Friday, September 6, 2019
The Pentagon Papers Essay Example for Free
The Pentagon Papers Essay Introduction Publication of the Pentagon Papers by leading newspapers in June 1971 was an important incident in modern American history. The inside of the papers fueled the fires of antiwar movements at home and overseas; the release of the papers aggravated an extraordinary criminal prosecution of two American citizens; plus the reaction of the administration of President Richard M. Nixon to publication of the papers led eventually to the Watergate scandal as well as the first resignation of a president in American history. Frequently overlooked, though, is the fact that the trial of Daniel Ellsberg and Anthony Russo for photocopying the Pentagon Papers exposed the imperial and unruly side of the Nixon Administration, and this brought into sharp relief the quandary of government secrecy in a democratic polity. Never before had citizens been charged with a crime for disclosing apparently Top Secret information to the general public through the American press. Heretofore, with the exception of narrow fields of secrecy legislatively sanctioned by the Congress for instance certain atomic energy information, the keeping of secrets had been implicit to be an executive prerogative however not a statutorily vested authority. Once the cat was out of the bag, the press was free to make use of information. Nevertheless, the leaking of classified information had been, and still is, a very common practice. The principal restraint on the press was the capability of the president to influence the press not to publish information. Not like Britains prime minister and most other heads of state, who can protect secrets under an Official Secrets Act, the president possesses no statutory authority to obstruct press publication of classified information. Before the trial of Ellsberg and Russo, also, it was not usually alleged that the president could legally prosecute citizens for leaking classified information to the American press. Certainly, the threat pretense by such authority to informed debate in a democracy and to disclosures of governmental malfeasance made such executive authority almost improbable. In passing the Espionage Act of 1917, for instance, the Congress denied President Woodrow Wilsons requests for broad authority to control war information. Members of Congress intentionally restricted the scope of the law in order that it could not be used as an instrument for presidential censorship of the press. Over the years, the Congress has constantly refused to permit the executive branch to draw a statutory veil of secrecy around itself. The Nixon Administrations prosecution of Ellsberg and Russo, consequently, was a daring effort by an imperial executive branch to secure from the judicial branch a broad measure of power and authority long denied it by the legislative branch. However, the Congress sat by although the administration ingeniously fashioned extraordinary criminal charges out of novel interpretations of existing statutes covering conspiracy, theft, and intelligence. While the administration failed in its attempt to imprison Ellsberg and Russo, the unwillingness of the court to nullify the prosecution at the outset basically changed the regulations of executive secrecy in the United States by converting what had been a political game of hide-and-seek between presidents and the press into a potentially criminal game of cat-and-mouse. Therefore, the long-standing importance of the Pentagon Papersand the basic clash between secrecy and democracylay not so much in the unauthorized publication of the documents, however in the abuse of the Rule of Law by the administrationan abuse that has had the effect of hanging a judicial sword of Damocles above the heads of citizens who would reveal classified information to the public. Principal Events On Sunday, June 13, 1971, The New York Times started to publish excerpts from a U.S. Defense Department study marked Top Secret and entitled History of U.S. Decision-Making Processes on Vietnam Policy, widely recognized as the Pentagon Papers. The collection of documents had been assembled during Lyndon B. Johnsons administration at the request of then-Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara at first; President Nixon was not particularly disturbed by the publication of the papers. Their contents, after all, managed policy-making before his administration and were, consequently, probable to be embarrassing to the Democrats just before an election year. Though, the presidents national security adviser, Henry Kissinger, succeeded on the president to do something regarding this huge hemorrhage of state secrets. (Peter Schrag, 1974) On the evening of June 14, after two days of publication and after various White House consultations, Attorney General John Mitchell asked The New York Times to cease publishing excerpts from the Pentagon Papers. Mitchell stated that publication of the documents dishonored the Espionage Act. The Times refused to act in accordance with, saying, It is in the interest of the people of this country to be informed of the material contained in this series of articles. The U.S. Department of Justice got a temporary preventive order against The Times. The newspaper pleads to the U.S. Supreme Court on June 24. (David Rudenstine, 1996) At the same time as The Times was restrained from publishing excerpts from the Pentagon Papers, The Washington Post started to publish portions of the study. The Post distributed extracts to some 345 client publications through the Washington Post Los Angeles Times News Service. The Department of Justice got a temporary restraining order against The Post, and after that appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that The Post had a constitutional right to issue the material. Extracts from the Pentagon Papers were as well published by The Boston Globe, The Los Angeles Times, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The Christian Science Monitor, plus a number of further newspapers during June 22-29. The Department of Justice got a restraining order against The St. Louis Post-Dispatch on June 26. (Sanford Ungar, 1972) On that day, the U.S. Supreme Court heard public oral arguments from Solicitor General Erwin Griswold for the United States, Alexander Bickel for The Times, as well as William Glendon for The Post. In a swift and extraordinary thrive of activity, the Court rendered a 6-3 decision on June 30, and issued a short per curiam opinion for the Court, with justices Warren Burger, John Harlan, and Harry Blackmun rebellious. The decision was accompanied by nine opinions. The per curiam opinion held that the United States had not conquer the heavy constitutional presumption against prior restraint on the press. Justices Hugo Black and William Douglas took a virtually absolute view of a First Amendment prohibition of prior restraint on newspapers. Justices William Brennan, Thurgood Marshall, Potter Stewart, and Byron White recognized that there could be circumstances that would validate a prior restraint on press publication of national security information, however that such conditions were not present in this case. Chief Justice Burger objected to the unseemly haste with which the Court handled the cases. Justices Harlan and Blackmun as well objected to the frenzied train of events [that] took place in the name of the presumption against restraints created by the First Amendment. The dissenting justices thought that publication of the Pentagon Papers must have been delayed until an assessment could have been made of the papers potential consequence on national defense and security. (Peter Schrag, 1974) The New York Times and The Washington Post hailed the ruling as a conquest for freedom of the press, and resumed publication of excerpts of the Pentagon Papers on July 1. Even though the Nixon Administration had succeeded in temporarily imposing the first U.S. government prior restraint on newspapers in American history, an event that outdone even the Sedition Act of 1798, the effort to control leaks by judicially restraining the press did not stick. In the view of the administration, something else had to be done to defend executive prerogatives over the dissemination of information. The setback at the Supreme Court did not discourage the Nixon Administration from following criminal charges against Daniel Ellsberg. The White House had recognized Ellsberg as the person accountable for the Pentagon Papers leak almost instantly after publication of the documents. (Peter Schrag, 1974) Ellsberg was first accused on June 25, 1971. He surrendered to U.S. authorities in Boston on June 