Past Movements in Education and Analysis of Curricuar Reforms Essay Example for Free

Past Movements in Education and Analysis of Curricuar Reforms Essay For an individual, it must be treated as a continuous process that should not end when graduation rites in each particular level of schooling are being held. True education is life, it must always be a part of our daily living, whether through formal or informal means. Educational systems in general, and educational curriculum in particular, also need not to be static. The curriculum should respond to the demands of a fast-changing society. To some extent, it should also be global or internationally-aligned. These are the reasons why foreign and local educational educators in the past and until now have been introducing educational reforms and innovations. They have been searching means to address the problems being met in the implementation of a certain curriculums and to ensure the total development of every learner. I. The Past Movements for Social Change in the School System Social change affects education. Centuries ago, pioneers of education have sought to introduce renewal in education. Their ideas were far ahead than the actual renewal that took place later on. Among them were Commenius, Condorcet, Rousseau, Pestalozzi, Froebel, Dewey, Drecoly, Montessori and Freinet. 1. Johann Amos Commenius -â€Å"Father of Modern Education† Most permanent educational influences: a. practical educational work Comenius was first a teacher and an organizer of schools, not only among his own people, but later in Sweden, and to a slight extent in Holland. In his Didactica Magna (Great Didactic), he outlined a system of schools that is the exact counterpart of the existing American system of kindergarten, elementary school, secondary school, college, and university. Didactica Magna is an educational treatise which aimed to seek and find a method of instruction by which teachers may teach less but learners may learn more, by which the school may be the scene of less noise, aversion, and useless labor, but of more leisure, enjoyment and solid progress; and through which the Christian community may have less darkness, perplexity (confusion) and dissension (disagreement), but on the other hand, more light, orderliness, peace and rest. b. formulating the general theory of education In this respect he is the forerunner of Rousseau, Pestalozzi, Froebel, etc. and is the first to formulate that idea of â€Å"education according to nature† so influential during the latter part of the eighteenth and early part of the nineteenth century. c. the subject matter and method of education -exerted through a series of textbooks of an entirely new nature His published works: Janua Linguarum Reserata (The Gateway of Language Unlocked) contained his convictio n (certainty) that one of the prerequisites for effective educational reform was a fundamental change in language of instruction. Orbis Pictus (The World of Sensible Things Pictured) contributed to the development of the principles of audio-visual interaction. It was the first successful applications of illustrations to the work of teaching, but not the first illustrated book for children. Schola Ludus (School as Play) a detailed exposition of the doctrine that all learning should be made interesting, dramatic and stimulating. These texts were all based on the same fundamental ideas: (1) learning foreign languages through the vernacular; (2) obtaining ideas through objects rather than words; (3) starting with objects most familiar to the child to introduce him to both the new language and the more remote world of objects: (4) giving the child a comprehensive knowledge of his environment, physical and social, as well as instruction in religious, moral, and classical subjects; (5) making this acquisition of a compendium of knowledge a pleasure rather than a task; and (6) making instruction universal. He also developed the pansophic scheme, the view that education should take the whole of human knowledge as its universe. For him, truth was indivisible and was to be seen as a whole. Thus by relating each subject to every other subject and to general principles, pansophia was to make the learner capable of wisdom. 2. Marquis De Condorcet Marie-Jean-Antoine-Nicolas de Caritat took his title Marquis de Condorcet from the town of Condorcet in Dauphine. He advocated that the aims of education were: o cultivate in each generation the physical, intellectual and moral facilities and, thereby contribute to the general and gradual improvement of the human race. He envisioned a national system of public education designed to develop the natural talents of all, making real equality possible. His proposals of the five levels of public instructions areas follows: 1. Elementary- for the teaching of the ‘elements’ of all knowledge (reading, writing, arithmetic, morals, economics and n atural science)and would be compulsory for all four years 2. Secondary school- of three years’ duration, teaching grammar, history and geography, one foreign language, the mechanical arts, law and mathematics. The teaching at this and the first level would be non-specialized. 3. Institutes- responsible for ‘substituting reasoning for eloquence and books for speech, and for bringing philosophy and the physical science methodology into the moral sciences’. The teaching at this level would be more specialized. Pupils would choose their own course of study (at least two courses a year) from among four classes: mathematics and physics, moral and political sciences, science as applied to the arts, and literature and fine arts. 4. Lycee the equivalent of universities, with the same classes as the institutes and ‘where all the sciences are taught in full. It is there that scholars-teachers receive their further training’. Education at this and the first three levels was to be entirely free of charge. 5. National Society of Science and the Arts a research institute responsible for supervising the formal education system as a whole and for appointing teachers. Its role would be one of scientific and pedagogical research. 