Modernity Is A Normal Part Of Daily Life That Has Made Its...

Modernity is a normal part of daily life that has made its way into religion. Modernity, disenchantment, and secularization, not only all intertwine and play a role in today’s changing society, but the first one acts as cause for the other two, through ideas such as the Secularization Thesis and secularism arising as part of the disenchanted world. Before explaining how, it is important to first discuss what modernity is. Michael Saler describes it as: â€Å"a mixture of political, social, intellectual, economic, technological, and psychological factors, several of which can be traced to earlier centuries and other cultures, which merged synergistically in the West between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries. These factors include (but are not exhausted by) the emergence of the autonomous and rational subject; the differentiation of cultural spheres; the rise of liberal and democratic states; the turn to psychologism and self-reflexivity; and the dominance of secularism, nationalism, capitalism, industrialism, urbanism, consumerism, and scientism.† Essentially as an idea, modernity encompasses anything that has developed over the past few centuries and could be considered modern, getting away from a traditional way of life and transitioning into a modern way of life. Peter Berger best explained it with his â€Å"traveler on a plane† metaphor: The jet traveler goes by the airline schedules, moves quickly, and has many choices. The villagers on the other hand, go by the seasons,Show MoreRelatedThe Difference Between Muslims And Maranaos1444 Words   |  6 PagesWaffa M Sarip English 27 Andre Dominic The difference between Muslims and Maranaos; Goodness of the Muslims Background of the Maranaos Maranao means â€Å"people of the lake† which refer to lakeLanao in the province of lanao del sur on the southern part of the Philippines in the island of Mindanao sinch 13th century. The first muslim missionaries came to preach Islam and the people in Bumbaran refused to be converted, as the entire kingdom sank there were only four people who survived and became theRead MoreThe Christian Mission Book Review1442 Words   |  6 PagesChristian Mission Book Review Part two begins with David Livingstone, a Scottish missionary, and a professional doctor. He was very interested in exploration and his main goal was to stop Portuguese and Arab slave trade, he believed in human self-worth. He got his men and his supplies and started his voyage to Africa to map Africa, he was successful at mapping most of Zambezi. Livingstone was accused of not being a â€Å"real† missionary and he was too political but he always made sure he was working withRead MoreAmerican Culture1480 Words   |  6 Pagesa shared lifestyle among people, while it divides the world into communities of common customs, values, religion, practices, and law.1 American culture can be seen as more diverse and complex; however, people manage to find common ground through music, art, fashion, science, technology, worldviews and democracy. On the grander scale, Americanization greatly impacts foreign countries and has the power to control them. It is capable of compelling goo d influence over other nations and often timesRead MoreImmigration, Cultural Boundaries, By Open And Closed Geographic Borders Essay2636 Words   |  11 Pagescreated through relations between members of the society. From the time in memorial, it has been known that Allah who is the name given to God by Muslims permits women to come up with conclusions in relation to balancing accountabilities surrounding their home area. It is the decision of a woman to choose either to work in their place of birth or move to other countries in search for greener pastures. In this case, it has always given the Muslim women a lot of challenges in trying to secure jobs in thatRead MoreKierkegaard s Requirement Of Sacrifice1958 Words   |  8 PagesSacrifice in Christianity? At the time of Sà ¸ren Kierkegaard, many relatively new approaches to theology and ways of thinking about God and the divine were permeating throughout Europe. Many of them, especially Hegel’s rationalist philosophy method, were not to Kierkegaard’s liking. Since theology and religion were so rapidly losing credibility in the eyes of modern science and modernity itself, there was an effort by philosophers and theologians to either reduce Christianity to mere ethics, orRead MoreChallenges Facing Modern Christians5546 Words   |  23 PagesMEDIA SUBMITTED TO: Dr. MUTHONI GACHARI SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGES AND PERFORMING ARTS DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND PERFORMING ARTS DUE DATE: 23rd NOVEMBER 2012 DAYSTAR UNIVERSITY NAIROBI CAMPUS RELIGION CHALLENGES FACING MODERN CHRISTIANS Christians are facing many challenges in the contemporary world. Christians are facing many challenges in the contemporary world such as competition of power among churches, sexual immorality, misinterpretationRead MoreWhat Is Western Civilization?2205 Words   |  9 Pages1. What is Western Civilization? Western civilization or the western culture that is broadly used in describing the heritage that is found in a normal society i.e. the ethical values, social norms, beliefs, political, specific artefacts, the technologies used and the political systems found in that society, that have some resemblance with that from European countries. This effect was felt because it was carried either through colonization or modern day immigration, hence the culture is transferredRead MoreHate Crime And The United Kingdom3275 Words   |  14 PagesWhilst hate crime has been represented in the media and legislation for many years, particularly in the US, definitions of the term have been transient and changing. The Home Office issued a report in 2013 which demonstrated to both the public and law enforcement officials the most recent formal definition of ‘hate crime’ in the United Kingdom: â€Å"any criminal offence which is perceived, by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by a hostility or prejudice towards someone based on a personalRead MoreArab Culture - Essay6842 Words   |  28 Pagesless equal to the area known as the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Although this excludes Somalia, Djibouti, and the Comoros Islands which are part of the Arab world. †¢ It can also be defined as those countries where Arabic is the dominant language. †¢ Arab countries are religiously and ethnically diverse with Islam being the dominant religion in most countries. †¢ 22 Arab countries/areas: Algeria, Bahrain, the Comoros Islands, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, MauritaniaRead MoreHuman Relation Essay9189 Words   |  37 Pagesfor management Nikolas Rose Conventional textbooks often set up a simple story about organization theory which has a very appealing structure. In this story, there is a good guy and a bad guy. Who gets to play which role sometimes shifts, but most often the bad guy is the scientific management approach and the good guy is human relations theory. This is a flawed story in my view, and the way I will tell the story emphasizes the many connections and similarities between the two. But I suppose the fact

The Development Of Morals - 1700 Words

The development of morals is an often studied topic in psychology. However, there is a debate over whether morality is learned, or something humans are born with. A number of experiments have shown that the latter may be a large part of the truth. Infants seem to have basic concepts of empathy, helping others, and punishment before they can speak or participate in society. However, humans continue to develop their morals throughout their lives. These findings simply support the idea that there is an evolved base moral core that is present in all humans from birth. Many prominent child psychologists have regarded infants as amoral. Psychologists of this view would argue that infants have no understanding of morals until they are taught†¦show more content†¦Moral-like behaviors have also been observed in animals, such as chimpanzees and dogs. Chimpanzees conform to rules, share, do favors, comfort others, and engage in many other activities that resemble morality. Researchers then concluded that if these behaviors evolved in animals so genetically similar to us, they probably evolved in humans as well (Berk, 2013). However, these moral behaviors do seem to be much more developed and common in humans. Humans are accepted to be born with many evolved traits such as the ability to learn language and attach to the mother, so it is not far-fetched that we could be born with a basic moral code as well. According to one study, â€Å"as has been argued for humans’ ‘core’ understanding of certain conceptual domainsâ€⠀including objects, numbers, geometry, agents, and groups [...]