Monday, March 23, 2020
Huckleberry Finn Research Paper Essay Example Essay Example
Huckleberry Finn Research Paper Essay Example Paper Huckleberry Finn Research Essay Introduction Huckleberry Finn: a Struggle for Freedom Mark Twainââ¬â¢s Huckleberry Finn so innocently reveals the potential nobility of human nature in its well-loved main characters that it could never successfully support anything so malicious as slavery. Huckleberry Finn and traveling companion Jim, a runaway slave, are unknowing champions for humility, mercy, and selflessness. ââ¬Å"Twain used realistic language in the novel, making Huckââ¬â¢s speech sound like actual conversation and imitating a variety of dialects to bring the other characters to life. â⬠The adventurous ature of the story and its noble characters celebrates freedom from social and economic restraint, and it is apparent from the beginning through his satiric portrayal of human characteristics that Twain believes that all people deserve their own freedom. When Huck is unable to take the restrictions of life any longer, whether they be emotional or physical, he simply releases himself and goes back to what he feel s is right and what makes him happy. Hence, one of the most prominent and important themes of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is freedom. Freedom not only from Huckââ¬â¢s internal aradoxical struggle in defining right and wrong, but also freedom from Huckââ¬â¢s personal relationships with the Widow Douglas and his father, as well as freedom from the societal institutions of government, religion, and prejudices. ââ¬Å"The plot is a deceptively simple story about two runaways: Huck, a white boy fleeing civilization, and Jim, a black man running away from slavery. ââ¬Å" Throughout the story Huck is plagued with an internal moral dilemma of what he feels is right and what he is taught is right. Huck is possibly the only character in the story that operates solely on his own moral convictions. Huckleberry Finn Research Essay Body Paragraphs This produces significant conflict when the accepted rules of society, often corrupt in nature, are imposed upon him. The best example of this internal conflict is Huckââ¬â¢s brief experiences with organized religion. The teachings by the Widow Douglas of the pathways to heaven are in constant conflict with Huckââ¬â¢s own beliefs. Because of this, Huck readily rejects the teachings of organized religion, and therefore must often grapple with the undue guilt that this hypocritical heresy places on him. Such is the case when Huck must decide on whether to protect the whereabouts of Jim or to do the ââ¬Å"Christianâ⬠thing and return Miss Watson her ââ¬Å"propertyâ⬠. Although Huck ultimately does what he feels is right, the reader is left with a sense that the issue is not completely eradicated from Huckââ¬â¢s conscience. ââ¬Å"When his true self triumphs over his false conscience the emotional climax of the book is reached. â⬠The fact that Huck gives a valid attempt at conformity signifies that he has somewhat of an interest in becoming what is considered ââ¬Å"normalâ⬠, and thereby pleasing the Widow Douglas. There is a sense that Huck has a genuine gratitude towards the Widow Douglas for taking an interest in his well being, especially since she appears to be the only one that does so. However, given that his attempts are short-lived, it can be assumed that Huckââ¬â¢s desire to adhere to his personal virtues overpowers his desire to become civilized or to please the Widow Douglas. In contrast, Huck appears to have no desire to have a relationship with his father. At one point in the story Huck does not even know if his father is alive or not, and apparently does not care to know. Because of his fatherââ¬â¢s alcoholism and unpredictable behavior, emotional freedom from him is easily chieved by Huck. However, it is the physical freedom from his father that Huck must accomplish in the story. Because of his jealously of Huck, Huckââ¬â¢s father adopts the belief that Huck is attempting to make a fool of him. Consequently, Huckââ¬â¢s father uses this belief as justification to imprison Huck and use him for his own personal gain. For a boy like Huck, physical constriction is undoubtedly the most miserable condition he could be put in. At this point in the story freedom is not only a desire of Huck ââ¬â it is a necessity. While Twainââ¬â¢s story does have the outward appearance of a boyhood adventure ale, it is impossible to overlook the symbolic nature in the two ââ¬Å"runawaysâ⬠desires for such an adventure. Both Huck and Jim are running away from the social constraints of their worlds. Huck feels confined by his new civilized life, and Jim by his slave status. In the Widow Douglasââ¬â¢ household, Huck is not allowed to indulge himself in his former delights of boyhood. He feels trapped by the various social rules and expectations the two widows try to enforce upon him. Jim is confi ned by the bonds of slavery into an uncomfortable and immobile spot in society- one that restricts him from being with his wn family. Thus the two ââ¬Å"prisonersâ⬠begin their escape for freedom. ââ¬Å"Huck Finn includes events and settings reminiscent of Twainââ¬â¢s boyhood in Hannibal, MO. , a town on the Mississippi River. â⬠And, while it is natural that Twain placed the story on the wide and powerful Mississippi River where he spent part of his life, there is also a symbolic gesture in the setting. While Huck and Jim travel down the flowing river, they feel a distance from stagnant society on the riverââ¬â¢s banks. On the natural river, they are free from the shortcomings and evils of human nature that exist in the man-made towns hey have known. On the raft, there is no practical need for racism or greed. The boy and slave are simply two travelers bound for bigger and better waters. Twain is largely successful in illustrating his support of the deserved freed om of the human condition through his main characters. Huck is an innocent young boy who relies only on his surprisingly sharp criticism of human nature and a goodness and gentle- heartedness that he is not even aware of. Huckââ¬â¢s youthful ignorance and lack of education allow for the innocence that makes him such a believable and effective protagonist. Despite his age, however, he is still able to discern the often hypocritical actions of the adults around him. For example, he cannot understand why the fine people of the Grangerford family would be involved in something so horrible and ridiculous as a feud. When Jim become a part of the journey, Huck, much to the argument of his misguided conscience, shows mercy and, eventually, respect towards Jim. Bestowing respect upon a slave would have taken a lot of humility for a white boy, and Huck certainly possessed humility. He had no desire for material possessions, or even a very strong desire for money. Jimââ¬â¢s good nature a nd kindness is indisputable in the novel. He commits himself to watching over Huck during their journey, and often does so at his own expense. ââ¬Å"Jimââ¬â¢s willingness to sacrifice himself for others and take on Huckââ¬â¢s duties as they float down the river causes Huck to see Jimââ¬â¢s basic worth. â⬠The reader cannot help but to admire Jimââ¬â¢s love for his family and kind, selfless nature. All of these characteristics innocence, mercy, humility, kindness are not elements that support the institution of slavery. Perhaps Twain is suggesting that the potential goodness of human nature that exists in his haracters could exist in a world without slavery. Twain has mastered the use of situational and verbal irony and satire, and uses this to reveal truths about human nature. Twain places some instances of dialogue that are so blatantly racist that one cannot help but wonder if the author went to extremes to simply make his point. For example, Aunt Sally asks Huck if anyone was hurt on the steamboat and he replies that it only ââ¬Å"killed a nigger,â⬠to which Aunt Sally replies, ââ¬Å"Well, itââ¬â¢s lucky; because sometimes people do get hurt. â⬠This one statement is so obviously wrong that it eems Twain is not advocating prejudice, but simply displaying itââ¬â¢s wrongfulness. This use of irony is implemented throughout the dialogue in the novel, and, while anti-slavery supporters could misinterpret Twainââ¬â¢s ambition, the other elements in the novel help support the authorââ¬â¢s true intentions. It is apparent that he believes that, if put into simple words, one could easily see that such racist views are very hypocritical of the good qualities of human nature that Twain so highly values. Furthermore, the most racist people and advocators of slavery in the novel are always depicted in a negative light. For instance, Twain gives little respect to the King and the Duke who split up the slave family at the Wilks hou sehold, or the mob of angry farmers at the Phelps who want to kill Jim. Twainââ¬â¢s open critique of slavery and its supporters and racial prejudice, therefore, do indeed mark him as an advocate for human freedom. In conclusion, Twain uses the qualities