Socially Responsible Procurement Programme Essay

Socially Responsible Procurement Programme - Essay Example The companies in order to be successful need to cope up with the situation maintaining profitable performance and showing ethical conduct towards investors, business partners, vendors, employees, governments and communities, and the most important customers. The companies are routinely being rewarded and punished on the basis of their performance of balanced act. Thus procurement plays a major role in the outcome. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) can be split into four distinct classifications based on a theorist's approach and view of society. The role of business in society and its related theories fall into the following foundational areas: instrumental, political, integrative or ethical (Garriga & Mele, 2004). From the instumental perspective, participation in CSR activities is endorsed only if it is in concert with wealth generation, and therefore CSR is seen as an instrument in which greater profits can be achieved, a means to an end. In political setting, business is considered as a "citizen" or part of society as a whole with responsibilities assigned thereto (Davis, 1973). The resultant power of a corporation from its operation must be used for the benefit of society and, just as importantly, harnessed as not to have negative influence on the marketplace. Further, as a member of society, a business has a responsibility to use its power effectively. Integrative approach to CSR in dicates that business and society are interdependent, where one party cannot exist without the other; and, as such, each relies on the other for validity, status and survival. According to ethical perspective, businesses through their activities must treat the individuals that compose that society fairly, must contribute to the sustainable development of the environment in which they function and forever keep in mind the "common good" in business planning. If a business can be seen as a group of individuals seeking fulfillment in society to meet its personal goals, then there is a strong relationship between the corporate sector and the "common good." For business, the "common good" would be defined as the strategic actions taken by the corporation that would help the members of that entity realize their individual goals. When action such as this is taken, the collective personal interests of the employees, when combined with the shareholders of the corporation, meld; and company su ccess is virtually guaranteed. As Carter & Jennings (2000) postulate that procurement social responsibility (PSR) consists of a wide array of

The Theology of the Emerging Church Research Paper

The Theology of the Emerging Church - Research Paper Example Its members do not adhere to the traditional modernist dualisms of spirit and matter, mind and body, sacred or secular, but they want to go a different part in the midst of postmodernism.2 Thesis Statement: This paper aims to study the place of Christology in the theology of the Emerging Church. The need for the study The primary aim and mission of Emerging Church is to bring Christians from different denominations by making significant changes on how the church should be run and organized. This study will have ecumenical importance because it has implications on bringing the different churches together. The church is still diverse and fragmented movement; leaders just want to call it a conversation. They want to be heard and many of the different churches have been spreading their thoughts and beliefs through the different media including the Internet. Main Body The Emerging Church has been understood as a conversation on how to interpret the gospel in the midst of postmodern cultur e, and a call to action in this setting. It has been regarded by proponents that the Emerging Church has made important contributions to the church’s ecclesiology.3 The church has undergone a paradigm shift due to culture change. Discussions on postmodernity and postmodern have been taking place in various denominations. The terms postmodernity, postmodernism, and postmodern cultures have been freely interchanged but are not, in reality, synonymous. Nathan C. P. Frambach prefers to use the term â€Å"post-whateverism†, whose language refers to a ‘concept of flux’4. The world passes through various phenomena and transitions, for instance, the industrial age which refers to the past, the information age which is the present, and the biotechnology age which is the future. There are three core characteristics that identify the Emerging Church, and these are: ‘identifying with the life of Jesus, transforming secular space, and commitment to community as a way of life’.5 These practices lead to the other six practices which are: ‘welcoming the stranger, serving with generosity, participating as producers, creating as created beings, leading as a body, and taking part in spiritual activities’.6 The Nine Patterns Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger discussed the nine patterns in imitating the ways of Jesus, leading to a new conversation and a new life with the Lord, apart from the practices of the traditional church. Identifying with the life of Jesus The example of Jesus, when he lived with his disciples on earth, is characteristic of the emerging churches. But they also hold Christ as unique. Jesus’ teaching is linked to the gospel he proclaimed. He asked his disciples to repent and be baptised because â€Å"The kingdom of God is at hand.† This is the kingdom promised by the Hebrew prophets and to be established with the coming of Jesus. D. A. Carson says that emergents are following the uniqueness of Christ and that this uniqueness allows them to have a new thinking and a new way of questioning their