—there may be aspects of morality that emerge in the absence of specific experiences [...] or being explicitly taught which acts are right and which are wrong† (Hamlin 2013). This quote explains that other human qualities and understandings seem to be universal and built in, meaning morality may very well be in this group. Infants seem to approve of helping others, a major facet of morality. Using data from puppet shows, researchers have shown that babies almost always choose the more helpful puppet. In the shows, one puppet will attempt to open a box. One character will help them openShow MoreRelatedMoral Development : Moral And Character Development886 Words   |  4 PagesMoral and Character Development Although moral development has addressed from different models or approaches to psychological and educational, it is the cognitive-developmental approach; they are given more importance. For the definition of the cognitive, means that moral development has its bases in the stimulation of the reasoning of the person about circumstances and decisions regarding situations of interpersonal relationship. The role of thinking is necessary, and above all the how andRead MoreMoral And Moral Development Of The Army751 Words   |  4 PagesPromote Moral Development 1LT Farlin Reynoso Moral is the concerns to what is right and wrong in human behavior (Merriam-Webster). As chaplains, we are agents of what right looks like in all moral issues in the Army. Many moral issues affects the lives of Soldiers, Civilians, and Families, affecting effectiveness of service command climate, unit readiness, and cohesion (AR 165–1, 9–10a). From the lowest private to the highest-ranking officer, we all need to promote a moral develop in our organizationRead MoreMoral Development And Moral Judgement1112 Words   |  5 PagesMoral development and moral judgement has always been an interesting topic for psychologists and philosophers. It plays an important role in our life on a regular basis. Lawrence Kohlberg developed the theory of moral development from both a psychological as well as a philosophical perspective where he melded the hard stage developmental model that was employed by Jean Piaget with major philosophical questions (Kohlberg, 1976). Kohlberg et al. ( 1984) created and described six stages of moral developmentRead MoreMoral Development of an Adolescent1556 Words   |  7 PagesIn his Stages of Moral Development, Lawrence Kohlberg states that human beings progress from a Preconventional Level of moral development (in which they refer to rules imposed by others) to a Postconventional Level of moral development (in which they refer to rules imposed from within themselves). Just as Kohlberg states, adolescents undergo moral growth in stages. They may be easily influenced by peers or by environmental cues, but most teens grow to assert impressive measures of responsibilityRead MoreThe Theory Of Moral Development1436 Words   |  6 Pagesthat there are 3-levels of Moral Development, as well as 6-stages within Moral Development. The 3-levels include pre-conventional morality, conventional morality, and post conventional morality. The 6-stages include obedience and punishment orientation, individualism and exchange, good interpersonal relationships, maintaining social order, social contract and individual rights, and universal principles (McLleod, 2011). This paper will discuss all 3-levels of moral development and where my ethical reasoningRead MoreMoral Development Essay592 Words   |  3 PagesThe moral development of a person’s character will have a major impact on society as a whole. If we fail to show children moral responsibility they in turn will lack the moral and ethical sense of values. The critical importance of the early years remains crucial to all later development. With all the violence and unsuitable language in film, television, and music today’s society poses an even larger threat on children. Moral functioning involves self-esteem, self-control, and altruistic behaviorRead MoreThe Theory Of Moral Development Essay1398 Words   |  6 PagesThe theory of moral development was developed by psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg and is a very interesting subject that stemmed from Jean Piag et’s theory of moral reasoning. this theory helped us to develop the understanding that morality starts from the early childhood years and can be affected by several factors. This theory encompasses the ideas that moral reasoning, which is considered the basis for moral behavior, has six identifiable developmental stages. According to Kohlberg the six stagesRead MoreJustice and Moral Development925 Words   |  4 Pagesin that they believe in this concept to make a loss better. Many individuals will see law enforcement agencies, especially the officers that work for an agency, to be the tool that will be used to garner their justice. Kohlberg’s stages of moral development theory can help to explain criminal behavior in that a criminal that acts out for a particular reason will not be able to understand the stages that are beyond the one that they are in, such as only being interested in pleasing themselves. UsingRead MoreSocial and Moral Development1112 Words   |   5 PagesIn this paper, I will be explaining the stages of social and moral development children experience from early childhood through adolescence. I will also be comparing the social and emotional development of the children in each of the age groups that I selected in Week Six, which were early childhood and middle childhood. There are six stages of social and moral development that children will experience from early childhood to adolescence. The six stages are broken down into three levels. The firstRead MoreSorayas Moral Development1202 Words   |  5 PagesSoraya’s Moral Development Soraya Taheri is one of Khaled Hosseini’s characters in The Kite Runner, who represents what a true woman and wife should be like. She is an example of Kohlberg’s classification of three levels of moral development in humans. Even though there is not a lot of information in the novel given about Soraya, her personality can be reviewed based on her behavior throughout the story. The reader first meets with Soraya in chapter 11, when she is working at a flea market. Her

Brave New World 7 Essay Research Paper free essay sample

Brave New World 7 Essay, Research Paper Brave New World The novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley is an first-class book. The narrative accurately depicts the fluctuation between a fabricated Utopia and our present universe. His graphic descriptions of the events and rites of the Utopians make the narrative a really speedy read. The narrative starts out with a group of pupils larning about the manner each member of the population is produced. The DHC explains how each individual is predestined for a certain category and occupation and throughout the foetal growing clip, you are conditioned to the environment that occupation entails. At certain points of their assembly line each embryo is exposed to heat or light to condition the organic structure for certain environments. After birth, the babes are conditioned to wish or dislike certain things like books or visible radiation. By making this, the Utopians believe that they will hold happy workers and prevent revolutions. We will write a custom essay sample on Brave New World 7 Essay Research Paper or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The kids are invariably exposed to messages that are imprinted in their head. These messages are designed to hold an impact on their thought and are more mechanical than mental. Lenina Crowne and Bernard Marx come into the image after larning how things work. They both work at the hatchery and have been dating, but she starts dating Bernard Marx alternatively. Bernard is a distorted but extremely intelligent adult male who takes Lenina to a barbarian Restoration. At the reser vation, they meet John and his female parent Linda, whom was the girlfriend of the DHC and John is his boy. Lenina and Bernard take, with permission, Linda and John out of the reserve. Bernard and a friend introduce John to the new universe. Lenina tries to do progresss toward John but his barbarous attitude doesn T allow it. The ruin of John begins with the decease of his female parent in the new universe. John goes brainsick and attempts to bring on a revolution among the Utopians that work at the infirmary. He leaves to get away his incubus, but can non avoid the people. The Utopians drive him to suicide, which was his lone option to get away the new society. One of the most scientifically interesting parts of the book is the description of the Bokanovsky procedure. The procedure allows one egg to multiply into 96 other eggs. This is the footing for a society like this 1. If you can make 96 twins you can make a whole batch of people likewise and one can specialise them to execute any undertaking necessary. This brought to mind eugenics foremost. Brave New World was a great book because it hooks the reader in the first chapter. The utmost imagination generated in the first chapter drew me in. I pictured assembly lines of jars incorporating foetuss. He made the chapter to chapter differentiation good. I enjoyed reading the book. It was speedy and in deepness. Overall I thought Brave New World was an first-class, well-written book.