of his main characters and the freedom they seek, as well as criticism of the racial views of the society that Huck and Jim occupy, to illustrate his belief that all humans possess the right to be free, if they so desire it. While it is doubtful that Twain would give himself the title of ââ¬Å"abolitionist,â⬠he certainly states in Huckleberry Finn that he does not believe that imposing an institution such as slavery on any person cannot be deemed any other than a blatant violation against morality. Slavery is indeed an immense evil of society, and Twain uses the contrasting goodness of people like Huck and Jim to battle against it. It is also apparent that Twain does not admire the constraints of society, and, like Huck, wo uld rather be free from it and its hypocrisy. Civilization constricted Mark Twain as badly as it did Huck, and the river liberated him equally. â⬠Therefore it is doubtful that he could support an institution like slavery that had such aristocratic roots. Twainââ¬â¢s characters are too noble, his views of white society too critical, for him to be blamed as a supporter of slavery; he is instead a motivator of the human desire to be free. Twainââ¬â¢s implied lesson expressed within this theme is that true freedom is essential to happiness. Twain ends the novel with a frustrated Huck stating; ââ¬Å"Aunt Sally sheââ¬â¢s going to adopt me and sivilize me and I canââ¬â¢t tand it. 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Friday, March 6, 2020
The eNotes Blog Ten Writers.ErrrrToast the Future Thoughts for New Years2013
Ten Writers.ErrrrToast the Future Thoughts for New Years2013 Looking for some words to guide revelers into the future? Here are some sentiments from writers who have pondered the unknown. 1. à Looking for Alaskaà by John Greenà Imagining the future is a kind of nostalgiaâ⬠¦You spend your whole life stuck in the labyrinth, thinking about how youââ¬â¢ll escape it one day, and how awesome it will be, and imagining that future keeps you going, but you never do it. You just use the future to escape the present. 2. à Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Powerà by Jon Meacham I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them. 3.à à The Second Sexà by Simone De Beauvoirà Change your life today. Dont gamble on the future, act now, without delay. 4. à Steve Jobsà by Walter Isaacsonà Again, you cant connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life. 5. à The Last Lectureà by Randy Pausch ââ¬Å"The key question to keep asking is, Are you spending your time on the right things? Because time is all you have. â⬠(Bonus, because I love this book so much) ââ¬Å"Look, Im going to find a way to be happy, and Id really love to be happy with you, but if I cant be happy with you, then Ill find a way to be happy without you.â⬠6. à Of Mice and Menà by John Steinbeck Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They dont belong no place. . . . With us it aint like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us. We dont have to sit in no bar room blowin in our jack jus because we got no place else to go. If them other guys gets in jail they can rot for all anybody gives a damn. But not us. 7. à Tik-Tokà by John Sladek The future, according to some scientists, will be exactly like the past, only far more expensive. 8. à The Theban Playsà by Sophocles Whoever neglects the arts when he is young has lost the past and is dead to the future. 9. à Stephen Wright, Comedian I was a peripheral visionary. I could see the future, but only way off to the side. 10. à Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Lifeà by Anne Lamottà Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you dont give up.
Tuesday, February 18, 2020
The Absence of Competition and Price Discrimination in the Market Research Paper - 145
The Absence of Competition and Price Discrimination in the Market - Research Paper Example One of the losses to society as a result of monopoly versus perfect competition is limited output and high prices. Because of its market dominance, a firm in a monopolistic marketplace has the exclusive rights to raise prices. Consequently, when it does so, the society has no alternative but to buy high cost products. In contrast, in perfect competition, if one business raises prices the society can just move to the next competitor for a lower price. Thus, society gets better prices (Samuelson & Marks, 326). The losses to society can further be explained in terms of supply and cost curves. In perfect competition, prices and the number of goods produced are arrived at by looking at the market demand and supply curves. Accordingly, society is assured of competitive prices, which necessarily lead to minimum prices. In a monopoly, the supply curve is hardly there. The amount of output does not determine the prices. Whether the sole firm produces less or more, it can still maximize the pr ices because the competitive level is restricted. Hence, in a monopoly, firms maximize their profits by raising prices without any added benefit to society (Samuelson & Marks, 327). In addition, in a monopoly, the sole firm produces less in order to increase the price, consequently exploiting society. Finally, the loss to society as a result of monopoly versus perfect competition is the reduction in the consumer surplus. Under monopoly, because of raised prices firms earn much more than what consumers gain from them. As a result, the reduction in consumer surplus leads to a reduction in consumer social welfare.
Tuesday, February 4, 2020
The Gross Profit Margin of Mark Equipment Pty Ltd Essay
The Gross Profit Margin of Mark Equipment Pty Ltd - Essay Example The Gross Income Margin is a financial measure to evaluate an organizationââ¬â¢s financial wellbeing by disclosing the percentage of cash left after considering the cost of goods sold into account. The gross income value of an organization serves as the basis for the payment of further expenses and future reserves. The gross income margin of an organization can be calculated as the ratio of its revenue less its cost of sales to its revenue value. i.e., Gross Income Margin = (Revenue ââ¬â Cost of Sales)/ Revenue The cost of sales refers to the direct expenses involved in the manufacturing of the products sold by the organization. The cost of sales value includes the cost of resources utilized in the manufacturing of the products along with the labor expenses utilized in the production of the products. Thus, the cost of sales can be computed as, Cost of Sales = Opening Stock + Purchases ââ¬â Closing Stock The computation of the cost of sales of a company does not comprise of any indirect costs involved in the process of sale of the products. Thus, the repair and maintenance charges, costs of depreciation of tools and equipments, rent expenditure, wages and charges of water and electricity have been excluded from the calculation of the cost of sales and hence from the computation of the gross profit of the company . Therefore, the cost of sales of Mark Equipment Pty Ltd for the present year and the previous year would be, The assessment of the financial health of Mark Equipment Pty Ltd can be carried out by the examination of the financial ratios of the company. The analysis of the current ratio shows that it has increased from 1.28 in the previous year to 1.34 in the present year. Ideally, the company should have current assets by current liabilities ratio of 2:1, in order to be in a position to comfortably repay their short-term liabilities. Thus, though the percentage of current assets of the company is a little higher than that of the current liabilities, the company should try to improve its current ratio in order to enhance its liquidity. The company also needs to focus on its cash assets so as to improve its creditworthiness. The debt ratio and the debt to equity ratio indicate the financial leverage of the organization. Debt ratio signifies the relationship between the total liabilities and the total assets. The debt ratio of Mark Equipment Pty Ltd has slightly increased from 0.57 to 0.69 during the period. The debt to equity ratio helps in deriving a reasonable relationship between the debt and the equity value of a company . The present value of the debt to equity ratio also increased a little from 0.17 in the previous year to 0.21. Since the values of the mentioned ratios are moderately low, it can be implied that the company is in a position to raise long-term debts, in case it wants to, considering the moderately low interest rate. The fixed asset turnover ratio of Mark Equipment is 22.51 in the present year, whereas the fixed asset turnover of the company for the previous year has been 18.07. The total asset turnover for the previous year was 5.23, whereas it decreased to 3.63 in the present year. It implies that Mark Equipment had been able to generate more volume of sales in relation to the fixed assets it holds . Thus, the company had utilized and managed its fixed assets quite fairly, though it needs to improve the utilization of its overall assets.