28. Not completely content with the strength of its case, though, the administration continued to look for incriminating proof, both legally and illegally, and to look at its prosecutorial options. Throughout the Labor Day holiday, members of the White House Plumbers unit burglarized the office of Ellsbergs psychiatrist in an effort to get information that may be used to damage Ellsbergs trustworthiness and cast doubt on his motives. (Daniel Ellsberg, 2002) On June 19, the FBI questioned Anthony J. Russo regarding his role in the release of the Pentagon Papers. Russo refused to answer FBI questions. On June 23, he was subpoenaed to give evidence before a federal grand jury in Los Angeles. In spite of a grant of immunity, Russo declined to testify unless his testimony could be made public. On August 16, he started serving a 47 day jail term for contempt of court. On October 1, U.S. District Court Judge Warren J. Ferguson released Russo from prison and ordered the government to offer Russo with a record of any testimony he might be needed to give to the grand jury. Assistant U.S. Attorney David R. Nissen held the order to be unlawful and refused to obey it. Russo once more declined to testify before the grand jury. On December 29, 1971, the grand jury issued a new, secret indictment in the Pentagon Papers case; one that added new charges aligned with Ellsberg and as well included criminal charges against Russo. (John Prados and Margaret Pratt Porter (eds.), 2004) The defendants were charged with 15 counts of criminal conduct, together with conspiracy, espionage, as well as conversion of government property (theft) for photocopying in 1969 substantial portions of the Pentagon Papers. In contradiction of a common belief, Ellsberg and Russo were not accused for giving the Pentagon Papers to any newspapers or for making the documents public by any means. They were accused for temporarily removing the Pentagon Papers from the premises of the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica, California, plus for photocopying the documents at an advertising agency owned by Russos friend, Lynda Sinay. Listed as unindicted coconspirators were Lynda Sinay and Vu Van Thai, a former South Vietnamese ambassador to the United States. Thai had clearly been present at one of the photocopying sessions. The charges against Ellsberg carried utmost penalties of 115 years imprisonment plus $120,000 in fines. Those against Russo carried maximum penalties of 35 years imprisonment and $40,000 in fines. Throughout the trial, though, U.S. District Court Judge William Matthew Byrne, Jr., directed an acquittal on one espionage count each against Ellsberg and Russo. (Daniel Ellsberg, 2002) There are numerous reasons for thinking that the trial of Ellsberg and Russo-popularly recognized as the Pentagon Papers Trialwas a case of selective prosecution undertaken for political reasons. For one, Ellsberg and Russo were the first citizens in American history to be criminally prosecuted for activities related with a leak of classified information to the public. Second, the leaking of classified information by public officials from the president to low-level subordinates had been, as it carries on to be, a common practice. Political warfare may not be the suitable term in this case; however even so, political warfare is a common motivation for leaking secrets, whether it is by presidents, national security advisers, or persons outside an administration. In addition, a full compilation of available documents was soon published by Beacon Press with the assistance of Senator Mike Gravel. (David Rudenstine, 1996) Third, no members of the press, who in fact published the documents, were accused by the government. Certainly, the condemnation of Ellsberg and Russo steered obvious of any probable collision with the press by limiting the supposed criminal behavior to the period of March 1969 to September 1970, a time period that ended more than nine months before the publication of the Pentagon Papers. Fourth, no effort was made to impeach other private citizens formerly associated with the Lyndon Johnson Administration who possessed copies of the Pentagon Papers, or portions thereof, and who debatably drew on those documents, directly or indirectly, for books, articles, and speeches. The accessible records of White House discussions of how to proceed against Ellsberg propose that the decision to prosecute was a political approach intended to make an instance of him. The administration wished to stem what it viewed as a rising tide of sensitive leaks by indirectly intimidating others who might consider disclosing information to the press. The main problem facing the administration was one of finding a statutory foundation for prosecution. To do so, the U.S. Department of Justice had to bring to bear on the case considerable creativity. All charges involved novel interpretations of standing statutes. The Pentagon Papers Trial started in Los Angeles on July 10, 1972, with selection of the jury. On July 24, Judge Byrne exposed that the government had filed a wiretap transcript of a conversation by a member of the defense staff, however ruled that the contents need not be disclosed for the reason that they did not bear on the case. The defense appealed the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. The trial was stayed until November 13, when the Supreme Court upheld the judges ruling. Instantly afterward, the trial was again stayed when the defense appealed for and got dismissal of the jury. Selection of a new jury started on January 8, 1973. (John Prados and Margaret Pratt Porter (eds.), 2004) On May 11, 1973, though, near the close of testimony, Judge Byrne dismissed all charges against Ellsberg and Russo, and affirmed a mistrial due to improper government conduct which affronted a sense of justice. Among other things, the White House Plumbers had burglarized the office of Ellsbergs psychiatrist in 1971; FBI wiretap transcripts of telephone conversations by Ellsberg in 1969-1970 had disappeared; on numerous occasions the government had failed to make a timely disclosure of exculpatory evidence; and presidential assistant John Ehrlichman had flown to Los Angeles in April to offer Judge Byrne the directorship of the FBI. A poll of the jurors after the mistrial indicated that most would likely have voted for acquittal if they had had the opportunity to decide the case. Conclusion The Pentagon Papers trial was a political trial in the classic sense. It was as well a prosecutorial attempt that conformed to the Nixon Administrations often extraordinary constitutional asserts to power and its offhand disregard for the Rule of Law. The decision to prosecute was a high-level one made by the president, plus the charges brought against Ellsberg and Russo symbolized a creative political construction of statutes intended to make a noncrime into a crime. The proof is in the pudding, so to speak. The concern of the Nixon Administration with leaks was so great that, besides the Pentagon Papers trial, it required to attain the same ends in its proposals to the Congress to reform the federal criminal code. All the legal issues rose in the Pentagon Papers trial and the creative constructions of statutes used to prosecute Ellsberg and Russo were contained in the administrations criminal code reform proposals. Those proposals, if passed, would have provided a firm base in criminal law for prosecuting persons for disclosing classified information to the public, and would have banned defendants from raising such questions as ownership of information and the propriety of any government classification of documents. Improper classification would have been no defense against criminal charges. The Congress rejected the presidents proposals, Nixon resigned from office, the imperial presidency came to an end, and the Vietnam War as well came to an shameful end two years later, however the issues raised in the Pentagon Papers trial have continued to haunt public life, affecting every administration since Nixon. For the reason that Judge Byrne elected to defer rulings on the substantive legal and constitutional issues until the end of the trial, the mistrial left all the issues judicially unresolved. Therefore, the possibility of prosecution continues to stand as a probable threat to citizens who disclose classified information to the general public, though any decision to prosecute, and the foundation for doing so in cases similar to the Pentagon Papers case, carries on to remain in the realm of politics rather than statutory law. The state of the law, as it now stands, neither permits nor prohibits a president from prosecuting persons who leak classified