3. Jean Jacques Rousseau According to the history of education, he was the first great writer to insist that education should be based upon the nature of the child. Rousseau’s Emile is a kind of half treatise, half novel that tells the life story of a fictional man named Emile. In the history of education, the significant contributions of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi are: 1) his educational philosophy and instructional method that encouraged harmonious intellectual, moral, and physical development Pestalozzis most systematic work, How Gertrude Teaches Her Children (1801) was a critique of conventional schooling and a prescription for educational reform. Rejecting corporal punishment, rote memorization, and bookishness, Pestalozzi envisioned schools that were homelike institutions where teachers actively engaged students in learning by sensory experiences. Such schools were to educate individuals who were well rounded intellectually, morally, and physically. Through engagement in activities, students were to learn useful vocations that complemented their other studies. 2) his methodology of empirical sensory learning, especially through object lessons Pestalozzi designed object lessons in which children, guided by teachers, examined the form (shape), number (quantity and weight) of objects, and named them after direct experience with them. 3) his use of activities, excursions, and nature studies that anticipated Progressive education. He also emphasized the importance of the nature of the child and propounded (advocated) that in the educational process, the child must be thought in relation to the subject matter. He sought to understand the nature of the child and to build his teaching around the natural, progressive and harmonious development of all the powers and capacities. He is an advocate of each man’s right to education and of society’s duty to implement that right and pave the way to universal national education. His motto Learning by head, hand and heart is still a key principle in successful 21st-century schools. 5. Friedrich Froebel The German educator, Friedrich Froebel, was one of these pioneers of early childhood educational reform. Froebel’s educational principles: a) free self-activity As an educator, Froebel believed that stimulating voluntary self-activity in the young child was the necessary form of pre-school education (Watson, 1997a). Self-activity is defined as the development of qualities and skills that make it possible to take an invisible idea and make it a reality; self-activity involves formulating a purpose, planning out that purpose, and then acting on that plan until the purpose is realized (Corbett, 1998a). Corbett suggests that one of Froebels significant contributions to early childhood education was his theory of introducing play as a means of engaging children in self-activity for the purpose of externalizing their inner natures. ) creativity Froebel designed a series of instructional materials that he called gifts and occupations, which demonstrated certain relationships and led children in comparison, testing, and creative exploration activities (Watson, 1997b). A gift was an object provided for a child to play withsuch as a sphere, cube, or cylinderwhich helped the child to understand and internalize the concepts of shape, dimension, size, and their relationships (Staff, 1998). The occupations were items such as aints and clay which the children could use to make what they wished; through the occupations, children externalized the concepts existing within their creative minds (Staff, 1998). Therefore, through the childs own self-activity and creative imaginative play, the child would begin to understand both the inner and outer properties of things as he moves through the developmental stages of the educational process. c) social participation A third component of Froebels educational plan involved working closely with the family unit. Froebel believed that parents provided the first as well as the most consistent educational influence in a childs life. Since a childs first educational experiences occur within the family unit, he is already familiar with the home d) motor expression Motor expression, which refers to learning by doing as opposed to following rote instructions, is a very important aspect of Froebels educational principles. Froebel did not believe that the child should be placed into societys mold, but should be allowed to shape his own mold and grow at his own pace through the developmental stages of the educational process. 6. John Dewey He contributed the educational philosophy which maintains that education is life, education is growth and education is a continuous reconstruction of human experiences from the beginning to the end of life. He was the spokes person of progressive education which states that aims have significance only for persons, not for processes such as education, and arise only in response to problematic situations in ongoing activities. Aims are to be viewed as anticipated outcomes of transactions, as intrinsic aspects of the process of problem-solving, and as a motivating force behind the individual’s approach to problem-solving situations. The Progressive Education Association, inspired by Dewey’s ideas, later codified his doctrines as follows: a. The conduct of the pupils shall be governed by themselves, according to the social needs of the community. b. Interest shall be the motive for all work. c. Teachers will inspire a desire for knowledge, and will serve as guides in the investigations undertaken, rather than as task-masters. d. Scientific study of each pupil’s development, physical, mental, social and spiritual, is absolutely essential to the intelligent direction of his development. . Greater attention is paid to the child’s physical needs, with greater use of the out-of-doors. f. Cooperation between school and home will fill all needs of the child’s development such as music, dancing, play and other extra-curricular activities. g. All progressive schools will look upon their work as of the laboratory type, giving freely to the sum of educational knowledge the results of their experi ments in child culture. He believed that education has two sides: the psychological and the social on the same plane. Education must start from the psychological nature of the child as the basis for directing his energies into totally useful channels. Schools must be set up to include bond the individual and social goals. The needs of a new society are to be taken into consideration in modifying methods and curriculum. 7. Ovide Decroly He influenced instruction in the kindergarten, the aim of which was to guide the child’s desire for activity and to give him a sense of discipline and norms for his social behavior (same with Dewey) 8. Maria Montessori Maria Montessori left a long lasting mark on education around the world.