Social Media Marketing On Consumer Loyalty-Samples for Students

Question: Critically Analyse the Impact of Social Media Marketing On Consumer Loyalty. Answer: Introduction Social media marketing is more than a trend these days as it is a necessity for organizations to survive in global market. If the social media marketing is done in proper way, it can garner enough attention to scale up sales within a few amount of time. Social media platforms help different companies to channelize their path towards the customers and act as an impeccable way to create brand as well as product awareness. Brand awareness in turn is central to the process of creating customer loyalty. Apparently it seems that social media marketing is advantageous for any organization to gain instant popularity, but there are certain threats too which trends to be omnipresent simultaneously with advantages. Word of mouth can be both an advantage and disadvantage as it plays an influential role to motivate or demotivate buying behavior of people. This study would focus on the impact of social media on customer loyalty. A popular retail organization namely, Walmart would be considered for this study to determine its social media marketing strategies and their underlying flaws. Research problem Social media marketing strategies need proper use of keywords, acronyms and jargons to attract enough customers. Companies which are good at creating such practices find social media utterly advantageous but this platform is extremely sensitive as one small word can alter the thoughts of people. Walmart also faced some troubles regarding its contents in social media. From 2014 to 2016, this company made series of mistakes by promoting its brand name in a controversial way. For example, this company promoted its plus size products on social media websites by a caption fat girl costumes, which got immediate negative reaction from customers and this idea of Walmart fell flat on the grounds of effective social media advertising (bloomberg.com, 2017). As a result of these attempts, company lost most of its followers on social media sites and also saw shortage of sales from 2014 to 2016 (forbes.com, 2017). Figure 1: Drop in sales rate of Walmart (Source: forbes.com, 2017) Main hypothesis of this study is to analyse issues that are made by business firms while marketing their products in social media platforms and make effective recommendations to avoid consequences in future. H1- This study would be able to provide effective recommendations with the help of social media marketing theories as well as strategies H0- This study may not be able to determine effective strategies for business firms due to insufficient information about existing theories. Research objectives To analyse the importance of social media marketing done by Walmart for gaining the loyalty of customers To demonstrate the ways by which such marketing is done for inclining huge customer base towards Walmart To portray the consciousness of Walmart in doing attractive social media marketing so that purchasers decisions can be manipulated To recommend useful strategies in order to enhance social media marketing by this venture Research questions What is the importance of social media platforms in marketing practices? What are the techniques used by Walmart regarding social media marketing practices for gaining huge customer base? What are the underlying issues in the system regarding consciousness in social media marketing practices? What are the useful strategies that Walmart can adopt for making successful attempts in future? Background of the problem Social media marketing problems are not new and these problems tend to exist in current scenario too parallely with number of digital opportunities (Agnihotri et al. 2016, p.178). These issues if not identified with time can lead to massive disasters and create financial problems in upcoming future. The study of the connection between social media marketing and customer loyalty is significantly important as this marketing practice is a necessity these days and thus might be helpful for organizations to build up effective management practices in future. Historical Social media marketing problems dates back to early 20s and almost every marketing disaster came with serious threats to companies associated with those problems. For example Walmart was blocked out of Germany in 2002 for exploiting information in social media platforms (nytimes.com, 2017). Theoretical Walmart has been following social media integration theory for marketing its products. Social media integration framework has been criticised for its costly nature and disability to enforce confidentiality of information. If companies tend to use this theoretical framework they may face problems in future (Trainor et al. 2014, p.1207). Business procedures and social engagement Walmart mainly follow a strategy of acquiring business firms for penetrating a new market and also engages a number of elements in its marketing procedures (Cropanzano et al. 2014, p.121). Marketing techniques are mostly cost consuming and thus cost effective methods needs to be engaged. Figure 2: Walmart business model (Source: Cropanzano et al. 2016, p.120) Intellectual background Walmart mainly uses acquisitions to penetrate a new market and also endorse those in social media. Though this strategy has been profitable most of the time yet there have been massive failures too. For example, acquisition of jet.com by walmart did not go well with social media and have impacted the business of Walmart for cultural issues (Banjo, 2017). Introduction Literature review is the section of a research study which provides knowledge about the substantial findings that are based on data collected from journals, text books, and articles and so on (Laroche et al. 2013, p.80). This section particularly focuses on investigating the research problem and make critical analysis of the same. Conceptual framework Figure 3: Conceptual Framework (Source: Created by learner) Concept of social media marketing Social media marketing refers to advertising of products with the help of social media platforms and digital communication methods. A number of aspects are associated with marketing techniques such as involving engaging contents, keeping patience, building a loyal base of customers who actually respond to the contents posted on digital sites, creating a link between advertisements and accessibility of those in main website and influential taglines. These related aspects act as catalysts for scaling up a business by leveraging customer attention towards particular advertisements. On another hand Rapp et al. (2013, p.560) stated that these related aspects like engaging contents, influential taglines can also bring about a negative impact in the marketing process as these are the aspects that a company needs to extra cautious about while marketing. Eye catchy contents, taglines, engaging product descriptions can also hurt emotional sentiments if improper contents are used. Link between social media marketing and brand loyalty Consumer behavior these days are highly based on word of mouth and most of the manipulative actions take place in social media. For an instance, review about any product can change perceptions of people about a certain product. Buying decision of a consumer goes through a series of invisible filters, which act as manipulative elements for consumer decision making. In the first step a customer create a plan for buying a product, which gets diverted by negative or positive thoughts of people presented on social media communities and finally end up buying something else completely different from the initial plan (Rodriguez et al. 2015, p.638). Figure 4: Consumer decision journey (Source: Rodriguez et al. 2015, p.637) On the contrary, Turban et al. (2016, p.45) commented that decision of customers remain undiverted if there is a proper loyalty base or loyalty loop. It has been mentioned that most of the manipulations or decision changes occur after a purchase when a customer get over excited about a product by comments of users and does not get an expected outcome. Current issues in the system regarding the use of social media platforms Figure 5: Issues in social media marketing techniques (Source: Wang and Kim, 2017, p.20) Inadequate contact with customers on social media platforms Majority of company pages on social media websites tends to be non-existent and obsolete when it comes to effective engagement with customers. Customers do not show interest on those companies which do not interact with them, in fact they get carried away by the attention they get