Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Inclusive Education Essay Example for Free

Inclusive Education Essay Inclusive Education refers to educational institutions and systems that accommodate all children to develop their cognitive and intellectual skills. The diversity of the children poses a challenge for the system as the main goal of the program is to ensure all children learn and partake in the educational experience of the program. The teachers, school and the system itself has be transformed to accommodate the varied educational needs of the children in the program. This means that the system should not disregard each child’s own character in the process of learning. For this to be possible, the system should determine the different barriers and factors that affect the learning processes of the individuals. Inclusive education breaks the different barriers to include children who are then excluded from the mainstream school systems groups. Though placing the excluded children in the mainstream educational system does not guarantee results of inclusiveness, the system must greatly lay its key principles and practices to be effective. Inclusive education is guided by principles which are determined to meet the goals of the program to include all children in the mainstream educational system. The right of a child to inherent education on the basis of equality and opportunity is given in the Constitution as a basic right of the child. The parameters that all children are included in the mainstream educational system means that no child shall be discriminated upon on all aspects, such as race, sex, religion, disability and others. There is also the realization that all children can learn and benefit from education and the educational institutions must adapt to the needs of the children in their different learning process mechanisms. The right of the children to be different from one another no matter whatever views or opinions they may have should also be given utmost attention by educators. And educators, as persons responsible for honing their intellectual and cognitive skills are addressed with a wide and flexible options. The inclusive schools must be aware that the concept of inclusive education is not a process and can not have immediate results. Key players of the program, like the children, parents and the community must have an active participation in the process. The system must determine the diversity of the children, and how to address them by lessening the barriers. The system must always be in the pursuit to provide accessible curriculum for the children, program and training for the teachers, and continuously gather information and support not only to the children but also to the children. . Benefits of the Inclusive Education Researches show the benefits of inclusive education. Teachers are different in their own ways. They have different teaching practices and methods that suits both able and disabled children. The program of including disabled children into the mainstream educational system poses a challenge to educators as though their needs are different; the educator must be able to teach them in the same way they teach the children without disabilities. All the children greatly benefits from the diversity because the socialization process is unique and conducive for the children’s’ communication and interaction skills. The children will learn different things from one another, even build friendship from the experience. Involving the disabled with the non-disabled peers allows the children to realize that there are no significant differences between them. This will greatly help the children face the reality of living in the real world. The disabled students will then be able to realize that their worth are appreciated and not looked upon in the classroom. This will help their confidence and trust in themselves. The educators must also enforce positive modeling in the classroom for the children to accept their differences for them to get along more. In a three day Disability Knowledge and Research conference in Bangladesh in May 2005, the Executive Director for Center for Services and Information on Disability was quoted saying that â€Å"Inclusive education is about children. They must be at the center of our discussions and represented in our research. † (Trott 2005. ) (www. disabilitykar. net) This strengthened the motivation of over 60 participants from Asia, America and European nations of the conference to promote the inclusive education program. This aims to convene all advocates of Inclusive Education in to reaching the goal of integrating the mainstream educational system with the excluded children. Some studies had been made to determine the effectiveness of the program and how the educational system needs to adopt this system. In 1995, a National Study of Inclusive Education report of NCERI in school districts in 9 states in the US shows how the inclusive education program will greatly benefit the children throughout the country. The research reported positive changes in the students, increased independence among themselves and self-esteem. Their academic skills also improved along with the children’s communication skills. In 1997, researchers Lipsky and Gartner conclude that the data they have gathered had shown the positive trend of improvement from different aspects such as the children’s academic skills, social skills and their behavior. (2004 . ) (http://www. projectchoices. org/faqBenefits. aspx) The report strengthens the advocacy of the Inclusive Education program to be implemented in the country. Another research done in the year 1994-1995 by Staub and Peck(2004 . ) (http://www. projectchoices. org/faqBenefits. aspx) discovered the common concerns of the program for the children and the education system. These are: the academic performance of the nondisabled children, the time and attention given by the teacher, and the disabled students learning undesirable behavior from students with disabilities. The report will help in determining the boundaries of the inclusive education program and will allow the formulation of solutions for the problems mentioned. It should be noted that the program must be able to focus on both the disabled and nondisabled students learning processes. The educators must also find a balance in which they can attend to the needs of the children, though differently, this must be addressed to the teachers. The third concern deals with how the differences between the children are able to influence one another. The children learn things from their peers, and it is of great concern for the program to limit the bad influences from the children. The earlier research focus on the how the program will affect the children. The results have found no supporting conclusions for Staub and Peck’s research determining the three main concerns of the program. The researchers did another study in which they were able to determine the benefits of inclusive education. The program reduces the fear of differences between human, in particular children, because of increased comfort and awareness of one another. There has also been growth in social cognition as the differences in each person were made aware. The self-concept, or what is perceived as to be the true concept of a persons’ self, has improved. The program also develops personal principles and friendship among the children amidst of their differences. (2004 . ) (http://www. projectchoices. org/faqBenefits. aspx)