Adam And Eve The Duality Of Humanity Religion Essay

Adam And Eve The Duality Of Humanity Religion Essay Paradise Losts Adam is a rational, clever and trustworthy character who has an amazing rapport with the highest power, God. It can even be argued that before he fell, his was the epitome of humanity, as perfect a human as ever existed. He shares this trait with Eve who is the most perfect and complete woman. This view has been reciprocated by many religious denominations but each has interpreted it in their own unique ways; from Calvinists to puritans to Milton each has interpreted the story of Genesis in their own unique way. Like Adam who was perfect, to the belief that eve was flawed, each has built their own mythos around the story of the genesis of mankind. The Adam represented in Miltons Paradise Lost is an exceedingly rational being, and can understand greatly sophisticated and complex ideas nearly instantaneously. However this perfection hides several deep and critical flaws present within his character. His character and insight is demonstrated when after observing Raphaels descent into Eden, Adam orders eve to, go with speed, / And what thy stores contain, bring forth and pour / Abundance, fit to honor and receive / Our Heavnly stranger (V, 313-316). To which Eve answers, Adam, earths hallowed mould, / Of God inspird, small store will serve, where store, / All seasons, ripe for use hangs on the stalk (V, 321-323). These word which at first seem stiff and of an overly formal method, nonetheless helps reveal the relationship of Adam and Eve. Adam is in charge, but his request for Eve to prepare a meal is not in any way dismissive. She understands that and her response, is in accord with that message. This transitory conversation is n ot that of a master and servant but of two people who hold themselves in equal regard. His relationship with Eve is not the only conversation between equals, as he also talks with Raphael as an equal. He converses with the archangel Raphael as an equal both, socially in his standing, and intellectually in his ability to clearly understand the meanings behind the Raphaels words. However this ends after Adams fall from the grace of god. After his fall Adam loses his pure intellect and his rationality leading him to brash and increasingly non-rational actions, stripping him of his ability to converse with the angels as an equal. Adams greatest flaw is his unequivocal love for his wife Eve. He falls I love merely upon seeing her for the first, and even confesses to the archangel Raphael that his attraction is nigh overwhelming. Though warned by Raphael to keep his dangerous emotions in check he completely disregards Raphaels earnest urgings. After Eve eats from the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil, quickly devours a fruit from the same tree in order to prevent him from being separated from her even momentarily. Eve has become an indispensable companion in his life and he will do anything in order to prevent himself from being separated from his only love. His other major weakness is his insatiable curiosity. He manipulates the angel Raphael to extract more information from him, To whom the Patriarch of mankind replid, /O favourable spirit, propitious guest, /Well hast thou taught the way that might direct /Our knowledge, and the scale of Nature set /From center to circumference, whereon/ In contemplation of created things /By steps we may ascend to God. But say, /What meant that caution joind, if ye be found Obedient? Can we want obedience then to him, or possibly his love desert that formd us from the dust, and placd us here full to the utmost measure of what bliss Human desires can seek or apprehend?(Book V 506-518) This suggests a growing attraction to temptation, but like his relationship with Eve this temptation is easily ignored. It is only through Eve that his temptations become truly unavoidable. Created to be Adams mate, Eve can be considered inferior to Adam, but only by a very slight margin. She surpasses Adam only in her beauty. Like the mortal narcissus, she falls in love with her own reflection stilled and entranced by her own beauty. In an ironical sense her beauty her greatest strength is also her greatest flaw. She is easily manipulated by Satan when she is complimented on both her beauty and goodness. But even so it is not her beauty that is tested but her intelligence and spiritual purity. Though she is by no means unintelligent she lacks the ambition and drive to learn more, content to leave all her decisions to Adam as was ordained by God. As a result, she does not advance in either intelligence or in knowledge but remains mostly static, although by the end of the poem she begins to show the seeds of wisdom. Her lack of learning is mostly due to her absence from Raphaels conversations with Adam in Books V, VI, and VII, and her not experiencing Raphaels visions in Books XI and XII. She feels that it is not