from other companies. Incapability to gather organic followers This is a hard thing to maintain on public pages to gather new supporters on a regular basis. Most of the time, due to obsoleteness of public pages on social network sites, organic or new follower engagement seems to be less as compared to others (Barger and Labrecque, 2013, p.34). Content management problems Content makes contact with people and their thoughts as it is the key element for gathering attention of people. Most of the companies fail to create eye catchy contents and sometimes even fail to keep the value of customer sentiments which provoke customers to look out for another brand (Corstjens and Lal, 2014, p.80). Encouragement of sharing in social media platforms Sharing on social media helps to gather attention from people and also help to gather organic customers (Corstjens and Lal, 2014, p.41). Companies need to come up with such contents which are worth sharing and for that companies need to look beyond mere product advertising which most of the companies fail to do. Theories based on social media marketing There are various theoretical concepts based on social media marketing that popular business organizations adopt for their own advantages. AIDA model has been typically used by many dynamic business firms for creating brand and product awareness among people (Cohen et al. 2013, p.32). This model is associated with data analysis techniques as it helps an organization to create awareness of their products and create a sense of interest as well as desire among the customers Figure 6: AIDA model of social media marketing (Source: Cohen et al. 2013, p.32) Capability to influence the desire of customers can help to create a positive action of consumers towards a product. This model helps to rectify the needs of people and create product strategies as per those needs if associated with proper consumer behavior analysis. On another hand, Leonardi (2014, p.800) mentioned the use of Social Media sales funnel can bring about better results as compared to AIDA as it addresses the use of social media profiles, customer service and branding as a part of acquisition strategies, social conversations, participants and customer engagement as a part of activation and signups as well as repeated activities as a part of absorption. Figure 7: Buffers social media sales funnel (Source: Ashley and Tuten, 2015, p.20) Funnel shaped nature of this model suggests that buying activities of customers goes through various activities that influence their day to day buying decision and promote customer loyalty. Social facebook profile of different companies gain supporters or followers by effective branding strategies and these companies attain a stage of immense popularity by active support of followers which is depicted with the help of conversations on public pages. Finally, a customer loyalty base is formed with the help of signups as well as constant use of website platforms of companies (Laroche et al. 2013, p.80). Tajvidi and Karami (2015, p.70) suggested that if companies gets effectively engaged in the first two steps of the funnel, then the final step of customer absorption occurs at an ease. In this context the use of social exchange theory has also been mentioned which can be used simultaneously with Buffers sales funnel for focusing on the perceptions of people about a particular brand on a social media page. Figure 8: Social exchange theory (Source: Tajvidi and Karami, 2015, p.71) Buying decision of people can be based on the positive or negative aspects stated by consumers socially. For example, positive review of customers about any product can create positive impact on sales rate and negative reviews create negative impact on the sales rate. As recommended by Novikov and Novikov (2013, p.56), a company can use this theory to measure or analyse comments about a certain product on community pages to make improvements in a certain idea in future. Literature gap This study would not be able to cover all the aspects of social media marketing theories as well as concepts due to inadequate time period. Statistical data that would be collected about Walmart may not be authentic as it based on company reports and reports sometimes contain manipulated data. The research would not be able to provide insights on the innovate strategies followed these days due to unavailability of data. Ethical considerations Researcher would abide by the rules stated in Data Protection Act 1988 and would not disclose confidential information to anyone before the completion of research. The researcher would also not influence anyone for providing information and would also not present manipulative data. In order to get effective participation from managers, researcher would inform about the purpose of research to managers prior to the collection of data. Summary This chapter focuses on different theoretical frameworks as well as models to discuss about the impact of social media on the buying decision of customers. This section also stresses on the viewpoint of different people regarding the use and effectiveness of social media marketing theories on company business, which in turn has been helpful to derive the need of proper implication of these theories for gaining a loyal customer base Reference list Agnihotri, R., Dingus, R., Hu, M.Y. and Krush, M.T., (2016). Social media: Influencing customer satisfaction in B2B sales.Industrial Marketing Management,53 (1), pp.172-180. Ashley, C. and Tuten, T., (2015). Creative strategies in social media marketing: An exploratory study of branded social content and consumer engagement.Psychology Marketing,32(1), pp.15-27. Baird, N., (2017).Forbes Welcome. Forbes.com. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/nikkibaird/2015/11/09/three-social-media-mistakes-walmart-is-making-right-now/#165f00112cd6 [Accessed on 20 Aug. 2017]. Banjo, S., (2017).The End of an Era At Walmart. Bloomberg Gadfly. Available at: https://www.bloomberg.com/gadfly/articles/2016-03-31/walmart-s-first-ever-sales-drop-marks-new-era [Accessed on 20 Aug. 2017]. Barbaro, M., (2017).Wal-Mart Finds That Its Formula Doesnt Fit Every Culture. Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/02/business/worldbusiness/02walmart.html?mcubz=1 [Accessed on 20 Aug. 2017]. Barger, V.A. and Labrecque, L., (2013). An integrated marketing communications perspective on social media metrics. Abingdon: Routledge. Cohen, L., Manion, L. and Morrison, K., (2013).Research methods in education. Abingdon: Routledge. Corstjens, M. and Lal, R., (2014). Busting six myths about customer loyalty programs.Harvard Business Review,24(1), pp.67-89. Cropanzano, R., Anthony, E., Daniels, S. and Hall, A., (2016). Social exchange theory: A critical review with theoretical remedies.Academy of Management Annals, 3(2), pp. 89-123. Laroche, M., Habibi, M.R. and Richard, M.O., (2013). To be or not to be in social media: How brand loyalty is affected by social media?.International Journal of Information Management,33(1), pp.76-82. Laroche, M., Habibi, M.R. and Richard, M.O., (2013). To be or not to be in social media: How brand loyalty is affected by social media?.International Journal of Information Management,33(1), pp.76-82. Leonardi, P.M., (2014). Social media, knowledge sharing, and innovation: Toward a theory of communication visibility.Information systems research,25(4), pp.796-816. Novikov, A.M. and Novikov, D.A., (2013).Research methodology: From philosophy of science to research design. Florida: CRC Press. Rapp, A., Beitelspacher, L.S., Grewal, D. and Hughes, D.E., (2013). Understanding social media effects across seller, retailer, and consumer interactions.Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science,41(5), pp.547-566. Rodriguez, M., Peterson, R.M. and Ajjan, H., (2015). CRM/social media technology: impact on customer orientation process and organizational sales performance. Ideas in Marketing: Finding the New and Polishing the Old, 7(2), pp. 636-638 Tajvidi, M. and Karami, A., (2015). Research Strategy. Product Development Strategy. 8(5), pp. 45-78. Trainor, K.J., Andzulis, J.M., Rapp, A. and Agnihotri, R., (2014). Social media technology usage and customer relationship performance: A capabilities-based examination of social CRM.Journal of Business Research,67(6), pp.1201-1208. Turban, E., Strauss, J. and Lai, L., (2016). Marketing Communications in Social Media. InSocial Commerce, 12(3), pp.458-468. Wang, Z. and Kim, H.G., (2017). Can Social Media Marketing Improve Customer Relationship Capabilities and Firm Performance? Dynamic Capability Perspective.Journal of Interactive Marketing,39(3), pp.15-26.