information to the American press. A key question for Americans, then, is whether the issues raised by the Pentagon Papers trial can be resolved legislatively or judicially. Even though it is usually recognized, as John Jay argued in The Federalist nearly 200 years ago, that executive secrecy is sometimes essential for the conduct of effective foreign policies, it is hard to reconcile in any precise way the practice of secrecy with the openness required for democratic policy-making. Legislative and judicial solutions would necessarily be flawed, and conceivably dangerous to democracy, since one cannot say in advance and thoroughly what sorts of information must be kept secret. Even authentically sensitive national security secrets might occasionally have to be exposed so as to root out malfeasance or otherwise protect the public good. Given that officials already err on the side of secrecy when they can get away with it, any further encouragement via legislation or judicial support may intensify the problem. The capability of presidents and their agents to protect secrets that are genuinely fundamental to the security of a democratic nation can easily be expanded to protect secrets that are very important merely to the power and interests of public officeholders. Therefore unless there is to be no secrecy, reconciliation of the need for secrecy with the prerequisites of democracy requires, in the final analysis, public-spirited officials who are capable and keen to exercise sound judgment footed on honest assessments of the national interest as determined by democratic processes. Such was not the case in 1971. References: Daniel Ellsberg. Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers; Viking Adult (October 10, 2002) David Rudenstine, The Day the Presses Stopped: A History of the Pentagon Papers Case. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. 1996 John Prados and Margaret Pratt Porter (eds.). INSIDE THE PENTAGON PAPERS, Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2004. Peter Schrag. Test of Loyalty: Daniel Ellsberg and The Rituals of Secret Government. New York: Simon and Schuster. 1974. Sanford Ungar, The Papers and the Papers (New York: Dutton, 1972).
Thursday, September 5, 2019
The Transformational Leadership Style Business Essay
The Transformational Leadership Style Business Essay This assignment describes the development and transformation process of State Trading Organization Public limited (Here Onward STO). STO strived to provide to Maldivian market, products ranging from staples (like rice sugar and flour), medicine, quality merchandise, and improved construction material, oil and state-of-the-art consumer goods as well other general trading products. Due to newly established democracy and regulations, innovation imported by FDI and service level challenges STO to fundamentally rethink their business and reformulate their strategies. The nation was growing, and so were the nations demands. The organization is established in the year 1964. For four decades STO was known as the market leader. However, it lasted till the industry was opened for foreign and domestic competition in 2005 under economic and political reforms in 2001. Hence, STO foreseeing the competitive and political challenges, the organizing aimed a broader transformation towards becoming a market oriented company. This paper will cover mainly two sections. Firstly, the paper has studied the company background as the introduction of this assignment. Secondly, it has attempted to understand why change is important for organizations to adopt in todays business environment. Therefore, through highlighting on the external factors such as political, Economical, Social and Technological factors (PEST factors) that are as drivers of change, has been given importance as the literature of the subject. Consequently, the main part of the paper: finding the facts, assessing the findings, discussing and analyzing the situation which will help in understanding the strengths and weakness of the subject being studied in this assignment was thoroughly evaluated as the primary component of the paper. In addition, it has given insights into the importance of leadership in bringing changes effectively and explains the opposition and challenges faced by STO. Thus, causing STO to reconsider and reformulate in various business strategies like Leadership, people engagement and change management methods to become customer friendly and improve its image. This assignment will highlight various future challenges awaiting STO and recommendation for actions. INTRODUCTION Company Background The beginning of State Trading Organization Plc, (formerly known as (ATA) Athireege maafannu Trading Agency) is a registered organization. The roots of State Trading Organization PLC, dates back to à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦Ã ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦Ã ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦Ã ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦(website) 1964 when it was opened to finance the purchasing and importation of essential food items needed for the Maldivian community in bulk. Today STO has sustained this important responsibility to oversee the food security concerns of government and diversified into many other areas of importance such as energy needs of the country which has now become part and parcel of STOs mandate. Within the framework that includes these two areas, STO has diversified and is also competitively engaged in trading in other areas including Consumer Electronics, Home appliances, Medicals, Canned foods, Health foods and a range of other high quality products. This has been achieved by direct procurement and distribution as well as forming joint ventures to effectively trade in areas where STO might have been at disadvantage had STO not been able to do so, while still maintaining a strong hold with the Government as the primary trading partner of choice. State Trading Organization plc with its subsidiaries, a joint ventures and associates is a nationwide leader in the business sector. It has significant and focused interests in petroleum, construction materials, electronic items, cooking gas, cement, roofing sheets products, home appliances, super markets and insurance. The company is geographically diverse, with operations and developments in Maldives and Singapore. Diversification is the one of the most important strategies in STO. Therefore STO is entering different business sector like, Tourism, aviation, oil business, construction, agricultural produce and real estate business. METHOD OF INVESTIGATION Most of the information about the various strategies utilized by STO to face competitive challenges was acquired through numerous interviews with managers and employees of STO. Other pieces of information were also gathered through the companys website and local media. The websites and publications of the governments numerous ministries and departments are considered the main sources of information on topics related to the governments policies, regulations and laws. Information regarding trade regulations and policies are taken from the Ministry of Economic Developments annual reports, as well as from the statistical reports that they periodically publish online. In addition to these sources several pieces of information were also acquired through STOs annual report of 2011 and the Quarterly report of 2012 LITERATURE REVIEW The liberalization of Maldives economy and trade regulation has led to market widening , attraction of new foreign investments in well known companys and competition that has led to reduced prices, latest and innovative services, quality products and better customer care. As is suggested by Bortolotti, Bernanrdo, Juliet DSouza, Marcella Fantini, and DomenicoSiniscalco(2002 cited in SilivioContessi 2004 p.3)1the infrastructure investment fosters market interaction and competition through three channels direct market selection, restructuring and entry. As is the theme of this paper, how leadership and people engagement transformed and restructured STO to a market oriented firm to confront the competition from FDI. However, the liberalization was not fully effective due to the certain exclusivities provided to STO such as Government major share. Recent changes in political platform and FDI regulation STO need to be able to adapt different leadership style like, autocratic, democratic leadership Style and other shifting circumstances and cope with those changes (Moment, 2007)2.à Every organization needs leaders who can change as fast as market conditions do (Newcomb, 2005, p. 34)3.