her place to be present in this discussions but is content to learn from Adam as a third-party. However, Milton is quick to defend her choice as, Yet went she not, as not with such discourse / Delighted, or not capable of her ear / Of what was high: such pleasures she reservd, / Adam relating, she sole Auditress (VIII, 48-51). The only time that she deviates from her mainly passive role, it results in the punishing fall of man. Even so eve does occasionally question Adams choices and ideas. In Book IX, her questioning does lead to temptation, Eve states at the start of Book IX that they can do more work if they work separately. Adam feeling that as Eve was tricked once before Satan when she was alone, resists this idea and refuses to be separated from Eve once more lest she fall once more into temptation. However due to the love he feels for Eve he allows himself to be separated in order to please Eve. This is possibly due only to his love and is not an exercise of his reasonable capabilities. On the other hand, Eve won her argument by cleverly utilizing her few advantages over Adam. Though through her actions she sets herself up to fail by that only together can they resist temptation. However, her character is quite different from the views held by other religious denomination. This fits with the Genesis description that her one major flaw is her curiosity and vanity. She suffers from a need to know that is her one major flaw even in Genesis she cares for him being as she is made to make him happy. Adam is also slightly different in that he is not as confident in himself. However, even more importantly, is the distinct lack of available text to be able extrapolated to provide an adequate portrait of both Adam and Eves general personality. This has not stopped numerous Christian denominations from interpreting her in various fashions. Calvinists believed that Adam was created in such a way he had to sin, predestination. Original sin, therefore, seems to be a hereditary depravity and corruption of our nature, diffused into all parts of the soul, which first makes us liable to Gods wrath, then also brings forth in us those works which Scripture calls works of the flesh (Gal 5:19). And that is properly what Paul often calls sin. The works that come forth from itsuch as adulteries, fornications, thefts, hatreds, murders, carousingshe accordingly calls fruits of sin (Gal 5:19-21), although they are also commonly called sins in Scripture, and even by Paul himself.(Calvin,24) This fits with the general view that it is Adams inherent depravity that prevents him from being able to resist Eve. He accepts the temptation because he too wants the forbidden and to disobey. (Calvin Chap 11, 30It also fits extremely well with their general view of God as a tyrant. This view was unconsciously shared by many members of the Reformation. This belief was predestination or the belief that whether a person will go to heaven or hell is decided before a person is even born. If this fact is taken in consideration with the saga of Adam and Eve it creates the image of a sadistic god who created Adam and Eve only to cause them to fall. In this way it is a reflection of the general attitude held by many Reformationists is that humanity is in general doomed, a nihilist philosophy which either caused a person to believe they were exceedingly blessed or to despair in their spiritual state. Moreover, we say that our pollution is so great, that it can never be washed away save in the fountain of his pure blood. Must not those who are thus addressed conceive a greater horror of sin than if it were said to be wiped off by a sprinkling of good works? If they have any reverence for God, how can they, after being once purified, avoid shuddering at the thought of again wallowing in the mire, and as much as in them lies troubling and polluting the purity of this fountain? I have washed my feet, (says the believing soul in the Song of Solomon, 5:3), how shall I defile them? It is now plain which of the two makes the forgiveness of sins of less value, and derogates from the dignity of justification. They pretend that God is appeased by their frivolous satisfactions; in other words, by mere dross. We maintain that the guilt of sin is too heinous to be so frivolously expiated; that the offense is too grave to be forgiven to such valueless satisfactions; and, therefore, that forgive ness is the prerogative of Christs blood alone. (Calvin, Chap.16, 4) This is important in that Milton represents God as an emotionally distant controlling god. He is not available to be loved, but only held in awe. We can never merit this love only accept the free gift. Milton does not make God approachable as are his Adam and Eve. Therefore, Miltons Adam and Eve are not the Calvinistic fallen and depraved, but men, like ourselves who chose error through faults, but are still with much merit. Throughout time the saga of Adam and Eve has been analyzed and rewoven a multitude of times over the ages Miltons incarnation has earned its pedestal as the supreme mythos of the genesis of mankind, while others have interpreted Adam and eve as chosen of God, the fallen, or as victims of a malevolent god. There is only one thing certain that not much is known of Adam and Eve but much still can be learned from Miltons the relationship between man and woman and the future we can claim.