Education in Iceland

Introduction Traditionally, education was viewed as a need that was optional and could be substituted to meet other life’s important basics. Today, provision of education has become a government’s social responsibility in a majority of the countries.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Education in Iceland specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More However, the challenge remains on the provision of inclusive education and schooling, and how best to tailor the country’s educational system to produce citizens who can effectively meet the society’s desired qualities. The needs of the society have been continuously transformed by globalization and as such, countries and societies have had to constantly undertake reforms in their educational systems. Background Information on Education in Iceland In Iceland, the provision of compulsory education is the responsibility of the government. According to the r eforms made by the government in 2008 on compulsory education, it is the responsibility of the local municipalities to provide education to all the children in the pre-primary and compulsory school level (European Commission. 2009). Compulsory education is applicable to all children between the ages six and sixteen. The state is charged with the responsibility of providing upper secondary and higher education (European Commission. 2009). The law requires that pupils attending compulsory education to do so on a full time basis and. In addition, the state has also defined the roles of the parent as that of ensuring that children register for school (European Commission, 2009). It is also the parent’s role to ensure that children attend school. The local municipalities ensure that pupils are given instructions recommended by the law while the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture supervises the implementation process. According to the Ministry of Education, Science and Cult ure (2010), the educational structure of schools in Iceland comprise of the pre-primary level, the compulsory level, the upper secondary level and finally, the higher education. The compulsory level comprise of the single structure-primary and the lower secondary. Pre-primary education is available for children between the ages of 3 and 5, after which they progress to primary schools at the age six and later on enter lower secondary schools at age 11. Students enter upper secondary schools at age 14 after completing their tenth grade and graduate from the upper secondary in the thirteenth grade at age 16 or 17 (UNESCO, 2008).Advertising Looking for essay on education? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More All the state and municipality levels, schools are expected to follow the national curriculum provided by the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture. At the pre-primary level, the teachers in the schools are given the responsib ility of determining the school’s curriculum. According to the European Commission, (2009), the subjects covered at the compulsory level of education include Mathematics, natural sciences, English, social sciences (including History and Geography), art and craft, Physical Education, religious studies, as well as equal rights affairs. The pupils at this level of education are also taught Icelandic as a second language. The curriculum also includes information and communication technology, life skills as well as other foreign languages like Danish, Spanish, or French. At the upper secondary level, the students are taught Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics, and Biology, information technology, Economics, History, arts and craft, psychology, environmental systems as well as other languages. Teaching of the Icelandic curriculum is done using the country’s native language, Icelandic (European Commission, 2009). The curriculum also provides for extra-curricular and social activi ties which are incorporated in the daily school activities. Teachers have the autonomy to decide on the teaching methods and materials appropriate for achieving the objectives in each situation. However, instructions for each subject are clearly defined in the curriculum and those that require exposure of learners to their immediate environment normally takes place in the form of field trips. The curriculum requires that assessment be done regularly so as to monitor the learners’ progress. There is no examination at the end of the compulsory curriculum in grade ten, however, the principal of the compulsory school awards the learner with a certificate of completion (European Commission, 2009). However, at the upper secondary and tertiary levels of education, the subjects are divided into modules and students are assessed at the end of every semester and are graded according to the unit-credit system. Theories of learning supporting Education in Iceland This approach is derived from the Humanistic theories of learning which emphasize on the natural desire by learners to always gain more knowledge and the need to allow learners to control their learning process as the teachers are reduced to facilitators of the learning process.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Education in Iceland specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Constructivism Theory One such humanistic theory is the constructivism theory which argues that human beings develop knowledge and meaning through the interaction of their ideas and experiences. Thus, learners would normally build knowledge upon that that they have already acquired. It also implies learning from experience is very important and therefore it is essential to apply teaching and learning process that incorporates learning through experience. According to Wertsch, (1997), the learner takes an active role in the learning process. This theory recognizes that each lea rner is unique and has complex needs and therefore it is important that teachers understand the entry behavior of each learner and the learner’s unique learning ability. According to Wertsch, (1997), the learners background and culture help shape the knowledge and facts that the learner discovers and acquires during the learning process. The teacher has to consider all these when planning any learning content to be delivered to the learners. Social constructivism theory According to the social constructivism theory, learners learn best through experience and therefore discovery approach should be aimed at providing experience that would enable learners construct knowledge and make sense of the concepts being learnt (Pajares and Schunk, 2001). It also states that learners can conceptualize any information no matter the level or the age of the learner provided that the knowledge is reinforced. Thus a learner centered approach should prepare learners with the specific capacities that are necessary for the learner to interact with and in the world that may not be acquired in any other social settings (Pajares and Schunk, 2001). This theory suggests that teachers should take into consideration learner’s interest. It is also important for teachers to provide an environment and learning opportunities that enable learners to articulate the knowledge. Repeated experience on the concepts being learnt will enable learners to internalize and apply the concepts in a more sophisticated constructs (Gardner, 2005 and; Pajares and Schunk, 2001).Advertising Looking for essay on education? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More These experiences provided in terms of experiments should not be provided in the school setting alone but should include the wider society so as to integrate societal experience and school experience (Gardner, 2005). This theory also suggests that there should be no limits to learning and therefore learners should always be encouraged to gain more knowledge. Purpose and Scope of the Study The main purpose of the study is to investigate the education system in Iceland. It seeks to find out what the government and the Icelandic society as a whole is doing in order to achieve an inclusive education and schooling for its multicultural society. The aim of the study is to acquire best practices employed in the Icelandic educational systems and to analyse the deficiencies that exist in the education system that needs to be improved. The objective of the study is to enable the education providers achieve highest quality of professional development for their learners especially at the primar y and secondary levels of education. This study was done so as to provide future education reformers with base line or reference for carrying out reforms. The scope of this study covers the Icelandic curriculum and pedagogical strategies applied in imparting the society’s desired knowledge, skills, values and morals. It discusses the assessment strategies applied to gauge the level of learning in the learners. The study also looks into the role played by the school environment including collaboration with the school parents in shaping the behaviuor of the learners and the learning outcomes. The study also covers the role played by the school culture in the learning process as well as the roles played by the school curriculum and school community in shaping the leadership and organization of the individuals. Methodology The study critically examined incidences in educational systems and practices so as to discover factors that help teachers and the general school community pro vide quality and an all inclusive education and schooling. This was done in order to determine the activities and practices which best foster successful learning in Iceland Schools. The research methodology that was used to collect information was a one-to-one interview. Selecting the school of study involved an underground research through the internet. The selection of the school was based on how modern, the school environment and the school’s mission