à Business needs can change rapidly and employees look to their leaders to guide them through change.à Uncertainty in leaders can lead to a lack of faith by employees. Good leadership is critical to a successful school. Success comes from aiming high with the clear vision, ethos and communication that good leadership brings. We will act to support high quality school leadership and inspired ambitious school communities. (Ambitious, Excellent Schools Our Agenda for Action, Scottish Executive, 2004, p5)4 Research into transformational leadership in organizations has found links to improved employee commitment (Barling,webberKelloway ,1996)5,heightened trust in leadership (Bass B.M.,1990),and stronger connection with the vision (Howell and Shamir,2005)5 and thus alignment of effort with the (change) goal (Shamir,House, Arthur,November 1993 ) cited in cited in Sherry Scully 2008)5. Based on the research results it could be concluded transformational leadership may be more appropriate for STO undergoing transformation where motivation of employees and commitment to change comes from their intrinsic motivation. Future leaders and employee engagement will need to be conversant in doing business internationally and conceiving strategies on a global basis. Globalization will intensify the requirement that senior leaders deal effectively with a complex set of constituencies external to the organization. (e.g., responsibility for managing the companys interface with trade, regulatory, political, and media groups on a wide range of issues). Leadership development is rapidly moving to include substantial components involving international markets, world economic trends, and focus on particular regions such as the Asia Pacific rim (Cacioppe, 1998)6. Kotler and Heskett (1992 Cited inRezaGharoieAhangar 2009)7 identify successful leaders as those who repeatedly communicate their vision, allow people to challenge these messages and stimulate middle managers to take up the cause and provide leadership themselves, characteristics similar to transformational leadership. Likewise leaders foster an environment for building intellectual, managerial and leadership capabilities. The whole concept of transformational leadership linked with HPW is a process by which leaders and followers raise one another to a higher moral and motivational level Burns (1978 Cited in Reza 2009)7.Through this process senior managers share organizations vision to intellectually inspire, stimulate and empower the subordinates. (Bass and Avolio, 1994 cited in Reza 2009)7. 4.0 FACTS, FINDINGS Political Environment In year 1964, Maldives was a very peaceful and stable country. After 2008, the market has become volatile characterized with higher degree of uncertainty and complexity due to our political environment and reform movement. On average new regulations and laws are passed and enacted every month. Along with the democratization process came various legal changes to the economy including the introduction and changes to several laws and regulations, notably, the business profitability tax, Good and service tax, Tourism Tax, Tourism Land Rent, Bank Profit Tax, Duty Free Royalty, Foreign Investment Royalty, Fuel Re-Export Royalty and re-export tax directly influencing the STO business. The fact was highlighted in the STO Annual Report (2011 p.3) as a risk. The newly elected president in 2008 resigned half way through his term and claimed he resigned duress. Many believe its a coup. Therefore, our political environment is at very high risk. This volatile and serious political environment is affecting each and every business of this country. The political situation influenced the business strategies of STO. Hence, most of the decisions were politically driven instead of the business motive. Economical: Global recession hit badly along with the rising fuel prices. It had adversely affected the company in two ways. Firstly, recession has led to fall in income, so consumers are spending less on Home improvement items (like Electronics, kitchen appliance) resulting in decrease sales and increasing storage cost and thus in the drop in company profitability. The unexpected plunge in exchange rate of Rufiyaa against US Dollar, coupled with the continuing problem of foreign exchange shortages caused major impact on the business performance. This was highlighted in the STO annual report (2011 p.7 MDs Message).The depreciation of the Maldivian Currency (Rufiyaa) following the introduction of the exchange rate band in April 2011. Shortage of foreign currency reserve (US Dollar) is affecting STOs business. Because STO is importing most of the items from Singapore, Japan, Dubai and chain. Due to the change in government in 2008, changes to the trade policy and the implementation of new tax laws and regulation brought many challenges to STO in terms of foreign currency transactions. Social: Image of the company: Over the past few decades STO has been one of most leading and reputed company in Maldives (price and Quality).Due to recent changes in political and economic environment, STO is facing many challenges to maintain its reputation. STO is participated and contributed to a number of social activities that are designed to positively contribute to our socio-economic development and towards protecting our natural environment. These activities are in line with the company policy of being an exemplary leader in corporate social responsibility.(annual report 2011p.07) Due to the extensive government intervention on STOs business decisions, STOs reputation and image are affected According to daily newspaper (Haveeru daily) STO is engaging in corruption and fraudulent trading in Singapore. This created bad publicity and tainted the image of the company. Technology: STO understands the importance of developing its technology infrastructure and considers continuous changes in business environment and advancement in technology. In line with this, STO management team decided and implemented the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) to improve productivity, reducing operational cost and improving internal control and monitoring. This system provides day-to-day information to make decisions which will facilitate to transform the future of STO and employee engagement. STO has implemented the human resources module of the ERP system, which will facilitate more efficient management of payroll and other staff related matters(Annual Report 2011 p.07). EFFECTIVELY An organization cannot run without proper vision and guidance of a leader. In todays changing world the role of leadership is even more essential, to show direction towards change, convince employees and finally to set a strong foundation to successfully carrying out change. Faced with Political, Economical and Foreign competition, STO underwent recent changes where by its major strategies were rethought strengthening the whole strategic process through integration, bundling, Diversifying and focusing new industries like, Tourism and Real estate (Annual Report 2011, p.25) .STOs major shareholder the government as well as shareholders have to evolve and transform with the changes to the business environment to achieve a successful future for STO. Hence, the following part gives insight into the topic precisely. Transformational leadership style Developing vision After these major changes in business environment, STO is moving forward to achieve its vision. STO had a vision to become the most successful and the most efficient parent company (of a diversified group of subsidiaries) in the Maldives by the year 2014. Investing on tourism, real estate and aviation (Annual Report 2011, p.25) would allow STO to achieve its corporative goals. Therefore, it has to be noted that STOs vision is in accordance with one of the cores of transformational leadership. Finding the way deal with this dramatic changes STOs Board and Management team has charismatic personality which drives people to believe in leadership and that can influence people about change like how it is embedded into STOs slogan evolving with. Thus, a charismatic leader like the newly appointed Chairman and directors (appointed 2012) has used their personality leadership style to enhance the business by setting clear values and supportive culture for the employees as well as for the company. Due to major changes in political environment and the economy in Maldives, leaders must confront and take bold steps rather than being in the background even after changes in order to set an example for others and to ensure long term success of change plan as the external environment is very uncertain. HUMAN RESOURCE AS STRATEGIC ASSET STO promotes itself as employees are the most important