Religious and Spiritual Practices of Enslaved African Americans Essay

The Community of Enslaved Africans and their Religious & Spiritual Practices. During a most dark and dismal time in our nations history, we find that the Africans who endured horrible circumstances during slavery, found ways of peace and hope in their religious beliefs. During slavery, Africans where able to survive unbearable conditions by focusing on their spirituality. Christianity was amongst the slave community. Being that the vast majority of the slave community was born in America, converting slaves to Christianity was not a struggle. All slaves were not Christian, and slaves that had accepted Christianity were not official members of the church. Over time Slaves made Christianity their own. There would be occurrences where church gatherings would hold both white and black members. Slave religion was both institutional and non institutional. The slave gatherings would be both formally organized and spontaneously adapted. These gatherings would usually take place at night in the woods. Slaves enjoyed their own meetings better because they could sing and pray as they wanted. In some cases slave masters would not allow attendance of church gatherings and prayer meetings, some slaves would risk flogging to attend these meetings. Christianity was transformed into by the slave community to its own particular experience. Teachings by white masters w ere usually geared towards reminding slaves that on good behavior to their white masters, they would be accepted into heaven and even then , they would be limited to a lesser heaven than there owners. Jesus was not talked about, teachings consisted only of the laws to not lie or steal from their masters. Slaves would soon start to hold their own gatherings to just sing and pray a... .... So ultimately, owners failed at this. Moreover, many owners later came to feel that Christianity may actually have encouraged rebellion (all those stories of Moses and the Israelites in Egypt, after all, talked about the liberation of the slaves), and so they began to discourage Christian missionaries from preaching to the slaves. African Americans have taken their own spiritual, religious journey. God was looked upon as a source of peace and encouragement. The community of enslave Africans were able to use religion and spirituality as a way of overcoming the mental anguish of slavery on a daily basis. To a slave, religion was the most important aspect of their life. Nothing could come between their relationship with god. It was their rock, the only reason why they could wake up in the morning, the only way that they endured this most turbulent time in our history.

Phonics Primer for Year Five Remedial Class in Primary School Essay

1.1 Description of the Area of Research Title of the Study: Phonics Primer for Year Five Remedial Class in Primary School. Phonics is letter-sound correspondences. The units of sound can be syllables, onsets & rimes, or phonemes (EdResearch.info). Phonics Primer is a way of learning the sounds of the alphabet in order to decode the English language. It is recognized by a quick pace of teaching letter and the sound or grapheme and phoneme matches and immediately getting students to use this knowledge to read and spell regular words. Words are read by using the phonological skill of blending the sounds together – synthesis (hence the term â€Å"synthetic phonics†). Words are spelled by using the phonological skill of hearing the sounds in words (segmentation) by means of which words are segmented into their constituent phonemes (Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia) Research Questions 1. What is the strategy in teaching synthetic phonics? 2. Can the method be successfully taught in shorter periods? 3. Can the 44 sounds of Phonics Primer help in teaching non-English speakers who have other sounds that is found in English? 4. Can Phonics Primer be used to teach cohorts in higher levels with reading difficulties? Research Variables The instruments that I will use in my research will be: 1. Questionnaires 2. Interviews 3. Classroom Observation Checklist 4. Tests 5. Document Reviews Gay and Airasian (20030 defined population as â€Å"The population is the group of interest to the researcher, the group to which the results of the study will ideally generalized†. The respondents of the research will be for remedial students from the outskirt of Sarikei in Sarawak. The majority of the students will be of the Iban race. The research will be conducted on two groups of selected students. One group will be used for study, called the experimental group. Another group would be the controlled group and they will be taught with the conventional teaching procedure during English lessons. Both groups will be cohorts who will need assistant in reading. About six students will be involved in this study. They will be remedial students from the cohort of year five students who are in the remedial class. The respected students and school will be chosen simply to fulfill the requirements of the research that will use the Primers phonics approach to teach reading for remedia l students. 