statement. Finally I decided on Nordlingaskoli , a new school in Reykjavishire. The principal of Nordllingaskoli was contacted to request for a meeting with him which he confirmed and thereafter an appointment was booked. A questionnaire was designed to cover all the areas of study. The questionnaire prepared consisted of open-ended questions only; to help gather more information and the attitude of the principle towards the education system. The School’s Background Information Nordlingaskoli is a new school located in the rural Reykjavishire in RVS District. It has a small student population of about 200 students but this is anticipated to increase before the end of the year. The school uses the national curriculum guidelines in planning its school activities. However, the school’s educational system is unique since it applies a mixed-age group in its teaching and learning programmes. Besides, the system focuses more on provision of art and craft and environmental studies. The school has a very unique system of education which applies mixed-age group learning. The principal’s name is Sif Và ­gà ¾Ãƒ ³rsdà ³ttir. Findings Curriculum, pedagogy and assessment Và ­gà ¾Ãƒ ³rsdà ³ttir explained that the school uses the national curriculum guide to plan and carry out its school activities although the planning of the school activities is also based on the aspirations and objectives of the school. Besides, teachers joining the school have to pass an orientation system and be fully info rmed on the objectives of the school and how the school is meeting the learners’ unique needs. The principal also explained that the assessment of learners takes different forms. Learners can be assessed in their learning groups or individually. The assessment includes both formal and informal evaluation done by the individual teachers. The school has various electives available for the learners. Although it focuses more on art and environment studies, there are also other practical and interesting programmes like home economics, music, drama, information technology among others. The school provides many elective subjects to give the students wide options to choose from and to offer flexibility to learners as well as to give the teachers the time to offer individual tutorials to learners. The school also has plans to increase the number of teachers, introduce more programmes and expand its facilities in order to meet the speculated increase in demand for its services. The sch ools programme of differentiation has been successful according to the school principal. Students are allowed and helped to choose the groups they prefer to join according to their learning abilities and their learning aspirations. Differentiation and mixed-age groupings enables pupils learn from each other particularly from the older members and therefore pupils are better enabled to grasp knowledge and thus they are better enabled to achieve their learning outcomes. Besides, the teachers can easily provide for the needs of the groups rather than for an individual. Differentiation enables teachers to plan for every individual and at the same time makes school activities to be flexible. Differentiation and mixed-age groups enable learners achieve maximum results and inner motivation to acquire more knowledge and skills. The learner identifies the area of interest and both the teacher and parent help the learner choose his or her area of interest. The teacher discusses the ability of the learner with the parent in order to help the learner choose the area of interest that best suits his or her abilities and meets is or her needs. The school is very much prepared to meet the needs of learners who join the school while they are still very young. The instruction materials are tailored to motivate them and help them concentrate in learning activities. The instruction contents given to them do not cover wider learning content and also involved more activities that develop their motor skills like play and other outdoor activities. According to the principal, school systems with shorter working periods are not able to complete their programmes or even adequately provide for the individual needs of their learners. This means that in most cases learners have to endure with daily classroom activities which may be boring if done continuously. Besides, the teachers do not get the time to expose learners to the realities in their environment and thus the learners may not be able to apply or connect the knowledge and skills learnt in class to the real world. According to the principal, the students are easily assimilated in other learning systems particularly in the upper secondary schools since most of their learning is practical. The workshops which the school organizes for the learners impart practical skills which are very much related to the vocational training offered in the upper secondary schools or even in job applications. The practical skills offered to the learners make them more competent and better equipped to solve problems that occur in real life situations. The outdoor activities and the mixed-age groups in the school enable learners develop life skills and social skills which are very important in socializing within the society. Và ­gà ¾Ãƒ ³rsdà ³ttir explained that the school operates in accordance with the guidelines provided by the national curriculum which require that learners should be automatically promoted to the next class . Therefore the age and the year of entry determine the promotion to the next level. Surroundings and material The outdoor activities carried out as part of school activities are normally under the close supervision of the teacher who provides guidance on the activities. Besides, students are normally in their groups hence easier to manage since members of a group are responsible for each individual in the group. Students’ health is the responsibility of both the teacher and the parents. Since the goals of the school are shared by the parents and they understand what the school plans to achieve, they understand that their children need to keep their children warm always. This helps the school protect the lives of the learners from the weather conditions that might affect the learners’ lives. Besides, the learners also have free health care provided by the government. Enhancing the students’ concentration while in class is very important in the school, therefore the teachers ensure that the instructional materials provided are interesting and that the learning content and the instructional materials have been decided upon by the learners and the teacher. These enhance the learners’ concentration and also motivate the learners. Conflict resolution is a very important aspect of education in a multicultural education today. According to Và ­gà ¾Ãƒ ³rsdà ³ttir, the school is committed to promoting learners’ appreciation of diversity and how to overcome prejudice. According to Wendy (1994), it is also important to teach the learners how to manager their anger and be tolerant to each other. This enables learners control their emotions (Banks and Banks, 2005). The guidance and counseling department takes the lead in helping the learners understand the need to exist in unity in diversity. According to the principal, the school understands that wherever the learners come from, there is normally prejudice instilled into them by their respective societies; therefore it is very important to teach learners to avoid acting on their prejudice that they come with from their respective communities. The school organises bonding workshops at the beginning of each academic year in autumn in what the school considers to be the biggest workshop in the school called the â€Å"The Homestead†. Since the school exists in an environment with trees it is not difficult acquiring the materials for the wood work lessons. Again, since the school is a public one, these materials are provided for by the government (European Commission, 2009). According the principal, some materials are also bought by the school and at the same time, learners are given the chance to go for field trips to observe what happens in woodwork workshops or tree forests. According to Và ­gà ¾Ãƒ ³rsdà ³ttir, the school organises and sponsor many local and international community outreach programmes such as Habit for Humans. Learners collaborate with t he school community activities such as cleaning the environment, garbage collections and sorting, tree planting and many others. Languages of the school The official languages that the learners are supposed to use while in school are English and Icelandic. However, learners are also encouraged to keep their native languages since the school believes that one can better learn a second language through his or her mother tongue. According to Và ­gà ¾Ãƒ ³rsdà ³ttir, the school does not find it difficult dealing with the diversity of languages since the teaching staff also comprises of diverse languages. The staff operates as a team, shares and cooperatively solves problems that they meet while dealing with the learners. School culture: Communication, collaboration and atmosphere The uniqueness of the school system is not at all a barrier to the learners’ interaction with the outside world. According to the principle, the school is involved in many programmes which ensure that they are not cut out of the outside world. They are involved in music, drama and sports activities such as basketball, football, volleyball and baseball, and tennis, dance, cheerleading, and swimming among many others. These activities are distributed across the three seasons of autumn, winter and spring which find the learners in school. The sports activities give the learners a chance to compete and interact with other schools and the outside community. Besides, the learners are also given the opportunity to participate in inter-school academic activities, science congress and other students’ forums. The school has computer