Sunday, January 26, 2020
Health Promotion And HIV
Health Promotion And HIV The origins of health promotion lie in the 19th century when epidemic disease eventually led to pressure for sanitary reform for the overcrowded industrial towns. Alongside the health movement emerged the idea of educating the public for the good of its health (Naidoo and Wills, 2000). In 1977 the World health Assembly at Alma Ata committed all member countries to the principles of Health for all 2000 (HFA 2000) that there should be the attainment by all the people of the world by the tear 2000 of a level of health that will permit them to lead a socially and economically productive life Naidoo and Wills, 2000). The Ottawa charter held on the 21st of November 1986 was the first international conference on health promotion and provided the basis for the current practice of health promotion. It defined health promotion as the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health. To reach a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, an individ ual or group must be able to identify and to realize aspirations, to satisfy needs, and to change or cope with the environment (WHO, 1986). Health is, therefore, seen as a resource for everyday life, not the objective of living. Health is a positive concept emphasizing social and personal resources, as well as physical capacities. Therefore, health promotion is not just the responsibility of the health sector, but goes beyond healthy life-styles to well-being. It went ahead to identify strategies for health promotion namely; build healthy public policy, create supportive environment, strengthen community actions, develop personal skill and reorient health services (WHO, 1986). HIV/AIDS BACKGROUND AND ZIMBABWE The HIV virus is the cause of the Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). All countries of the world are now affected with about 39.5million people living with the disease globally. 2.1million of the global 2.9million deaths due to AIDS in 2006 occurred in Africa ( UNAIDS/WHO, 2007). The extent of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) epidemic in Africa makes it qualitatively different from other regions. According to UNICEF (2005), the HIV/AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa has already orphaned a generation of children and it projected that by 2010, 18 million African children less than 18 years are likely to be orphaned by HIV. Africa has the worlds youngest population, with the youth constituting 33% of the total population. Subà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã Sahara Africa is home to 70% of young people living with HIV/AIDS and 90% of the AIDS orphans in the world. Vulnerability to HIV/AIDS is compounded by gender and age, making young people and women in particular more likely to contract the virus than others. The age distribution of HIV infection in Africa is skewed towards younger females, with infection rates among teenage girls five times higher than teenage boys in some countries.Zimbabwe is not spared this burden. One in six African is a Zimbabwe which has a population of about estimate of 140 million people. The first case of the Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) was identified in Zimbabwe in 1986. HIV prevalence then rose steadily from 1.8% in 1998 to 5.8% in 2001. However, in the 2003 survey, the National HIV prevalence had dropped to 5%. At a current level of 5.6%, HIV/AIDS prevalence is highest amongst young people less than 30 years (World Bank, 2006). Several factors have been identified as the most important in driving the HIV epidemic in Zimbabwe. These include; early marriage of females and inadequate access to condoms and contraceptives particularly for young people. Young peoples lack of access to contraceptives is exacerbated by the age-structured society where children and young people have little or no control over their health, especially sexual health. There is also inadequate sexual education in schools as well as a restricted discussion of sexual health matters in public and even in families. Zimbabweans can have multiple wives as they think they can afford to take care of. This is very ambiguous and the result is that a lot of women are mistreated and left to take care of themselves without actually being empowered to do so. Other factors implicated are the presence of other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), stigmatization and the inadequacy of health care systems (APIN, 2006). In addition, various cultural prac tices and values influence the health practices and sexual behaviour of our focus group. This makes them particularly vulnerable. Vulnerability can be defined as the degree to which an individual or a population has control over their risk of acquiring HIV, or the degree to which those people who are infected an affected by HIV are able to access appropriate care and support. (AIDS Vancouver, 2005) Zimbabwe being a male-dominated society, women are viewed as inferior to men, in some areas in particular in rural areas and some townships. Womens traditional role is to have children and be responsible for the home. Their low status, lack of access to education, and certain social and cultural practices increase their vulnerability to HIV infection. Many marriage practices violate womens human rights and contribute to increasing HIV rates among women and girls. Zimbabwe has legal minimum age for marriage, however in some areas early marriage is known to be allowed by parents, as they consider it a way to protect their young daughters from the outside world and maintain their chastity. Girls may get married between the ages of 14 and 15, and a large age gap usually exists between husbands and wives. Young married girls are at risk of contracting HIV from their husbands because it is considered acceptable for men to have sexual partners outside of marriage and even for some men to have more than one wife. Because of their age, lack of education, and low status, young married girls cannot negotiate condom use to protect th emselves against HIV and other STIs. Practices such as female genital mutilation also contribute to the scourge (APIN, 2006). COMPARATIVE STATISTICS From Appendix 1(behind), the tables show WHO statistics (2007) and compares different parameters from Zimbabwe, Brazil and South-Africa. It estimates Zimbabwes population, for 2005, at 131.5 million. This is compared to South Africas figure of 47.4 million and 186.4 million for Brazil. Zimbabwe and Brazil are classed as developing countries while South Africa is a middle-income African country. All these countries have achieved varying degrees of success in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Deaths due to HIV (per 100,000) are 8 for Brazil, 167 for Zimbawe and 675 for South Africa. Figures for HIV prevalence in adults aged 15 years and above show that the prevalence is reduced in Brazil (454 per 100,000 people), but Zimbabwe (3,547 per 100,000 population) and South Africa (16,579 per 100,000 population) still have very high numbers. This buttresses the fact that Africa still has major problems in the fight against HIV/AIDS. HIV/AIDS POLICY IN ZIMBABWE According to the Federal Government of Zimbabwe, the overall goal of the HIV/AIDS Policy is to control the spread of HIV, to provide equitable care and support for those infected by HIV and to mitigate its impact to the point where it is no longer of public health, social and economic concern, such that all Zimbabweans will be able to achieve socially and economically productive lives free of the disease and its effects. (Federal Government of Zimbabwe, National Policy on HIV/AIDS, 2003; pp. 13-14). The objectives of the policy include, among others to foster behaviour change as the main means of controlling the epidemic and to ensure that prevention programmes are developed and targeted at vulnerable groups such as women and children, adolescents and young adults, sex workers, long distance commercial vehicle drivers, prison inmates and migrant labour. The target is to improve the knowledge, attitude, behaviour and practices of high-risk populations, including youths and adolescents , to HIV/AIDS by 20 percent by the year 2005 and 40% by 2010. With the WHO statistics, there seem to be a lot of work to be done in achieving the above target. YOUTH EMPOWERMENT MODEL THE INTERVENTION The model was developed by a combination of two existing models of health promotion namely Caplan Holland (1990) and Beattie (1991) (Naidoo and Wills, 2000). Beatties model uses criteria of mode of intervention (authoritative-negotiated) and focus of intervention (individual-collective) whereas Caplan and Holland use theories of knowledge and theories of society (Naidoo and Wills, 2000). From Caplan Holland (1990) the following components were taken: radical humanistic perspective (empowerment approach) and humanistic perspective (educational approach). From Beattie (1991) were taken; health Persuasion (educational approach) and personal counselling (behavioural approach). This model thus comprises of the 4 components namely; Radical Humanist/Empowerment approach where individuals are encouraged to form social and organizational networks including self-help groups, Humanist/Health Education approach this involves peer education and awareness campaigns, including activities such as dramas, role plays and debates, Health Persuasion which is essentially behaviour modification and life skills, Personal counselling which is client led and focus on personal development. The health promoter is a