1.2 Theoretical Framework Often we find that in schools, there are always students who are very poor in reading English. It is even worst when the students cannot read in a language that is very similar to theirs. This means that the students are having problems in basic reading. We can say that these students are too slow in picking up during their reading lessons in English. In classes where we have been teaching, oftentimes we see that students cannot recognize words and even there are some who cannot read. The students in rural Sarikei, in Sarawak, specifically are mostly Ibans. They are non-English speakers. They only encounter the language when they come to school. English therefore is very unfamiliar to them. Many English sounds don’t even exist in their mother tongue. Synthetic phonics has all the 44 sounds of the English Language. It is a very systematic way to teach basic reading in English. By using the method of teaching, students can read faster and easier. The method of teaching and the instruments used in teaching it can enable the remedial students of the primary schools to remember the sounds made by the letters and enable them to read. Research instrument are devices to measure the objects of the study. Instruments come in multiple forms. For this research, the researcher will be using multiple forms like questionnaires, observation forms, interview forms and tests to get information. The questionnaires and interviews will be used to get information about experiences, suggestions and ideas related to the study. The observation forms will be used to make observations during the study. From observation forms, the researcher will be able to see weaknesses and strengths during the teaching of Phonics Primer and also the current teaching method used by the school to make comparisons. The tests which will be given before and after teaching Phonics Primer will help the researcher to find out if the case study that they are doing is suitable and good for teaching remedial students. Questionnaires Questionnaires are familiar to most people (Berdie, Anderson, and Niebuhr, 1986).It is a written or printed form used in gathering information on some subject or subjects, consisting of a set of questions to be submitted to one or more persons (Your Dictionary.Com) It is a communication method of designing questionnaires to collect the requisite information. It is a list of questions framed to get facts. A questionnaire is defined as a group of printed questions used to elicit information from subjects by means of self report. Questionnaires will be distributed to both experimental and controlled group. Teacher Questionnaires. A teacher questionnaire is designed to gather information administered to English teachers in school. The questionnaire will be done two times, that is before the start of the Phonics Programme. A second questionnaire will follow at the end of the programme. This is to find out the status of remedial reading before and after the programme. If there are any differences before and after the programme, it will be noted down for analysis in the research later. Students’ Questionnaires Students’ questionnaire will also be done. It will be done with students who are involved with the study. They are the experimental group of students and also the controlled group of students for comparison later. Questionnaires can help the researcher discover the experiences, knowledge and backgrounds of the students and the school which is related to the case study that is going to be done. These information will help the researcher to know more and understand more about the stand of the students involved in the study. The questionnaire is also important in helping the researcher to make conclusion and give suggestions for future study of similar case. Interview The interview is a dialogue between the teachers with the researcher. The most commonly accepted objective of the interview is to determine whether there is a match between the candidates’ education, experience, interest and goals and the goals of the researcher related to the study for which the researcher is interviewing. In this study, the researcher conducts the interview with the remedial students’ teacher. This interview is designed to elicit data using a set of predetermined questions that are expected to elicit the subjects thoughts, opinions and attitudes regarding the teaching of reading to remedial students. Group Interviews with Teachers. To identify the major issues surrounding the planning and implementation of reading instruction in schools of a rural school, group interviews will be conducted with English remedial teachers. An interview will be used to facilitate discussion. Responses to the uniform standard questions will contribute to the final analysis of the study findings. Individual Interviews with Teachers. To investigate all of the major research questions. presented earlier, interviews will be conducted with English remedial teachers in the selected schools. An interview will be used to facilitate information gathering. Responses to the questions will contribute to the final analysis of the study findings. Observation Instruments Observation is a technique of gathering data through direct contact with the subjects. In this study, the researcher will observe two classes. The researcher will observe ongoing class using Primer Phonics and the normal teaching of remedial students in the school. Observation instrument is necessary to detect any strength and weaknesses for both types of methodology in teaching remedial students. The detections will be noted down in the researcher’s note book for making analysis, conclusion and suggestions for future researches. Classroom Observation Classroom observation will be done to make sure that Primer Phonics is taught accordingly. A checklist will be used. Classroom observations will also be done for the normal teaching of remedial students in the same school. The need for making observation for the normal method of teaching is to enable comparison among the two types of methodology later. Additional data collection and review will occur during the observations. Researchers summarized notes after each observation. Test The researcher will conduct two types of tests, the Pre test and the Post test, for two groups of students from the remedial class only. The students will be divided into the experimental and controlled group. A Pre test will be used to see the students’ ability to read before teaching using the Primers Phonic Method. The Post test will be used to see the achievements made after teaching using the Primers’ Phonic Method. Both the experimental and the controlled groups will take the tests so the researcher can compare if there will be any differences in the achievements after teaching using the Primers’ Phonic Method for the experimental group. The Controlled group will be taught by their own remedial teachers using the usual syllabus in the school. In the tests, subjects are to read a short text of about 150 words. These tests aims to see how good the students can or cannot read before and after teaching using the Primers’ Phonic Method. To assess the students reading, 5 criteria will be ticked accordingly. Students who gets two out of five ‘Yes’ are considered to have pass the Pre Test or the Post test Document Review Document review will inform the research process to varying degrees. Among the documents analyzed were student work samples, report cards, forms, letters to parents, lesson plans, lists of reading books, and other relevant documents pertinent to current reading instruction. The Theoretical Framework Diagram 1: The Diagram depicts the theoretical framework. 