asset in the organization with HR best practices. To promote HR strategy, implement the human resources module of the ERP system, which will facilitate more efficient management of payroll and other staff related matters. Among these STO has stated its HR strategy as follows: Selective hiring , retention and extensive development of employees STO promotes itself as an employees brand and this perception by the public has given STO distinctive benefits in terms of better attraction of necessary and new skills, employee retention and engagement making it easy for STO selective hiring and retention. STO strives to attract and retain a productive and an enthusiastic workforce. The Company ensures its remuneration packages are competitive. In order to motivate staff to attain higher levels of productivity, employees are given an incentive bonus of 3% of the net profit for the year if the company exceeds its annual profit targets(Annual Report 2011, p.27) Recognizing Employees commitment STO is able to create commitment among their employees. STO realizes that commitment is ultimately personal. To recognize employees hard work, shields of appreciation are given to those who serve more than 15 years and best employees (Annual Report 2011, p.27). Training and development of Employees Oakland, CA January 16, 2012 Bersin Associates, the premier research and consulting firm empowering Human Resource (HR) organizations to drive bottom-line impact, today announced new research that shows spending on employee development rose 9.5 percent to an average of $800 per learner in 2011, as organizations moved to combat the current skills gap in the labor market. During the year, STO conducted many short-term training programs, and provided career deployment opportunities to its employees in many different professional are as (Annual Report 2011, p.27). Employees engagement Most of the organizations are facing new challenges due to development of social media such as twitter and face book. Organizations need to have employees engagement strategy to overcome the challenges. Employee engagement plays a vital role in motivating the performance levels of the workforce. A motivated employee will seek out ways to accomplish a task. Employee engagement illustrates the commitment and energy that employees bring to work and is a key indicator of their involvement and dedication to the organization. Employees who are engaged are more productive, content and more likely to be loyal to an organization. When organizations put sound HR practices in place, they are more likely to discover that employees feel satisfied, safe and will work to their full potential .Therefore STO recognizing, values, support, feeling in different situation like, providing financial support through staff loan, discounts and awarding long service staff every year. Striving to attract and retain a productive and an enthusiastic workforce, STO recreation club (STORC) conducts many sport events to help foster camaraderie and team spirit among staffs.(Annual Report 2011, p.28). Performance management According to the University of California, Berkeley is committed to a performance management system that fosters and rewards excellent performance. Effective performance management aligns the efforts of supervisors and employees with departmental and campus goals, promotes consistency in performance assessment, motivates all employees to perform at their best, and is conducted with fairness and transparency. (Cited in http://hrweb.berkeley.edu/performance-management). STO has also been taking measures to evaluate and manage the performance of both individual employees and departments through performance auditing on HR and also through a performance evaluation at the end of every financial year. HPW and Employee Engagement STO is adopting high performance working practices through SAP ERP system. The system helps to align a complex set of organizational elements including Strategy, vision, Mission, and goal, management practice, organizational structure, work practices and process human resource and other systems such as technology. Continuous high performance work systems have been cited by STO and the company is now transitioning to a high performance working system. This will require the development of a strong communication system and organizational restructuring. CONCLUSION Transforming whole business environment in Maldives (PEST) factors are affecting STO business. Domestic and international competition STO has managed to retain its market position. As new challenges emerge the change process will be an ongoing process to maintain market position. As now STO has completely lost its remaining exclusivities it will face new challenges from Multinational chain like (ACE hardware) over retaining customers. Excellent HR practices and efforts retain existing employees as well as new. To tackle the future challenges STO is developing its human resource, redesigning organizational structure, using latest technology and innovative software to efficiency and effectiveness of its operation. To achieve organization mission and vision, STO is adopting high performance working practices, increasing employee engagement, review STO pay package and career development opportunities. Furthermore investing eco-friendly products and engaging CSR to transform the future challenges. Therefore STO come to a decision to diversify its business into different area like, aviation, real estate business and tourism industry to improve its financial performance. This will attract more investors and shareholders as well as all stakeholders. So this strategy will bring more opportunities to the business as well as public in future. RECOMMENDATION Dynamic and complex business and Political environment STO is facing many challenges as well as opportunities in future. Therefore STO needs to be more proactive to these changes, which can be perceived by the knowledgeable among the corporate: Even though STO is government owned company (Major Shareholders), too much of government influence and political motive decision may not be business and profit oriented. It should be balanced in terms of politics and profit or business. As STO faces new challenges due to implementing EPR system, lack of trained employees. Therefore STO need to Investing in training programs helps employees develop personally and professionally to adopt this incremental changes in its processes and operation especially the way HR works, good and services are delivered to the end customer for this transformational change alone will not do. STO need to implement more monitoring and control mechanism to employee recruitment, Conflict resolution at workplace. STO need to developed HR Policies and procedures and communicate the values of its organization and provide everyone fair and transparent promotion and rewarding system. 9.0BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Sung, Johhny and Ashton, David.High Performance Work Practices: linking strategy and skills to performance outcomes. s.l.à : Department of Trade and Industry, UK, 2005. 2. Schuler, A J. [Online] 2003. [Cited: 3 November 2011.] http://www.schulersolutions.com. 3. Recklies, Dagmar. [Online] 2001. [Cited: 4 November 2011.] http://www.themanager.org. 4. Canterucci, Jim. [Online] 2001. [Cited: 3 November 2011.] http://www.corpchange.com. 5. Nickols, Fred.Four Change Management Strategies. s.l.à : Distance Consulting LLC, 2010. Mike Millmore Philip Lewis Mark saunders, adrian Thornhill Trevor Morrow(2007) Strategic Human Resource Management contemporary issues Jon M. Werner and Randy L. Desimone (5th Edition) Human Resources Development Post :GauravAkrani Date : 12/27/2009 08:52:00 PM IST Comments (2) Lables : Management, Study Notes Craig W. Fontaine, Ph.D.(August 2007) NortheasternUniversity College of Business Administration A Critical Factor for Organizational Effectiveness and Employee Satisfaction Charlotte RaynerDerekadam-Smith, Managing Leading People (2nd Edition, chapter-9) Recruitment Selection Employee-engagementmaximizing-organizational-performance PERSONAL EXPERIENCE Throughout the work for this Assignment, I have learned how organizations operate and the challenges they face. I understood from this work that, regardless of how smooth and successful an organization is, changing and adopting leadership style are always needed. It may be in the target market, management, human resource or technology used by the organisation. For these reasons, if handled carefully with the right tools, change can be smooth and successful. I m confident, that I will be able to apply the techniques that I have learned from this work in all stages of my career.