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Financial Distress: Bankruptcy Essay -- Economy, CNN Money, Kmart

Halley 1 Financial Distress: Bankruptcy Financial distress which results in bankruptcy are very common for businesses in today’s economy. According to CNN Money Fortune 500, â€Å"Last year marked the highest number of billon-dollar bankruptcies ever recorded. And corporate bankruptcies have continued at an elevated clip, with about twice the number of businesses filing for bankruptcies filing for bankruptcy protection in the 12 months ending June 2010, as they did during the same span of time in 2008, 2007, or 2006.† (Roane, 2010) It is very important for every financial manager to acknowledge that bankruptcy can be a reality for any company and financial managers have to know how to prevent it. Most all companies have debts and these debts are used for financial leverage, but they have to be closely monitored by the financial manager. Many monthly debts that companies are faced with are, making monthly payments to vendors, and paying employees. It is the financial managers to manage and monitor th ese debts, so that the debts don’t become more than the equity. (Ross, Westerfield, & Jordan, 2010) Companies will be considered in financial distress when all of their liquidity has to be used to pay their outstanding debt. Companies can file bankruptcy to deal with and manage the lack of liquidity. When a company files bankruptcy the company is protected and bondholder or creditors cannot sue them for money that is owed. According to the authors of Fundamentals of Corporate Finance, â€Å"In principal a firm becomes bankrupt when the value of its assets equals the value of its debt.† (Ross... ...s trying to compete with Wal-Mart and Target on similar name brands, and prices, which became detrimental to Kmart. (CNN Money.com, 2002) According to CNNMoney.com Kmart filing included â€Å"Kmart, which has about $37 billion in annual revenue, said it had secured $2 billion in debtor financing to pay its $1.6 billion in debt and expected to emerge from bankruptcy in about a year.† (2002) Kmart wanted to emerge from restructuring with a new image that was totally different form their competitors and by filing bankruptcy and reorganizing their organizations they were able to do that. Conclusion: In order for a company to prevent any type of bankruptcy a company will need to keep its assets lower than his debt. It is important for financial managers of a company to manage a company’s debt-equity ratios while still increasing leverage within the company.