1.3 Review of Related Literature The literature reviews forwarded here will help us to understand more about the case study that will be done. A literature review is a body of text that aims to review the critical points of current knowledge and or methodological approaches on a particular topic. Literature reviews are secondary sources, and as such, do not report any new or original experimental work. Most often associated with academic-oriented literature, such as theses, a literature review usually precedes a research proposal and results section. Its ultimate goal is to bring the reader up to date with current literature on a topic and forms the basis for another goal, such as future research that may be needed in the area. A well-structured literature review is characterized by a logical flow of ideas; current and relevant references with consistent, appropriate referencing style, proper use of terminology and an unbiased and comprehensive view of the previous research on the topic I would like to make a review of related literature which is in my area of research, Instruction, Development, and Achievement of Struggling Primary Grade Readers by Elizabeth Campbell Rightmyer, Ellen McIntyre, and Joseph M Petrosko. Reading Research and Instruction. Coral Gables: Spring 2006. Their study examined the phonics and reading achievement of 117 primary grade students in 14 schools and 42 classrooms. Students received instruction in one of six different reading programs or models based upon the school they attended. Through qualitative data collection and analysis of specific instructional practices, they determined that no model or program proved more effective for the learning of phonics in the first grade after one year of instruction. Purpose The purpose of their study was to examine the phonics and reading achievement of primary grade students receiving instruction in six different instructional programs or models (referred to as â€Å"models† in reference to their study). Then, through a qualitative analysis of the specific instructional practices within these models and their understanding of young children’s literacy development, they explain the relative differences in achievement gains of these primary grade struggling readers. Method They examined the instructional practices and achievement of low performing students in first through third grade classrooms in which teachers used one of the following reading models: Breakthrough to Literacy (www.btl.com); Early Success (Cooper, et al., 1997); Early Intervention (Taylor, Medo, & Strait, 1995); Four Blocks (Cunningham, Hall, & DeFee, 1991); SRA Reading Mastery (Engelmann & Bruner, 1997); or Together We Can, a locally developed model based on small group guided reading and explicit teaching of reading strategies and skills. Participants The study included 117 â€Å"struggling† primary-grade readers in 14 schools and 42 classrooms. Schools that had recently received a state grant to implement one of the reading models were invited to participate. They then contacted the principals, asking them to recommend teachers who were particularly successful at implementing the instructional model for at least one year; they believed that principals would avoid selecting teachers who were struggling with the model, classroom management, student diversity, or any of the myriad complexities that teachers face daily. Independently, they checked the teachers’ credentials by using a state-developed data base and found that the majority of them held advanced rank in the profession; 73% had earned at least 30 credit hours beyond the bachelor’s degree. They also found that 84% of the teachers had taught in their current state of employment for more than five years. The principals distributed consent forms to interested teachers, and when they were returned, the researchers explained to each teacher that the children they wanted to study were those struggling with reading or learning to read. They had no control of the models that were proposed or the schools that were selected to receive the grants. Like many states under accountability mandates, their state is becoming heavily invested in direct instruction models of reading and mathematics, and this predilection was seen in the numbers of students who received scripted early intervention in reading. They asked that by October 1 of the first year of the study, the teachers identify the lowest achieving 20% in their classes. Again, they did not control for socioeconomic status, gender, or ethnicity of the identified children or in any way second-guess the teachers’ selection. Consenting students became the targeted group of children the researchers tested on the phonics application and reading tasks. There were two to five children in each of the classrooms, although due to attrition and a few flawed tests, this number was reduced in some classrooms. Researchers studied one group of children from the beginning of first grade through the end of second grade, documenting growth in phonics for one year. These children are hereafter referred to as â€Å"first graders,† even though they followed them through the end of second grade. The children in this group were all served by a single