facilitator rather than an expert. (Naidoo and Wills, 2000). APPROACHES The components of this model made use of three main approaches to health promotion: behavioural, educational and empowerment approaches. The empowerment approach is based mainly on the formation of social and organisational networks including self-help groups, peer groups, abstinence clubs etc. The emphasis of this approach is to help people to identify their own concerns and gain the skill and confidence to act upon them Naidoo and Wills, (2000), and the behavioural approach aims at behaviour modification. It also uses personal counselling as a means of promoting healthy sexual behaviour, therefore aiming to impart life skills to the students, which would teach them to communicate, to learn to say no to casual sex, to wait till the right time and to make the right decisions. The educational approach aims to provide knowledge and information with the hope that this information would enable the students to make the right and informed choices (Naidoo and Wills, 2000). This would be achieved by means of awareness campaigns, debates, lectures, dramas, role plays, posters and other information, education and communication (IEC) materials. A key part of the education of these students would be peer education. Over the years, there have been various studies and theories supporting the use of peer education as a successful health promotion strategy. Peer pressure can be quite enormous and influential particularly in the focus age group. APPLYING THE COMPONENTS OF THE MODEL DISCUSSION As earlier mentioned, there are four main components of this health promotion model: health education, health persuasion, empowerment and personal counselling. EMPOWERMENT Empowerment in the broadest sense is à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦.the process by which disadvantaged people work together to increase control over events that determine their lives'(Laverack, 2004). This entails raising consciousness of both the primary and secondary audiences; emphasis is on the exploration of personal responses to health issues. The students are encouraged to form social networks such as self-help groups and peer-educator-led groups. These social networks can lead to self-empowerment. The WHOs definition of health promotion as increasing peoples control over their health places it alongside the key concept of community empowerment (Laverack, 2004). Community empowerment can be viewed as both a process (something used to accomplish a particular goal or objective) and an outcome (in which empowerment is the goal or objective itself). There is considerable overlap between community empowerment and other concepts such as community participation and community development. Community empowerment builds from the individual to the group to the broader community (Laverack, 2004). Health promoters have conventionally viewed community empowerment as a part of bottom-up approached. In this the outside agent act to support the community in the identification of issues which are important and relevant to their lives, and to enable them to develop strategies to resolve these issues. Community empowerment includes personal (psychological) empowerment, organizational empowerment and broader social and political changes. Community empowerment has been viewed in health promotion literature as a five-point continuum model comprising the following elements; personal action, the development of small mutual groups, community organizations, partnership, social and political action. Each point on the continuum can be viewed as an outcome in itself, as well as a progression onto the next point. If not achieved the outcome is stasis or even a move back to the preceding point on the continuum (Laverack, 2004). The latter goes on to say the dichotomy between top-down disease prevention and lifestyle change and bottom-up community empowerment approaches is not as fixed as it is sometimes portrayed. As applied in this youth empowerment model, both approaches were used. HEALTH EDUCATION Health promotion is rooted in the narrower, more established field of health education. Health education is communication activity aimed at enhancing positive health and preventing or diminishing ill-health in individuals and groups, through influencing the beliefs, attitudes, and behaviour of those with power and of the community at large (Downie et al, 2006). Use of education in health promotion has to do with communication aimed at enhancing well-being and preventing ill-health through influencing knowledge and attitudes. The purpose is to provide knowledge and information, and to develop the necessary skills so that a person can make informed choice about their health behaviour (Naidoo and Wills, 2005). Health education interventions are valued because they empower people, enabling them to make desired changes and increase their control over their health. It involves working directly with them, enabling communication and feedback that in turn can be used to fine-tune the intervention, enhancing its effectiveness (Naidoo and Wills, 2009). This can be carried out in classrooms, and clubs aiming to empower the students. The peer educators will also be used at this stage as well as PLWHA. The contents for education in HIV prevention will include issues such as meaning and cause of HIV/AIDS, means of transmission non-transmission, modes of prevention, available treatment and management for PLWHA. HEALTH PERSUASION Health persuasion in this initiative forms a part of the Prevention Education. These are intentions directed at individuals and involve mainly health professionals, trained counsellors and peer educators, all acting as facilitators. The aim of this is to influence the development of positive health behaviour in the students, so that as they grow older, they can have good sexual health. People Living with HIV/AIDS are also involved as they are some of the greatest champions of HIV prevention as earlier mentioned. The ultimate aim of health persuasion is encouraging people to adopt healthy and careful lifestyles. The emphasis is on abstinence, safer sex and faithful partnership. The avenues included: classrooms and School HIV/AIDS prevention clubs, distribution of fliers and Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials and involvement of People Living with HIV/AIDS. PERSONAL COUNSELLING This focused on personal development and students (one-on-one or in groups) are helped by a facilitator to identify their health needs to increase their confidence and life skills. Peer Education This is the teaching or sharing of information, values and behaviours between individuals with shared characteristics such as behaviour, experience, status or social and cultural backgrounds (Macdowall et al, 2006). It is a prevention strategy for reaching youth either in school settings or for marginalized out of school youth, mainly through community based out reach programmes. Approaches to recruiting peer educators have included; providing information about a project and then asking for volunteers (Macdowall et al, 2006) identifying and approaching popular opinion leaders from among target groups; and asking members of the target groups to nominate peers. HEALTH PROMOTION RATIONALE Zimbabwe for obvious reasons stated above has a problem in tackling the scourge of HIV/AIDS and this required a multi-pronged approach in order to make an impact. Thus, developing a health promotion model targeted at the youth is in place. According to WHO, it is imperative to focus on young people because they have a high risk of contracting HIV since once they become sexually active, they often have several, usually consecutive, short-term sexual relationships and do not consistently use condoms. Likewise, IV drug use spreads at an alarming rate in this age group. Furthermore, young people often have insufficient information and understanding about HIV/AIDS; they may not be aware of their vulnerability to it or how best to prevent it. They also often lack access to the means of protecting themselves (WHO, 2004). The National HIV/AIDS policy specifically focuses on adolescents and youths, with a view to changing their sexual behaviour and practices, particularly before they become s exually active. School based programmes are logical avenues to provide most youth with preventive health education which should include helping the youth to identify their personal values and to promote positive self -esteem to enable them to resist pressure to engage in risky sexual behaviour. Zimbabwe practices a 7-2-3 system of education. Here individuals are expected to spend 7 years in the primary school, 2 years in sixth form 3-4 years in the University. The secondary school age in Zimbabwe is between 12-18 years. The focus for the model is in high school students aged 12 to 18. There were several reasons why the school is a key arena for health promotion. First, in accordance with a prevention is better than cure philosophy, it is better to encourage young people to adopt healthful lifestyles than to try to change unhealthful behaviour patterns in adulthood. Secondly, there is evidence that risk factors for disease in adulthood often originate early in life. Thirdly, schools provides a unique opportunity to augment other influences on health-related behaviour with properly planned programmes of health education (Downie et al, 2006). As early as 1982, it was reported that the age of first sexual intercourse had continued to drop in Zimbabwe and was then such that 50% of 16 year kids were already sexually