reason for this is the current state of the economy. Lack of available credit will have an adverse effect on the ailing construction and property sector. http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tnuPqsRPvjute_-qBacPptQoid=6output=image The June Glenigan Index reveals that promised government funding has finally begun to filtering through to project starts. In particular a rise in educational, health and social housing projects starting on site have helped steady the Index, cutting the year-on-year decline to 20%. Workload trends: Infrastructure Infrastructure saw the value of underlying planning approvals (covering schemes under  £100M) fall sharply last year. Whilst the fall appears to have dampened the flow of project starts, with the value of underlying project starts during the first five months of 2009, 13% down on a year earlier, the overall prospects for the sector are bright. With the help of the new infrastructure planning commission, it is hoped that new planning consents for key projects can be accelerated. Impact of the recession on supply chain The construction industry has got the largest supply chain, compared with other industries. It ranges from mere nails to large modular constructions. It has been a major contributor since the dawn of this industry and has risen in vigour and strength over the years. Its integration with our industry has created a revolution that triggered the rise of new technologies powered by their contribution. This general introduction, gives us a fair knowledge of the value of supply chain to the construction industry. When this unexpected recession struck the markets with tremendous force, the construction industry felt the tremor, and its repercussions were felt throughout its branches. As the properties and developments went down, demand dropped, which in-turn left the developers with no option but to suspend majority of their works. The great â€Å"feeders† supply chain took its toll. Demand for their products vanished. Then the only rule of law that applies is â€Å"Survival of the fittest†, i.e. the one who could bring best deals could survive (both in price and Quality) and others would go bust. By and large the prices soured. Illustration with an example would clearly explain what the authors are trying to convey. Major components of our industry are cement, ready-mix, rebar and structural steel. Their price variation could indicate the trail recession took. http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tnuPqsRPvjute_-qBacPptQoid=2output=image All major supply resources have dropped in price dramatically one or the other time, to merely survive this recession rather than making profit. One of the major suppliers, now are for the ODA. Even they are experiencing the crunch. All the pre-allocated works, which assured definite return, are re-examined to align with the new prices. This has created friction, and even few of them moved on for adjudication. ODA has awarded contracts to around 1036 suppliers, most of which are small to medium sized businesses. This is a government initiative to prop up the middle class players, and there-by securing best deal contracts. Similar public investments could be seen in the health and education sectors, which form large part of the construction order-book and keep the pressure off. The main issue here is the growing trend of irresponsible pricing to win the scarce bids. That is, pricing below the cost. Many experts have warned of the return of industrial dispute culture of the 1980. This could ruin the objective. Recessionary impact was clearly felt when private investments dried up and forced the government twice to dip into the contingency budget. Due to this ill demand, there has been deterioration in construction product manufacturing. All heavy side manufacturers and 91% of light side manufacturers reported that sales had fallen; unprecedented results have been collected, research shows