Monday, January 13, 2020

Hammer Wines Business Report Essay

Introduction Colin Hammer, after arranging an independent review, has found that many of his employees have been avoiding work and other responsibilities by searching the Internet for non-work related amusements. This act is known as cyber slacking and it is said to cost companies billions of dollars each year and often results in managers blocking or limiting access to certain websites. Concerned for productivity, this report will outline the current usage and array of sites potentially being used by the Hammer Wines employees. The sites include those for entertainment or work purposes, and restrictions based on these findings should be implemented. These restrictions must be forever changing and expanding, as each website has a different effect on the varying departments its respective employees. These modifications will also affect the productivity of Hammer Wines and will be discussed in the report by making an â€Å"internet use† policy. Findings Department Spending Most Time on the Internet Cyberslacking is a prominent occurrence amongst the Hammer Wines employees. However, of all employees, the Receptionists spent the longest time on the Internet throughout the one-week trial (see figure 1.0 below). This may or may not be detrimental to Hammer Wines. Often, receptionists complete their work before their set time, meaning that if they’re browsing the Internet, still answering their phone and have completed required work, productivity will remain normal. Studies also show productivity can increase when employees are less restricted with the Internet. This productivity can swing both ways. Negative productivity will be detrimental to Hammer Wines if the receptionist fails to multitask and therefore ineffectively completes required jobs. Internet Productivity and Cyberslacking From the array of websites (see figure 1.1 below) it is difficult to tell if Cyberslacking is present at Hammer Wines. This is because many websites, such as facebook.com and twitter.com, are huge social marketing websites, but can also used as a cost effective methods for company awareness and advertising. These sites, however, can also be misused for personal use. Unless the employee is caught directly misusing these sites, it is hard to tell weather they are cyberslacking or not. Facebook.com is one example of Cyberslacking. It is Hammer Wines’ second most visited Internet site, being used by Sales and Marketing, Reception, Manufacturing and Distribution, Human Resources @ Training and IT Services. Sales and Marketing are the only employees likely to need the site for work purposes. For all other departments, employees must use Facebook.com for personal interests. Websites, including deals.com are often used for both work and leisure. Reception, Human Resources @ Training, Manufacturing and Distribution, Sales and Marketing are all using this site. Assumptions cannot be made in relation to website use. Human Resources @ Training, Manufacturing and Distributing, and Sales and Marketing departments all have valid work-related grounds to use Deals.com, as it is great for promotional and comparative purposes. IT Services were found to be using Games.com. A total of 120 minutes was recorded throughout the week. This is a website purely dedicated to fun and games. This is the seventh most used website recorded. Although it is only a small fraction of the Internet usage, it is clear that productivity has decreased in the IT department, and through the given statistics, Cyberslacking is present. Similarly, Tatts.com was used by the Sales and Marketing department, for up to 80 minutes throughout the recorded week. Tatts.com is a betting website and has nothing to do with the Sales and Marketing of Hammer Wines. However, productivity can be increased in the workplace, with employees having some freedom on the Internet. The use of social media and other personal websites can release stress and tension, thus not wholly being to the determent of Hammer Wines. Conclusion Hammer Wines has a vast array of websites being used by employees for both personal and work use. Cyberslacking is present amongst all employees, with websites aimed at socialization and productivity which both highly used. This, however, is hard to monitor as some sites – such as Facebook.com or Deals.com – are used in the companies Sales and Marketing department, but also used in recreational down time by most, if not all, other departments. It is important for Hammer Wines to implement a strategy to monitor all Internet usage. Receptionist work productivity remained high in correlation to time spent on internet, however, it was obvious the Cyberslacking was overruling the IT department, as they spent 120 hours over the duration of the week on a games and entertainment website. Solution Internet Use Policy Hammer Wines should enforce an â€Å"Internet User Policy† in the employees contract, defining the terms of use for recreational Internet. Any employee found misusing the Internet for purposes strictly other than work, may lead to disciplinary action, and their position at the company may be compromised. Blocking Sites Permanently blocking all Internet sites at Hammer Wines could result in a drop in productivity. Alternatively, a system that allows employees to have an allocated time throughout the day, to specifically visit sites such as Facebook.com and Twitter.com will allow staff members to have high productivity through compromise and strategy. One example of strategic blocking is unblocking all websites for 15 minutes every 3 hours, enabling employees to use restricted sites that coincide with structured break times (lunch, snack and end-of-day). A second option for Hammer Wines is to block all websites, only allowing those who hold a position of authority (manager) or employee that has spoken to someone in a position of authority, to get a specific code to access a blocked website. This code then unblocks all sites and remains unblocked until the page is exited. This could be implemented when departments wish to use sites such as Facebook.com for marketing or promotional purposes.