Mao Zedong :: essays research papers

Mao Zedong or Mao Tse-tung Pronounced As: mou dzu-doong , 1893-1976, founder of the People's Republic of China. One of the most prominent Communist theoreticians, Mao's ideas on revolutionary struggle and guerrilla warfare were extremely influential, especially among Third World revolutionaries. Of Hunanese peasant stock, Mao was trained in Chinese classics and later received a modern education. As a young man he observed oppressive social conditions, becoming one of the original members of the Chinese Communist party. He organized (1920s) Kuomintang-sponsored peasant and industrial unions and directed (1926) the Kuomintang's Peasant Movement Training Institute. After the Kuomintang-Communist split (1927), Mao led the disastrous "Autumn Harvest Uprising in Hunan, leading to his ouster from the central committee of the party. From 1928 until 1931 Mao, with Zhu De and others, established rural soviets in the hinterlands, and built the Red Army. In 1931 he was elected chairman of the newly established Soviet Republic of China, based in Jiangxi province. After withstanding five encirclement campaigns launched by Chiang Kai-shek, Mao led (1934-35) the Red Army on the long march (6,000 mi/9,656 km) from Jiangxi north to Yan'an in Shaanxi province, emerging as the most important Communist leader. During the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-45) the Communists and the Kuomintang continued their civil war while both were battling the Japanese invaders. The civil war continued after war with Japan had ended, and in 1949, after the Communists had taken almost all of mainland China, Mao became chairman of the central government council of the newly established People's Republic of China; he was reelected to the post, the most powerful in China, in 1954. In an attempt to break with the Russian model of Communism and to imbue the Chinese people with renewed revolutionary vigor, Mao launched (1958) the Great Leap Forward. The program was a failure, 20 million people starved, and Mao withdrew temporarily from public view. The failure of this program also resulted in a break with the Soviet Union, which cut off aid. Mao accused Soviet leaders of betraying Marxism. In 1959 Liu Shaoqi, an opponent of the Great Leap Forward, replaced Mao as chairman of the central government council, but Mao retained his chairmanship of the Communist party politburo. A campaign to re-establish Mao's ideological line culminated in the Cultural Revolution (1966-76). Mass mobilization, begun and led by Mao and his wife, Jiang Qing, was directed against the party leadership. Liu and others were removed from power in 1968.