Wednesday, September 4, 2019
The Messiah as Corruptor in Frank Herbertââ¬â¢s Dune Essay -- Dune
The Messiah as Corruptor in Frank Herbertââ¬â¢s Dune Frank Herbertââ¬â¢s Dune is arguably one of the best science fiction novels ever written. A milestone of the genre, the work incorporates an intricate plot with a unique setting and memorable characters. Dune is rich with thematic material, touching on such varied issues as ecology, economics, religion, and politics; ultimately, it is a novel about control, the consequences of power, and human nature. Any reading of Dune and its sequels inevitably arrives at an analysis of Paul, who begins the novel as the youthful ducal heir to House Atreides. Trained both by his mother, a sister of the enigmatic Bene Gesserit School, and by the mentat Thufir Hawat, the human equivalent of a supercomputer, Paul is obviously quite gifted. Through some combination of his genetic makeup and his education, Paul has exceptional mental clarity, often seeing connections where others would see nothing; sometimes his abilities, especially his prophetic dreams, transcend rational explanation. Early on in Dune, House Atreides is pressured into a change of fief from their ancestral home of Caladan to the unforgiving desert planet Arrakisââ¬âthe sole source of the spice melange which, among other things, promotes long life and gives the Imperium a means of interstellar transport. The victim of a ââ¬Å"work of art among vendettas,â⬠Paulââ¬â¢s father, Duke Leto Atreides, is soon deposed and assassinated by the Atreidesââ¬â¢ hereditary rival, the Baron Harkonnen. Having managed to escape House Harkonnenââ¬â¢s clutches, Paul and his mot her, Lady Jessica, find themselves lost in the desert wilderness and are soon captured by a tribe of the indigenous Fremen. With the guidance of his mother, Paul works himself into the implanted ... ...s character, Herbert asserts that in messiahs we must not look for domination, but for inspiration. Works Cited Herbert, Frank. Dune. Berkley Publishing Company. New York, NY. 1965. Herbert, Frank. Dune Messiah. Berkley Publishing Company. New York, NY. 1969. Kucera, Paul. ââ¬Å"Listening to Ourselves: Herbertââ¬â¢s Dune, ââ¬Å"the Voiceâ⬠and Performing the Absolute.â⬠Extrapolation. Vol 42, No 3. Fall 2001. 232ââ¬â45. Mulachy, Kevin. ââ¬Å"The Prince on Arrakis: Frank Herbertââ¬â¢s Dialogue with Machiavelli.â⬠Extrapolation. Vol 37, No 2. Spring 1996. 22ââ¬â36. Oââ¬â¢Reilley, Timothy. Frank Herbert. Frederick Ungar Publishing Co. New York, NY. 1981. Stratton, Susan. ââ¬Å"The Messiah and the Greens: The Shape of Environmental Action in Dune and Pacific Edge.â⬠Extrapolation. Vol 42, No 4. Winter 2001. 301ââ¬â16. Touponce, William. Frank Herbert. Twayne Publishers. Boston, MA. 1988.
Tuesday, September 3, 2019
The Life Of Charles Dickens :: essays research papers fc
The Life of Charles Dickens à à à à à Charles Dickens was a nineteenth-century novelist who was and still is very popular. He was born in Landport, a region of Portsmouth, on February 7, 1812 (Kyle 1). à à à à à Charles Dickens was the son of John Dickens and Elizabeth Barrow. John Dickens was a minor government official who worked in the Navy Pay Office. Through his work there, he met Elizabeth and eventually married her. By 1821, when Charles was four months old, John Dickens could no longer afford the rent on his house. John Dickens loved to entertain his friends with drinks and conversation. Throughout his life, he was very short of money and in debt. He often had to borrow money to pay off the debt and borrow more money to pay off the people he borrowed the money from. Later on, John Dickens was transferred again to work in the naval dockyard at Chatman. It was here that Charles Dickens' earliest and clearest memories were formed (Mankowitz 9-14). à à à à à Charles' education included being taught at home by his mother, attending a Dame School at Chatman for a short time, and Wellington Academy in London. He was further educated by reading widely in the British Museum (Huffam). à à à à à In late 1822, John was needed back at the London office, so they had to move to London. This gave Charles opportunities to walk around the town with his father and take in the sights, sounds, and smells of the area. This gave him early inspiration that he would use later on in his life when he started to write (Mankowitz 13-14). à à à à à James Lamert, the owner of a boot-blacking factory, saw the conditions that the Dickens family was going through. He offered Charles a job there and he was paid six shillings a week which was reasonable at that time. Soon, he was moved downstairs in the sweatshop-like room. Charles had been working at the factory for less than two weeks when his father was arrested for debt. He was sent to debtors prison where he did work to pay off his debt. John paid for Charles' lodging, but Charles had to pay for his food and everything else with the six shillings he earned every week. The details of London and of prison life were imprinting themselves into Dickens' memory and would one day help him in the novels he wrote. After John was in prison for three months, his mother died leaving him enough money to get out of debtors prison (Mankowitz 20-22). à à à à à Late in Charles' teens, he became a court reporter. This introduced him to journalism, and he also became interested in politics.
Monday, September 2, 2019
heath care system Essay -- essays research papers
In the United States today there is an epidemic in heath care costs and medical benefit coverage not covering all a patients need; leaving victims with large medical expenses. Today raising cost of heath care has effected the lower middle class tens of thousands in debt that lead them to bankruptsy; but resent laws passed by the Bush administration (undoubtedly lobbied by hospitals boards) making it nearly impossible for people in the middle class to file chapter 7 bankrupsy that starts them off with a clean start. Instead forcing them to file for chapter 13 that involves large sum of money be produced in *5 yrs with penalties ranging to imprisonment if the debtors defaults on payment. President Bush in a speech on the topic said people have to take responsibility and pay there debt. In this move he completely ignores the rapidly growing problem with the heath care system and appeases the insurance companies and the hospitals by forcing patients to extraordinarily high cost for proc edures and my belief that they have patients go through unnecessary treatments to help hospitals combat their raising costs of insurance (only back my personal experience). It is a system of capitalistic heath care and the patients are the one's losing their money to make the rich richer at the expense of quality (or at least effective) heath care to the masses.Ã Ã Ã Ã Ã Ã Ã Ã Ã Ã Ã Ã Ã Ã Ã Ã Ã Ã Ã Ã Ã Ã Ã ...