reading model – one of the five models that appear in Appendix A – across two years; however, most of the children had different teachers implementing the model the second year (in second grade). The study followed a second group from the beginning of second grade through the end of third grade, also documenting growth after two years. These children are hereafter referred to as â€Å"second graders,† even though they followed them through the end of third grade. Like the first graders, the children in this group were served by the same reading model across two years; however, most of the children had different teachers implementing the model the second year (in third grade). Table 1 lists the participants by model. Procedures for Data Collection and Analysis of Student Achievement Instruments The researcher pre- and post-tested first grade children on clay’s Hearing Sounds in Words Test (1993), a phonics application task that included encoding a sentence. This measure was conducted only with first graders, as this was the norming sample. It will hereafter be referred to as the â€Å"phonics measure† or â€Å"phonics achievement.† On the clay test, the examiner reads two sentences to the child, â€Å"The bus is coming fast. It will stop here to let me get on.† Then the sentences are read again, word by word, and children encode the sentence as the researcher dictates. The children are encouraged to do the best they can with the spelling and â€Å"use the sounds of words to write as much as you can.† The children score a point for each letter or group of letters they write that correctly correspond to the sounds in the words. Children can score from O to 37 on this test. The researchers selected this test because they believed it to be a more authentic assessment of phonics understanding and use than phonological tests on which children call out letter sounds they see or sound out semantically disconnected word lists. Data collection Researchers were trained using each of the testing instruments given. The training involved an explanation and demonstration of the testing procedures and observation of videotapes of the project director testing various children. The researchers scored those children, discussed results, and adjusted their expectations through more explanation and demonstration by the director. Children were pre-tested during the months of September and post-tested during the month of May during each of the two years of the study. Children were tested in one-on-one situations in quiet places, arranged by the classroom teacher or grant administrator for periods of no more than 30 minutes at a time. While the pre-testing took approximately 30 minutes per child, the post-testing took 60-90 minutes per child for most children, thus each child was met two or three times. The researchers attempted to make the children comfortable and rewarded them afterwards with stickers. All reading passages were tape-recorded. Quantitative analysis of achievement data For ease in comparing achievement, the researchers used the benchmarks provided by each of the tests. Clay’s Hearing Sounds in Words phonics test has a range of 1-37, with intervals of 1. Two trained researchers individually scored every Clay test, and these scores were compared against one another for accuracy. Where there was discrepancy in scoring, a third researcher also reviewed the data, and the group negotiated the final score. Scores were entered into a data base, and two team members reviewed each of them for accuracy in data entry. In this study, test score data were statistically analyzed in two ways. First, pretest scores were subtracted from posttest scores. The resulting gain scores were used as dependent variables in a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), with the reading models as the independent variables. Test 1 was a comparison of phonics achievement of students in the different reading models (one-year gain). For each test, students’ achievement in only five models was compared. Importantly, due to the unequal number of students in each of the comparison groups, and the small numbers of participants in some of the models, the interpretations about the findings of these tests are made with caution and based on trends in the data. Data Collection and Analysis of Instructional Practices The researchers collected data on the instructional models in three ways: a) by observing the teachers and taking field notes, b) by interviewing the teachers about their practices, and c) by completing an observation instrument after leaving the site (which required reflection and quantification of what was observed). For this analysis, they specifically gathered data on: 1) the focus of instruction, 2) the primary literacy activities conducted, and 3) the length of time children spent reading connected text. Other salient characteristics of the models, such as whether the model was considered an intervention for struggling readers or a whole class model, are also described. Observations and interviews Schools were contacted and arrangements were made to observe the teachers who had been previously identified as fully implementing the instructional model adopted through the state program. The researchers visited each teacher four times and observed between 90-180 minutes during each visit, depending on how long â€Å"literacy instruction† was conducted in that classroom. Researchers sat in the room and recorded what the teacher said and did in the form of field notes. One important feature in our field notes was the regular marking of time. In an effort to understand how teachers distributed their instructional time for various activities, they recorded the time in the margins of their field notes approximately every five minutes. After each visit, the researchers interviewed the classroom teacher the same day the observations were made. Among the questions they asked were about how typical the observed instruction was and how the children were selected for testing to ensure that they indeed were