Conceptions of women and the foreigner Essay

In the ancient Greek life, women’s role was always considered to be quite insignificant as compared to the role of the Greek men. However, in most tragedies women were the major and integral characters who revealed some insights on the way the women happened to be treated and also thought in the entire society. Medea is maybe the most complex and fascinating character when we look closely to the Greek’s drama. She is an immense and an ultimate mixture of villain, heroine as well as the victim as displayed in the play. She was married to Jason who was a Greek man who she had decided to follow from the foreign land. Her love was deep and when Jason decided to leave her in order to marry Creon’s daughter she was extremely furious (Euripides1907, lines. 1-24). From there we see her getting involved in some acts of revenge. Her acts of murder are the ultimate start of revenge towards her children and her ex-husband. Despite all this catastrophes, Medea is a character to sympathize with. She decided to give up all that she had because of her love for Jason. She betrayed her family and murdered her brother, she left her home because of the love she had for Jason to a foreign land and she became a mother to please his husband yet she had no any desire to have children (Euripides, 1907,line,248). Even after Jason had known of all the sacrifices that Medea had had for him, he still had to leave her for a Greek princess. Medea’s love was quite immense and Jason’s betrayal ended up damaging her mind completely and revenge became the only comfort that she had in her power. She ended up killing the Greek princess using the cleverest chess that was available and her children. Though Medea is portrayed as one of the most frightening characters, it is crucial to compare her ethical concerns and the scheming shallow hollows of her ex husband. Medea accompanies her Antigone as the most defining heroines in the ancient Greek drama. She ended up defying her main role as the helpless and happy housewife and refutes to accept betrayal without revenging. Medea decided to abandon all the gender roles in the ancient society of Greek. She defied some perceptions of gender through portraying both female and male tendencies. She decided to detach herself from all the womanly emotions and acted in a way that the society did not see appropriate for women. In the ancient Greek, murder was an issue that was never associated with the women though Medea in the play committed a series of murder including her own children (Euripides, 1907, 207-213). It is therefore imperative to analyze at length the concepts of women and the foreigners in the Greek tragedies basing the rationale as portrayed by Medea. In the play, Medea is portrayed as a foreign witch. She is treated irrationally throughout the play by various people at divergent times. She then changes her whole character and finally triumphs over Jason. She is feasibly seen as the mortal woman and Aristotle’s hero figure as well as the goddess. Women’s rights have been neglected throughout the play and women have no voice. Medea changes all that in her revenge against Jason and her own children. Foreigners and women were loathed and had no any place in the society and were not supposed to have any powerful position. It is a play portraying chauvinism, women treated unfairly and their work portrayed as only meant to bear children. Though to an extent we see the evil deeds of Medea, we also have a glimpse on the reasons behind her deeds. She is a foreigner and to the Greeks she will always be a Barbarian. Her acts make it even hard for her as she gets hated more. Even other women treat her suspiciously. Medea is portrayed as a foreigner in her land and in her own home who has no any common feature with the Corinth women. All she had was Jason and the children. Before she got married she was viewed as a princess and later became an outcast. Women and foreigners in the Greek tragedy were portrayed as disenfranchised, slaves and were unrepresented. The acts of Medea have contradicted the view of the society that the women are the main givers of life and that the men end up taking it away. It is quite unacceptable because of the fact she is the mother to the children. Killing a member of the family was usually frowned upon in the ancient Greece like it is done today. Medea has portrayed extreme pride which is usually stereotyped as one of the characteristic of the male species. She decided to sacrifice all that she had even her reputation in order to restore her own reputation (Sophocles, Euripides & Aeschylus, 2004). It has always been a common belief that the major weakness in a woman is the children but in this case this is not so. Her pride has prevailed other maternal instincts. Medea aims to seek vengeance in the same intense force to rectify a situation just like a man would. A woman who is seeking for revenge usually challenges the societal views of women as passive and weak. Medea is dwelling on self pity until she contrives to a scheme that will avenge how much she has been hurt. Wallowing is usually a quality that is attributed to the women in the society. Medea was so sad with her life after her marriage to Jason ended that she only wanted to die. The common opinion in the society is that the women usually use trickery and deceit in order to achieve their main goals in life. Medea in this case is not an exception as she persuades Creon to permit her to stay at least one day in Corinth as she pretends that she is preparing for exile while in the actual sense she was just planning on how she will carry out the murder acts to her enemies as well as children (Euripides1907, pp. 198). Medea