laboratory connected to the internet. This gives the learners the opportunity to connect to the outside world and to even invite community resource persons of their own choice. The school also invites experts, professionals, artists and other community resources persons to come share with the learners. The school appreciates the uniqueness of the other n eighbouring schools and organises collaborative activities with the neighbouring schools to gain from the different learning experiences that the other learners are exposed to. The school also organises collaborative activities with the neighbouring schools to enable its learners better develop their social skills and to increase their network of friends. The school is aware of the diversity of cultural backgrounds among the teachers, learners and teachers. According to Và ­gà ¾Ãƒ ³rsdà ³ttir, the teachers have in mind the school’s code of conduct and code of ethics. The code of conduct provides them with a guideline on how they are supposed to carry out their duties and how they are supposed to interact. It also provides a guideline on how they are supposed to enhance teamwork in the various groups that exist in the staff which include academic departments and other activities; as well as in the staff as a whole. Besides, the leadership structures within the school admini stration enable the teachers work harmoniously as a team. They also use the internet to share the learning contents, learning materials and other resources which enhance teaching and learning. The environment created by the diversity in teachers, learners and parents is stimulating and provides the learners with a rich experience and exposure. The diversity that exists in the school community gives the school an international image and in turn an international exposure and international understanding of other people’s culture. The diversity in the school community especially the involvement of parents in the learning activities of school enriches the learners’ learning content. Since its inception, the school has applied teaching strategies that involve differentiation and co-operative learning which have ensured that each student’s work and learning corresponds to his or her needs. Nordlingaskoli believes in the uniqueness of its learners and provides the best environment for optimum achievement of learners’ objectives. The school offers tailor-made conditions that meet individual learners’ needs. The school is also on course to developing a new reference table which would better enable the school to apply its differentiation programmes to the speculated large numbers of learners in the near future. The programme is being developed in collaboration with the municipal as well as the national education authorities. This would ensure that the programme meets the national education standards in provision of learners’ areas of interest such as art and craft, environmental studies and many more. According to Và ­gà ¾Ãƒ ³rsdà ³ttir, this would enhance flexibility in meeting the needs of the learners. Besides, the diversity in the staff would enable individual learners’ attendance. The principal also noted that the school plans to recruit even more diverse teachers to meet the needs of the expected increase in cultu re. According to Ragnarsdà ³ttir, (2010), it is important to develop a common organizational culture which respects every idea from other cultures. More teachers from different cultures will enable provision of more languages taught in the school and hence help teachers provide for individual tutorial programmes to the learners (Bennett, 1999). Collaboration with homes/families and communities Although fully engaging parents has been a bit challenging since much of their time is consumed by their work, most parents have occasionally turned up whenever called upon. The parents are very much committed to their children’s development. The first day of the learner’s attendance at school takes place at home and two teachers, male and female visit the learner and the parent(s). According to the principal of the school, the parents are involved in setting the objectives of the outcomes of their children, assessing the progress of their children, providing resources, counseli ng their children and evaluating the performance of the school. All the teachers and the administration have access to the parents’ email addresses which are available in each learner’s file and the school’s database. This makes communication with the parents to be easier in case of problems or any issue that requires the parent’s involvement. The surrounding community has also been involved in the various school activities. The surrounding school community provides security to the learners and the school as a whole. They also protect the surrounding environment which includes the local river and the nearby forest which are used by the teachers to provide the needed experience during outdoor activities. The school also collaborates with surrounding community in community outreach programmes such as tree planting and other environment conservation measures. The principal explained that modeling the school culture and environment to fit in the community inv olves creating a common organizational culture that understands the needs and applies the ideas of the community. The teaching materials and learning contents have been tailored to utilize the resources from the local community. Most outdoor activities take place in the local community environment and the experiences which learners are exposed to are derived from the local community. Leadership and organization The principal explains that the school has various outbound activities, workshops, outdoor activities and mixed-age groups which enrich the development of leadership skills and also provide opportunities for learners to practise their leadership skills. The students therefore behave responsibly and are responsible for their friends. There are student leaders in various respective levels of leadership including group leaders, class leaders and other capacities. The students are given guidance and counseling on leadership and management skills by the guidance and counseling dep artment to enable them carry out their responsibilities and duties effectively and efficiently. The student leaders are also given the opportunity to attend leadership workshops and forums with students from other schools. Besides, the school administration recognises and awards students who have demonstrated strong leadership skills in the school community. According to the principal teachers undergo an orientation process to inform them of the mission and, the objectives, the shared aspirations and goals of the school, the parents and learners and the school programmes in order to enable them adapt to the school system. This is done by the school principle, the respective department and all the teachers. The school has room teachers who are responsible for all the activities and needs of each mixed-age groups. The learners’ workshops are organized through a coordination of the respective subject teacher, the class teacher, the room teachers, the department involved and the school administration headed by the principal. Learners are also involved in deciding the learning activities of the workshops. These workshops are part of mainstream learning activities and therefore do not involve other schools. According to the principal, the teaching and learning structure of the school is unique since it involves the mixed-age groups and therefore can not be integrated with the teaching in the neighbouring schools. School development and school policy According to the school’s principal, the school is more concerned with providing education that meets individual learner’s needs and aspirations. Therefore it is in the process of completing the reference time table to enhance differentiation. According to the principal, the school is also developing a software that would enable it disseminate information to learners. The software would enable the school link its website to the National Library Consortium which is owned by the state. The school also encourages and supports teachers’ innovative programmes for developing better teaching strategies and instructional contents and materials. The school policy, according to Và ­gà ¾Ãƒ ³rsdà ³ttir, is to ensure that each learner is exposed to learning experiences which best meets his or her objectives and aspirations so as to enable the learner complete his or her education as a happy, independent and strong individual. To ensure that this is achieved, the teachers evaluate the outcome of the learners and the feedback from both the parents and the learners. The teacher and the learner sign a study contract and both set the objectives for the outcome of the study contract. They decide the learning content and the instructional materials. At the end of the programme, the teacher and learner evaluate achievement of the objectives. Evaluation of learners involves the teachers and the parents and discusses the progress of each student. Theories of Learning Explaining the Educatio n System at Nordlingaskoli The school uses the cognitive theories of learning and in particular, the social cognitive learning theory as well as the multiple intelligence theory of learning. Multiple intelligence theory of learning argues that learners should be allowed to exploit their strengths. It states that each learner has multiple intelligence levels therefore the learner should be exposed to various learning experiences in order to help the learner develop all the learning forms (Gardner, 2005). Learners are always curious to acquire knowledge by themselves and therefore should be given the opportunity to do so. What the government is doing According to the European Commission, (2009), the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture provides the national curriculum guidelines for all schools. The curriculum provides pedagogical guidelines, instructional organisations and policies to be applied in schools. It also stipulates the guidelines for the organisation of school activi ties as well as the objectives for the respective levels of education. The ministry also develops and distributes instructional materials to compulsory schools for free through its National Centre for Educational Materials and is coordinated by the District School Boards. The District School Boards are also responsible for monitoring the implementation of schooling as well as instruction in the respective municipalities. They also monitor the school curriculum structure and make recommendations to the local government or the principal of the school on improvements that could be made to improve the school’s operations (European Commission. 