active (Nwokocha and Nwakoby, 2002). Thus, the age range for the study is appropriate to equip them before they become sexually active. Mzikazi High School Bulawayo, Zimbabwe was the chosen high school. Mzilikazi is in Matebelaland, second capital city of Zimbabwe with an estimated population of 1.2 million residents. The city has a rich tourism culture and hospitality. Current research estimates the prevalence of HIV in Bulawayo at 6.19% , making it the second highest of all the states in Zimbabwe (The Herald News, 2006). Its easy access to Victoria Falls makes it a centre for visitors from different parts of the world. All these aid the sex trade in a country so rich yet poverty is the order of the day. People who do possess some knowledge about HIV often do not protect themselves because they lack the skills, support or incentives to adopt safe behaviours. High levels of awareness among the youth, a population group particularly vulnerable and significant as regards the spread of HIV/Aids, have not led, in many cases, to sufficient behavioural change. Young people may lack the skills to negotiate abstinence or condom use, or be fearful or embarrassed to talk with their partner about sex. Lack of open discussion and guidance about sexuality is often lacking in the home, and many young people pick up misinformation from their peers instead. PARTNERS IN THIS HEALTH PROMOTION The key partners in this initiative were the primary the students, and the secondary parents, teachers, school nurse and other members of the school community including staff. Other partners included professionals such as all clinical health practitioners such as doctors, nurses, and others health professionals who will act as facilitators, the local School Authorities, and donor agencies that are focused on HIV/AIDS issues they play a very crucial roles in community HIV prevention programmes. Donor agencies were involved in the provision of funds that were used in executing the project. PLWHA (People living with HIV/AIDS) have very important impact as people see for themselves living testimonies of the HIV scourge. It must be stated that stigmatization and discrimination against PLWHA are common in Zimbabwe. Nevertheless, some progress has been made more recently because of increased national campaigns and more visible and vocal societies and support groups for people infected with or affected by HIV. Their efforts have helped educate the public about HIV/AIDS, dispelling myths and giving the disease a human face (APIN, 2006). A potential reason for failure of school health promotion is that of culture clash between the school and the home and elsewhere (Downie et al, 2006) hence the inclusion of the parents in the secondary audience. However while the concepts of outcome succees were addressed to some degree in the study, there was nevertheless, a lack of firm and consistent evidence that positive outcomes had been achieved by the partnership concerned. Partnership working is seen as providing benefits that are achievable, improve health of whole population through working in partnerships with groups and individual to systematically address health needs within a community, (Coles and Porter, 2009). The science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organised efforts of society, (Achenson, 1998). Wilson and Charlton (2004), claim that culture clashes in partnership working can often expected between people from different social background. In this study the barrier between the partners was the cultural background for the children , parents and the leaders. In this instance the NGOs were the leaders of the health promotion. The break down in communication and understanding of the intended education started when the educators told the students it is advisable to use condoms whenever you have sex. In Zimbabwe there is a deep-seated unwillingness to talk openly about sex, partly due to rules of re spect that lie at the heart of family and kinship structures, which limit communication across generation and sexual divides. Certain prevalent cultural norms and practices related to sexuality contribute to the risk of HIV infection. Negative attitudes towards condoms, as well as difficulties negotiating and following through with their use. Men in southern Africa regularly do not want to use condoms, because of beliefs such that flesh to flesh sex is equated with masculinity and is necessary for male health. Condoms also have strong associations of unfaithfulness, lack of trust and love, and disease. Certain sexual practices, such as dry sex (where the vagina is expected to be small and dry), and unprotected anal sex, carry a high risk of HIV because they cause abrasions to the lining of the vagina or anus. In cultures where virginity is a condition for marriage, girls may protect their virginity by engaging in unprotected anal sex. The importance of fertility in African communities may hinder the practice of safer sex. Young women under pressure to prove their fertility prior to marriage may try to fall pregnant, and therefore do not use condoms or abstain from sex. Fathering many children is also seen as a sign of virile masculinity. Polygamy is practised in some parts of southern Africa. Even where traditional polygamy is no longer the norm, men tend to have more sexual partners and to use the services of sex workers. This is condoned by the widespread belief that males are biologically programmed to need sex with more than one woman, ( ). Urbanisation and migrant labour expose people to a variety of new cultural influences, with the result that traditional and modern values often co-exist. Certain traditional values that could serve to protect people from HIV infection, such as abstinence from sex before marriage, are being eroded by cultural modernisation. ( ). However the NGOs wanted to continue with this education even the other secondary partners could tell it is affecting the whole process, with advice to first stop teaching the children, educate the parents first so when the children are taught it does not cause conflict. This dilemma here appears largely about power who has it, who needs it, and how much? Successful partnership requires leaders to redefine the boundaries of power in the organisation, and this can prove challenging, ( ). Careful design of the organisations decision-making processes and the setting of clear boundaries can help you tackle the leadership dilemma. Therefore with partnership, effective communication enables us to discuss each others concerns, acknowledge our different points of view and strive to understand those views. Good communication is especially important when there are strong views or feelings about an issue. The key thing to remember is that communication goes in all directions. Effective communic ation isnt just about telling people things. Its mostly about listening to each other. Consequently good communication is crucial to partnership. Lack of communication often creates an information vacuum. This vacuum is sometimes filled with rumour and speculation. . Evaluation Two different views of evaluation pervade the literature on health promotion. From the first view point, evaluation involves assessing an activity in terms of the aims or specific objectives of that activity. William (1987) has written as follows: .the purpose of evaluation is that it should demonstrate whether an activity has been successful or to what degree it has failed to achievee some stated aims. Before we can evaluate, then, we need to be clear about the aims of the activity in relation to the degree of attainment of these aims. From the second view point, evaluation is a broader process. It involves assessing an activity by measuring it against a standard which is not necessarily related to the specific objectives or purpose of the activity. This approach has been advocated by Green et al. (1980). From the second view point, evaluation is a broader process (Downie et al, 1996). Evaluation can be defined as the critical assessment of the value of an activity (Macdowall et al, 2006). Evaluation is needed to ensure that health promotion activities are having the intended effects. Evaluating activities helps inform future plans and contributes to the building up of a knowledge base for health promotion. It also helps prevent the reinvention of the wheel, by informing other health promoters of the effectiveness of different methods and strategies (Naidoo and Wills, 2000). Downie et al (1996) identifies reasons for evaluating health promotion activities. These are to assess the extent to which projects are achieving their stated objectives, to inform the development of materials and methods, to ensure ethical practice, to optimize use of resources and to assess the place of health promotion within overall efforts to achieve health gain. Evaluation includes assessments of different kinds of events at varying time periods. A distinction is often made between process, impact and outcome evaluation. Process evaluation: this involves assessing the process programme implementation. It addresses participants perceptions and reactions to health promotion interventions. It is therefore a useful means to assess acceptability and may assess the appropriateness and equity of a health promotion intervention (Naidoo and Wills, 2000). In doing this in our health promotion study, inputs (time, IEC materials, money); self-evaluation (self-reflection); feedback from primary and secondary audience (using questionnaires, question and answer sessions, individual discussions) will be used. Impact and