in the entire play has defied the stereotypes of both female and male characters. She has shown some immense emotions portrayed by both sexes. At times she acts as an ultimate man and others as a woman. The Greeks had an immense suspicion when it came to foreigners and always thought of all of them to be barbarians. With Medea, Euripides has confronted this prejudice issue by deciding to honor foreigners with some roles of a tragic heroine and making her one of the most intelligent character in the entire play. The playwright has also confirmed numerous Greek stereotypes of the foreigners through making Medea overly passionate, wild and vengeful. Medea is a very powerful and tragic heroine who gets to achieve successful vengeance and ends up escaping with impunity. In some scenarios, she is portrayed to be a submissive and weak who commits no any crime (Paul, 2006, pp. 1321-4853). Allan (2003, pp. 143) asserts that beneath Medea’s personality there lies a credible, coherent and an effective character who portrays an immense sense of justice and whose humiliation and revenge drive her to go for the revenge. He also notes that Medea’s actions and plans were affected by her main status as a foreigner and a woman and not as a mortal avenger. Euripides in his play is fascinated by the acts of women as well as the contradictions that do exist in the Greek understanding of the term gender. His treatment of the women is so sophisticated. Medea’s starting speech to the chorus is the most rational and eloquent statement on the injustices that befall the women species. He recognizes that the major position of the female and their style of subordination to men are coming from the social order that prevails in Greece. Medea is not really a role model as far as feminist is concerned. Euripides has portrayed the difficulties that women went through. He portrays an image of a real woman who has suffered and has been twisted by her suffering. It is not a story on women liberation but rather it is a war that exists between sexes. The other key is a major theme. Medea’s foreignness has been emphasized from the beginning. In the very first opening lines, the nurse reminds us that Medea is from an exotic and a distant land. The foreignness aspect is portrayed as barbaric, exotic, fearful and unknown. The issue of exile has also been portrayed in the play. Modern readers and audiences have a great difficulty when trying to conceive on the concept of exile and how much it was horrible for the Greeks. Homes and cities were considered as the major source of protection. Wandering with no friends and shelter was seen as a great fate which was much horrible than death itself. Medea just for the sake of husband made herself to be the exile. She goes away from home, have no friends or family who can offer protection to her. The theme of exile has been linked with women’s position. In emphasizing some of the circumstances in which women have to bear after marriage like leaving their homes and staying with strangers. Medea reminds us of the worst conditions in exile. Her position is a grave situation since she is already an exile in reality and portrays the fact that all women in reality are exiles. She is a foreigner thus to all the Greeks she will always remain a barbarian. In the play the issue of cleverness and cunning is also evident. These traits though they ought to be admired cause a lot of suffering to Medea. Her intellect, force and strength exceed her station of operation. Though the Greeks to an extent have some respect for her, they are seen treating her smugly just because she is a woman and a foreigner. She is surrounded by some people who are less resourceful and less intelligent than her. She is despised because of her own talents that ought to have won her praise. Since she is a foreigner she therefore behaves without morality and any restraint. In the chorus, we see how much Medea is pitied but also it reveals that women ought to endure. We see Medea entering and delivering a monologue on the sufferings that women go through. Though women are creatures that can feel and think, they have to endure some indignities in the society. Men are meant to bear arms but women are supposed to bear children (Medea 214-224, 2006, pp. 115). The theme of women and their position has been emphasized in the play. To just allege that Euripides was a great feminist can only be a major oversimplification and anachronism. What is factual is that Euripides is fascinated by the difficulties and women’s position. Through examining the treatment that women are accorded, Euripides has also revealed some of the injustices in the society. He is savvy of how art has been wrongly used in defaming the character of women and how smart it has been used in recognizing that most fables and myths of the Greeks male dominated orders through teaching women on how to accept as well as enjoy subjugation. Medea who is a woman and a foreigner has portrayed numerous specifics of the life of Greeks that are universal in today’s society. A woman when she gets married ought to leave her home in order to join her own family. Therefore she is portrayed as an outsider. Women are not meant to socialize freely as men, while men can roam wildly and indulge with other women. Medea has made herself as the main spokesman on the suffering of women thus has secured the secrecy and loyalty of the main chorus. Foreigners were people who were disliked in Greek. In the play we see how much King Aeetes’s hated the foreigners. â€Å"A great anger filled King Aeete’s heart as he listened. He did not like foreigners, any more than Greeks did, he wanted them to keep away from his country, and he himself said to himself, â€Å"if