Sunday, September 1, 2019
Human Resources Profession Map (HRPM) Essay
The Human Resources Profession Map (HRPM) was created to explain how HR adds value; it was designed by a collaboration of both specialist and generalists working in the UK and globally across private and public sectors. The HRPM was developed by the CIPD. The design of the HRPM is to be relevant and applicable to HR professionals operating anywhere in the world, all sectors and in organisations of any shape or size. It captures what skills are required for effective and successful HR. There are 4 bands which relate to professional competencies; they define the contribution that professionals make at every stage of their HR career. The key areas of these bands include service and relationship with clients, activities performed by HR, where time is spent and how contribution and success is measured. The band summaries are: Band 1: Support administration and processes, is customer orientated. Band 2: Advises and manages HR issues. Band 3: Lead and consult, addressing key HR change at organisation level. Band 4: Lead and Manage professional areas, developing and delivering HR strategy. The HRPM is made up of 10 professional areas, 2 of these are the core of the map. Diagram? At the very core is ââ¬Å"Insight, Strategy and Solutionsâ⬠. It is at the core it is awareness of the business and developing actionable insights and solutions. Secondly is ââ¬Å"Leading and Managing the HR Functionsâ⬠. This is owning and shaping to insight-led leading, including working with financials such as budgeting while managing HR performance. Its design it to meet needs and priorities. The 8 other professional area segments identity the activities and knowledge that are required to provide specialist support, these are applicable not only internally but also externally. Organisational Design: Structure changes, delivering organisational objectives. Organisation Development: Workforce focused for organisational strategic ambitions. Resource and Talent Planning: Focusing on attracting the right people. Learning and Development: Combined commercial and HR expertise to bring value. Performance and Reward: Delivering programmes that recognise and reward. Employee Engagement: Prioritises employment experienceà ensuring there needs are met. Employee Relations: Areas such as policies and procedures, employment law. Service Delivery and Information: Ensuring HR delivery is accurate and timely. The outer circle of the HRPM shows the behaviours which describe how activities should be carried out. Curious: Future focused Decisive Thinker: Analyses, understands data to make defend-able decisions Skilled Influencer: Pursues the organisations values Personally Credible: Builds and delivers professionalism. Collaborative: Efficient with a wide range of people Driven to Deliver: Determined and resourceful Courage to Challenge: Confident, speaks up skilfully Role Model: Leads by example In conclusion the HRPM can be used as a tool to identify your immediate and future development needs. 1.2à This section will comment on the professional area ââ¬Å"Employee Relationsâ⬠within band 2. My role is fundamentally HR. Practising HR in the company I focus on ensuring services I provide are timely and effective by having knowledge to provide excellent customer services. As a band 2 employee my duties include ensuring values and behavioural expectations permeate through the organisations processes, policies and literature. My main focus when dealing with these topics is to get the relevant documentation in order I receive a vast amount of face to face queries and phone calls from all types of employees with a wide range of topics including salary/payroll related queries. I have been with the company nearly 3 years and demonstrate band 2 skills often; I have learnt the evaluation processes and solutions available. This is why I became the key contact for HR. I always start by gathering all the facts and listening to the employee and try to indicate a time frame when I expect to get back to them. If I canââ¬â¢t meet that I will let them know before it reaches that time. I then access resources such as CIPD website, SAGE helpdesk, HMRC and Internet to prepare correctly documentation. When preparing any documentation which would include employment law I have these checked with senior staff although I solely draft these. At band 2 not all the behaviourââ¬â¢s may apply, I would show the following in this professional area: Driven to deliver: Staff issues areà challenging therefore I will investigate these to the best of my ability ensuring the best outcome for the organisation but using empathy to employees. Personally credible: I keep documentation consistent by using standard company templates/formatting as well as making sure they are sent timely and delivering professionalism to both em ployees and company. Courage to Challenge: I have good relationships with senior management and ensure I check my facts so I can challenge things appropriately. 2.1 ââ¬â 2.3 My role is key for the business I need to be accurate about company policies and systems; I must get it right first time. This has been a huge part of my role recently due to quick expansion which also included a new office. Before this expansion I was the sole administration from day to day operation to HR queries. My aims are the focus of improving our company HR and gaining the tools to make this happen. The expansion included TUPE-ing 10 site workers, I emphasise with their grievances and aim to handle these complaints in constructive ways, It is a good forum to gather ideas which might help improve our procedures. Employees: I deal with various needs, from the early recruitment process, current staff to staff leaving. The main are Payroll related. The focus of my job is ensuring the Payroll is correct, we run 3 separate Payrolls all have complexities like expenses, overtime. By communicating and reminding colleagues when Payroll is running keeps any conflicting needs to a minimu m for other work demands. My main method of communication with the employees is telephone. For issues that need documentation such as salary increases, missed overtime are put in writing and I am strict in not running updates without documentation. I scan anything like this to relevant records. The advantage to phone calls can be normally the employee is away from the team mates and the office is clearer delivery about any issues. The disadvantage to phone calls is you canââ¬â¢t always get the best feeling for a sensitive situation without reading the body language. Candidates: Recruitment is usually relatively steady; however the last 7 months recruitment was/is busy. The workforce has doubled. The main method of communication within recruitment is phone calls and SMS messages, due to the industry we operate applicants wonââ¬â¢t tend to be around email. My phone number is the source for all recruitment enquiries. I need to be sensible with my time as phone calls can take a lot of time outà the day if not planned properly. For example should I be setting up an interview I use a pre written SMS/text messaged so I add candidate information and send. This reduces long phone calls and candidates respond well to a message with all the information they need. To internal staff I run a HR calendar on outlook add any appointments send interviews to all relevant team leaders/office managers with reminders. It allows me to inform multiple people quickly making better use of my time. All team leaders/supervisors operate Smart Phones allowing this to be a tool that I can use well do to this. As my role involves many areas I budget my time accordingly to be as cost effective as possible. This is something I have learnt to be aware of while working for a small company. I also take advantage of any cost effective resources such as the Job Centre w ebsite. The advantages to phone calls are you get a better understanding of the person and can getter a better understanding of their job background to ensure they correct interviewer performs the interview. The disadvantage to phone calls can be during recruitment periods my day can be very disruptive to me so I try and pre plan for these occasions. Directors: There are two directors with the company, one is operational and the other is more financial/back office. Both of them have equally important demanding tasks which I have to balance my time around. I keep both directors informed with tasks I am dealing with mainly by email. I have weekly meetings with a director, this is the place I address more complex HR issues. For a disciplinary issue I can get the best understanding of the facts as it will be a face to face conversation The advantage to meetings is they are open conversations so I can prepare all HR documentation accordingly and with all the facts. I can take documents I have prepared to these meetings, in order to check the director is happy and that any legal requirements are covered. I learn how the documents requirements are discussing these face to face. The disadvantage can me sometimes you canââ¬â¢t address important issues untill it is time for a weekly meeting.