Outcome evaluation: Evaluation of health promotion programmes is usually concerned to identify their effects. The effects of an intervention may be evaluated according to its impact ( the immediate effects such as increased knowledge or shifts in attitude) and outcome ( the longer-term effects such as changes in lifestyle). Impact evaluation tends to be more popular because it is easier to do. Outcome evaluation more difficult because it involves an assessment of long-term effects (Naidoo and Wills, 2000). Evaluation of the impact could be planned or unplanned. Planned impact can be assessed using pre-session and post-session questionnaires or a review session with the target audience. Some of the planned impact/outcomes would include increasing attendance to activities, increase in the number of people taking part in voluntary counselling and testing (VCT), increase in age of first sexual encounter and reduction in HIV prevalence rate. Unplanned impact/outcome will include counselling for other issues such as drugs and alcohol use, provision of support for PLWHA within the school community by referrals to NGOs and other support groups that can provide treatment and help them cope with other effects of living with HIV/AIDS. Limitations There are limitations to the implementation of this health promotion model. There is an ethical dilemma with regards what will be too much sexual information for the teenagers considering the cultural background. Many parents will object to some information given to their children. Issues pertaining to funds for running and sustaining the programme need to be considered. There could also be some logistics problems in terms of accessing rural areas: power, security, mobility and communication facilities all have to be provided and these are all functions of funds. Acceptability of the programme by the primary audience may be in question. The students may view the activities as being prescriptive rather than participatory, also, they may view the health professionals and facilitators as being old school in terms of age or social background or socioeconomic status and this could be a barrier which might face the programme. This is where the peer educators come in and may go a long way in overcoming this problem. If the students are able to see the project/activities as theirs, it would help to sustain the efforts after the health professionals may have left. Such continuity could be anchored on peer educator groups, abstinence clubs and other social networks. Long-term assessment of empowerment and change in behaviour is difficult. Is there any behaviour change? If so, is the behaviour change due to this Health Promotion activity alone?. These are pertinent questions which will need to be addressed at the long run. The model focuses mainly on empowerment without addressing other socio-economic determinants of sexual hea
Saturday, January 18, 2020
Pneumonia and Older Adults
What is pneumonia? Pneumonia is a lung infection that can make you very sick. You may cough, run a fever, and have a hard time breathing. For most people, pneumonia can be treated at home. It often clears up in two to three weeks, but older adults, babies, and people with other diseases can become very ill. They may need to be in the hospital. You can get pneumonia in your daily life, such as at school or work. This is called community-associated pneumonia. You can also get it when you are in a hospital or nursing home. This is called healthcare-associated pneumonia. It may be more severe because you already are ill. This topic focuses on pneumonia you get in your daily life. What causes pneumonia? Germs called bacteria or viruses usually cause pneumonia. Pneumonia usually starts when you breathe the germs into your lungs. You may be more likely to get the disease after having a cold or the flu. These illnesses make it hard for your lungs to fight infection, so it is easier to get pneumonia. Having a long-term, or chronic, disease like asthma, heart disease, cancer, or diabetes also makes you more likely to get pneumonia. What are the symptoms? Symptoms of pneumonia caused by bacteria usually come on quickly. They may include: â⬠¢Cough. You will likely cough up mucus (sputum) from your lungs. Mucus may be rusty or green or tinged with blood. â⬠¢Fever. â⬠¢Fast breathing and feeling short of breath. â⬠¢Shaking and ââ¬Å"teeth-chatteringâ⬠chills. You may have this only one time or many times. â⬠¢Chest pain that often feels worse when you cough or breathe in. â⬠¢Fast heartbeat. â⬠¢Feeling very tired or feeling very weak. â⬠¢Nausea and vomiting. â⬠¢Diarrhea. When you have mild symptoms, your doctor may call this ââ¬Å"walking pneumonia. ââ¬Å"
Friday, January 10, 2020
Job Satisfaction And Its Importance In The Workplace Education Essay
Job satisfaction is progressively going of import in the workplace. Employers now recognise that the ââ¬Å" happier â⬠their employees are, the better will be their attitudes towards the work, the higher their motive and the better will be their public presentation. Job satisfaction in any field of work depends a batch on how contributing the work environment is. The work itself, the wage and the range for publicity are merely some of the factors which have an impact on occupation satisfaction. ââ¬Å" Educators ââ¬Ë occupation satisfaction is of import as it has a direct impact on pupils ââ¬Ë accomplishment and their hereafter calling â⬠( Pitkoff, 1993 ) . An pedagogue who is unsatisfied with his/her occupation tends to be unmotivated and more likely to get away from his/her duties. In these fortunes, we tend to see an addition in absenteeism among instructors. Such pedagogues normally show small concern in school affairs and this evidently has a negative impact on the public presentation of our kids. Assorted surveies have been carried out in the yesteryear to measure the impact of motive and occupation satisfaction on employee productiveness and public presentation ( Vroom, 1964 ) . Some of these surveies have found a positive relationship between occupation satisfaction and occupation public presentation which leads to the decision that satisfied employees tend to execute much better than less satisfied 1s.2.1 Definition of occupation satisfactionJob satisfaction is one of the most investigated subjects in the Fieldss of organisational behavior. The most-used research definition of occupation satisfaction is by Locke ( 1976 ) , who defined it as ââ¬Å" . . . a enjoyable or positive emotional province ensuing from the assessment of one ââ¬Ës occupation or occupation experiences â⬠( p. 1304 ) . It is now recognized that occupation satisfaction is a planetary construct that besides comprises assorted aspects ( Judge et al. , 2001 ) including wage, publicities, colleagues , supervising, the work itself, acknowledgment, working conditions, and company and direction. Job satisfaction has besides been defined as ââ¬Å" the extent to which a staff member has favorable or positive feelings about work or the work environment â⬠( De Nobile, 2003 ) . It refers to the positive attitudes or emotional temperaments people may derive from work or through facets of work ( Furnham, 1997 ; Locke, 1976 ) . Ivancevich et Al. ( 1997 ) defined occupation satisfaction as the feeling and perceptual experience of a worker sing his/her work and how he or she feels himself good in an organisation. Davis and Newstrom ( 2003 ) and Dessler ( 2001 ) depict occupation satisfaction as a set of favourable or unfavourable feelings for the employees to comprehend their work and that determine the possibility of a major temperament to accomplish higher public presentation. Therefore, occupation satisfaction refers to an person ââ¬Ës general attitude toward his or her occupation ( Robbins, 1998 ) . Jensen ( 2000 ) defines occupation satisfaction as: ââ¬Å" a sense of personal growing most frequently measured by the extent of new challenges and larning state of affairss experienced â⬠( p. 1 ) . On the other manus, occupation dissatisfaction refers to ââ¬Å" unhappy or negative feelings about work or the work environment â⬠( Furnham, 1997 ) . There exist many factors which may ensue in occupation dissatisfaction. Some of them are hapless on the job conditions, overwork, low degrees of wage, no range of publicity or calling promotion and deficiency of acknowledgment. But what is worst are the effects of occupation dissatisfaction which evidently affect both the employees and the organisation. It may ensue in loss of motive, deficiency of involvement, defeat, hapless productiveness, absenteeism and even high turnover rates. To sum up, we can state that occupation satisfaction describes how content an single with his or her occupation and besides implies making a occupation one enjoys, making it good, and being appropriately rewarded for one ââ¬Ës attempts. Job satisfaction farther implies enthusiasm and felicity with one ââ¬Ës work.2.2 Factors impacting occupation satisfactionJob satisfaction depends on several different factors such as satisfaction with wage, publicity chances, periphery benefits, occupation security, relationship with colleagues and supervisors and communicating within the administration. ( Nguyen, Taylor, & A ; Bradley, 2003 ) . Job satisfaction may take to be decrease by cut downing absences, undertaking mistakes, struggles at work and turnover. As work is an of import facet of people ââ¬Ës lives and most people spend a big portion of their working lives at work, understanding the factors involved in occupation satisfaction is important to bettering employees ââ¬Ë public presentation