studying the bottom 20%. Observation instrument After exiting the field site, the researcher used the field notes and interview to complete an observation instrument that summarized and quantified instructional patterns. A small section of instrument was used to help determine the teacher’s focus of instruction. The instrument, the field notes, and the interview made a â€Å"data set† for analysis. Analysis of instruction In the first phase of analysis, researchers gathered to examine the data sets. Using a form created by the project director, the researchers summarized what happened during each of the visits. From these summaries of the field notes and interviews, the project director created a set of codes that reflected much of the data, a content analysis of sorts (Miles & Huberman, 1994). Then, the research team partitioned the field notes into â€Å"activity settings† (Tharp & Gallimore, 1988) in order to create smaller, bounded units of analysis. This meant that whenever there was a change in activity (the people, place, or product of instruction), the ensuing activity was considered a unit of analysis and coded separately. The Researcher did not consider as â€Å"change in setting† instances in which children had to leave a group early or if a lesson was interrupted. Thus, the lessons were coded holistically by setting. Settings lasted from five to 45 minutes. For example, one setting for analysis might be a 10-minute whole class lesson on which the teacher guided the children to â€Å"correct† a message she had written without punctuation. When the same teacher signaled to the children it was time to work in learning centers, a new unit of analysis was begun. Sometimes there were multiple simultaneous activity settings, and the researcher usually made the decision to follow the teacher. For each activity setting, they coded the teacher’s primary activity, followed by what researchers interpreted, from both observations and interviews, was the teacher’s focus for the activity-either to help students develop phonologically (ACTIV-phon), or to help students learn something else (ACTIV-other). The primary instructional activities observed in each class were listed on the summary sheet. Finally, to determine the time children spent reading connected text, they used an earlier analysis of these data (Authors, 2005). They first defined connected text as â€Å"texts of meaningful sentences or longer; that is, more than one connected sentence;† although, in this study, connected text was usually an entire story. Then, they clarified activities that comprised examples of opportunities to read connected text. The following practices were categorized as such: choral reading; echo reading (even though technically the teacher was doing half of the reading); guided silent reading; guided oral reading; and established periods for independent reading. Activities not included as â€Å"opportunities for reading connected text† included read aloud story time, times when the teacher was directly teaching something, times when students completed worksheets that included only words or unrelated sentences, drill of individual words, or time on non-print responses to literature. Then, the researchers highlighted in field notes when students were provided opportunities to read connected text. They calculated the percentage of time in such activity against the total time designated for language arts instruction. They examined all four observations of each teacher together as a unit because they knew they were going to categorize them. Using group consensus, they defined classrooms as having much opportunity to read connected text during all four observations, a moderate amount of time, or little time. After each data set was analyzed and each teacher categorized, they compared instructional foci and practices across models. They listed all the teachers in a given model together, and looked across these data sets for patterns.

Light imagery in Romeo and Juliet Essay

Light imagery is a very important aspect of Romeo and Juliet. There are many references to light and dark in the children’s relationship. The light imagery is a recurring theme in the story. It is very important in setting the mood in their relationship. The depiction of light and dark is often jumbled in the story. Sometimes light is good and dark is bad, and more often it is the other way around. In the balcony scene, when Romeo was swearing his love to Juliet, she says â€Å"O swear not by the moon, th’inconsistent moon, that monthly changes in her circle orb, lest thy love prove likewise variable.† (2.2, line 110) In this quote, Juliet is telling Romeo not to swear his love by the moon, because it waxes and wanes constantly, and she did not want his love to be the same way. This quote condemns night time because of the moon and its changes. On Romeo and Juliet’s only night together, they pretend that the sun rising is just a reflection of the moon. â€Å"More light and light, the more dark and dark our woes.† (3.5 line 36) This quote from Romeo is a direct example of reverse light imagery. Because they can only be together at night, and Romeo must leave for exile at dawn, Romeo and Juliet’s troubles become worse, or darker by day, and the mood is lighter for them at night. When Juliet is preparing to be married to Paris, and her and the friar devise a plan to help her and Romeo escape to Mantua together, the friar says â€Å"and that very night shall Romeo bear the hence to Mantua.† (4.1, line 117), and â€Å"I’ll have this knot knit up tomorrow morning†(4.2, line 24) show once again how Romeo and Juliet are happy at night than they are during the day, because they can escape together at night, and during day they must face their families who do not understand their love. Light Imagery is one of Shakespear’s most common conceit in Romeo and Juliet. It is unique in this play because often, night is the time of safety and happiness because they can see each other, while day time is dangerous and sad because they can not be together.