2009). The government also recognises that the country’s demography is diverse and therefore has included many foreign languages in the curriculum as well as employs teachers from diverse backgrounds. According to Ministry of Education, Science and Culture (2004), the government has increased the parents’ participation by trans ferring the management to the municipals. The national curriculum guidelines require that the schools should enable learners acquire Christian and charity values as well as tolerance to each culture and towards each other. It requires that the education offered should enable learners who are Icelanders acquire cultural consciousness and to respect other nations cultures. Recommendations Given that the parents are given the opportunity to participate forums for discussing their children’s schooling, it is important that those heading each parents association to consider ways in which their objectives could better help each school achieve its objectives. It is also important for schools to help learners develop a common organizational culture that respects all cultures. Finally, the curriculum gives the learners more authority to control their learning process. Teachers and parents should be enabled to have more control over the learning process particularly for the younger age s in the primary level of education. Summary The study discusses the Icelandic education system and in particular the compulsory education. Provision of compulsory education is the responsibility of municipalities while upper secondary and higher education is provided by the state. The municipality monitors the progress of the education system in accordance with the national education guidelines. However, the challenge for provision of education to the Icelandic community is providing an education system which meets the needs of the multicultural society. The study discusses the measures that have been taken by Nordlingaskoli to ensure provision of education that meets the needs of all learners including their objectives and aspirations while at the same time respecting and shaping their cultural backgrounds. The study discusses theories of learning that form the basis of the Icelandic curriculum which are cognitive and social cognitive theories of learning as well as multiple intel ligence theory of learning. The major characteristic of the school is that it uses mixed-age groups in providing learning experiences for learners. Conclusion Education in Iceland has succeeded in providing multicultural education to its citizens. This programme should be recommended for many nations in Europe and other parts of the world still struggling to provide multicultural education to their citizens. However, in adopting this system the particular nation should consider its population. Reference List Banks, J.A., Banks, C. A. M. (2005). Multicultural education: Issues perspectives. New York: John Wiley Sons. Bennett, C. I. (1999). Comprehensive multicultural education. Theory and practice Boston o.fl.: Allyn and Bacon. Gardner, H. (2005). Multiple lenses on the mind. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. European Commission. (2009). Organisation of the education system in Iceland 2008/09. Armsterdam: EU. Ministry of Education, Science and Culture. (2010). The Educational system in Iceland Ministry of Education, Science and Culture. (2004). The national curriculum guide for compulsory school. Pajares, F., Schunk, D. H. (2001). Self-beliefs and school success: Self-efficacy, self-concept, and school achievement. In R. Riding S. Rayner (Eds.), Self- perception. London: Ablex Publishing. Ragnarsdà ³ttir, H. (2010). Internationally educated teachers and student teachers in Iceland: Two qualitative studies. Helsinki: CJEAP. UNESCO (2008). Inclusive education and schooling in Iceland. Helsinki: International Bureau of Education. Wendy, S. (1994). Anti-bias and conflict resolution curricula: Theory and practice. New York: ERIC Clearinghouse. Wertsch, J.V. (1997). Vygotsky and the formation of the mind. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. This essay on Education in Iceland was written and submitted by user J0nah to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

How to Style Profanity

How to Style Profanity How to Style Profanity How to Style Profanity By Mark Nichol Some time ago, I wrote about the suitability of profanity in prose. My conclusion was that, depending on the context, it’s up to the producer to decide whether to publish profanity and the reader whether to accept or reject it. But if you, the producer, decide to allow profanity, know that there are degrees of deployment. The simplest approach, of course, is to treat profane and obscene words and phrases just like any other. As I mentioned earlier, many people (myself included) find humor in judiciously employed cussing intended to evoke amusement, and nothing beats a string of expletives to convey passion of one kind or another. Understandably, however, this acceptance is not universal, and publishers must be sensitive to their readership. General-interest magazines and websites and the like, especially those with paid subscriptions and/or with a reputation to establish or uphold, are unlikely to allow such terms to parade across the page or the screen like rowdy revelers. Publications with niche audiences consisting of people who unabashedly use profanity in speech and writing, and hear it without flinching, are going to have a more relaxed attitude about provocative language. But what if yours doesn’t belong in that category? You, and your writers, can refrain from including profanity in your narrative, but what about reporting what another party wrote or said when the statement includes naughty words? In lighthearted contexts, writers and editors can bowdlerize comments with euphemistically droll descriptions along the lines of â€Å"Smith suggested that Jones engage in an anatomically impossible activity† or â€Å"She spoke, to say the least, in a manner inconsistent with what one would expect of a person standing among blue-haired ladies in the lobby of a church immediately after the service.† Coy references to utterances of â€Å"expletives† or â€Å"invective,† or to â€Å"colorful language,† also get the point across. But if one would rather tiptoe closer to verisimilitude, one might print a word with a nonalphabetical character in place of one or more letters, as many people do to circumvent profanity filters in the commenting function on websites. (Sh!t, for example, provides an orthographical fig leaf and additional emphasis in one stroke.) Some publications have a more restrictive policy: Print the first letter only, followed by a dash (or two hyphens) or a couple of asterisks: s, or s**. (The paired characters collectively represent, rather than correspond one to one to, the missing letters.) One might also employ what has been variously labeled a grawlix (the term was coined, among other similarly jocular vocabulary, by comics cartoonist Mort Walker) and an obscenicon (the creation of Language Log blogger Benjamin Zimmer). However, an ostentatious representation like @#*! this approach is said to have been invented by Rudolph Dirks, the creator of the pioneering comic strip The Katzenjammer Kids is best reserved solely for humorous use; alternatively, in a feature article or a column, a writer might simply refer to an f-bomb or the s-word rather than apply the news section’s substitution policy. Another necessary component of a publication’s rules about the use of profanity and obscenity is a word list that explicitly draws the line: Which words (like mild oaths) are acceptable in print, and which (sexual and scatological terms, for example) are not? Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:15 Terms for Those Who Tell the FutureEmail EtiquetteA Yes-and-No Answer About Hyphenating Phrases

Public Pension Replacement Rates Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Public Pension Replacement Rates - Essay Example In pension systems where workers get substantially different payouts due to their differing incomes,  replacement rate is a common measurement which can be used to determine the effectiveness of the pension system† (Investopedia, 2011, par. 1). In the United States, the pension replacement rate is revealed as 40% (Reno and Lavery, 2007, 1) compared to 70% - 80% in Greece (Nelson, Belkin and Mix, 2010, 4). There is a variance in replacement rates which is caused by interplay of factors such as wage rates and profiles, broken career, and length of active life, among others. Variance in Replacement Rates According to the Indicators Sub-Group (ISG) of the Social Protection Committee (SPC) (2006), â€Å"variants include different lifetime earning profiles (linear profile from 80% to 120% and from 100% to 200% and concave profile) as well as one low wage variant (flat 66% of the average), but also the variants also include a calculation for a broken career† (9). Other varian ts that cause disparities in pension replacement rates are age of retirement and career length, as well as the level of rate of return (ISG of SPC, 2006, 10).