Philosophy Of Education In Early Childhood Education Essay
My ââ¬Å"Philosophy of Educationâ⬠in Early Childhood Education Pre-primary institutions mark the beginning of schooling for early childhood on their critical stage of growth. Teachers of kindergarten are going on a mission to promote the whole-person development of the early childhood. During the teaching process, both experiences and theory are embraced in order to provide early childhood a good quality of education. ââ¬Å"Cerebration is the foundation of action and theory is the controller of practice. Educator wants to achieve the improvements on education need to sure that the improvement can endure the time and trials. It needs to assist with philosophy of educationâ⬠(Lin, 2011, P. 3). Teachers should have their own philosophy of education in order to achieve a good performance on education. For me, Topic: Write an essay to express your own ââ¬Å"Philosophy of Educationâ⬠in Early Childhood Education ââ¬Å"encourageâ⬠, ââ¬Å"children-centered curriculumâ⬠and ââ¬Å"promote critical-thinkingâ⬠are the three main philosophies. For ââ¬Å"encourageâ⬠, it implies two indications. They are providing an encouraging environments and giving children encouragements. The definition of the former one is to ask teacher to decorate a pleasurable and welcoming environment previously. For example, to decorate the classroom with colorful flowers like a garden. It can make children relieve without any fear. My idea is supported by Reggio Emiliaââ¬â¢s approach. He recognized environment is a teacher. In addition, teacher should reset the environment while celebrating festival or teaching new unit in order to allow children to learn under a harmonious environment and boost the learning efficiency. Alternatively, if the classroom is lacking of entertaining decoration, it will give children the feeling of solemn and create stress which make them can not behave well. The definition of the later one is to give children encouragements by appreciating what they have done. When children finish the task or answer question, say ââ¬Å"goodâ⬠, ââ¬Å"well-doneâ⬠to them. Even they get the wrong the answers, teacher can still give them a smile and ask them to try again. Children may feel confident after getting the encouragements from teacher. As children want to get teacherââ¬â¢s praise, they may present on their best way and will be more participative. As a result,children can learn peacefully during school days. Besides ââ¬Ëencourageââ¬â¢, I promote curriculum to be children-centered. That is to teach what children prefer. ââ¬Å"Childrenââ¬â¢s aspirations are their free will. That is inborn, but unluckily being destroyedâ⬠(Montessori, 1972, P. 56). This philosophy is affected by Reggio Emilia as well. He promoted child-centered which was to plane according to childrenââ¬â¢s interest. Children in early childhood are full of curiosity. As a teacher, we should satisfy their learning desires and plan curriculum based on their interests. Teacher may ask children what they want to know during circle time, or though daily contact and observation. By planning corresponding curriculum of what childrenà desired, it can prove that children will be interested on it. On the other hand, children may feel that their views are being understood and accepted. A better relationship will be built between children and teacher. Furthermore, I would also like to promote critical thinking in my philosophy. By implementing the 334 new academic structure on 2009, liberal study became an obligatory subject. It implies that Hong Kong highlights critical thinking on our next generation nowadays. There are no doubts that skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking are in the key learning area. However, it is reminded that critical thinking should not be absent in early childhood. ââ¬Å"Children are initiative inborn, to develop childrenââ¬â¢s initiative is an important mission for teacherâ⬠(Lin, 2011, P. 165). For children in early childhood, teacher may arrange experiment for children to do and guide them to record down the result. Besides, small project can be hold frequently in order to give chances for children to learn from themselves. It is vital that teacher guide children to respond on certain unit but not by teaching though spoon-fed education blindly. ââ¬Å"The major premise of the educational innovation is student, based on assisting everyone to achieve whole-person development though lifelong learningâ⬠(Kennedy, 2011, P. 53). The cultivation of critical thinking can help children on problem solving and learn more efficiently in their study. As result, achieve and support the goal of lifelong learning. I ASSENT MONTESSORI AND MY PHILOSOPHY ARE GREATLY A? ECTED BY IT. IT highlights the importance of providing environments and giving freedom to children. Well-prepared learning materials can attract children to learn, environment is the firstà element to be drive learning. Moreover, I insist that freedom should be given to student for what they want to learn. Creativity and problem solving talent can cultivate in the meanwhile for children. Besides the above discussed philosophy, here are other thoughts about my opinion on ââ¬Ëphilosophy of educationââ¬â¢. One of my secondary school teachers said that education isdistinct with other career as teachers are constructing ââ¬Å"heart to heartâ⬠relationship with students. That is so true since teacher need to work with their sincere mind. For me, I do think that passion is one of the main elements of being a teacher. Without the passion, teacher may feel dull and fatigue of the job easily. Yet, a teacher work with enthusiasm may review and alter the measurement all the time depending on the needs of children. Teacher is having a role of educating and socializing children, what teacher did will have positive effect on childrenââ¬â¢s personal growth. To sum up, ââ¬Å"encourageâ⬠, ââ¬Å"children-centered curriculumâ⬠and ââ¬Å"promote critical- thinkingâ⬠are the elements for teaching in the early childhood education. Since children may cause psychological and emotion frustration on adapting a newà ecological environment from homes. So, teacher should provide encouraging environments and give children encouragements. Curriculum should be plan accord to the interests, developmental characteristics and learning needs of children but not the teacher. Also, critical thinking is necessary to be trained in childrenââ¬â¢s early age. References Lin, Y. T. (2011). Philosophy of Early Childhood Education TW: WU-NAN. Montessori, Maria. (1972). The Secret of Childhood NY: Ballantine Books. Kennedy K. J. (2011) Interpret the new trend of HKââ¬â¢s education HK: The Chinese University Press.
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