and productiveness.2.2.1 AgeAge is one of the factors impacting occupation satisfaction. Assorted surveies carried out in this field have shown that occupation satisfaction tends to increase with age. That is older employees tend to describe higher satisfaction and younger employees report the lowest occupation satisfaction rates ( Warr, 1992 ) . However, the survey carried out by Oshagbemi ( 2003 ) in United Kingdom ( UK ) , found that the relationship between occupation satisfaction and age was undistinguished for employees of the UK universities.2.2.2 GenderSeveral research workers have examined the relationship between occupation satisfaction and gender ( Mason, 1995 ) . However, most surveies have shown contractions in the relationship between occupation satisfaction and gender of the employees. On one manus, some surveies have found adult females to be more satisfied than work forces ( Ward and Sloane, 1998 ) , whereas other surveies have found work forces to be more satisfied than adult females ( Forgionne and Peters, 1982 ) .2.2.3 Working environmentIt is indispensable to supply employees with a work environment which is contributing to their overall development. They need an environment which is healthy and safe and which caters for both personal comfort and facilitates making a good occupation. As mentioned earlier, people spend a high per centum of their life-time at work. So we can state that employees expect more than money for the work they do. Hence, it can be said that holding a friendly and supportive environment can take to increased occupation satisfaction. Syptak, Marshland and Ulmer ( 1999 ) advise administrations to make everything they can to maintain the company ââ¬Ës equipment and installations up to day of the month. In their article, they besides recommend administrations to ââ¬Å" avoid overcrowding and let each employee his or her ain personal infinite, whether it is a desk, a cabinet or even merely a drawer â⬠( p. 1 ) .2.2.4 Fair policies and patternsââ¬Å" Persons who perceive that publicity determinations are made in a just and merely mode are likely to see satisfaction from their occupations â⬠( Witt and Nye, 1992 ) . Very frequently employees are demotivated and dissatisfied with their occupations because unjust policies and patterns prevail at their topographic point of work. It is hence of extreme importance for organisation to hold a just and equal system in footings of patterns and policies so that there is no favoritism and defeat. It is a fact that organisation which follows the right processs to advance employees creates a civilization of trust, trueness and beliefs in the whole organisation. When an employee gets just publicity, which is by and large based on his true appraisal, he gets a type of acknowledgment, and therefore, increases his occupation satisfaction. In other words, we can state that publicity provides chances for personal growing, more duties, and in creased societal position.2.2.5 Caring organisationTaylor ( 2000 ) suggested that occupation satisfaction is straight related to a company ââ¬Ës investing in its employees ââ¬Ë well- being. Arthur ( 2001 ) pointed out that employees want to believe their company truly cares about them. Care can be shown in assorted ways, but by and large it takes into consideration calling development, grownup intervention, being taken earnestly and being appreciated for a occupation good done. ( p. 221 ) . When people feel that the organisation for which they are working attentions for them and takes actions in order to better their work and lives, they are happy and this creates higher satisfaction. These employees moreover become loyal and committed.Advantages of occupation satisfaction to the administrationThe Frederick Herzberg ââ¬Ës theory and occupation satisfaction To better understand what keeps occupation satisfaction high, it is of import to remember Frederick Herzberg ââ¬Ës theory. The latter put frontward that satisfaction on the occupation depends on two elements: hygiene issues and incentives. Hygiene issues ( dissatisfiers ) Incentives ( satisfiers ) Organizational policies Work itself Kind of supervising Achievement Salary Recognition Interpersonal dealingss Duty Working conditions Growth chances Job security Harmonizing to the Herzberg ââ¬Ës theory, ââ¬Å" Hygiene issues can non actuate employees but they can assist to minimise dissatisfaction, if handled decently â⬠( p. 1 ) . These issues are straight related to the employee ââ¬Ës working environment. On the other manus, incentives create satisfaction by carry throughing person ââ¬Ës demands for significance and personal growing ( Syptak, Marshland and Ulmer, 1999 ) . The above theory can be really helpful in steering organisations on how to keep employee satisfaction.Job satisfaction and productivenessSurveies have shown that, merely a few organisations believe that occupation satisfaction is a important component in their overall scheme and really small is being done to advance it. This can be due to the fact that many administrations fail to understand the nexus between occupation satisfaction and productiveness. Should we non care about occupation satisfaction? Is it true to state that happy workers are productive 1s ? In fact, in the right conditions and scenes, occupation satisfaction can to a great degree lead to higher productiveness. If employees feel that their occupations are fun and interesting, they will be more willing to give excess attempt at work for the benefit of the whole organisation. Alternatively if employees have the feeling that their businesss are nonmeaningful and deadening, they will hold a negative attitude which will decidedly take to a diminution in productiveness.Job satisfaction helps to make a better working environmentWhen employees are basking a higher grade of occupation satisfaction they tend to be more helpful and friendly with their co-workers at work. This helps to advance teamwork where sharing of information and cognition is enhanced. Furthermore surveies have shown that occupation satisfaction among employees may take to a better and safer working environment with lesser negative struggles which otherwise would hinder the smooth running of the organisation .Job satisfaction and absenteeism and turnoverHigh rate of turnover has ever been a great job to many organisations. It evidently consequences in loss of potencies and endowments and causes immense losingss in footings of extra costs. Harmonizing to Sattler and Mullen, by and large, the more productive people are, the more satisfied they tend to be and when employees feel satisfied they are less likely to go forth the organisation. ( 2007 ) . From this, we can state that in order to retain gifted people in the administrations, directors need to invent schemes in order to convey about occupation satisfaction. Once employees are happy and satisfied at work, the rate of absenteeism and turnover will be lower.Accomplishment and dutyHarmonizing to Herzberg theory, accomplishment and duty are two of import motivational factors which can be used to make occupation satisfaction at work. Noe ( 2005 ) suggests that larning can be facilitated by supplying employees with specific disputing ends and aims â⬠( p.111 ) . In this context, directors need to put clear and accomplishable ends to their employees. This will assist to supply employees with a sense of accomplishment on completion of undertakings and may convey approximately more satisfaction. Furthermore administrations need to authorise and promote their employees to take more duty. Such schemes do assist to convey more satisfaction in employees and do them more loyal, committed and will hold ownership involvements in their occupations.Employee satisfaction can take to client satisfactionNumerous surveies have been carried out to look at the nexus between client and employee satisfaction. Many of them have shown a relationship between employee satisfaction, client satisfaction and profitableness. For illustration, a survey carried out at Sears Roebuck & A ; Co. showed that ââ¬Å" a five-point betterment in employee attitudes led to a 1.3 rise in client satisfaction which, in bend, generated a 0.5 addition in revenues. ââ¬Å" Brooks ( 2000 ) reviewed the relationship between fiscal success and client and employee variables ( e.g. , client satisfaction, employee satisfaction, etc. ) and found that, depending on market section and industry, between 40 and 80 per centum of client satisfaction and client trueness was accounted for by the relationship between employee attitudes and customer-related variables. Similarly, Vilares and Cohelo ( 2000 ) found that sensed employee satisfaction, perceived employee trueness, and perceived employee committedness had a ample impact on sensed merchandise quality and on sensed service quality. In other words, when our staff is happy, our clients will be excessively. At the bosom of these enterprises is a strong belief that today ââ¬Ës employee satisfaction, trueness and commitment influence tomorrow ââ¬Ës client satisfaction, trueness and commitment-and, finally, the organisation ââ¬Ës net income and growing. Job satisfaction is a affair of great significance for employers. As shown above, organisations benefit a batch from satisfied employees in the undermentioned ways: aÃâ ? Lower staff turnover aÃâ ? Higher productiveness aÃâ ? Reduction in struggles and ailments aÃâ ? Punctuality ( decreased lateness ) aÃâ ? Better worked morale Therefore, we can state that occupation dissatisfaction affects both the administration and the employees negatively. If