these strangers had not eaten at my table I would kill them† (Jimmison, 2009). The image of Medea and the barbarian king was irrational, magic, frightening and issues to do with some supernatural powers had no any place in the Greek mythology. As a foreigner, Medea only expected suffering since this myth was created in the Greek image of a Barbarian woman. Medea has shown numerous heroic qualities that were uncommon among the Greek women. She is even willing to kill her brother just to be with Jason. In Greek, women murdering acts were quite rare and this is something that was not supposed to happen at al. To some extent, Medea is reacting to the inferior status of injustice that women were accorded. Central to the entire plot, is Medea’s foreign origins and how they are really related to her main actions. Generally women in the play have been portrayed as creatures with very few rights. As far as men were concerned, women were only supposed to cook and clean, do some house chores and bear children. They had no imperative votes like the right to own property, vote or choose their own husbands and they had to be presented in any legal proceedings that were taking place. They were just like slaves. Though some of Medea’s actions were untypical of what a Greek woman was supposed to possess, to some extent she also had emotions and attitudes of a common woman. She speaks against some of the women’s rights and how they have no any choice to whom they decide to get married to and men can get rid of a woman in order to get whatever they wanted (Euripides, 1907,pp. 231-247). In the play we see Medea portraying some emotional attitudes of a woman and a mother. She says, â€Å"Poor heart, let them go, have pity upon the children (Euripides, 1907,pp, 1057). Also in the play women are portrayed as faithful. Medea talks of how she helped her ex husband during his quest of the Golden Fleece and even helped him to escape to an extent of killing his own brother for him (Euripides, 1907,pp. 476-483). The fact that she decided to betray her family just to be with Jason shows her sense of loyalty. Though women and foreigners were portrayed as minorities with no say, the play also shows that they were resourceful and clever. Instead of using physical force in accomplishing her plans of revenge, she went ahead to use her mind instead. She asserts, â€Å"it is best to †¦ make away with them with poison† (Euripides, 1907,pp384-385). She poisons Jason’s wife as well as the King of Corinth though she poisons them indirectly. Medea’s act of murder against her own children is because of her barbarian origins. The major reason why Jason decided to let go of Medea and marry a princess is in order for her to have a higher status and material wealth through getting married to the king’s daughter (Euripides, 1907,pp553-554). It is lucid hence to note that Jason had a belief that Medea’s foreign origins were a burden and a distracter to him since there was a stigma that was related to that. Medea’s foreign status is also a major burden to her. Once they got separated, she became an outsider and had no any place to go since barbarians were never highly thought in the Greek society. If Medea was not a foreigner, then it is possible that Jason would not have divorced her. Medea is a play that portrays the real ancient Greeks and their attitudes towards the foreigners and women. Women were supposed to be seen and not heard and thus Medea surprises the Greek society since she goes against the norms. Women were supposed to bear children and take care of their husbands. The women’s rights were less considered and there was no way women could equal men. The foreigners had no any right and were also treated unfairly. It is a play revealing some of the heroic acts of women and what they had to go to get noticed in the society. Works Cited Allan, William. Euripides: Medea. 2002. London: Duckworth, pp. 143 Euripides. Medea. 1907. USA: Oxford University Press. Euripides, Sophocles & Aeschlus. Five Great Greek tragedies. USA: Courier Dover publications. 2004. Jimmison. The idea of foreigner in Euripide’s and Seneca’s Medea. Retrieved 11, July, 2010

Personality Traits Steve Raucci s Personality - 3434 Words

Personality consists of a pattern of thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that characterize a person. External personality traits are seen as observable behaviors, while internal states are thoughts and value also inferred from behaviors. Steve Raucci’s personality was portrayed to his coworkers through his vicious actions and intimidating behaviors. He managed to instill fear into everyone who worked below to the extent where was referred to as a god, king or the godfather. Many below him were humiliated, harassed and feared their safety, however it took several years to stop him because of his neuroticism, extraversion and conscientiousness personality. Steve’s thoughts and emotions created a justification in his mind for his violent and harassing behaviors. According to his tapes, he sees himself on the good side, doing bad only to bullies and people who deserve it. He sees himself as loyal and caring. He believes that he has an agreeable and openness to experience personality when in reality and based on his external personality traits, he is the exact opposite. His behaviors caused harassment to many, created a sense of tension within the workplace and created separation between the workers. His neuroticism, extroversive and conscientiousness personality relates directly with his intentionally violent behaviors. His conscientiousness and extroversive personality gained him success and caused his progression within the work system. He began his career as a laborer in 1973