occupation dissatisfaction prevails, the administration is likely to be affected through hapless client service, quality production and profitableness. It is a clear and obvious that employees missing trueness and committedness will demo really small original thought and will remove themselves really frequently from work. All these put together will clearly ensue in hapless public presentation and low profitableness for the administration.Job satisfaction in the primary educational sectorIt is known to everyone that wages and acknowledgment are really scarce when it comes to the primary educational sector. Numerous surveies carried out by sociologists have confirmed this. Furthermore, as most of the instructors ââ¬Ë work is being carried out within the walls of closed schoolrooms, instructors frequently find themselves isolated from others without any support fr om equals and higher-ups. Due to such organizational construction, instructors do non have appropriate feedback from others and frequently happen it difficult to work together so as to better their work. Harmonizing to Frase, 1992, many instructors leave learning within the first three old ages of employment as a consequence of these conditions. Decision shapers hence need to happen ways to retain instructors in the profession and maintain them motivated and at the same clip promote satisfaction. Surveies have shown reasonably convincingly that instructors are motivated more by intrinsic than by extrinsic wagess. Pastor and Erlandson ( 1982 ) Carried out a study which found that instructors identify their demands and mensurate their occupation satisfaction by factors such as engagement in decision-making, usage of valued accomplishments, freedom and independency, challenge, look of creativeness, and chance for larning. In a study conducted by Brodinsky and Neill ( 1983 ) , a bulk of school decision makers ( and instructors ) cited three policies that efficaciously improved morale and motivated their staffs: shared administration, in-service instruction, and systematic and supportive rating.New Theories of Teacher MotivationFrase, 1992 identified two sets of factors that affect instructors ââ¬Ë ability to execute efficaciously and hence derive occupation satisfaction. These two factors are 1. Work context factors 2. Work content factors. Work Context Factors Work context factors are those which meet the basic demands such as aÃâ ? the category size aÃâ ? subject conditions aÃâ ? handiness of learning stuffs aÃâ ? the quality of the caput maestro ââ¬Ës supervising and his/her leading manner Harmonizing to Frase, 1992, the above context factors do non convey occupation satisfaction as such. However, during their absences or if non good handled, jobs which might impact the instruction and larning procedure might harvest. They may therefore take to occupation dissatisfaction. Work Content Factors Harmonizing to Frase, one time once more, work content factors are intrinsic facets related to the work itself. They include chances for aÃâ ? professional development such as farther on occupation developing taking to personal growing aÃâ ? Recognition of difficult work aÃâ ? challenging and varied undertakings aÃâ ? increased duty and authorization aÃâ ? accomplishment and authorization. Surveies carried out by the National Center for Education Statistics in the United States ( 1997 ) have clearly shown that instructors who do non experience supported in the above Fieldss are less motivated to make their best work in the schoolroom. Their informations confirm that ââ¬Å" staff acknowledgment, parental support, teacher engagement in school determination devising and control in the schoolroom are the factors most strongly associated with teacher satisfaction â⬠.Troubles pedagogues face in the schoolroomAs an pedagogue, it can convey much satisfaction to see pupils develop new accomplishments and competencies and accomplish success in footings of cognition. However, it may be thwarting when one is covering with unmotivated or disrespectful pupils. Very frequently, instructors must get by with boisterous behavior and force in the schools. Teachers may see emphasis in covering with big categories, heavy work loads, or old schools that are run down and lack many mod ern installations. Accountability criterions besides may increase emphasis degrees, with instructors expected to bring forth pupils who are able to exhibit satisfactory public presentation on standardized trials in nucleus topics. Many instructors are besides frustrated by the deficiency of control they have over what they are required to learn.Working ConditionssIt takes a nice work environment to learn good. Art 8 or the 1966 ILO/UNESCO Recommendation states that, we must better the on the job conditions and school environment so as to ââ¬Å" best promote effectual acquisition and instruction, and enable instructors to concentrate on their professional undertakings. â⬠Workload has to be just to be able to transport or tasks efficaciously and must non hold a negative impact on the wellness and safety of instructors. Besides, the governments must give equal instruction resources to all educational establishments.School climeThe values, attitudes, outlooks and behaviour more o r less shared by the members of a school community are by and large referred to as school clime. A positive school clime plays an of import function in furthering instructors ââ¬Ë public presentation, academic accomplishment of pupils and school motive. A positive school clime nurtures an ambiance of trust and common regard between each and everyone in the school. Teachers would wish to work in schools where they can experience comfy with their co-workers and the school leading. Therefore, making a healthy school environment for everyone Begins by back uping healthy relationships among the staff. Healthy relationships produce a clime conducive to honesty, unfastened communicating, and risk-taking ( Ames & A ; Miller, 1994 ) . In a true acquisition community, concerted acquisition and common regard are expected of module every bit good as pupils. Establishing a supportive school environment additions self-esteem and accomplishment ( Cantwell, 2003 ) .LeadershipTeachers are more satisfied when their caput instructors are good and theoretical account leaders. This includes actuating employees to make a good occupation and endeavoring for excellence. Effective caput instructors create constructions in which it is clear that instructors have a certain authorization. In certain schools some head instructors empower their instructors to work on certain undertakings like making a media and audio ocular room, or making other constructions for the benefit and public a ssistance of pupils every bit good as for staff members. Such sort of authorization and trust in employees yield committedness, trueness and higher public presentation at the topographic point of work. Such leaders motivate subsidiaries to make more than originally expected. They raise the consciousness of subsidiaries about the importance and value of designated results and ways of making them and, in bend, acquire subsidiaries to exceed their ain immediate opportunisms for the interest of the mission and vision of the organisation. ( Yammarino, Spangler and Bass,1993 ) .Teachers ââ¬Ë public presentationEducators ââ¬Ë occupation is one which does non bring forth touchable goods whose quality could be measured quantitatively. Their occupations consist of fixing students of 5-11 old ages old academically and assist them in their overall development. As a affair of fact, it is hard to mensurate their public presentation. A few old ages back, with superior system at the CPE degree, inspectors and school caput instructors used to measure the public presentation of their staff by analysing the public presentation of pupils in the concluding test. However, this is non an ideal manner of mensurating public presentation as there are other factors apart from the CPE base on balls rate which are linked to the instructor ââ¬Ës public presentation. Training After completion of a two twelvemonth sheepskin class at the Mauritius Institute of Education ( MIE ) , the pedagogue is posted in a given school and is assigned the duty of a category. The MIE together with the Ministry of Education offer auxiliary classs so as to upgrade the criterions of pedagogues and at the same clip maintain them abreast alterations happening in footings of methodological analysis, contents and course of study. Some of these classs are: aÃâ ? Certificate in Educational Management aÃâ ? Diploma in Educational Management aÃâ ? Advanced Certificate in Educational Management After the completion of these classs, pedagogues are eligible for a rise in their salary and furthermore are eligible to contend for occupations like Deputy Head Teacher and Head Teacher. It is a fact that the more positive the perceptual experiences employees have refering the utility and range of promotion the preparation Sessionss will supply to them, the higher will their occupation satisfaction. Promotional chances Promotion in the primary sector is based on senior status. It is merely after about 20 five old ages of service that a instructor will be automatically promoted to Deputy Head Teacher. From at that place, the latter will hold to wait for some five more old ages to draw a bead on to go the caput of a school. As a affair of fact, the promotional range is instead restricted and this is a existent demotivating factor to many pedagogues in the field.
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